the quest continues...............

As we continue our quest to find the best pastie and the best vanilla slice we both agree that todays contender came close! The Bakery on the Sturt Highway as we left Wakerie gave us excellent coffee and and the second best pastie and best vanilla slice so far.

After petrol cost our coffee and cake budget is the most expensive part of the holiday ....but is also good fun....so we will keep looking!

day 10 - 14

Sunday - day of rest! well every day is rest day when on holidays. Today we have had a quiet day to take in the beauty of our surroundings. We have walked a little and rested, and cooked a great little roast on the mini charcoal burner that we picked up from Harris Scarf 70% off. It is a little beauty and the coals were ready about the time it was finished cooking. Will take a bit of practice to get the timing right.

Monday we packed up and moved on to Morgan. The camp ground here is just on the river just near the ferry crossing and walking distance to the shops. We did the walk around which did not take too long - coffee and cake and the day was over. No internet here so Ron is in withdrawal. Finally worked out how to tune the telly but we had some murder she wrote on disk so that kept us amused for a while.

Tuesday we did a loop around drive taking in some scenic spots and ending up in Waikerie for coffee and cake. Ron discovered his second best pastie for the trip and the vanilla slice not too bad. The first of the locks & wiers at Blanchtown and the second in the middle of nowhere gave us some photo opportunity. We have 3 cameras on the go and so plenty of snaps will hopefully give us a few good shots to put in an album.

ron had his first attempt at fishing but was back fairly quickly as he had snagged all his gear and so he gave that up. He then went off for a long paddle.

Wednesday - moving day as we head off to Loxton. We have this great site to walk out our door and face the river. I think a few days here is required as we realise that our holidays are nearing half over. The weather today has been rain and cloudy, but at least the wind has settled this afternoon and the mozzies are not too bad. So as the night falls we finish tea looking out over the river.

day 9 saturday

Footy grandfinal day!

We took a drive for a couple of hours to investigate the river and check out the cliffs along the way. Some great pictures and some memory pictures as we explored.

No tv reception so it was grandfinal by radio and internet - bit like being overseas.

The small caravan park has filled to capacity with a variety of people. The young with their powerful motor boats anxious for the weather to break so they can get out and ski. Some grey nomads meandering their way around, including an older single lady in a small motor home from Queensland and touring on her own, There are families obviously at their regular retreat place - so good to see people relaxing and enjoying the activities.

Seemed a predominant cats supporting influence amoungst those listening in to the loud car radio. the rest of the people had gone up to the one pub to watch on the big screen.

We tried to take the boat out today but the waves splashed over into the boat almost sinking us to the point we were nearly waist deep in water so gave that up and headed to the bank to empty out and return to base.

Lets see what tomorrow brings - the weather is set to improve and hopefully the wind settles and we can have a decent paddle.

one week down - friday

the weather is what it is - can't do anything ab out it. We moved on from Mannum today and aimed for Swan Reach just a few K's up the road. Stopping at each photo point we made a cuppa and waited for the storm to pass before getting out of the car. At one stop I said to Ron you can go and take a picture but after a short while he came back and said I would want to see this! The view was amazing as the river sweeps around a big bend. Steep red cliffs and flood plains covered in water.

We pull into the park a little earlier than expected but no worries we set up again and for the first time have a go at the annexe. It took some patience as we endevour to work out how the different bits all put together. Finally all up just as the next storm came flooding down.

A walk over the small town area, coffee and carrot cake at the cafe, afternoon rest and a little grocery shopping and the day is over.

The SkipBo cards have been out and we wait for the storm to pass and look forward to some sunny days.

day 7 - thursday

Today we are based at Mannum and have been for a drive up to Walkers Flat. This is one of the areas where the big red cliffs of the river give a magnificent sight. We crossed over on the ferry and returned to Mannum in time to wander down the street for coffee and cake - seems to be a daily habit developing....trying to find the best bakery on the Murray.

This afternoon the weather has remained stormy with rain and wind so I curled up in bed with a book. Ron sat out for a bit and retreated into the van when the weather got too bad.

Some photos will follow when we have better internet.

day 6 - wednesday

Moving day today and we had the challenge of putting everything in its place and developing a routine for how to prepare for travel. I thought everything was connected and ready to go and discovered the pop top had not been put down!

We quickly realised that nothing goes to routine, everything needs to be set in place and even then things go wrong. When connecting the power connector plug to the van we kept blowing brake fuses. We managed to change every spare blue fuse and the problem was not resolved so it was a call to RACV and then the wait - so we put the kettle on and pulled out our ipads and filled in the next half hour until a very friendly man from RAA arrived. He had a bit of a fiddle with the connector and suggested we stock up on fuses until we discover the cause! The brake lights were working and we were on our way.

It had been raining most of the morning and we planned only a short drive to Mannum so we arrived there in time for lunch.

Tonight we are in a modern caravan park that is quickly filling. We are beginning to see the masses of grey nomads on the road and are looking with interest at their setups and trying to learn some tricks of how to manage this caravan experience.

Ron has found some more tv channels and so is relaxing on the bed with the remote in hand.

Rain and hail is expected tonight and we hope it clears tomorrow so we can put the boat in the water.

day 5 - tuesday

Today was the day for a walk around the sights of Murray Bridge. We picked up a tourist map from the 'i' place and played tourist. We wandered and drove around looking at the highlights and that took a little over an hour!!!!! Well it is not a very big town and everything is shut - open for tourists on the weekend. So we wandered the main strip and had coffee and cake. A drive down the main road, found Bunnings so we took a walk through. Then it was back to the van and time to prepare tea. Ron has set up the telly and the only station is SBS. Must be some way to get it working better.

A few more people have been arriving in the park as the long weekend and school holidays approaches. This park is particularly used by weekenders from Adelaide. The many permanent sites have a huge variety of watercraft - seems to be the place to be for water skiing.