May 14, 2023
Day 4: Waikerie to Renmark
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Last nights camp was very good after feeling uncomfortable on the caravan park at Morgan. It was very peaceful, Annette said that she had recovered and life was looking good. Devlin's Pound Road is very scenic, there are good views of the cliffs down to the river, beautiful and quiet in the early morning. I hadn't been looking forward to the Goyder Highway but this was Sunday morning so hopefully it would be quiet.
Eventually we made it onto the highway for the run into Renmark and came across our first cyclists for the trip. Four blokes travelling light from Wentworth to Goolwa. They were clearly expecting to travel much faster than us but stopped for a chat and shared some chocolate. The Goyder Highway soon leads on to the Sturt Highway, this is very busy with lots of trucks, even on a Sunday. There was a decent shoulder but it still seemed less than pleasant after the nice quiet roads we'd been on.
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We stopped for lunch at Monash and lashed out with a bag of hot chips to go with our usual lunch of wrap, cheese and tinned fish. We're on holiday, why not. We had decided to stop in Renmark because I wanted to go into the town on Monday morning. Not having the centre stand on my bike was becoming a pain, it was very difficult loading the panniers or even getting anything out of the panniers. I'd resolved to get it fixed. Also, we decided to get more food for the trip across the Mallee, we weren't going to Mildura but turning south just after the border and no shops for a while.
I knew that the campsite in Renmark was going to be expensive, it's a Big 4 camp which are usually pretty dear, but this one is more expensive than most. It's not really aimed at the likes of us. It is impressive though, even at $51 to put up a tent (plus a surcharge for using a card), Outdoor cinema showing cartoons, BMX bike track, Gym, T.V. room (no kids allowed) and a very good camp kitchen. It's obvious the demographic that they're aiming at which is clearly not us. Having said that, I did enjoy it even though the only facilities we used were the camp kitchen and the T.V. lounge. It's unfortunate that it is so near the road with a constant stream of trucks throughout the night. The manager actually moved us once so that we wouldn't be disturbed by the outdoor cinema, nice of her but the cinema finished about 8.30, the trucks went all night. We used to do the fruit season in Renmark and have stayed at the main campsites many times but they are very different places now. I don't know where the fruit pickers go these days.
Today's ride: 75 km (47 miles)
Total: 254 km (158 miles)
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