gently down the stream… merrily merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream.
I am so glad that I decided to take a break this hols instead of staying cooped up in my room here in Adelaide. Packed some clothes and headed off with a bunch of friends to Mannum where we hired a boat for the weekend. Not just a normal river speedboats. A Houseboat! =) The coolest thing ever. We booked it for 4 days 3 nights and basically had it to ourselves cruising up and down the river. The weather so being exceptionally wonderful during that period, apart from a little rain on our last night, we’ve had bright sunny days, cool wind and not so cold nights. To be able to wake up each day and just relax on top of the boat, sipping iced tea and enjoying the scenery around you. It never seemed much on TV but when I was right there looking at the vast expanse of land dotted with scrubs and trees, or staring up at the cliffs, studying the rock formations, it just feels absolutely soothing. I had no worries at all when I was there. It just seemed impossible to worry about my impending OSCE examination (which is coming up VERY SOON) when the skies are a brilliant baby blue, undisturbed by any clouds.
the lounge area. Basically, the captain’s seat, dining, kitchen and lounge area are all in a big space at the front of the boat which is glass fronted so we get an uninhibited view of our surroundings.
this is how our rooms look like =) It was either single or double beds.
Behind the boat. There was a little platform with a ladder that can be lowered down when the boat stops for those who fancy a dip in the river. None of us tried though although it was fun to soak our legs in the water when the boat is cruising along.
These 4 days were one of the nicest I’ve had. I never thought I’d like houseboating so much. In fact, most people were saying how nice it would be if they could buy their own houseboat and come down here during their holidays to just relax. The people here in this small town of Mannum were very friendly as well. We were greeted with a smile and a cheerful ‘G’day!’ everywhere we went and every time we passed another boat, we just waved madly at each other.
arriving at the small town of Mannum
We had a relatively big houseboat as there were 15 of us in total. The capacity of the boat was for 12 people but of course, Asian people would always find ways to get their money’s worth. =P The drive down to Mannum took a little more than an hour not counting our frequent pit stops. Plus I would never want to take on the responsibility of feeding 15 people. The amount of food we had was flabbergasting, and we still had to stop at a small outpost to replenish our supplies.
The crew and our boat!
Having breakfast at the top deck. Enjoying the perfect weather and beautiful expanse of nature around us. It was Pancake day for our first morning on board. We had American Breakfast the next (omg, eggs, sausages, mushrooms, toast etc etc). Amazing how we still had appetite for lunch after such breakfasts.
The staggering amount of food
lets just say the kitchen was never empty…. and the cooks never rest. They were forever preparing for the next meal / snack. We even had these ‘you tiao’ made from scratch and Galakto buereko (yummy greek dessert).
With 15 people on board, there was never a dull moment. Thanks to the foresight of some, we had a wide collection of karaoke music to choose from. Of course, the boat came furnished with a selection of songs, and DVDs as well and we spent one afternoon watching Finding Nemo, Shrek and laughing our heads off. The boat basically felt like a floating hotel. We were greeted with complimentary tea and cookies, our towels and bath soap (oatmeal flavoured!!!) were all artfully arranged on out beds and the owner even gave us a complimentary bottle of champagne. There was a barbecue pit on board, and another one that everyone was looking forward to…. a Jacuzzi on the top deck of the boat!!! Imagine, lying on the deck chairs reading a book / sun tanning, then going for a cool dip in the jacuzzi, and enjoying a glass of wine. Bliss.
We had 2 fishing enthusiast on board as well. Here is how mad they are. At one of our stops along the river bank for the night, we saw a father and son fishing nearby. After talking to them, we found out that the river was teeming with fish. These two ‘die-hards’ immediately set off on foot to the nearest civilisation and bought 2 fishing rods back (and a tub of worms). That was basically the last we saw of them because they can be found hunched over their fishing rods waiting for the fishes to bite. I got the hook a worm for the first time and I’d have to say, the feeling is so ‘ugh’. I do not relish poking the innards of a worm much less having to slide the hook the whole length of the worm. Their patience was well rewarded when they managed to catch 2 HUGE carps. The fished were really big. Our unofficial chef for the trip was a gem and whipped us up fish porridge that afternoon. He was skilled enough to get rid of the smell although these carps usually have a very strong fishy smell.
One of the two huge European carps that they caught. Our chef painstakingly deboned BOTH fishes and you know how bony these river fishes can get. Nightmare….
We did stop at a few spots along the river and explored the place around us. Most were just empty grasslands dotted with the odd tree / bush. We also walked up this cliff that overlooked the river. Found a dirt road at the top and a few of us went a bit crazy running screaming down the road. Haha…. and when a car went past, we all stood at the side and cheered at the top of our lungs. =D de-stress much?
So what were we laughing over???
Looking over part of the river we cruised down…
The Road which we skipped, ran, walked, rolled, crawled along just for the sake of it. =P
We had a steamboat celebration on the last night (our chef’s way of getting out of cooking). We had more than we could eat this time and it was also time to get our the celebratory wines and champagnes. We went through 5 bottles at least not counting the pack of beer. What’s it with beer and steamboats anyway??? All the leftover food was whipped up into a surprisingly delicious breakfast for us by one ingenious guy the next morning. Good one cos we ran out of butter and nobody relish the idea of having plain bread for breakfast. =P
We stopped by Handorf, a German village on our drive back to Adelaide for lunch. I love this place because it has amazing desserts, and yummy sausages and a very decent Chinese restaurant as well. Nevermind why I had Chinese food in a German Village.
Me getting a shot at the wishing well, cept that my coin kept hitting the roof instead of falling into the well -_-”
Again, it was a fun 4 days… Now its back to work again for me >.<
