10th May 2014
Plenty of rain last night and still drizzly up until mid morning.
 |
| Murray paddlesteamer |
We went to Mildura to see the legacy of the Chaffey brothers who engineered the extensive irrigation schemes in operation in the area. The Murray river was once a busy highway with paddlesteamers the common mode of transport, Once the railway came to town the water transport was doomed. Nowadays the river is used for houseboats and there are many restored paddlesteamers for the tourists. The lock system has altered the ecology of the floodplains and wetlands, but now thankfully measures are being taken to redress the damage. Fishways to allow the native fish species to swim upstream for example.
The Darling River joins the Murray at Wentworth, which is where we are staying. Wentworth was once a busy and important river port, in fact it was one of the suggestions for the federal capital, but presumably was an unpopular suggestion with NSW as it is so much closer to Melbourne than Sydney.
 |
| Darling to the left, Murray to the right |
No comments:
Post a Comment