Vacation - The Mighty Murray river.

Vacation The Mighty Murray river.

Paddlesteamers, Houseboats, Fishing, Water skiing, Camping, Golf, Hiking, Canoing or just plain relaxing. What more could you ask for?  The Murray has it all.

Australia's largest river is 1,476 miles in length.

The mighty Murray river begins in the Alpine country, then wanders across the inland to become the border between Victoria and New South Wales, before turning south to reach the sea near the beautiful historic town of Goolwa in South Australia.

The Murray is famous for it's ancient red gums trees that have survived floods and droughts, although they are currently under a lot of environmental stress, which shows in the trees of the lower Murray dying off at an alarming rate. Hopefully the good rain this year will help!

Vacations on the Murray river are a great way to see some of the countries most amazing wetlands, agriculture and waterways.

For birdwatchers and nature lovers the Murray river is a fine a place indeed with hundreds of miles of waterways that support a variety of life that rely on the water from the Murray river in this parched land. There are few rivers in the world longer than the Murray, or as open to the public with great facilities in most places along the river and open free camping is allowed in some places.Just clean up properly when you leave our beautiful Murray river.

The mighty Murray river is home of the famous Murray Cod which tastes fantastic, grows to a huge size and has been responsible for may a fishy story in the local pub!.

The Murray river begins its journey in the Kosciusko National Park . Mount Kosciusko being the highest mountain in Australia.

The Murray flows down through the townships of Corryong and Tallangatta and reaches the larger twin cities of Albury in NSW and Wodonga in Victoria via the Lake Hume.

Flowing west wards the river is passes interesting little towns such as Howlong and Corowa until it spills into Lake Mulwala which has towns of Yarrawonga in Victoria and Mulwala in NSW.

The water level at Lake Mulwala is control by a dam wall and the Murray continues on its path to Cobram in Victoria and Barooga across the border in NSW.

The Murray continues on its meandering path until it reaches another twin city set up of Echuca in Victoria and Moama in NSW.

Echuca can be reached by car from Melbourne in a little over 2 hours and is acclaimed as the
Worlds Paddlesteamer capital. The Port of Echuca is a bustling working Port with a number of Paddlesteamers conducting cruises up and down the Murray River.

Paddlesteamers such as Emmylou, Alexander Arbuthnot and The Pevensey can be seen plying up and down the Murray virtually every day of the year.

There are many fine restaurants , and accommodation is available off the water and on the water in the way of Houseboats for a vacation not soon forgotten.

Leaving Echuca the Murray passes through picturesque little towns such as Cohuna where I spend many happy holidays . In fact I nearly drowned there and was saved by a quick thinking sister. Torrumbarry and Barham until it reaches Swan Hill.

Swan Hill was in the past was a major inland Trading Port where paddlesteamer stopped on there
regular trips up and down the Murray River.
Swan Hill is famous for the huge Moreton Bay Fig Tree planted in 1860, to honor of the ill-fated
expedition of Burke and Wills as they passed through Swan Hill. It is reported to be the largest example

still living in Australia. For the fisher-person the Murray Cod is well sort after in the river and there is a giant replica of a Murray Cod 11 metres in length.

From Swan Hill the river winds its way through Toolybuc Robinvale and reaches Mildura which is one of the largest regional cities in Australia.

Mildura settlement, established in 1887 and Wentworth region, has evolved into a diverse area.
Once know as Victoria's Food bowl due to its enormous growing power of citrus fruits (mainly oranges)
the area also supplies many wineries with grapes for the various types of wine.

Mildura has become a major holiday spot for people looking for a warm dry climate close to water.

From Mildura we find ourselves in the State of South Australia and winding peacefully down
to the district of Renmark which includes little townships such as Berri, a well known area for making delicious fruit juices.
Renmark is also the home port for the beautiful paddle-steamer 'PS Murray Princess'.
Leaving Renmark the Murray passes by townships of Waikerie, Morgan, Swan Reach and Mannum.

Mannum 52 miles (84km) East of Adelaide was first settled in 1840 and is referred to as the Houseboat
capital of Australia and it is indeed a great way to explore the Murray river.

The next large town the Murray passes through is Murray Bridge and is where the main highway (Princes) from Melbourne
crosses the Murray River,  then on to Tailem Bend until emptying into Lake Alexandrina which is connected
via The Murray Mouth