Renmark

Leaving Wentworth, we headed to Renmark which is in S.A. Last night we had a big cook up of all our veggies and ate fruit for breakfast and morning tea as we were entering a fruit fly free zone and they inspect your van at the border.
Renmark is known as the town of roses. There is also a beautiful foreshore lined with green grass, paved footpaths and you see houseboats everywhere. Renmark was a busy port for the paddle steams as were most of the towns on the Murray. At the end of the main street there is an interesting fountain surrounded by a large bed of roses.
We arrived here at lunchtime so after lunch we wandered along the foreshore shore and noticed a strange contraption, which looked like an old house with a tank, a wood stove, a stage and a crooked wooden fence and chooks wandering everywhere, tied up to the shore. On closer inspection it turned out to be Frank the Chook Man who we saw doing a show at the Daly Waters Pub in N.T. on our last trip. I wrote a poem about him last time and read it out at his show. He said he remembered but I doubt if he did.

We made our way to the info centre to find out what was on. We were very lucky to find the paddle steamer PS Industry, which has been lovingly restored by a band of dedicated volunteers, was due to cruise on Sunday so we promptly booked up.
After stocking up on fruit and veggies we headed to our delightful free camp site just out of Renmark on the banks of the Murray River. We had a lovely view of the tree lined banks of the wide river as it slowly, slowly inches it way towards the sea. Behind us was an area of old dead trees which is a result of salinity. We found some wood and Brian used his chainsaw to cut it up so we enjoyed a delicious meal cooked on the open fire which provided us with warmth as well as smoke!!!! (Campsite Plushes Bend: 146 Camps 5) The reflections of all the trees on the glassy river that evening provided a peaceful panorama for our “happy hour. “
The next day we decided to go for a bike ride around Renmark. We drove into town, set up the bikes and guess what!! Brian’s bike had a flat tyre!!! So our riding for the day was cancelled. I was disappointed as I was keen to see all the roses in the gardens around town. We had some lunch by the river and had the best milkshake ever which cheered us up and then we went back to our camp.
We arrived early the next day for our cruise on the PS Industry which is a steam powered paddle boat and she was already belching smoke from its funnel and all the volunteers were busily checking everything, loading wood and all were very excited to be going on their monthly cruise- big boys and their toys!
Finally we boarded and listened to the chuff, chuff ,chuff of the steam engine and the splashing of the rotating paddles reminded of what is would have been like in the early days with lots of these boats crowding the river and vying for business. The river was lovely- we saw a colony of black swans, a koala, lots of houseboats, some high ochre cliffs and an old span bridge on the cruise. On board we watched a demo of a steam powered winch which had wooden roller and the local ladies cooked fresh scones on the wood stove in the galley. All in all in was a great experience.