WITH APOLOGIES TO GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS, we had to “ferry ‘cross the Murray”—there just isn’t a bridge at Waikerie. Instead, a vehicle-carrying cable ferry crosses to and fro twenty-four hours a day—hin und zuruck, ida y vuelta, aller et retour.
South Australia Wheatfields
A different perspective on Oz
The 400 kilometer drive from Hawker was pleasant giving us a view of a new part of rural Australia. Eventually wheat fields gave way to the orange trees and vineyards of Riverland and Izzie, our iPhone GPS announced “in 500 meters take the wikerrymerryferry” as if it were a single word not “Waikerie Murray Ferry.” Sometimes the ferry is waiting and you can drive right on. All shapes and sizes are welcome—you may be sharing with a tractor-trailer or an oversized water tank. Even if you’ve just missed the boat it takes only about ten minutes for the ferry to make a round trip.
All shapes and sizes can cross
Our first thought after leaving the ferry and arriving at our “home” among the vineyards was, “Oh, crap! We’re spending a week in a giant steel garage.” Once inside we realized that only the “living room and TV” were in the garage, the rest was sectioned off into a small, windowless second bedroom, a “seen-better-days” bathroom and the kitchen/dining/sleeping area. It’s not at all what we were expecting, especially since the listing appeared on both Booking.com and AirBnB.
Not much in the way of kerb appeal
At least it has a kitchen
It's air-conditioned where we'll eat and sleep
We have stayed in worse places and if nothing else, we are resilient. In Uganda we lived for six months in a rondavel with no electricity or running water and a leaky thatch-roof so a week here should be a snap. The air-con works fine, wifi is strong, the shower is hot, the fridge is new and two burners on the stove work so we can cook. There is a great Woolworths and a laundry in town—a bottle-shop, too, in case we need it!
This is where we lived in Uganda
We’ll stop whinging now.
