Day 1 in Mildura

We awoke to a bright sunny day, but very very cold! After breakfast at McDonald's (2 minutes down the road) we presented ourselves on the wharf to get the 10:50 Paddle Steamer ride. I could not believe the number of pelicans on the river. There are hundreds. Later on the trip we got chatting to the steamboat captain and he told us that usually there are about 30 or so pelicans here but as due to the cold weather there were a lot of easily caught small fish, I think he called them Bony Brim, so somehow the pelicans know it is easy feeding time up here and all fly in. Amazing - Kate, now we know why there were only a dozen at the mouth of the Murray, they are all up here!
We had a very nice two hour trip, going through No.11 lock, and down further before turning around. There were many birds that we spotted apart from the pelicans. Darters, Herons, Egrets and of course gulls. It was amusing to see the pelicans chase the gulls away as they did not seem to have it in for any of the other water birds. Sometimes there were 2 or 3 of them having a go at a single gull.
After the trip we walked around the main area of the town and found somewhere for lunch before driving along the river to the Old Murray Homestead, which had been pointed out as an interesting place to visit. While there we spotted the Paddle Steamer doing another tour. Also while there it poured with rain but as we were able to duck into the homestead buildings we did not get wet.