Day 10 Mannum to Avoca Dell Reserve 32 km

Mannum Lagoon - Early morning

Yesterday was a Rest Day and appropriately we did very little other than our laundry and eating. After breakfast in a cafe we wandered the shopping strip, went to the tourism office and then went back to the caravan park to do our laundry. In the evening we went back to the Pretoria Hotel for dinner. Later we sat in the camp kitchen watching WBBL while Joe assisted another camper to set off the smoke alarm by unplugging the range hood while they were using the hot plate to cook steak.

Today we had a later start as we wanted a proper breakfast. Excellent breakfast in the motel restaurant nearby. After that I purchased sandwiches and coke for lunch.

One of Mannum's 2 ferries

We were on the water about 9:15 am. We passed the ferries and proceeded down the river. The scenery was unspectacular all day as the banks are smothered with willow trees. There was also less bird life - only the darters seem uninhibited by the willows. There were fish jumping in abundance though and not just carp.

We stopped for 1st lunch at 11:00 at Zadows Landing and then cruised on to more of the same. 90 minutes later we didn't stop at a reserve where there were lots of young water skiers. It was a mistake because after that there were few places to stop.

A further hour and according to the map we were at our destination but we weren't. The map showed an entirely wrong location for the Avoca Dell. According to the map it should have been adjacent to Sunnyside Landing. It was actually 6 km further down the river. This occurred at a time when the wind had sprung up and was pushing us backward. We slogged into the wind for a further 90 minutes.

Eventually we arrived at Avoca Dell and checked into the caravan park which was hosting  A evangelical Christian group and a number of young families attending a party next door. Our tent site was between to young families that were attending the party next door. Troy the father of 3 young boys gave a us a 6 pack of Coopers Pale Ale to have with dinner - what a great guy!

While we were having dinner the Christians commenced assembling around us to hold a sing-a-long prayer meeting. Before one the group came in with his guitar and chatted with us. He left for a while and Simon picked up the guitar and rocked out a couple of tunes. We left before the service commenced and retired early for the evening. Simon was worried he would get roped in to play at the service and I was worried I would get recognised as a heretic.

a couple of cooperative pelicans