The next day.
<---- previous entry with pics of day one of our trip away
We slept wonderfully that night - and that's saying something as most motel beds leave me with an aching back!
After taking our time waking up and having a coffee in our room, we missed breakfast in the dining room by about ten minutes so headed to Renmark for breakfast at Macca's. I must confess I rather like having breakfast at Maccas when we are away. I like their McCafe section and the coffees available. Mind you, according to tygrr I made quite a ripple with my entry as my hair is currently a nice bright shade of Magenta - all over! I gather people don't see too much of that up in the country!
After breakfast we headed to Bredle's Wildlife park. We went there because they have an extensive collection of snakes (or did have when I was last there). It's not a formal zoo, really - just a private property with animal enclosures on it that you walk around and see. The guy comes out and gives a talk about the animals and also about not always believing what one hears in the media or reads in books. He then brings out one of his smaller pythons and lets you handle it.
Tygrr and slithery friend
Tygrr fell in love with the hairynosed wombat
The fence of his pen was so low you could reach over it and pat him
It all got too much for him later though, and he went to have a nap
The casowary - another favourite of tygrr's
They also had a couple of enclosures of Capuchin Monkeys. They were so utterly cute but hard to get good photos of, as they rarely sat still long enough! One managed to lure tygrr to the edge of the cage by looking all sad and pathetic, putting its hand out, so tygrr went to hold it's hand. It promptly took a death grip on her finger with one hand and then a death grip on her watch with another. When tygrr moved forward to try to free her watch it leapt at the opportunity to then grab her sunnies from on top of her cap!
At this point the zoo guy intervened before tygrr could be dragged bodily through the wire and into the cage. The poor monkey screamed and cried when he gently prized the sunnies from its grip! They are so humanlike in their facial expressions and reactions. Incredibly cute!
They had a reptile house and a python cave which, along with the capuchins were the highlight of the zoo for me. They used to have absolutely HUGE pythons there but they had died of old age. The ones they have now are more than big enough but only quite young compared to the others that had been there. Still, the managed to satisfy the reptile thrill I sought.
There were many australian wildlife, goannas and skinks, water dragons, kangaroos, emus, deer and other critters around which tygrr and troll strolled around seeing. They had an utter blast.
After we left the zoo it was on to Monash. I had last been to Monash over ten years ago. It had an adventure playground there with big and unusual equipment built by a local farmer. The equipment was fun, but the playground itself wasn't much to look at. I have found one pic online of what it USED to look like.
See the dirt and weeds around the ride?
You can imagine my surprise then when we walked in the gate and found...
THIS!!!
Wow! What a difference!
It had a water feature running through it, with information boards about the Murray River and its management
Beautiful shady trees and lawn areas
A riverboat shaped kiosk on the lake edge
And some really nice landscaping - and of course fantastic rides!
And of course the pond that was the start of the water feature that ran through it all
To the left of that pond there was an extensive maze as well, with another play area in the middle of it. They had an observation platform too, so someone can stand up there and help direct you out if you cannot find your own way out.
While some of the equipment was not the same - it had been removed for safety reasons - there were so many new ones as well. They had areas for younger children as well as more grown up sections and it was all beautifully laid out. Barbecue areas, a caged ball game area and of course amenities block all just helped make it a really nice place to be.
After we dragged ourselves away from the playground, we popped into a chocolate shop just across the road before heading down the Sturt Highway to Barmera to have lunch. Barmera is a very pretty little town on Lake Bonney, which is connected to the Murray River system.
Again we were fortunate with our choice of takeaway food venues and bought an excellent lunch which we ate in the shade on the shores of the lake.
How relaxing can it get?
As we ate we watched a fleet of small sailboats cross the lake, canoists paddle past and children jump off the nearby jetty. Tygrr swore that next time we come up we shall have to do a bit of water activities too. Sounds fine by me!
After lunch we drove on to Waikerie and then through to Blanchetown and to Adelaide and then home. It was a lovely trip, following the river through most of the way. Although we had only been away overnight it felt like much longer as we had seen and done so much. It was just the lovely break from our home routine that we needed!
Red
We slept wonderfully that night - and that's saying something as most motel beds leave me with an aching back!
After taking our time waking up and having a coffee in our room, we missed breakfast in the dining room by about ten minutes so headed to Renmark for breakfast at Macca's. I must confess I rather like having breakfast at Maccas when we are away. I like their McCafe section and the coffees available. Mind you, according to tygrr I made quite a ripple with my entry as my hair is currently a nice bright shade of Magenta - all over! I gather people don't see too much of that up in the country!
After breakfast we headed to Bredle's Wildlife park. We went there because they have an extensive collection of snakes (or did have when I was last there). It's not a formal zoo, really - just a private property with animal enclosures on it that you walk around and see. The guy comes out and gives a talk about the animals and also about not always believing what one hears in the media or reads in books. He then brings out one of his smaller pythons and lets you handle it.
Tygrr and slithery friend
Tygrr fell in love with the hairynosed wombat
The fence of his pen was so low you could reach over it and pat him
It all got too much for him later though, and he went to have a nap
The casowary - another favourite of tygrr's
They also had a couple of enclosures of Capuchin Monkeys. They were so utterly cute but hard to get good photos of, as they rarely sat still long enough! One managed to lure tygrr to the edge of the cage by looking all sad and pathetic, putting its hand out, so tygrr went to hold it's hand. It promptly took a death grip on her finger with one hand and then a death grip on her watch with another. When tygrr moved forward to try to free her watch it leapt at the opportunity to then grab her sunnies from on top of her cap!
At this point the zoo guy intervened before tygrr could be dragged bodily through the wire and into the cage. The poor monkey screamed and cried when he gently prized the sunnies from its grip! They are so humanlike in their facial expressions and reactions. Incredibly cute!
They had a reptile house and a python cave which, along with the capuchins were the highlight of the zoo for me. They used to have absolutely HUGE pythons there but they had died of old age. The ones they have now are more than big enough but only quite young compared to the others that had been there. Still, the managed to satisfy the reptile thrill I sought.
There were many australian wildlife, goannas and skinks, water dragons, kangaroos, emus, deer and other critters around which tygrr and troll strolled around seeing. They had an utter blast.
After we left the zoo it was on to Monash. I had last been to Monash over ten years ago. It had an adventure playground there with big and unusual equipment built by a local farmer. The equipment was fun, but the playground itself wasn't much to look at. I have found one pic online of what it USED to look like.
See the dirt and weeds around the ride?
You can imagine my surprise then when we walked in the gate and found...
THIS!!!
Wow! What a difference!
It had a water feature running through it, with information boards about the Murray River and its management
Beautiful shady trees and lawn areas
A riverboat shaped kiosk on the lake edge
And some really nice landscaping - and of course fantastic rides!
And of course the pond that was the start of the water feature that ran through it all
To the left of that pond there was an extensive maze as well, with another play area in the middle of it. They had an observation platform too, so someone can stand up there and help direct you out if you cannot find your own way out.
While some of the equipment was not the same - it had been removed for safety reasons - there were so many new ones as well. They had areas for younger children as well as more grown up sections and it was all beautifully laid out. Barbecue areas, a caged ball game area and of course amenities block all just helped make it a really nice place to be.
After we dragged ourselves away from the playground, we popped into a chocolate shop just across the road before heading down the Sturt Highway to Barmera to have lunch. Barmera is a very pretty little town on Lake Bonney, which is connected to the Murray River system.
Again we were fortunate with our choice of takeaway food venues and bought an excellent lunch which we ate in the shade on the shores of the lake.
How relaxing can it get?
As we ate we watched a fleet of small sailboats cross the lake, canoists paddle past and children jump off the nearby jetty. Tygrr swore that next time we come up we shall have to do a bit of water activities too. Sounds fine by me!
After lunch we drove on to Waikerie and then through to Blanchetown and to Adelaide and then home. It was a lovely trip, following the river through most of the way. Although we had only been away overnight it felt like much longer as we had seen and done so much. It was just the lovely break from our home routine that we needed!
Red
