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Photos Murray River – Albury to Echuca2020-12-19T11:06:36+11:00

These are our notes and tips from our travels to photograph a major event in Victoria. We love Murray River Camping, it’s great part of Australia to enjoy the outdoors.

We had the pleasure of a road trip down to Lexton in Victoria, January 2016, 2017, 2018 and this January 2019. Lexton is on the Sunraysia Highway, 160 km north west of Melbourne, about 2 hours drive. We’ve really enjoyed the free Murray River campsites from Albury to Echuca over the years.

Our journey starts from the Sydney CBD and head south-west to photograph the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd Rainbow Serpent Festival. Instead of using the high traffic Hume Highway which can make the road trip fairly laborious. And with mostly only paid or noisy highway accommodation options. It’s an easy decision to take the scenic option of travelling along part of the mighty Murray River.

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According to google maps, it adds less than an hour of drive time than using the boring highway.

Road Trip Along the Mighty Murray River Updated Jan 2019

This about our fifth road trip along the Murray, the others, some years ago when the water levels were much much lower.

January being fairly warm to hot along most of this road trip means a quenching swim in the Murray is never too far away, sometimes just a step or two as you can see in some of the photos.

Besides Lexton’s Rainbow Serpent Festival you could also be heading to Mildura if so check out Arts Mildura as Murray River International Music Festival is on the same weekend.

You can experience the Murray River all the way from Victoria’s High Country and all or most of the way to the desert country, Mallee and Outback. Which I must say is a favourite part of Australia for me to visit as well.

PS. We didn’t take this road trip in 2020 so far due to bush fires and smoke risk.

Peaceful Reflections Camping Murray River

Peaceful Reflections Camping Murray River

Map Overview and Trip Notes

Google Map says 11.5 to 12 hours total driving time and around 1050km for the trip. This isn’t all that much more than using the main highway and certainly more enjoyable. Approximate Trip Times;
  • Sydney to Goulburn around 2-3 hours
  • Goulburn to Yass 2.5 to 3 hours
  • Yass to Albury around 2 hours
  • Albury to Tocumwal 1.5 to 2 hours
  • Tocumwal to Echuca 1.5 to 2 hours
  • Echuca to Lexton 2.5 to 3 hours

Road Trip Note: Murray River Campsites

This post is a diary of our trip from January 2016, 2017, 2018 and this January 2019. These were our experiences and places visited then. Hopefully this post is of assistance to people travelling the same route, you assume and make all your own decisions about its suitability for you and your travelling companions.

If it’s wet, it may not be suitable for many types of vehicles or with caravans in tow. We haven’t seen any dramas ourselves in the wet or dry. If it’s been rainy you may need to find a way around some of the road dips. There’s usually one or even two.

Comment Section Below is Now Open

If you have more up to date information from a recent trip, please comment or send me a note and I’ll update the post. It may help other travellers.

Highway or Waterway

Now that the decision has been made to take the best road trip route to Rainbow Serpent (Lexton) or Murray River Festivals, read below for some insight into our previous experience travelling this route for a free camping road trip from Sydney along the Murray River Victorian side.

Our notes end at the very picturesque Echuca as that’s where we turn south west to Beaufort and Lexton.

Here you can enjoy the crowd free camping on banks of the Murray river, no facilities just peaceful bush land and the river. This time of year it’s normally very calm near sunset where the water turns to a mirror finish and if there’s a few clouds about the sky lights up in all sorts of spectacular colour.

Now is good time to check on Parks Victoria website for closures or warnings, covers most of the areas on this trip with important information on Murray River Access.

Day Two

After enjoying the overnight silence and camping proximity to the Murray River its time for a good breakfast and sit around planning the day watching the local cattle heard come in for river drink, this was unexpected ! see pic

You’re now heading in a mainly westerly direction, no specific or detailed directions given or required as the road travels back and forth so close to the Murray River you’ll notice there’s lots of places to explore or if you’re less adventures just keep heading towards Tocumwal / Echuca. In distance and time it’s not huge but we spent a day exploring ducking in and out of various reserves.

Murray River West of Albury

A few comments as you approach Echuca; there are no peaceful or free campsites right near the town that I can recommend, not on the eastern side at least. There is an area pretty close to town before you get in proper but it looked pretty bleak of a spot and would not recommend it. I suggest staying half hour or so from town center, maybe part way back to Barmah ? Lots of bush camping options along that stretch of the river.

If you want to see where the Goulburn River meets the Murray River, phone map app ‘Looker Rd Echuca’  head north, park nearby and have a look at the junction, it’s got fairly good access for a look and why not while you’re in the neighborhood.

Echuca is a place I look forward to visiting when I’m traveling west along the Murray, it’s got everything you need, one of the main streets is called Hare St. Lots of food options, camping supplies, supermarkets and paddle steamers, check out the museum if you can. If you’re there in February 2017 Echuca has the River Boat Festival with artists Paul Kelly, Hoodoo Gurus and James Reyne to name a few.

Oh btw, did you travel back into NSW for a tiny bit when you visited Tocumwal ? it’s a pretty sweet town, fuel and amenities available.

Murray River Farming

Echuca Camping by the River

One thing we’ll be adding to this article is more information on access and camping locations on along the Murray reasonably close to Echuca.

If you have helpful information you’d like to share, please do so by email or in the (just opened) comments section below.

Simmie and Bangerang Road to the Murray

Our last night before turning south at Echuca for Lexton was spent near Corner of Simmie and Bangerang Road, Victoria. Type that into your map app and you’ll be close, head north to the Murray River and find a spot. There are very few river beaches on the reserve for an easy walk in for a swim. Most camping spots have a steep descent of 2-3 metres to the waters edge, and with many fallen trees this makes for a very cautious swim, we didn’t and just enjoyed the free camp spot before venturing into Echuca to refuel and head to our final destination to Lexton via Bendigo on the Northern Hwy.

At Lexton for Rainbow Serpent Festival

For those of you heading to RSF. Have a look around Lexton, enjoy a lunch and pick up a few more supplies. Then it’s on to the Beaufort-Lexton Rd to the festival entrance.

RSF Festival Entrance Address – The festival is located at the end of Jack Smiths Lane in Lexton Victoria. The lane comes off the Beaufort-Lexton Highway and is approximately 3.5km south-west of Lexton.

With Melbourne only a couple of hours south east you could head straight there if that was your original plan but we had a date with 18 000 happy campers at Rainbow Serpent Festival for 4 days and nights of artful fun.

Cool Road Trip Music Video and Message

This isn’t a post to preach or to tell you what you know already but here are a few things I’ve picked up on my long distance driving adventures;
  • Not advisable to start a long trip at night after a day’s work, a big no-no. Driving between 10pm and 6am is associated with four times the risk of a fatigue crash than at other times during the day.
  • Attempting more than 8 hours in a single day on the road is foolish unless you can share the driving with someone else and you’ve had a big nights sleep the night before. Start fresh straight after a light breakfast, drive for 2 hours tops, stop for brunch. As I wrote above, Goulburn may be within 2 hours reach of Sydney for you. Same in the afternoon, stop for an afternoon rest. Explore the little town you’ve never stopped at before, you’ll be pleasantly surprised if you look around with an open mind.
  • Do not drive after your first drowsy spell, the next will come quick, and if you survive that without a huge scare or worse, the next one will hit you even quicker.
A bit more info about country road driving especially if you’re new to Australian regional driving conditions
These are just a few things I’ve learnt from years of experience driving to most major towns and National Parks in NSW and driving one and half times around Australia, its a big country.
With a sound mind and sound car you’ll be free to enjoy our Australian bush and have the best time at Rainbow Serpent Festival, then get home to look at my photos :)

A song about Road Safety produced by Kamahi Djordon King and Jason Wanambi during the Gatjirrk Milingimbi Festival 2016. Produced by ALPA, with funding from NT Government, Artback NT, Australian Government – Catalyst Australian Arts and Culture Fund, Australian Government Regional Arts Fund. And to Milingimbi Community Education Centre.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xhoAfVB1Po

Further Reading and online Murray River Resources

Echuca Moama are twin towns nestled on the mighty Murray River. Here you can indulge all your senses from great eateries, live music festivals set against a natural backdrop of moving rivers, ancient river gums and wonderful Mediterranean style climate.
https://www.echucamoama.com/

http://www.artsmildura.com.au/Murray-River-International-Music-Festival/Home.aspx
http://www.victorianplaces.com.au/lexton

The Pyrenees Wine Region, about half an hour outside Ballarat, is the sort of place you can visit on a day trip or quite happily potter around for a week – however long you manage to stretch your trip out for, you can’t really help but have your fair share of delicious food and locally produced wine.