Luvapuzzle: Rock Oyster, River and Scenic Hills Feb 3/2/18

Manu had offered some training at Rock Oyster, near Mannum, so we were keen to go. We took our standard route along the Onkaparinga Valley drive to Mt Pleasant on the way there. We even arrived a little early!! (Not bad, after getting to bed after 1am that morning)

Rock Oyster is called that because of the many fossilised oyster shells on the ground there. A very slippery side slope coming out of the many parallel creeks, just to make more of a challenge.

The first training was a middle distance training - with a choice of distances - I took the shorter distance, and Trevor the longer one. The challenge here is always to find the best route choice, and alleviate danger and climb, while managing to stay in touch with where you are on the map. If you leave the creek systems it is really easy to lose touch and hard to figure out where you are again,as everything looks the same.

As you can see the terrain is rocky and pretty dry at the moment. I didn't hear about any snakes seen. The mallee country has its own charm and I couldn't resist taking a picture or two on the way around.

Manu used these small hanging controls and SI units so we had timed legs and an accurate time for our courses.

The seed pods on the ground catching the sun were stunning.

After the first run we all gathered, had a good drink and a snack for some. At this point I called it enough as I had been feeling sick before we left home and was not any better for the exercise. I took advantage of the peace and quiet and sat down by the car and enjoyed some quiet reading time, while Trevor went out on his next course.

I would have loved to have done this course as it had all sorts of tricky challenges where Manu had formed corridors you had to stay in (control 1-3) ,windows you had to navigate to (12-15) and a contour only section (9-12). Beats me how the kids (who have less experience) can still whip around these types of courses while us oldies struggle. I guess it is all about the rate of brain development and how good they are at picking up new information.

After a good sit down and recuperate (and sharing of spare water with those who hadn't brought enough) we headed to the Swan Reach pub via the ferry at Swan Reach.

South Australia provides a number of ferries as part of our road network. They are free to travel on, and save building bridges. I've always enjoyed the fun of a ferry ride, and you just have a little time to park the car and hop out to enjoy it before you have to hop back in and be on your way.

Trev and Zita enjoying the ferry ride and view of lovely Murray River cliffs

The pub sits overlooking the river and you can sit out on their deck and watch the ferry coming back and forwards. Very relaxing , but a bit warm for doing that for too long .
The white cockatoos screeched and partied in the big gum tress by the river.
We moved inside and took advantage of the pub air conditioning for a while and then were on our way.

We headed home on the Swan Reach side of the river, following along as close as possible to the river itself. There are some great viewing spots (lookouts) where you can pull off and admire the mighty Murray.

Big Bend from the lookout

Trev, Al and Zita enjoying the view. Soon after this we parted ways with Al and Zita when they stopped to buy fruit at a roadside stop.

Trev and I made our way down to Walkers Flat, where we crossed again using the punt, and then meandered our way as closely as we could along the river again to Mannum.

Here we stopped for a while at the riverfront reserve, where we admired some of the swanky riverfront architecture and read about Captain William Randell and his amazing riverboat adventures.