He and his wife Linda, who are visiting the Border from England, stopped for a quick dip in the Murray River at Burrowye on Saturday afternoon to cool off in the scorching heat.

They were making their way to Jingellic for an overnight stay with Rick and Caroline Hanna, friends from Albury with whom they were holidaying.

Mr Hallam didn’t notice the ring was missing until they arrived at their destination that evening, by which time he was pretty confident it would have been well and truly washed away.

The couple, married for 28 years, had resigned themselves to shopping for a replacement but Mr Hanna thought it was worth stopping at the Burrowye swimming spot on the drive home the next day, just to have a look around.

And on this occasion, the mighty Murray was generous; as Mr Hallam scoured the shallow but stony river floor, a glint of gold near a log caught his eye.

“Lo and behold, I could see the ring in the sand,” he said.

“I just picked it up and held it up high and said, ‘I can’t believe I’ve found it’. I thought it would have washed away for sure.”

Aside from its material value, Mr Hallam said the solid gold, Greek-inspired ring was “quite sentimental”.

“We just didn’t think we’d find it again, my wife was ecstatic,” he said.

Mr Hallam is no stranger to the Border, having previously spent time here in 2007 as an exchange teacher at Murray High, where Mr Hanna also teaches.

This visit was social, however, to catch up with friends and of course, watch the cricket.

“We lost the Ashes but found a gold ring, so there’s some saving grace,” he laughed.