Question about Murray Houseboats

[Diane]

Ok, doing a 5/6 day Houseboat hire on the Murray in November: what I wondered is, apart from where you pick up the boat (Mannum I think - must check!) are there other places along the river where you can buy supplies, food and drink etc or is it "take everything with you, if you forget something you're stuffed"??

 

Been on canals and rivers in UK and Europe and there's lots of riverside villages/pubs etc, but have a feeling the Murray isn't like that...

 

Anyone know??

[Guest the4hopes]

That sounds great, could you pm me with price for this, if that's ok

Laura

[Guest Nikkic]

A houseboat holiday on the Murray is one of the best holidays you can do. Last summer we did a week with the Unforgetable Houseboats at Manum. It was a 10 berth and we also hired a ski boat to tow along.

There are stores up and down the river that you can get supplies however you can take most stuff on board when you first leave, lots of BBQ stuff!!.

You are going to have an awesome time.

Dallas

[wizzywozza]

There is a Foodland a Mannum, but I would advise taking as much food as poss with you, and plenty of booze. Don't forget firelighters and matches for your riverside bonfires! Mossie repellant, and warm clothes are a must at night, it's still pretty chilly on the river ..... and I lived in my ugg boots on board! We just came back from our first ever houseboat holiday a couple of weeks ago and have already booked the next one from Blanchetown next year. Take some bars of soap for yabbie bait in the yabbie nets and sweetcorn for the carp. Use river shrimp for bait for callop - you should get shrimp in the yabbie net. Break off a leafy willow branch and stuff it in the net with the soap - it encourages the yabbies to enter! Oh and whiting rigs are good to use for carp fishing.

 

BTW we just did Murray Bridge to Mannum and back, 60hp 4 stroke engine and our fuel use was about $155 (taken out of the bond after the holiday).

[Diane]

Thanks everyone - the houseboat we have hired is a six berth with an outdoor heated spa on the deck - we booked it through Buccaneer Houseboats (http://www.buccaneerhouseboats.com.au/) - will take as much food (and drink!) as we can with us then, and not count on being able to buy anything en route.

 

Interesting about the yabbies and using soap as bait Sharon; when we went to the Grampians a few weeks ago, the kids did yabbie fishing in the lake there using bits of ham and bacon as bait - apparently yabbies are actually vegetarian and abhor the presence of meat in their habitat, so they actually get hold of the bacon to remove it from their lake - hence if you wind the bait in really slowly then scoop behind, that's how to catch the yabbie. Wonder if they don't like soap either and it works n the same principle?

 

I take it you're allowed to have small fires on the shore? Or are they banned??

 

D

 

PS Did you cook and eat the yabbies? We couldn't bring ourself to do the "Boiling them alive in hot water thing" so threw them all back!

[Les&Babs]

Thanks everyone - the houseboat we have hired is a six berth with an outdoor heated spa on the deck - we booked it through Buccaneer Houseboats (http://www.buccaneerhouseboats.com.au/) - will take as much food (and drink!) as we can with us then, and not count on being able to buy anything en route.

 

Interesting about the yabbies and using soap as bait Sharon; when we went to the Grampians a few weeks ago, the kids did yabbie fishing in the lake there using bits of ham and bacon as bait - apparently yabbies are actually vegetarian and abhor the presence of meat in their habitat, so they actually get hold of the bacon to remove it from their lake - hence if you wind the bait in really slowly then scoop behind, that's how to catch the yabbie. Wonder if they don't like soap either and it works n the same principle?

 

I take it you're allowed to have small fires on the shore? Or are they banned??

 

 

 

D

 

PS Did you cook and eat the yabbies? We couldn't bring ourself to do the "Boiling them alive in hot water thing" so threw them all back!

 

Hi Diane,

 

We had a week on the Murray last time we were in OZ had a great time the best thing we have done, take all your food and drink with you you will be lucky to find any shops close enough to the river, There were 10 of us on board and it was quite a job organising the food and drinks, every one was asked to get different food and drinks the cost was added together and split between us ( including fuel ).

You will need to check with the boat people if you can have a fire on the bank we were able to one of the guys with us was a fireman so np probs there.

Dont forget to order your ice from the boat people lots of it we had a large cool box that took all the drinks a we stuffed it full of ice and it just lasted the 5 days.

 

Best wishes

Les :daydreaming::daydreaming:

[Guest rachinadelaide]

We're going on one from Renmark in a couple of weeks - I'm very excited! We're taking our kayak to explore some of the creeks. We're going to stock up before we get on so we are self sufficient. Last time we were kayaking on the Murray we saw a snake in the water.....!!

[wizzywozza]

Yes you can have a fire on the bank but you are not supposed to use any wood/trees/logs found there, but you buy the firewood from the houseboat hirer. You'll see places where people have previously had fires on the river bank.

 

We found that the ice box on the boat we hired had been used to store fish that had been caught and consequently smelled really foul, so I certainly wouldn't have put any food or drinks in it. A good tip is to take all your meat pre-frozen, and then stick it straight in the freezer on board.

 

We didn't actually catch any yabbies, I'm told the water is a bit too cold for them to be active at the mo, but had we caught any I would have done the boiling water/garlic butter thing. (I've done it before and have no probs with it, but do understand that it might not be appealling to some lol). You will have to murder all the carp though! We bought a yabbie trap for $10, and just left it under a willow tree overnight complete with soap and willow branch (as instructed at the local tackle shop ) but we were after shrimp really to use as bait for callop.

 

I have to say that the boat we hired was very well equipped indeed, and also had lots of things such as washing up liquid, matches, sugar, tea, coffee, s & p, foil, cling wrap etc that previous hirers had left behind. There wer also a few games onboard (Scrabble, Boggle etc), and a stereo and TV. Hubby spent time playing the blues on his guitar too while we were cruising along.