Today we decided to walk up to the Archeological museum, Catherine's sister Louise and her husband Benjamin are arriving from New York. Breakfast was something I can't remember the name of with beans and ham and cheese in a hollowed out bread role with a hot salsa on top. Wilko took over directing with his trusty map and before you knew it we were confronted with an 8 lane expressway with a 6 foot wall that needed to be scaled in the middle. Wilko and I made it across in a daring run leaving the girls on the side of the road. While we waited a Mexican guy came up them and told them it was really dangerous to cross here (no shit Sherlock) and showed them where the crossing was. We were on the perimeter ... read more

I woke in a cold sweat realising that I had lost my visitor card and dreamt about being confined to a Mexican jail. I was greatly relieved to discover that Becs has deliberately thrown hers out! Apparently you can't leave the country without them and you should keep them with you at all times. Victor at our hotel advised against going to the Immigration office due to the "I don't mean to be racist" queues of Africans we'd encounter. Haven't seen any African yet so presumably they are routinely unsuccessful or still in the queue. Empanadas for breakfast and then we met our guide Santiago who was a massive disappointment for the girls who had specially booked the tour guide based on the photo on the website. Either Santiago had aged unkindly or the photo was ... read more

Firstly I'd like to apologise to all my followers for the tardiness of the blog for the final day, especially my Nigerian friends and the lady enquiring how long it would take to float a caravan down the Murray. All I can say is that the celebratory dinner at the Wellie Hotel was exceptional and involved Wilko singing a rousing song to the tune of Old Man River which elicited cheers and applause from the other diners (although it did get us kicked out of the hotel at 6.30), the Adelaide Test, a channel 7 weather reporter and a 3 day drinking binge which culminated in Wilko and I waking up naked in bunk beds surrounded by toys. We set out from the Wellington Hotel and headed towards Lake Alexandrina. The route is initially well marked ... read more

We woke to the gentle sounds of quarrying and packed up camp to head into Berri for coffees. We had a lovely relaxing time. Even though Mike had taken my boat apart the night before we hadn’t located the problem that was causing my boat to sink. Brooksie had been murmuring something about “checking the bungs” . While we were in Berri we workshopped it over again and decided that it might be worth trying the bungs. As it turned out the o ring on one of the bungs was shot. We picked up a couple of spare O-rings at SuperCheap and new bungs at the camping place. Brooksie bought an opulent new lilo and one of those old man straps you put around your neck so you don’t lose your glasses. We were having a ... read more

Today was the real test of the plan. Our longest day circa 228 kms, longest between fuel stops and the most locks (4). There was a general feeling of foreboding! Heightened by the fact that because of the big day Brooksie had to forego his usual breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and grilled tomatoes. Instead there was a lot of complaining about skim milk and Vita Brits. As always the Murray River is spectacular and this stretch is much wider, and more populated than what we had experienced on the other trips. We arrived at Wentworth without incident, although the woman at the bakery store wouldn’t give Brooksie her name even though she’d asked for his when he ordered coffee. We had a chat to a couple who had purportedly come down the river from ... read more