Rest Day – Deniliquin

First things first. The town’s name comes from a white Australian mishearing the name of a local aboriginal elder. I must admit it sounds like the away captain of a visiting quidditch team to Hogwarts. The town sits on the Edward River and this water is a vital part of the local farmlands through irrigation channels.

The river flows through the town and looks idyllic. It enables quite a bit of bathing and water sports. Its muddy appearance is blamed on carp. They’re not indigenous and not loved or eaten! I don’t think they help but there’d need to be a lot of carp to colour it. All this was explained to me by Margaret and Sonya at the Information Centre who patiently answered my questions about the town’s history and livelihood.

Deniliquin’s existence is based on farming. Sheep and beef are vital and they roam and produce good meat, merino wool and dairy. Then there’s dry crops (crops that rely on rainfall such as cereals.) That leaves crops that need copious water from the river. Rice, surprisingly to me, is an important local crop and one of the largest processing plants is nearby. Cotton is a new crop that they manage to grow without its usual massive need for water. It was all interesting as was the various pestilences of fire ants, mice, rabbits, rats etc that literally became plagues at various times. Drought is a concern but flooding is a bigger problem but somehow farmers all seem to make a living and they generate a need for services and the existence of the town.

A few folk drift in and out of this Information Centre and I believed the ladies enjoyed answering all my questions and displaying their immense local knowledge.

It wasn’t all educational though and I managed to combine a trip to the laundrette with some bike maintenance.

Here I met Jean who was cleaning the shop. This was one of four jobs she did during the week. She was born and bred in ‘Deni’ and seemed one of the hard working and non-grumbling folk you find around here. Remorselessly cheerful she told me of her four adult children and what they all did for a living. Added to that was her 97 year old mother in care who required her attention. A busy life: she needed a rest day! If there are any people who make the world go round then these are they.

Clearly breakfast was on my mind…

Back at the motel with my clean washing I put my feet up and then typed ‘museum’ into Google Maps. Result! I found a car museum called The Depot. This was a family collection beautifully displayed. I particularly loved the Australian vehicles.

Now I’ve found a car museum I feel my work is now done in Australia. If you know me then such a collection is nirvana.

A bit like a Sunday night at home then despite there being the remaining hours of the weekend your thoughts turn to work tomorrow. Back at the motel I folded my clothes, stuffed my panniers, looked at tomorrow’s route, had a quick call with Anna, typed up this drivel, had my beef pie, potato salad and tomato and thought about getting on the road and heading toward my third State of the trip, Victoria. an early start methinks.