Tour boat going through Lock 6

We had to wait for this tour boat to be moored in the Lock before we moved in behind it..

Weir along the Murray River

This weir is between Renmark and Wentworth S.A.. This weir is at Lock 6.

Inside houseboat..

Brian at the wheel.. I had a go at driving and I thought I was doing pretty good but not so according to Captain Brian here.. He said go have a look at the back of the houseboat to see how straight you are driving this machine.. Oh gawd I was all over the place lol but I had fun driving it just the same ....

Couple of views inside the houseboat..

Nice big yellowbelly

Wow check out the size of this one he caught..Brian was so over the moon when he landed this big one...Its a nice sized yellowbelly...

Brian with one of the fish he caught

Just one of the fish Brian caught while on the houseboat..Nice big fat yellowbelly, have yet to eat this one...This was his first catch and before he caught this one he only had 2 lines in the water but not so now.. He had up to 5 rods all out there trying to catch more. He just enjoyed it all so much...

The Houseboat Holiday

We had just over a weeks holidays on the Murray River near Renmark on a place called Chowilla Station...

The road to this place had 40 klms of dirt and as rough as, everything shook in the motorhome...I have been on some rough roads before but not like this one, you cant imagine just how corrigated it was...but it was worth it in the long run cause we had a lovely relaxing time. Brian done quite a lot of fishing, catching yabbies and shrimp..He done pretty well at fishing better than me, the only one that did get on my line ended up getting away so that was the end of fishing for me lol.. Brian got 5 nice sized yellowbelly and of course some of those stinking carp, which I might add ended up on the bank...I just loved the feeling of being able to move around, not like the motorhome where you have no room at all..A friend and his wife joined us for the weekend on the houseboat.. The men sat around and had a few drinks, fished, had a few drinks, fished, lol...

This is a view from the houseboat decking taken while going up the river....

Our tour group at Port Labrat S.A

The mini bus that we went on to Port Labrat. S.A .. We had a great day out that day, While the men were busy bumping their gums together as they congregated outside the mini bus during the lunch break us ladies were being entertained by one of the ladies who had all these funny jokes on her mobile phone. After some of the jokes I siad to Julie has my hair gone curly... LOL..

This is the group who were on the day tour with us...Photo was taken of them on the viewing deck. One of the couples we had met before when we were camping at Port Gibbon..Couldnt belive it when we arrived at the Streaky Bay Caravan Park and here they were again..Would love to meet up with them again one day...

Port Labrat Eyre Peninsula S.A

As you can see by the date on these next lot of photos I should have posted them in my blog last month but it was only yesterday when I was going through all my photos that I realised I hadnt posted this lot..

When were were at Streaky Bay S.A we went on a mini tour for 1/2 a day and one of the places of interest we went to was at Port Labrat S.A where lives a seal colony..This viewing deck was really scarey, I didnt think that I would be able to walk out on it to look down below to see the seals but somehow I got up the courage and did it..Well all the others out of the group kept saying come on you will be ok so after a bit of persuasion from them yes I did it..It was built overhanging this huge cliff as you can see by the photos...The day we were there I would say there would have been at least 60 seals. The tour guide told us he has counted well over 100 at times...

Loxton Pelican Statue S.A

Isnt it strange how a lot of towns have their own unique statue..Well here in Loxton its no different. This one of Mr Pelican is great..There he sits down by the Murray River here overlooking the water..

Loxton Historic Village S.A

Now this is what you call stepping back in time..There is so much to see in the village and oh the memories that come flooding back when you see certain things..

My Man the Model... lol...

Meet Mr Model himself.. lol Travelling along he just decided to be the clown like he always is and just grabbed my hat n popped it on his head...So I quickly grabbed the camera n took his photo....Jennifer Hawkins eat ya heart out move over Mr Brian is on his way.............too funny lol...

View from barge Purnong S.A

Took this snap while crossing the river on the barge...

Driving onto the barge Purnong SA

Took this photo as Brian was driving down onto the barge...

Houseboat at Purnong S.A

This houseboat went past us early the next morning while we were sitting outside the motorhome eating our brekkie.. I quickly got the camera out to get a shot of it going up the river..

Barge at Purnong. SA

This is one of many barges that work along the Murray River transporting cars etc from one side of the river to the other and its all free... This one here in the photo is the one at the river here where we stayed for the nite. We went across it the next morning..

Camping at Purnong SA

Camped here for one nite beside the Murray River..Nothing at Purnong, no shops at all, just a few shacks along the river but thats it, end of story..

Jetty at Rapid Bay S.A

This jetty has just been built and the day we were there was the big opening day for it. Dignetries were flown in by helicopter for the big opening. People from the camp walked over to watch it all..Didnt interest us to walk over to watch it all happening..

Rapid Bay South Australia.

This was looking across from out campsite here.. Dont know what those building are for but people work there every day ...

Rapid Bay S.A

Spent 2 nites here for only $10 per nite..It was such a welcome sight to be able to camp on lawn instead of dust and dirt all the time..Very nice place..

Hand painted wine cask no..4

If you happen to be in the Tunnunda area go take a look at the Dorrien Winery. You wont be dissapointed im sure..

Hand painted wine cask no.3

Hand painted Wine Casks no.2

Another hand pained wine cask....

Hand painted wine casks at Dorrien Winery S.A

Wow I said as soon as I saw these casks...I know how good they look in a photo but to see them with your very own eyes is truly amazing.. Simply wonderful.. Theres bout 6 of them and they are all in a row..

Winery in Tunnunda South Australia.

This winery is just so lovely inside you should see how the big wine casks have been all hand painted, I took a few photos of them so I could put on my blog here so you too could see them all....We spent $100 on wines and white port..Havent had any of them yet, saving them for when we go on this houseboat on 23rd March..

Tarlee South Australia..

We stopped here and had a coffee break on our way to Adelaide.. Talia is only a small little town and lots of grapes are grown here....South Australia is so different from QLD. here towns are as close as maybe 20 klms from each other and that seems to be like it a lot here..Not like back home in QLD the towns are so far apart in places....

another view of the horse and buggy in Hahndorf S.A

Horse and Buggy at Hahndorf S.A

See
what I mean when I said that here in Hahndorf you really feel as tho your in another country and in another time. This is just one of the many tourist attractions here..

Hahndorf Markets Sign S.A

Hahndorf shop

A closeup of the statues outside the shop ....

Yet another shop here in beautiful Hahndorf in South Australia.

Hahndorf shops

Another shop here in Hahndorf, You know when your in this little town you really do feel as tho your in another country..It just seems to take you back in time, thats what we loved most about this place..So very pretty and all the shops seem to have their own character about them..

Hahndorf S.A

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Hahndorf is a very pretty place..We spent a few hours here looking in all the quaint little shops, some of the stuff was over priced but then isnt that the same at all these tourist places.. Took a few pics of some of the shops so you can see for yourself just how quaint they all look...

Antique Shop

We had a browse inside this antique shop and OMG you should have seen all the crystal that was in there. I could have gone mad if only I had somewhere to put it all till we got back home to Brisbane..It was directly opposite the pub where we had lunch.. Strathalbyn is full of antique shops, Brian and I just love browsing in them..

Pub at Strathalbyn

Has lunch at this pub. soup and mains for only $10 each not bad value and was a very nice meal...

Back Again

Spose you wondered where the hell I had got to.. Would have been in here days ago if I wasnt so bloody stupid. Now let me explain the stupid bit ok.. Went to download all my photos into Photobucket but when I was in there the upload images and videos was gone. I looked everywhere on the site and couldnt find the bloody thing. So I tells Jodie my daughter about it and she just kept saying OH DONT BE SO SILLY MUM CAUSE IT WILL BE THERE...........OH NO ITS NOT THERE JODE .. was my reply to her comment..Anyway for days I have been saying to her will you please go into my photobucket and see what the problem is and as usual I got YEA WILL DO IT FOR YOU BUT NOT NOW OK. and that was my reply every day I asked her about it. Until yesterday morning and I said can you please go into my photobucket and see what the problem is. Next thing she comes back with well its there and I said well its not on my bloody laptop. Then she says you did sign in didnt you????? UMM YEA WELL NO I DIDNT.. I keep it in my favorites so just open it from there..Mum dont be so silly cause you have to sign into the bloody thing go do it now.. Guess what there it was it was, had no idea I had to sign in each time. Oh well takes all kinds dont it...
So now im busily posting away all the snaps since then.. Been here all bloody day so far and still got a lot to do yet but I want to get it all up to date ready for the next lot which will be so good cause we are off on a houseboat for a week from next Monday...
Since leaving Willow Springs Station we went back to Port Pirie and spent 2 nites with each of Brians 3 children then we stayed overnite back at Crystal Brook with friends then we headed to Kapunda to another friends place and stayed there for 2 nites. Then it was off to Adelaide and spent a nite at a caravan park..Following day it was at other friends for 3 nites...Have been to quite a few towns since leaving Adelaide, camped at Rapid Bay, had a day visit to Hahndorf what a pretty little place that is. Anyway better go post the rest of the photos on here for you all to see....

Overlooking the homestead at WIllow Springs Station

If you look over to

the top left hand corner you can just see the top of our motorhome and the building you can see next to it is the new camp kitchen which will be used for campers when they stay there..

0ne of the many humorous signs on property

This is one of the many humorous signs on Willow Springs Station. True aussie humor in this sign thats for sure. Couldnt resist taking a photo of this one tho..

Willow Springs Flinders Ranges in S.A

Willow Springs Station ,is a 70,000 acre sheep property which has been in the family for many many years.This is a photo of the road into the property. Brendon Reynolds who is in his early sixties was born and bred here. His wife Carmel and him are in the process of turning Willow Springs into a tourist attraction where they can come in the motorhome/caravan etc and spend a few days or even weeks on the station..or they can rent out one of the 5 cottages or the Homestead..The Homestead is the former home of the Reynolds family who had 8 children... Brendon has been operating a 4 wheel drive tour on their property for a few years now called skytrek... go take a look at the website it can tell you a lot more and worth having a look at... http://www.skytrekwillowsprings.com.au/
They have had toilets and showers built to accomodate the traveller. Are just about finished the camp kitchen which will look fantastic when it all comes together.. Brian and I parked our motorhome right next to the camp kitchen.. Oh must tell you this, you dont go and have a shower during the day. Your wondering why the hell not, yea right well I decided to go take a nice cool shower cause it was a stinking hot day.Said to Brian as soon as lunch is over im off for a nice cool shower and wash my hair... Got into the shower and turned the taps on and thought OMFG thats bloody hot, didnt have my glasses on and am as blind as a bat without them so got the glasses put them on and checked out the taps..Yep I had the cold tap on not the hot tap...so turned the tap on a bit faster didnt I.. Fat lot of good that did, the water got hotter and I thought this cant be right so I turned that tap off and put the other one on. Nope no bloody different , I was so hot and here I was with my hair all soaped up and trying as quickly as possible to get the stinking soap suds out. Was the worst shower I have ever had.. Spoke to Carmel about it over dinner that nite and she said oh you dont shower after 10am at the latest and before 6 pm in the afternoon cause the water pipes are on top of the ground and cause it black polly pipe the water gets very very hot. In the cooler months she said its fine but no such thing as a nice cool shower during the summer months.. Yea right well I found that out very quickly didnt I...

Shearers Quarters on Willow Springs Station..SA

Heres a photo of the shearers quarters on Willow Springs Station in S.A.. The quarters have all been done up for tourists to stay in ..Now sleeps up to 30 people

Old Shepards Hut

Brian standing outside the Old Shepards Hut...

This is on the property at Willow Springs Station.S.A. Its and old shepards hut that was used as his home way back in the fifites... The shepards were given a flock of sheep after sheering and then they were expected to walk around the property with their sheep and their family,( thats if they had a family of course,) till the next sheering season...This is the hut they would live in during their time as shepards on this station.

Camelot Toilet

This has got to be the cutest outdoor loo I have ever seen..Its at a small place called Seale Bay on the Eyre Peninsula S.A Just imagine you can sit on the loo here and look out the window and watch the sea now I ask you howmany outdoor dunnies do you know of where you can do just that ..When you use this loo its a great idea to take somebody with you,unless you dont give a damm who sees you sitting on the loo lol cause it has a sealed glass window same height as the loo itself.. You gotta admit its quite unique...The door you see there is to give them access to the ummmmm you know what. How else could they empty the potty then lol......

Update on our travels

Well here I am again, you thought I had gone walkabout hadnt you, well actually we kinda did do that..lol...No not really, when we left Venus Bay I said we were going onto Streaky Bay which we did and spent a nice relaxing week there doing bugger all really..We went on a half day tour while we were there, had a great day out with about 6 other couples. Hope to post some of the photos today if I get the time. After Streaky Bay we went on to Ceduna and were going to spend the nite there but not on your nelly, not afer I saw these bloody prison like fences all around the caravan parks. Asked Brian what on earth have they got ugly fences like that and it was to keep that blacks out. All I could say was OMFG your got to be kidding me. That was it end of story I said im not staying here no way so we had a bit of a drive around the place just to have a look and then we left...So we ended up staying at a little place called Wudinna. How the hell they pronounce some of these towns is beyond me..We were making our way out to Wilpena Pound and then onto friends of brians who owns a sheep station called Willow Springs Station...
To me it was out in the never never lol which it wasnt really, the closest town is Hawker and thats 70 klms away. But when you dont have mobile phone access or no internet access to me thats the never never..lol...I cant stand bloody isolation as you can tell.
Spent 5 days at Willow Springs and that was more than enough for me, but mind you I really didnt mind it tho would have been much better tho if I had my 2 fav things phone and net lol.
Then it was back to Brians home town Port Pirie where we spent 2 days with each of his 3 kids, then back to Crystal Brook for one nite with other friends...On the road again and we are now at a small town called Kupunda, its about 80 klms from Adeliaide. We will leave the trailer here at his friends place for a week, that gives us a chance to go down to Adelaide and have a good look around the district for maybe a week.. Im going to buy myself a very nice digital slr camera while we are there so look out yous will be sick of me posting pics on here .. yea right ..lol..
Better get off here as we have to go over to the house for brekkie.. Im starvin marvin here at the moment lol ... Will be back real soon ...

Murphy's Haystacks, Eyre Peninsula S.A

Another view of the Haystacks ...The colors are very pretty...

Murphy's Haystacks.. Eyre Peninsula S.A

These are absolutely amazing. I have never seen anything like it in my life..About 39k south of the quiet seaside town of Streaky Bay stands a rock formation called Murphys Haystacks. The origin of the name is interesting in itself but the rocks or "inselbergs" that are the haystacks are even more fascinating. Made up of pink [some call it red] Hiltaba granite, so named after a sheep station situated some way north-east, the haystacks have stood on top of the earth in their present form for nearly 34,000 years.The story behind the naming of Murphys Haystacks is quite true. Charlie Mudge the mail coach driver did exist [see The Mail Run]. So to the Scottish agricultural advisor whose name, despite a reasonable amount of research, escapes us. The agricultural advisor was certainly in the region, promoting tillage of the country to produce better crop yields. It is said that the Scotsman knew what the "haystacks" really were and was being flippant. Whatever his reasoning, the land surrounding the haystacks was owned at the time by Denis Drinan Murphy, so "Murphys Haystacks" it became. The name stuck

Streaky Bay Beach..Eyre Peninsula S.A

The Streaky Bay Caravan Park overlooks the bay. Only a small coastal town but quite pretty.

Venus Bay

Guess your all wondering how come there has been no more photos been posted lately. Well due to the extreme heat here in Aus. we decided it best to stay here at the Venus Bay Caravan Park. We were here for nearly 3 weeks. Never felt the heat at all cause nearly every day we got lovely sea breezes and where we were we had these huge big shade trees right in front of the motorhome, we certainly made good use of them thats for sure. We left Venus Bay on 9/2/2009 and arrived here at Streaky Bay on the same day and we intend to move on the following Monday the 16/2/2009. Will keep you posted...

The guys cleaning more fish

AN aaf

Another shot of the guys with some of the catch of the day...

Brian and Skippy cleaning some of the evening catch,Venus Bay S.A

Photo is a bit dark cause it was taken at 8pm.This is just a few of the fish they caught in the afternoon fishing session, oh by the way thats not all of them ,theres heaps more in the esky yet to be cleaned.. They really had a good day out there, so good infact that its now 8 am in the morn and they have gone out already on the boat for another days fishing...Too hot for little ol me I much prefer to stay in motorhome with the aircon going .....

Pelicans at Venus Bay Caravan Park S.A

These georgous creatures were all lined up like little soldiers at the fish cleaning area in the caravan park.. All waiting for the fisherman to clean and fillet his prized catch of the day and hoping he will toss them the scraps, which of course he does...They are so used to seeing people clean their fish in this area that as soon as they see anybody there with their catch up they come a running, looks so funny....