Once these grew the whole length of the Murray, both sides, but a lot died and have been replaced by young saplings as seen in photos already featured in this gallery. With settlement came the weeping willow which quickly spread the whole length, but recently these have been removed so the red-gum can do what it did before settlement. Note the blue sky! This appeared the day we left Mildura and were heading back home. We drove back through Renmark where this photo was taken because Dick wanted to call into a winery.

***From its source in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, the Murray River flows 2,530 kilometres west then south to meet the Southern Ocean in South Australia.

The Murray is continuously navigable for 1986 kilometres from Goolwa to Yarrawonga Weir. In this length there are thirteen weirs incorporating locks.

From millennia Aboriginal people have relied on the river’s abundance. The many various groups included Ingalta, Moorundie, Goodwarra, Parrian-kaperre, Tongwillum, and Yoorlooarra. In the Riverland, the Ngarrindjeri people lived on and along the lands around the Murray and the Coorong and are, today, South Australia’s largest Aboriginal community.