Ok, so we were leaving Mildura, but really, we were still around having just headed down the road to Robinvale to camp by the river for the Robinvale Ski Race.  Corey’s dad camps in a great spot every year and generally we head down to the river on Ski Race weekend.

This year we had the van and we managed to get a fabulous spot, literally about 3 meters from the river’s edge.

We had also been in touch with Kate from @Phillips_Family_Adventures who had let us know that they were planning to come over to Robinvale from SA to watch the race (they had friends racing) and they arrived (amidst some excitement of jolly revellers who didn’t know they were staying with us) in the evening.

Having Kate and Jamie there was the best as their three children are similar in age to our two girls and they had an absolute blast over the weekend.  And to be honest, we had a fabulous time getting to know Kate and Jamie too!  Still boggles my mind that people can meet over instagram and form an instant friendship when they meet up in real life!

Anyway, the kids spent as much time in the water as they could when the boats weren’t racing, and the adults just enjoyed the down time.

Corey’s cousins were also in town visiting, camped at another spot along the river so we stopped by one afternoon to catch up with them before heading back to our camp.

The Phillips family were off the next day, as was pretty much everyone else, except us.  We said our farewells, knowing we’d meet up again soon on the road somewhere!

Such a great camping experience this year and seeing Miss B with her new found confidence having watched the boys fly down the hills on their balance bikes was an awesome outcome as well!

That night Corey’s mum and dad, and Uncle Bill came out for a roast lamb dinner that I’d cooked in the Shuttle Chef (that we’d bought at the Adelaide camping show this year).  It was delicious and the perfect end to our river camping in Robinvale.

The next day we headed into Corey’s parent’s house to have showers, gather washing with Corey’s mum had taken home with her and of course, wash down the van.

And then it was really time to move on… away from ‘home’ and onto the second phase of our trip! Well, after we get the van fixed in Melbourne first!

Do you enjoy camping down the river? Do you ever go camping with new friends?