Sept 22, Saturday

Sept 22, Saturday

I get up and have coffee in the room.  I check out by 10 am and decide to look around Victor Harbour before I leave. 

Causeway from Victor Harbour to a small island

 
 You can ride a trolley car pulled by a BIG clydesdale horse

There was a nice fountain in the town square.  This is the only whale I'm likely to see while I'm here.

Today I’m heading for Murray Bridge, where I hope to take a cruise on a paddle wheel riverboat down the Murray River.  During the drive this morning, I kept waffling:  do I, don’t I? 

 The short drive from Victor Harbour to Murray Bridge

 Beautiful rich agricultural area

... and vineyards !

I’m not crazy about river cruises, but it is on my “to do list” and I’m unlikely to be coming back here, so when I get to the secondary road that cuts across from Lake Alexandrina up to Murray Bridge, I take a left.   Actually it was a good thing I was keeping an eye out for the sign because it was just a small street sign.  Almost missed it !  That should have been my second sign of things to come.  I got to Murray Bridge, somehow made my way downtown (no signs, I just went with my general sense of direction) and ended up right beside the tourist information centre.  My guardian angels are with me still !   I went in to enquire about where I needed to go to take a cruise on the river, only to find out that all cruises were booked into October ! ! !  School break again.  

 The entrance to the visitor centre in Murray Bridge was covered with whisteria.  The smell was heavenly.

 Near the restaurant where I ate.  This was the view of the river and Riverboat paddlewheeler

The bridge, in Murray Bridge

Oh well  It was only a 75 minute cruise anyway, so it couldn’t have gone that far, and it wasn’t that big of a detour, and my heart wasn’t really set on doing it; so after having a bite to eat at a terrace restaurant, I got back in the car and headed south along highway A8.   My next stop was going to be Naracoorte, where I wanted to visit the caves; less than 100 km away.  

 Lots and lots of sheep in the fields

and the houses are the typical Aussie house: one floor with a wide verandah running all the way around it.

As the afternoon went on I was feeling worse and worse.  I decided that as soon as I got to Naracoorte I was going to locate a motel and go to bed; the cave visits could wait until the next day.  And that’s exactly what I did.  By the time I pulled off the road I felt SO BAD and I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open.  I kept slapping my face to perk myself up.  The motel was not the greatest but I did not care; it had definitely seen better days, but at least it was clean.     You could also order food and have it served in your room since they did not have a restaurant.  All I wanted was a bowl of soup, and  the lady seemed relieved not to have to prepare anything special.  She only had pumpkin soup but I did not mind.  She served it with some sourdough bread and although the soup was watery, it was hot and it was filling.  I crawled into bed even though it was only 5 pm and went to sleep.