Ever had a mental image of what a place will be like and then be surprised at what you find when you arrive there. Griffith is one of those places for us. In fact we found a very interesting and productive region of the Riverina which is irrigated by the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Scheme.

Griffith is set amongst one of the most productive agriculture regions in Australia, with vineyards, fruit and nut orchards, cotton, rice and cereal crops. The paddocks are flood irrigated and the majority are laser-levelled for maximum efficiency.

Oranges, prunes, grapes, onions, rice and cereal crops are all you can see for miles.

This is a more modern irrigation channel and its watering system.

From the Hermits Cave Lookout you can see just how flat the paddocks area.

The cave was once home to Italian born migrant, Valerio Ricetti who lived the life of a hermit from the early 1920’s until 1952. The stone walls he constructed are still evident today.

On our drive up to the lookout the sweet perfume of these flowering bulbs growing along the side of the road filled the air. Yellow wattle and this little purple flower were also in full bloom.

These houses in the newer subdivision were pretty impressive.

Jim was pretty happy that the “Show and Shine” was on.

From Griffith we camped at Lake Cargelligo, the largest natural inland lake in NSW.

These little wrens were fluttering along the ground and in the trees on the waters edge.

Unfortunately the weather has taken a turn for the worse so we will move on and bunker down for a day or two.