{"id":1033,"date":"2010-08-17T18:46:44","date_gmt":"2010-08-17T10:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/?page_id=1033"},"modified":"2017-08-17T00:49:24","modified_gmt":"2017-08-16T16:49:24","slug":"adelaide-pg-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/?page_id=1033","title":{"rendered":"Adelaide Pg 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Come dinner time we toodled off once more to Gouger Street with Chinese food in our minds but, for the first time, we had a failure and the particular restaurant we were looking for was closed.\u00a0 We walked along trying to choose from the hundreds of options and stopped to look at the menu for a Thai place.\u00a0 A young lad raced out and eagerly propounded their menu and told us he could do us an entr\u00e9e and main for $30 so we decided \u2018why not?\u2019 and went in.\u00a0 He was not pushy, he did leave us to look at the menu after doing his spiel or we\u2019d have run away.\u00a0 We were the only ones in there but with every person that slowed to view the menu, one of the staff raced out and before we were half way through our mains the place was chokkas.\u00a0 The food was really nice and we would go there again very happily.\u00a0 No dessert, we were too full.<\/p>\n

Back in the hotel we watched \u2018Confessions of a Shopaholic\u2019 which was actually a really cute film – very light viewing and a happy ending, and then packed our cases pretty much \u2013 the contents of which had grown considerably between new clothes and gifts for grandchildren.\u00a0 Possessions always do grow somehow when you’re on holidays huh?<\/p>\n

Mon 16th<\/sup>
\nBreakfast.\u00a0 Thank goodness this is the last scrambled-eggs-on-toast-lacking-decent-tomato-sauce followed by stale bakery items.\u00a0 It was alright, don\u2019t get me wrong, but it wasn\u2019t yummy \u2013 not by a long shot.\u00a0 Then back to our room to shower, wash hair, shave for some, and put the final items in our cases.\u00a0 We had to check out by 10 am but the bus for the boat was not to arrive until 2 pm so we got reception to look after our cases for us but David lugged our most treasured items in his backpack.\u00a0 My idea of treasured items included more things than David\u2019s so he did do just a little grumbling about the weight and the necessity but I won \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 No surprises there.\u00a0 He gets a lot of pleasure out of moaning but he is very helpful while he does it so we\u2019re both happy in the end.\u00a0 And he doesn\u2019t care in the least that I laugh at his moaning.\u00a0 In fact he encourages it and does it all the more for my appreciation of his skills!<\/p>\n

We wandered beside the river once more but this time to the Migration Museum.\u00a0 This museum was waaay more interesting than the \u2018normal\u2019 museum had been and we both really enjoyed it.\u00a0 There were a lot of interactive displays, buttons to push, panels to slide, displays behind others where you had to peek through a window to see, but all fascinating and informative.\u00a0 The other reason we were here was to settle a dispute.\u00a0 My understanding was that Colonel Light had planned the city block as it remained today \u2013 as far as street layout was concerned.\u00a0 David was convinced that they would not originally have made a city block the size it was today.\u00a0 Humility prevents me from telling who was right ROFL<\/p>\n

I have no idea what we did for lunch this day, really can\u2019t remember, but by 1:30 pm we were back at the hotel ready for the coach to collect us and take us to Mannum for the boat yaayyyyy!\u00a0 There were a few people milling around with their luggage and we presumed, correctly, that they were also waiting for the same coach.\u00a0 It arrived on time and we had our names checked off by a friendly driver and of course David helped him load the luggage in the pannier things, whatever they might be called.\u00a0 (Certainly not panniers!)<\/p>\n

Other than one couple already aboard the only passengers were those from our hotel so we were a very light load of about 10 people in a full sized coach.\u00a0 We drove along up the hill the same way we\u2019d travelled to Hahndorf but the driver gave us a bit of a commentary along the way.<\/p>\n

\"Beyond

Beyond Adelaide Hills - Dry Flat Terrain<\/p><\/div>\n

Once we were over the hills it was new territory and we were surprised how very flat the terrain was \u2013 and how brown.\u00a0 Why do we say brown?\u00a0 It isn\u2019t brown at all is it?\u00a0 More of a cream colour, but dry anyway.\u00a0 There\u2019s not a lot to report along the way other than when I saw a truck with Ielasi Transport written on it.\u00a0 I know the wife of the owner of that company so that kept me entertained for a short while.<\/p>\n

I think we were only aboard the coach for a bit over an hour \u2013 maybe 90 minutes or so.\u00a0 We got to know the couple in the other front seat a little \u2013 we were sitting behind the driver.\u00a0 Their names were Chris and Maria.\u00a0 Chris asked lots of questions and wanted to know the ins and outs of everything.\u00a0 Reminded me of myself a great deal and saved me asking anything.\u00a0 And then we were in Mannum and going down a steep hill, still with no river in sight.\u00a0 But suddenly, there it was.\u00a0 Not only the river, but the Murray Princess, sitting there in all her grandeur.\u00a0 So exciting!<\/p>\n

\"Murray

Murray Princess Paddle Wheel<\/p><\/div>\n

In our week in Adelaide I\u2019d taken 50 photos \u2013 a good third of them of public transport as that’s what interests David.\u00a0 During the 7 days on the boat I was to take 200.\u00a0 Oh, we had a ball.<\/p>\n

We were told just to go aboard and check in \u2013 we\u2019d already filled in our paperwork while we were on the coach but had to be sighted and welcomed by the crew.\u00a0 Some of the crew had already raced out to collect our luggage and we were told it would meet us in our cabin later.\u00a0 Hmmm, there was a yummy sailor I\u2019d happily have had deliver it too!\u00a0 Sorry, I can\u2019t help myself \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

We were welcomed without excess fuss and given a name badge each.\u00a0 On the back was our cabin number in case we forgot it and on the front were our names and the number 2.\u00a0 This was our dining table number.\u00a0 We could sit anywhere for breakfast but they asked us to sit at our allotted table for lunch and dinner.\u00a0 We were delivered to our cabin by a gorgeous young girl who showed us the tea and coffee facilities, the bathroom, and told us the coffee mugs on the dresser were ours to keep after the cruise.\u00a0 Our luggage was already inside the door.<\/p>\n

Of course we explored all around the boat, up stairs and down, excitedly seeing what there was to see.\u00a0 We found the bar and bought a drink each and went out to watch cast off.\u00a0 I\u2019d had a straw in my drink but as we turned the corner to the front of the boat it just vaporised.\u00a0 Forget blew away, it didn\u2019t take that long.\u00a0 One minute it was there, the next microsecond, gone.\u00a0 I did laugh.<\/p>\n

We got talking to another couple, Heather and Ray, and then suddenly noticed they had a 2 on their name badges as well.\u00a0 Out of all the people on board we\u2019d got chatting to 2 people who would be sharing our dining table!\u00a0 They were waving to a younger couple on the shore and were the only passengers that had someone to wave them off.\u00a0 Heather said it was their daughter so we waved to her as well.<\/p>\n

\"Murray

Murray Princess Dining Room<\/p><\/div>\n

This is one side of the dining room.\u00a0 It had lovely wooden ceilings and was probably the most beautiful room on the boat.\u00a0 Carpeted, other than a small wooden dance floor.<\/p>\n

Soon, at 4:30pm as scheduled, we had cast away from the berth and were on our way down the river with the captain telling us a few things about Mannum over the PA as we went.<\/p>\n

\"Murray

Murray Princess Air Horns<\/p><\/div>\n

Then he sounded the horns \u2013 whoar! that cleaned the ears out!\u00a0 This was to announce to the other river craft that we were about to chuck a Uey and head upstream.<\/p>\n

We popped back to our cabin after a while and \u2018our girl\u2019 knocked on the door and delivered some flowers.\u00a0 We guessed that everyone in staterooms got them which was such a lovely touch.<\/p>\n

We had been told that if we wanted coffee or tea at any time, day or night, we could take our mugs to the aft lounge \u2013 there were a dozen flavours of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, milk and biscuits and you could sit there on the lower floor, or the mezzanine level, and watch the paddle go around.\u00a0 I simply cannot describe the peace on board.\u00a0 The paddle just chugged away and seemed to set the tone for the whole vessel.\u00a0 We had our own tea\/coffee and kettle in our cabin but the flavoured teas were back here, and the company of fellow passengers too.<\/p>\n

\"David

David Overlooking the Paddle Wheel<\/p><\/div>\n

Here\u2019s David on the mezzanine balcony looking over the paddle wheel.<\/p>\n

And below is the fascinating wake that the paddle made.<\/p>\n

\"Murray

Murray Princess Paddle Wake<\/p><\/div>\n

I should add that the temperature only reached 28\u00b0C this day so it had been very pleasant in the coach and standing out on the deck.<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t a lot happening this day other than getting settled, and that was fine.\u00a0 All new passengers had been asked to attend an orientation talk by the cruise director and captain where we were told things we needed to know.\u00a0 One of these was that in the case of problems they would ask us to all go to our cabins and get our life jackets and put them on and then go to one of the 2 mustering points where we would be instructed further.\u00a0 It was very important, we were told, to tie a pretty bow with the life jacket webbing as the best bows would facilitate a preference amongst the staff as to who they rescued first.\u00a0 For the rest, the captain told us, once we got sick of not being rescued we could just put our feet down and walk out as the river was only about 4 feet deep!<\/p>\n

All meals would be announced over the PA 5 minutes before time and that was about all we needed to remember.\u00a0 Other than the bar opening time which was 11 am LOL\u00a0 And I know, I never drink alcohol, but for some reason on this boat I did, and loved being \u2018normal\u2019.<\/p>\n

Before we knew it dinner was announced and we were caught on the hop.\u00a0 The brochure had asked that we dress up a little for dinner and we were still getting dressed after showering, so hurried as quickly as we could only to tip toe, outright last, across the dance floor to our table when we got to the dining room.\u00a0 Everyone else was seated and settled.\u00a0 Whoops!\u00a0 Our cabin must have been closer than any other to the dining room and bar.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it always the way that those closest are the ones who are late?<\/p>\n

Here’s a video of the paddle wheel working and the wake it causes.
\n<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Dinner was truly outstanding and the service likewise.\u00a0 I have not recorded what we ate at each meal and I\u2019m sure you are all saying thank goodness for that, but suffice to say that we were spoiled rotten and fed like kings.\u00a0 Myself in particular as I had special vegetarian and\/or fish meals cooked just for me.\u00a0 Out of 90 passengers I was the only one that I saw get \u2018special treatment\u2019.\u00a0 The cruise director, Jason, came to me many times over the course of the cruise and told me what arrangement had been made for me at each meal.\u00a0 The chefs were amazing!\u00a0 Because of the small size of the crew, 22 people, Jason also waited at tables as did the girls that cleaned the cabins each day.\u00a0 They were all so very friendly and helpful, and obviously all got on really well together, it was just perfect.<\/p>\n

Anyway, back to getting seated at our table and our fellow passengers.\u00a0 Once everyone was seated (blush!), Jason announced the menu and encouraged us all to our best \u2018ooooh\u2019 and \u2018ahhh\u2019 skills in response to each item, and then we got to chat and introduce ourselves to our new friends.\u00a0 Two of them, Heather and Ray, we\u2019d already met.\u00a0 It turns out they lived in a neighbouring town to Mannum, hence the daughter to see them off, and had always promised themselves this cruise.\u00a0 Two more we had met already as well, it was Chris and Maria from the coach ride!\u00a0 They were from Victoria.\u00a0 There was a young lady named Donna from country Victoria travelling alone, a man with his wife and mother who were all from WA, but south of the river (we’re north), and a Danish couple.\u00a0 The Danish man had excellent English but the lady never spoke.\u00a0 She smiled back during the first couple of days but that quickly deteriorated into quiet isolation.\u00a0 A shame \u2013 for her.\u00a0 We all metaphorically took our hats off to Donna but, together with Heather and Ray, the 5 of us became quite the little loving family group.<\/p>\n

I had taken a single travel-sickness tablet soon after we got on the boat.\u00a0 Not because I felt sick but more as insurance, because if I\u2019d have felt crook (that’s Australian for feeling unwell) even once I would spend the whole trip worried it would happen again.\u00a0 The movement of the boat was extremely gentle, as the river was almost like glass and we found out more about its stability later.\u00a0 I was very grateful to have taken the tablet as we sat down to dinner because the only seats left were facing backwards to our travel direction and of course that\u2019s the worst scenario.\u00a0 As it happens, we tied up for the night midway through the main course but I was still happier for the insurance.\u00a0 And I was very bad in that I had a cocktail \u2013 alcohol and the tablet together is rather naughty but I\u2019d only had one tablet and it was a couple of hours before.<\/p>\n

Dinner each day consisted of 3 courses, lunches were 2 courses and breakfast each day was a buffet.\u00a0 A little more on some of those later, but not in depth.\u00a0 During each lunch and dinner we were entertained (more by David\u2019s antics in response) by a pianist.\u00a0 This fellow, Alex, was very talented indeed but I\u2019m afraid that piano is one of my 2 least liked instruments and Alex played every song in one of four ways \u2013 too slow; too fast; a mixture of both of those things or; correctly but sang the tune wrongly to accompany it.\u00a0 Argh!!!!\u00a0 He was fond of playing 12 or more quick, tinkled notes where only one belonged and the whole package drove me to distraction.\u00a0 My problem, not his!\u00a0 Unfortunately, David had the same opinion and, for those who know him, you can imagine the antics!\u00a0 Hands over ears, telling everyone on our table not to applaud for fear of encouraging Alex etc etc.\u00a0 And to make it worse we were the table directly in front of where Alex was seated.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure the poor man knew – there\u2019s nothing discreet about my David!!!\u00a0 Alex had \u2018some weird accent\u2019 that I couldn\u2019t place so we asked and it turned out he was Ukrainian.\u00a0 He also had rather a high voice where David and I definitely prefer lower tones.\u00a0 Poor Alex.\u00a0 Talented but unappreciated in these quarters and shame on us!\u00a0 Others loudly appreciated him enough to make up for us though!<\/p>\n

Oh, the other thing was that because of being the closest table to Alex we had it louder than anyone else.\u00a0 And when Alex swapped to his keyboard we had the speakers blaring right at us too.\u00a0 One night he played an Everley Brothers song that I know well because my mum and her 2 sisters used to sing it as one of their numbers.\u00a0 I started to sing because for once Alex was playing the song correctly and even at the right speed.\u00a0 But then he started to sing an alternate tune.\u00a0 \u2018Oh no!\u2019 thinks I \u2018I\u2019m not having this!!!\u2019 so I looked at David, seated next to me and also trying to sing and we fiercely sang the correct tune \u2013 probably loud enough for Alex to hear us!!!\u00a0 At the end David said to me \u201cDon\u2019t look so serious!\u201d but when I said fiercely, I meant it hehehe.<\/p>\n

I fear I may do a bit of this non-chronological reminiscing because some things were the same every day and others don\u2019t have a Day (as such) in my memory, but I\u2019ll do my best.<\/p>\n

So after dinner on the first night we stayed and listened to Alex for a bit but only because we were talking to our table-mates.\u00a0 And then to bed.\u00a0 Well, then to clean our teeth which turned out to be interesting.\u00a0 You know me, I can talk about anything LOL\u00a0 The bathroom taps in the dinky little basin were the kind that you push and you only get water while you\u2019re pushing.\u00a0 I learned to be able to push the tap with my elbow and reach backwards with my hand if I\u2019d soaped my hands and was trying to rinse them both.\u00a0 Most impressive if I do say so myself.\u00a0 I found out after about 5 of our 7 days that if you push the tap hard enough it would stay down for about 3 seconds \u2013 great excitement hehehe<\/p>\n

On the subject of the little bathroom It was laid out like this\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Boat

Boat Bathroom<\/p><\/div>\n

L-R\u00a0 Loo, basin, shower, and the lower oblong is the outwardly (wonder why!?!?) opening door.\u00a0 There was a towel rail next to the loo, a tiny bathroom cabinet with a sliding door above the basin and 2 hooks on the inside of the door.\u00a0 On about the fourth day I said to David \u201cYou know, you could fit 3 people in here at once as long as the one sitting on the loo didn\u2019t stand up or they\u2019d headbutt the basin user to join the one showering!\u201d\u00a0 The cabin itself was short enough that my hands touched the ceiling easily and the bathroom was up a step, so shorter still.\u00a0 The shower was yet shorter \u2013 my elbows almost touched the roof as I washed my hair.<\/p>\n

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Come dinner time we toodled off once more to Gouger Street with Chinese food in our minds but, for the first time, we had a failure and the particular restaurant we were looking for was closed.\u00a0 We walked along trying … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":571,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1033","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1033"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3864,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1033\/revisions\/3864"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}