Golly Gosh it was cold last night! Officially the temperature bottomed out at 3.2° at 5am, but the “feels like” temperature was colder. I turned the heater on low at 4am, but should have set it a bit higher.
The highway west of Keith is much better than the eastern section. For most of the drive, we followed two semi trailers adhering to their 100kph speed limit. There were plenty of overtaking lanes and average speed cameras to keep the wannabe speedsters contained.
While we were refuelling at Tailem Bend, an idiot raced onto the service station forecourt, skidding to a stop. Fortunately, nobody was walking towards the shop at the time. While inside paying for our fuel, Anita noticed the person at the checkout write down the idiot’s number plate.
We crossed the Murray River at the town of Murray Bridge on the road bridge built in 1879. The bridge height was initially set at 20 feet above the flowing river, but it had to be increased to 30 feet to allow the funnels of paddle steamers to safely pass under the bridge. The bridge has recently been painted and looks brand new.
We tried to stay at the Mannum caravan park, but cats are no longer allowed, even if they are kept inside the caravan. The area is a bird sanctuary, but a confined cat can’t hurt birds. Our second option was to stay at the golf club for $25 for the night, with power and water. Only four vans can stay overnight.
After we had unhooked and set up, I walked Bluey to the nearby fenced dog park. He does tend to walk if I tell him we are going to a park. It was in reasonable condition, but a larger dog arrived, so we left.
We had arranged to meet up with a couple of Roadie friends and their little Leo. Bluey has poor eyesight, but he recognised them from a distance of more than 50m. A couple travelling in the boat in this photo have a one year old Spoodle, and the dogs all met in the garden of the Prettoria Hotel where we had lunch. The plaque on the tree marks the 2023 flood height of the river.
I found this old photo of the Prettoria Hotel online. The following photos are of other Mannum hotels during floods. During the 1956 flood, people rowed small boats along the main street and were served drinks from the top floor verandas of hotels.
We had a very enjoyable evening with our friends, and the dogs had a great time playing together.
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