OFF TO RENMARK AND PLUSHES BEND

On our trip from Mannum to Renmark we found this sign that has some interesting facts on the Murray River.  I was interested to note the Murray is the third largest river in the world!

The view from our office during coffee break

 Beautiful Renmark

Oooooo who's that?

Plushes Bend is where we stayed which is a nice camp site just out of Renmark

Some friends we met up with just having fun

Ummm well sort of!!

Some friends of ours decided to drop around for a bit of a jamboree, oh what fun we did have!

Johnno on the right is an established bush poet and gave us a rendition of number of his pieces. One was about the last man off Gallipoli which just about brought us to tears.  He showed me a letter he received from John Laws about his work.  Impressed! 

Shows you why there are a number of trees that have fallen over into the Murray.  Over time the roots get washed by the high waters and eventually they can't handle the weight of the tree.

So Renmark is very close to the border of South Australia and Victoria so we decided it was time to throw some more fruit and vegies away and cross the border.  Interestingly on this sign I found a bumper sticker that said 'Folding is more sustainable than scrunching'.  Quite glad after all this time to know the sustainable way to wipe my bum. Phew! ;) 

And with that we hit the road!

MANNUM

After our well earned R & R at Murray Bridge we decide to head to a nice little town in Mannum about 30kms North of Murray Bridge.  Here we came across our first contact with the many barge crossings of the Murray River.  These are in place of bridge crossings and are free of charge and every barge operator says hello and goodbye to every user with a big smile :) 24 hours a day.  Now that's a lot of smiles :0) :0)  They can transport cars, caravans and the biggest of trucks.

The operators have a control room at both ends of the barge.

After traveling for the considerable 30 km journey from Wrights Bridge we thought it only fitting that we support the local economy and wet the whistle at the local establishment.  This pub was the Pretoria Hotel and in 1954 was flooded as well as many other businesses and houses in the big flood.

And we were so happy to be in Mannum, Karen and I decided to renew our vowels on the banks of the Murray.  ...Or was that in the Bank of Murray?  Oh well in any case as I have always been not so quick on the uptake she decided to spell it out for me.....
A, E, I, O, you, I DO.

Anyway the Minister wasn't available for comment and in fact didn't show up at all, so the reception was a fairly small affair, just the two of us and a blow in from the other side of the river...

...and needless to say the chef's specialty on this most special of occasions was...

Duck Le'Orange

The Murray River is home to a number of paddle steamers and the Marion which was built in 1897 was restored and recommissioned in 1994 and is the last operational heritage, steam driven, wood fired overnight passenger carrying, side paddle steamer in the world! and that's a mouthful to remember!

Another paddle boat on the Murray at Mannum was the Murray Princess. I thought after renewing our vows it might be a good idea to whisk Karen away for a weekend on this beautiful paddle boat....

...but at the end of the day why pay good money when you already have a luxury river craft at your fingertips and let's face it folks there is real satisfaction in rowing the length and breadth of the Murray and building your wife's muscles at the same time.  Thanks S.S. Dolphin! Kids block your ears.... romance is still alive!

S.S. Dolphin

But kids don't forget that if your going to operate expensive luxury equipment like this, never be under the influence of alcohol and always wear your life jackets.

...and as the sun sets on another South Australian All Aussie Adventure...

it was time to hit the road.

WE HIT SOME LUCK IN MURRAY BRIDGE

After setting ourselves a considerable task of getting some kms under our belts we decided to head down through the towns of Pt Wakefield and a lovely little town of Gawler to settle down for a couple of days of well deserved R&R in the beautiful town of Murray Bridge.  This bridge was the first road bridge constructed over the lower Murray River in 1879.

As with many of the rural towns in South Australia the towns are quite meticulously cared for 

During one of our adventures in the town of Murray Bridge we came across Josh and Paul who were having an adventure of their own.  They decided to sail their custom built sail raft as far as they could on their holidays.  They explained that the vessel was a little hard to navigate and apart from getting rather sun burnt they spent a fair bit of their sailing time stuck in marsh reeds.  By the time we came along they had come to the end of their adventure and had dismantled the mast.

And you just wouldn't believe our luck just after we met these intrepid adventurers we met a fine upstanding fellow by the name of Spike Smith who said if we were quick we could take purchase of this little steam train beauty!  A mere $52,500 was all that it set us back so we decided to trade the 4WD and caravan in on it cause it seemed a deal just too good to be true!

Spike told us that with just a little TLC she would be up and running in no time!  How excited we both were!

After having a little trouble with the starter motor I decided to contact Spike and find out if there was any chance we would be able to opt out of the contract and as luck was again on our side he mentioned he was happy to oblige.  He said there was only one condition and that was we take possession of his latest 'houseboat' for an additional $15,000.  After considering this was a deal we couldn't turn down we called into the Bank and are now the owners of our first house boat!

Spike advertised it as absolute luxury

And after our maiden voyage ending up on the bottom of the Murray we thought it probably best it was time to hit the road

RV's IN MELROSE WITH ALL THE ADDED EXTRAS

After taking off from Wilmington pub we stumbled across the town of Melrose where we found a new concept in motor home RV's!  Talk about taking your home with you!

Apparently all that is needed is a set of mirrors and to fix the lights and your are good to go!

I like the features of this one because it comes with an optional balcony chair with seat belt, so the misses can enjoy a cuppa on the balcony whilst your driving to your next destination.  Whatagreatinvention!

Anyways with the sun setting and no time to lose, it was soon time to hit the road!

AN OLD FLAME AT WILMINGTON

And heading off from Pt Augusta with Wilmington as our destination we head into part of the Flinders Ranges.  I said to Karen looks like we will have to climb those hills with 2 tonnes of caravan on the back!  Nah we'll be right!

Hmmm Getting a little concerned! :(

As we head down into 2nd gear and with nowhere to turn around we're headed for the top.  But we weren't the slowest vehicle, a truck up ahead put us down into 1st gear for the duration of the climb.

Once we made it over the Flinders we decided to wet the old whistle at the Wilmington Hotel when you wouldn't believe I met up with an old flame of mine that I hadn't seen for a long time, Karen wasn't altogether very happy but we did reminisce about old times.

......and the time when Dean got caught with his pants down!!

....and you were caught outside the men's room ahahahah

Just when it seemed it couldn't get any better between Sheryl and me reminiscing about the good old days..... Little did I know Sheryl had a bit of history in this local town of Wilmington....

... in walks Pikey angry that I was cutting his grass with his girlfriend Sheryl!!

....and after a very bruising encounter, I had forgotten how these country folk can handle themselves, we decided that if I put on a few rounds of XXXX all would be forgotten.

Even Pikey's wife Penny decided to join us for one of the town's frosty beverages and we all reminisced about good times had.

Karen's only comment was that she thought Sheryl seemed fake and looked a little plastic and she couldn't see what I saw in her! But what you do in your youth is another matter!

Then it was 

TIME TO HIT THE ROAD

PORT AUGUSTA

The road into Pt Augusta was very picturesque

Yep

Ummm a bit of a funny story for you....

When we left Whyalla I thought it was pointless carrying the 40 litres of petrol on our roof as we had traversed the Nullabor without the need of it so instead of using LPG I switched over to petrol and just out of Pt Augusta I took one of the jerry's from the roof and filled the petrol tank back up.  

Coming into the main town of Pt Augusta I let out a big WhooooWhooo! 'Look at the price of LPG here and I quickly proceeded to swerve violently into the petrol station because I was definitely filling up there.  Any way I left the filling up with Karen cause over the road was a very convenient Sip and Save store that contained some vital XXXX supplies for us to continue our trip. 

On getting back to the petrol station I thought we should be all fueled up however Karen said we have only managed to put $2.65 into the tank.  The station manager told us that must be the slow pump so we used the other one but still the same problem!! I thought great, now we have another problem!

We tried swapping the pumps over again but that didn't work so the manager said he was going to re-start his pumps a little later but in the mean time there was another station with LPG down the road.  So with van in tail, we headed to the other station that had the same great price and proceeded to fill up, only to have the same problem! Yep definitely a problem with our gas system as this manager said he didn't have anyone with problems today and after the second time Karen went into the station store to pay the 89 cents that we owed I noticed a funny thing on the dash board.... And so with an already very full gas tank because we were running on petrol....

IT WAS TIME TO HIT THE ROAD! AND NOT TELL ANYONE WE WERE FROM WESTERN AUSTRALIA

WHYALLA

Whyalla beach is a walk about 500 metres off the foreshore when the tide is out.  Instead of swimming out when someone is in trouble they need to be really good at running!

The forshore

Hello! 

Just a short walk and you're wet

Please walk between the flags!

I figure this tree has been around for a while

And after meeting one of our mates Robbo, I said it would be OK if he had a picture of the fish I caught on the sandbar

And after giving Robbo a good size filet from my catch it was
TIME TO HIT THE ROAD