DENILIQUIN

Travelling the Northern Highway to Echuca - we found it bustling with school holliday folk, so we continued to Deniliqin or Deni as the locals call it.  We are staying at the "DENI CAR-O-TEL" - get it - caravan/hotel, it is economically priced with an ensuite to each site - standard !
Deni sits beside the Edward River which flows into the Murrumbidgee River.
The first trip we did was back to Echuca some 77 klm - wool was the lifeblood of the area and Echuca bustled with activity and the wharf was extended considerably to house the wool whilst waiting to be railed to Melbourne.  Things declined in the early 20th centurey, but in 1974 the old port was recreated and so this was what John and I explored;  driving back mid afternoon so he could watch the Chinese Grand Prix.
A couple of days later we drove north along the Cobb Highway to Hay, passing plains which still held some of the flood water from the past weeks.  Along this highway was "The Long Paddock" where cattlemen take their herds and travel along feeding and getting condition on them ready for market.
I found Hay interesting and after doing our usual walk around the historic buildings we popped out to the Dunera Museum in the old Railway Station which housed a display of extraordinary stories of the WW2 internment camp, containing Germans, Austrians, Italians, Japanese, later Jews brought from Europe.   The tales of sadness, frustration, loneliness and also fun times, artefacts, photographs all were very entertaining.
In the afternoon the historic Bishops Lodge, a remarkable iron building constructed in 1889 for the Anglican Bishop of the region.  It had remarkable technology in its construction, was insulated with sawdust, and special ventilation to handle the harsh Riverina climate.  The extensive grounds housed many varieties of roses and touring these added to my enjoyment.
Along the way home we explored the Black Swamp and the Headless Horseman which is rumoured to have ridden in that district.