Judy & Brian Tour Oz

  Mannum SA 1st August 2026 Took a scenic route from Renmark down through Swan Reach and even used the vehicular ferry at Walkers Flat. Really nice little car collection at Swan Reach. No swans though, they have flown the coup, about 200 years ago. Swan Reach SA. August 2026 Swan Reach SA. August 2026 Mannum was a surprise, it’s obviously a weekender destination from Adelaide and is teeming with people and kids. Also as a surprise, was that the van refused to power up when plugged in. Here we go again. Turns out that the 240 vac inlet socket has disintegrated (again!) which means that as you push the plug in, it pushed the pins straight back into the housing. Fortunately a Bunnings is only 24km away at Murray Bridge so we have at lease secured a potential replacement.  OMG but its cold here overnight! Anyhow, right after a late breakfast, I jumped in and fixed the damned socket. This is the second time I've had to do this due to a rubbish design on the part of C...

 Renmark SA 1st August 2026 Crossed the line and into South Australia. But first, the quarantine, where they come and poke through every nook and cranny looking for fresh fruit and vegetables. Some question about potatoes but it seems washed potatoes are OK, just not allowed to take anything with dirt across the border.  We were heading for the Riverbend Caravan Park, not to be confused with the Riverside CP, which happens to be right next door. Getting into and out of the Riverbend is not for the faint-hearted, you have to turn hard right at the immediate end of the dodgiest bridge in Australia. It appears to have been a railway bridge which has had a road lane stuck on either side of it. The railway has of corse long disappeared, so you are left with this bridge that is empty in the middle. Drama is when you come out of the van park and turn want to turn right to go into Renmark, some several kilometres away to the west. Now this is a very busy highway, so you pull up fro...