Swan Hill Rally Report 16th - 20th May 2019 Organisers: Trudi and Neville Murray |
The thirty-six hardy club members, making the trip to Swan Hill, were greeted by blue skies, warm sunshine and a beautifully presented caravan park. The Swan Hill Big 4 Riverside Park has wonderful updated facilities and a great camp kitchen area, which provided an excellent spot for our Happy Hours. It’s located on the banks of the Little Murray & Murray River, next to the Pioneer Village on one side and the Riverside Park on the other. Members arrived and left at various times, fitting in with our motto of “Come when you can and leave when you must”. Various optional activities were undertaken by members such as; a walk along the Murray River, drives to visit lakes or friends, bike rides, 4 wheel driving, shopping, morning and afternoon teas. Most members visited the Pioneer Settlement to enjoy either a cruise on the paddle steamer “Pyap”, the laser show “Heartbeat” and/or strolling through the settlement itself. A visit to the Catalina museum in Lake Boga was very interesting for those of us who went along, where they entertained us with a short talk and a video and was followed by coffee and something to eat. Our regular Saturday night dinner was at the Swan Hill Club in walking distance of the caravan park and the night was enjoyed by all. Sunday saw everyone join in a drive to a variety of places, starting with a mallee soak, aka a mud puddle with sticks, then driving to the quaint village of Nyah West, with its intact Heritage acclaimed streetscape and on to the flume, an old method of delivering water. The surprise of the day was the winery tour and tasting at the large family owned Andrew Peace winery. Now we all know what the large steel tanks are for and that oaked wine can be made just with a large amount of oak in the bottom of these tanks. Who knew that so many millions of litres of wine were sent overseas from just one winery. The discounts that were given, encouraged many a purchaser to buy even more. Lunch was at the Tooleybuc Sports Club where the servings were so generous that many of us took home doggy bags. The last stop was at the Aboriginal ring tree and the Speewa punt took us across the Murray to get us home. A big thank-you to all attendees for an enjoyable time and making our first effort at organsing a rally so seamless. Trudi & Neville Murray
"Come when you can, leave when you must"