Relaxing in Renmark

 We spent 5 wonderful days in our caravan at a caravan park in Renmark, South Australia.  In the past month we both have had way too many medical appointments and so we thought we could do with a change of scenery and the River  Murray seemed the perfect place and only a couple of hours drive from home.

View of the lagoon from our van

I tried not to pack too much but think I still did.  We had a lovely site on the Lagoon with water views right outside our van so we set our chairs on the lawn under the shade of some lovely gum trees and spent our time just enjoying the birdlife on the water and of course some drinks and nibbles.  It was amazing how interesting and fascinating it was watching the various antics of the birds on the water and enjoying the changes on the lagoon.

View from the van at sunset

The Purple Swamp hen

This pair of swans roamed up and down the lagoon each day

We drove over toParinga to the Bert Dix Park which is a lovely area on the river with a nice sandy beach.

There is always a pelican on the river

The Paringaa Bridge from the Bert Dix Park

The Paringa silos were painted by Jack Fran and Sam Brooks. Each of the 4 silos has a silhouette likeness of a local hero to the region

The silos were difficult to photograph as the art work was on various sides of the silos, but this was the best I could do.

Some more interesting art work

We looked around this Antique shop

This antique shop was huge and so full of different styles of china, jewellery, glassware, bric a brac and much more, but we don't need any as we have downsized and don't have room for any dust collectors.  It was  very interesting looking around and seeing things that my parents had and even familiar things that I used to have in our home when we were first married.

Every evening the kookaburras sang in the tree near the van

I do love the swans

This lovely tree is in the middle of the roundabout in Berri

Our relaxing time in Renmark has come to an end and we will be back home soon with great memories.

Our trips away are getting shorter but we still hope to get away when we can.

I enjoy your comments and hope for good times ahead for us all.

 

Out West Day 11

 

We woke to another sunny morning and decided to go to a local market which was a few kms out of town in the Museum Precinct.  There were a lot of stalls with very interesting home made items.  I bought some beeswax food covers and a few other little things for the grandchildren..

We left the market and drove back into Esperance and took some photos around this lovely town.

An old railway crane in a park - some rust here in Esperance

The Whale Tail Sculpture, Esperance Foreshore

An old railway crane in a park

A fountain with seals carved out of rock

Whale tail sculpture

The Whale Tail sculpture represents the South Right Whales that frequent the ocean in the winter months in and around Esperance.

The very good market stalls

We enjoyed driving around the town of Esperance to do some sightseeing and then went back to the van for lunch and a rest. Later in the afternoon we drove out to Wheatfield Lake which was about 10 km from Esperance as we heard that the sunset is wonderful there and I love a good sunset.

Wheatfield Lake is part of the Esperance Lakes Nature Reserve and is known for its importance as a wetland habitat, particularly for migratory shorebirds.

Sunset at Wheatfield Lake

We only saw one bird and it was high in a tree but it was magnificent.  

What I did see while walking around was a snake, and I almost trod on it!  Surprisingly I didn't feel scared and it was probably more scared of me, as it slithered away and I made a dash for the car!  

I managed to get a couple of photos before it made its way into the bush.  I should have been more aware of snakes in the area but think I was only interested in taking my sunset photos.  We are not sure what the Snake is, but on checking I think it is a Dugite, which is common in Southern WA and is very poisonous. Must remember to look where I am walking in future.

The end of another great day and I luckily escaped uninjured!

Baltic Cruise -OSLO, NORWAY

Early morning pilot boat



Fram Museum

We cruised overnight and arrived in Oslo at 10 am.  I woke early at around 5 am and poked my head out onto the balcony and took some photos as we sailed through the Drobak Narrows.



The Drobak Narrows

 I also saw the pilot boat before we docked at Askerhus Quay.  It was very chilly and overcast so we rugged up and prepared for our day out.  Once we got through the "check out" and off the ship everyone was milling around trying to purchase tickets for the various tours.  It's very interesting watching people pushing and shoving, so we just waited until things settled a bit and soon another bus arrived and we were able to get on the end of the line only to be told that we had to get our tickets over on another line.  Eventually we got onto a bus and headed off to the Viking Museum.

The Oseberg

Detailed carving

Oseberg Viking Ship

From the Viking Museum we decided to walk to  the Fram Museum which we mistakenly thought was only a 100 mtrs away, but as we found it was about 2 km or it seemed at least that distance so by the time we got there we were absolutely exhausted.  Once inside we discovered the theatrette so managed to sit down for about 20 mins while we watched a short film/documentary on the Norwegian arctic explorer, Nansen.

The Fram was the first ship specially built in Norway for polar research.  In October 1892 the Fram was christened by Nansen's wife and launched in a shipyard in Larvik.



Restoration of the Gjoa

Hull of the Fram



The Fram Museum



Not sure of the significance of this
totem but it was in front of the Fram Museum