Balonne River Cruise

Up and moving for our river cruise today. Brett, the owner of Sandytown River cruises, called us the other day to let us know that the pickup point was slightly different, easy enough, and that a group of CMCA solos would be getting on too. We had no idea what that meant, so did a google. Campervan and Motorhome club of Australia - solos, so people travelling by themselves, the association organises a couple of group holidays/rallies a year that they can join. Pretty cute really. The boat arrived and we started boarding, Brett asked the oldies to shuffle down slightly to allow room for the family, instead a delightful old bird sat down right as we were about to. It wasn't an issue, just rude in general. Anyway, we sat towards the back opposite another lady who said her dog doesn't like other dogs and might nip. Awesome, why bring your dog then? We were polite and said Pup would have no interest anyway and that he's not a biter or we wouldn't have brought him along. All good in the end as the dogs awkwardly avoided each other. Took Pup a bit to settle, he was standing up looking around, scooped him up to look out the side for a bit then finally laying on the ground. Max started well then ended up losing it, amazing. Turns out it was quite lucky we ended up sitting where we were, the lady next to us was a former maternity nurse and gave a few suggestions, and another way to give him some panadol where he doesn't spit it out straight away, even offered to hold him for a bit, figured why not. He calmed right down, little turd. She was lovely, asking about his birth, how Pup was with him, baby weaning suggestions etc. She was very considerate too, saying she didn't want to sound like she was sticking her nose in and some people don't like it of course etc, we said we understood that too, but her intentions were lovely and it was really nice of her. Back to the cruise! 2 hours along the Balonne River - Bah-Lon - Brett has been doing the job for 15 years now. We headed down toward the weir first, learning about the history of the area, wildlife and the big floods over the years. The levy has moved a few times to allow for the floodwaters, the original levy was submerged beneath us apparently. We headed back up the river, learning about the local grape growers, police and community members, lots of good stories. He does a 4pm cruise as well, and on either cruise you're welcome to take food and drinks and really relax, it's a good set up. The water is a lovely brown colour, which is the usual, but contrasting with the blue sky and greenery around, it was really quite nice. It was quite warm in the sun, but the breeze had a chill to it. Even with the unsettled boys, it was a nice way to spend a few hours.Baca lagi