Doing not much on the Murray

Lovely day today, weather got warm midday but when your doing nothing it's good, went a walk, did some crocheting, talked to the neighbours, Bentley keeping well away from the chihuahua's, he is enjoying himself having a wander around and we have to find him, just nosing around someone's van, especially if they are cooking. We had the fish at lunch time and its name is Grunter, very tasty.
Will move on tomorrow but this has been a lovely spot.
Photos
Houseboat for sale, notice the garage type door, that's where you drive your car on !!
White cockatoos, they make a lot of noise
White cockies
I think more talking and drinking than fishing happening tonight

Still on the Murray

Well we are camped on the Murray still, bit further down stream, Brian had the wheel thingy done which took an hour so he went into MacDonalds and had burger, coffee and Internet hit while it was been done then we headed of on the road, stopped at Loxton for lunch and then came to Moorook, a little place by the river that lets you camp for $8 a night, I wasn't sure, bit early to stop and I wanted to see what Kingston on Murray was like about 15ks down the road, I'm not sure what I expected but it wasn't as nice as Moorook so we headed back and camped again facing the river, there about 5 or 6 other vans here. About 5pm as we were having drinks the fishermen came out and flurry of excitement as a reasonable size fish was caught, it was a Gunter, so Brian joined in but the size of the fish kept getting smaller, anyway a good time and we scored two fish when they divvied them out, so tea tomorrow. The campers around seemed to have small dogs, little chihuahua and they chased Bentley, he didnt like them but wouldnt stand up for himself and he ran to Brian and in the end he went back to the van. Normally he will stand up for himself but I think he was intimidated by them all, about 6 altogether
Photos
Another nice camp on the river
Canoes passing by
Fishermen

Our last day on the Murray

Heard some rain in the night and Brian got up at 2am to make sure we hadn't left to much out in the rain, it didn't rain much and the day has been cloudy but no rain. It was cold first thing and no power meant no heater, glad I had my winter PJ's on. We took a drive into Renmark, organised a wheel alignment for the car for tomorrow and had coffee and scones at the Riverside Cafe, then a drive to Berri and a look around and back to camp for lunch and a lazy afternoon. We feel ready to move on from the Murray tomorrow and after the wheel thingy we will pack up and move further into SA, again not sure where we will stop, but Burra is a town we have visited before and enjoyed.
Photos
Morning tea at Riverside Cafe
Can you see the waterline on the trees, this where the flood waters would have been, last major flood was 1993
A bit blurry this photo but its a water bird, see the spoonbill, it was walking along feeding on the edge of the river
One of the hen type birds we see often
Our campfire with a pelican sailing by

Moving on to Renmark

We packed up today for our move to Renmark , have really enjoyed our stay here in Mildura, we slept well last night even with the concert across the river.
It was a boring drive to Renmark along the Sturt Hwy though we did find a nice stop at a lake for our cuppa and a run around for Bentley, we decided on a free campsite tonight and we have a spot by the river again, about 5ks outside of Renmark which is in SA and we gained half hour so only 1 1/2 hours ahead of WA, after setting up camp and having lunch we drove into town for a look see, visited the tourist centre for a town map, very handy as we get lost easily, I think we will enjoy a walk around town tomorrow. We stopped for some supplies as coming into SA we had to hand in all our fruit and veg at the quarantine station, so tea tonight is Chicken sausage, coleslaw and a bun
Photos
Our campsite by the river
Looking down the river at other campers
An odd boat or house boat berthed at Renmark
Lovely fountain in Renmark

Farmers market and bits

We started today by going to the Farmers Market, just over the river, great market, lot bigger than Albany, they have breakfast there and very well organised by the lions club, we had egg and bacon roll $7 each, the big breakfast was $12 and looked great, we bought bread, grapes, and lots of other stuff, really good and dog friendly. We then went to Dockside Cafe which is on the marina in Mildura and had coffee and scone, real cream. Very new development and the only marina on the Murray River. Took a drive to Wentworth where the Murray and Darling Rivers meet, not as interesting as we thought but you can see the colour difference, the Darling being the more muddy looking, I had a quiet afternoon while Brian went in to town for a kMart hit.
Tonight we can hear music from across the river and it seems Guy Sebastian is in Mildura and performing live so we could be in for a noisy but nice evening, also had a bridal party over the river arrive by stretch limo and had photo taken, such a busy life but we are enjoying. We will move on tomorrow probably towards Renmark but we have enjoyed our stay here in Mildura and would love to do a houseboat holiday sometime
Photos
Breakfast at Farmers Market
Dockside Cafe
Murray and Darling meeting
Cormorant drying its wings
Night shot on the river

Paddle steamer and Paws Resort

Today we decided on a trip up the river, only 2 hour cruise but we thought too long to leave Bentley in the van or car so we booked him into Paws Resort, sounds flash but its a kennels recommended by the caravan park and very nice friendly people, so Bentley spent the day there.
We had a lovely cruise, went through one lock around to the weir and down the Murray before turning around. Had a cuppa and cake, took lots of photos and just enjoyed.
After the cruise we went to MacDonalds for lunch as we had vouchers and we thought we would have some wifi, but not today not connecting, coffee was good though, Brian had two cheeseburgers and I had a fish burger, while we were free and Bentley enjoying his day care I went to craft shops and then we went to Cheap as Chips, bargain shop. Picked Bentley up about 3.30pm and he was very happy to see us, we now relaxing with a wine before tea of Pad Thai
Photos
Our paddle steamer Rothbury
Entering the lock
Ready to leave lock
Weir
Wheelhouse
Munro another paddle steamer
Bentley, happy to be back with us

Moving on to Mildura

Packed up today to travel to Mildura about 85ks away, stopped at rest area for a cuppa and caught up with some fellow avanners who are in the avan club and heading to Pambula in NSW for the avan AGM had a nice chat before we both went separate ways, arrived at Buronga, just outside Mildura, looks a good site, $26 a night that's with pensioner discount and we got a riverside site. On the opposite side is the wharf where the paddle steamers leave from, made a bit of noise with the ships horn that Bentley wasn't impressed with!
We took a drive into town, has a nice mall with shops and we went to a bakery for a coffee, we decided on a cake each ( we usually share one ) and that would have been $8.40 for cakes but we could have 4 cakes for $10 so we bought 4, two with our coffee and two we brought back to camp, I had fruit flan and Brian vanilla slice, seem to be having a lot of cake the last few days, but why not we are enjoying it.
Tea tonight is leftover chicken pasta and garlic bread
Photos
Paddle steamer Melbourne, does a daily cruise
Campsite
A smaller paddle boat