Mon, 17th Nov, 2025 Bush camp by the River Murray, Overland Corner, SA to Bush camp by River Murray (Thegoa Reserve), Wentworth, NSW (exploring)

14.1 degrees min, windy but not as bad as yesterday. Cloudy but the sun is trying to peek through. Lots of noisy corellas work us up.

Stephanie sent a couple of photos of a plaque she found near a rock at White Rock Peak. It had fallen off and when she read it was my Mum & Dad she put it in a safe place and let me know. I checked with Greg then David who said he had put it there. He will go back up with better glue to make sure it sticks.

Headed back out and up the road to the Goyder Highway again - view from here.

Continued on towards Renmark. Passed the turn off to Lock 3 which we had visited before.

Onto the Sturt Highway and into Renmark. Topped up the diesel (176.9c/l) at the 24hr servo compared to 192c/l at the service station. Found the dump point and water point and did those jobs. Nice mural as we drove through town.

Along to the river front for a cuppa. Still overcast with a cold wind. Watched a houseboat motor pass. That’s another thing I would like to do one day - go cruising.

Wandered along the path - info about the trees etc. We explored Renmark well in Jan 2016 - lovely town.

Called into the Information Centre to check the condition of the road north then east into NSW to take us to Wentworth. We had driven the Victorian side last trip. The lady suggested a route to take in Lake Victoria which we will do.

Down the road to Paringa to cross the River Murray via the 1927 lifting bridge.

Another fabulous silo art display was created here in 2017. Lots of great information too.

Back across the bridge - view of the River Murray the other way.

Back through Renmark then onto the Ral Ral Avenue then through lots of vineyards and orchards till we turn onto the Old Wentworth-Renmark Road (143km to Wentworth - most of it unsealed). When we hit the gravel at the information bay about the Chowilla Games Reserve which we had checked out before, Steve dropped some air out of the tyres as the lady said it was corrugated.

Spotted 7 emus (dad and his chicks) wandering in the dry bush as we run beside a power line.

Onto a new section of road to mark off in my map book now. Around Lake Limbra.

Crossed the border of SA and NSW at midday so had to add a half hour on for NSW so it is now 12.30pm so we pulled over for lunch.

I walked back to check out the cairn. The plaque says they realigned the border in 1993. The map shows the wobbly border on the River Murray.

No sign to welcome us to NSW but there was one for those going into SA.

Further along we found the Shire one.

This section is quite corrugated but we have been on worse.

Turned onto the Rufus River Road as suggested by the Information Centre lady - more scenic but 60km longer. Better road too with more trees.

Nearly reached the River Murray again then we turned away and then passed Nampoo Station homestead and back into salt bush country.

Into Lake Victoria Station. I had my head down writing some notes when Steve clipped an emu that had come up from a ditch on our left. We were only doing 60km/h but it went down and the back tyres went over him. We pulled up and went back to check on it, sadly its partner came over to look then ran off in the other direction. We both felt very sad. It was definitely dead so we moved it off the road and into the ditch.

Sadly we continued on and spotted two more emus further over.

Lake Victoria came into view as we crested a rise. It covers a huge area.

Onto bitumen as we pass buildings that had no entry signs etc. It is part of SA Water Corp - I thought we were in NSW! Checked out the info provided.

Onto the lookout before the Rufus River crossing.

Some more information provided here and 2 memorial plaques.

Across the Rufus River outlet regulator.

Pulled over in the car park. Lots of birds resting and feeding. Interesting watching the pelicans feed - it got a lot too.

Continued on then turned down the road to Lock 7. We visited it before from the Victorian side. I looked back at the photos and we had walked across the weir and stood in this spot on the NSW side.

The information board was laying on the ground. Lots of big trees here. You can free camp here.

Found where the Rufus River enters the River Murray. Free camping here too.

Back to the main road which has a big bun wall running beside it which is part of Lake Victoria. Across the Frenchmans Creek outlet regulator. Frenchmans Creek enters the Murray upstream of Lock 9.

Back onto the gravel road again then we turned off to have a cuppa at Scaddings Bridge and Frenchmans Creek which is more like a large lagoon area with lots of reeds. This area is all under SA Water control and you can free camp here too. It appears to be very full at the moment. There is a locked gate for access to Lock 8 but we saw that from the Victorian side.

Two nanny goats were having a rest too - both look like they are nearly ready to give birth. One was hoping for a snack.

Followed the goats across the bridge then we found some sheep who had escaped out of the paddock.

Back on the Rufus River Road and spotted more goats. Received a message with photos from Rebecca and Clive in Tassie - having fun but it’s cold.

Back on the bitumen which is newly laid as we turn onto the old Wentworth Renmark Road again.

Stopped at 10 Mile Bridge over the Anabranch of the Darling River. Read the information then wandered along for a photo of the old bridge.

We crossed over on the new 2003 bridge.

The Perry Sandhills appeared - we had fun trying to slide down them.

Onto the Silver City Highway into Wentworth. Passed the edge of the Darling River as it heads down to join the River Murray. When we were here in 2016 there was no water flowing from the Darling - in fact there was 40km of Murray water pushed up the Darling.

Stopped at the IGA for some fresh fruit and veggies. Beautiful Jacaranda trees in bloom as we make our way towards the River Murray.

Passed Lock 10 and into Thegoa Lagoon Reserve to find our camp for the night by the River Murray. It is still cool and windy so we stayed away from the big tree limbs. There is a boat ramp area just along from us.

View back up to Lock 10.

I had kept a Darling River Run map from when we did the River Murray trip in 2016 so dug it out to read the info for our trip along the Darling River. It is written for travellers going south from Walgett to Wentworth. This is the info for Wentworth.

We didn’t change our clock yet, will do it when we go to bed. We decided to just stay on Qld time and not do the Daylight Saving as it doesn’t mean anything to us and we have no times to be anywhere.

Drinks inside as it’s still cool outside, dinner then a movie. All quiet here.