What a gorgeous spot we found to camp at Lake Pamamaroo. This camp site ticks all the boxes for me. Shady trees but still enough sun on our solar panels to charge our batteries. There is a rubbish bin that is emptied regularly. We have our own little sandy beach. Perfect for launching our kayaks. There seems to be not as many campers along the lakeside this visit. We have a spectacular view across the lake, I’m a happy camper with a water view.
Before we left home I took some scones out of my freezer and put them in the motorhome freezer. In the morning I took them out to thaw. I put them in our oven wrapped in foil to heat through and we had them for morning tea. Catie provided strawberry jam, lemon butter and whipped cream.
Andy decided to have a cleaning and washing morning so the rest of us piled into Robert’s car and went for a drive to check out the Menindee Regulator. This is where water from Lake Pamamaroo enters Lake Menindee. When we were here last year the channel that connects the two lakes was dry. Not a drop of water. This day it was full and water was still flowing into Lake Menindee.
To get to the regulator you turn off the main Broken Hill/Menindee Road and go up and over a large sand dune. All of a sudden there is Menindee Lake stretched out before you. What an amazing sight it is to see. Water stretching away to the horizon.
Menindee Caravan Park sits on top of the sand dune with views out across the lake. Sadly it is very run down and in need of a good clean up. I’m guessing they haven’t had many guests during the drought.
Our next stop was into Kinchega National Park so we could stop by the Lake Menindee Outlet. This is where water from Lake Menindee is allowed into the Darling River. We were so pleased to see water pouring through into the river. Well actually you can’t really see it pouring in but you can stand on the grate over the outlet and you can hear the sound of the water rushing by under you. The water is piped under the main park road and into a side channel that leads to the river proper. This side channel was full of water and a huge Pelican was serenely gliding about occasionally sticking his beak into the water to catch fish.
We drove along The River Road which is where all the main camping sites are. There are 34 designated camp sites along this very winding dirt road. The River Road winds its way through Red Gum forest. Some of the old Red Gums are huge with many twisting branches. These often fall off and make for animal habitat on the ground below the shady branches above.
Some of the camp sites have pit toilets and most of them have fire pits. All of them are right on the river bank. We stopped at Weir 32 and it was amazing to see how much water was pouring over the weir. Last year there was only a trickle of water going across and all the rocks were exposed. We stood for quite a while watching fish jumping up the rocks against the flow of the water. They leap out of the water and swish their tails to try to get to the next level above. It’s a little mesmerising to watch and you want to cheer them on. It seems such a gutsy thing to achieve.
We continued on past the tree with flood markers, past the remains of the boiler from PS Providence, a paddle steamer that blew up, and on to the last site, no 34. This is where we all camped when there last year. Of course the water level is so much higher now but the banks are still quite high so the river could hold even more water. It really was a good camp site.
Back at camp a joint effort was made to prepare a camp oven roast for our dinner. Robert was in charge of the fire and the camp ovens.
One of Catie’s Dragon Boat friends came over from their camp at Copi Hollow to check out my inflatable Kayak. She is looking for a new kayak that is light enough for her to carry and I’d told her about my inflatable one the other night. She had a good look at mine and I think she will get one for herself. Amazon will have to pay me commission!
While the camp ovens were cooking our roast Catie and I set off for an evening paddle. This time we followed along the shore towards the north. We didn’t see any other campers at all although we could hear music playing somewhere ahead of us so there are campers much further along. We did see Pelicans, Cormorants, a few fish jumping and Catie even spied a tortoise. We also spotted a group of very bright green parrots. They were quite beautiful.
We came across a large tree that had fallen with most of its roost system exposed. However enough of the roots must still be in the ground because the tree has sprouted new branches all along its length and they are growing upwards like new trunks.
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