Wintersun Run 2014

[Cormanus]

Day 4: Mildura to Wentworth and return

77 kms [url=https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?msid=201247423130042081552.0004fbf1757f2a8d33cb1&msa=0]Map

It was cold again in the morning, but the rally organizers kindly provided a breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage with a cup of tea for $5 so we ate that and talked to a few other motorcyclists who had made the trick to Mildura, a town in north western Victoria just over the New South Wales border and close to South Australia. Indeed it is closer to Adelaide than Melbourne. It used to be a centre of grapes for fortified wine but has now become a major citrus growing area. There was a bit of speedway for juniors in the late morning and we watched a little of it.


The juniors get in some practice

Later we rode the short distance to Wentworth over the border in NSW to see the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers which are critical sources of water for most of Eastern Australia. From Wentworth the Murray flows into the sea near Adelaide. One of these days I'll go back there with my wife for a houseboat trip.



Pterodactyl—at great personal risk —rode his CB into the park so I could take a photo of it with the confluence in the background. Here it is.



Luckily he escaped without being caught.

After coffee and cake in a nearby café we rode a very short distance to the Perry Sand Hills which are attractive and seem very out of place in the middle of this flat but fertile country.



Then back to Mildura for beer, another hamburger, red wine and festivities by the bonfire in honour of the rally and the speedway.

There was one other notable feature of Day 4: it was just warm enough for me to ride in my lighter gloves, so I managed some shots on the move.


Pterodactyl leaves the rivers behind




Out here corners are rare: Pterodactyl gets in some practice

In preparation for the excitement of the speedway, and because it was cold, the organisers kindly lit a fire for me.


Cormanus warms his chilly hands