Down By The River - Chapter 6 - Mildura & the Houseboat Day 2

DOWN BY THE RIVER

Chapter 6 – Mildura & the Houseboat Day 2

Day 2 on the river is crisp and clear. We spent the night not far from the original berth but close enough to our intended destination that we had only a short distance to go.

Before anyone rises I had to the back of the boat and reallocate fishing lines to the water. Almost immediately the bait attacked. First, second and third carp of the day are quickly in the bucket. Amongst the carp I catch a huge “Weed” fish, to the hysterical joy of my compatriots beginning to rise from their nightly slumber.

It doesn’t matter what the land of nod has brought to them and their disposition, pictures of the weed fish brings much merriment to their moods. Soon enough we retire to the kitchen, russell up the appropriate food and return to the back dead in the sunshine 4 hour morning riposte. 

My shipmates eat much healthier than we do.  Well they are into muesli and health food options, my breakfast fare tends to be leftovers from the night before. There will be a course over the time we have together, a menu of much healthier options than my palate is used to.

Breakfast and it’s clean up done, at a leisurely pace it’s time to embark on a trip up river to our destination for lunch. We have become quite a custom to eating at Trentham Estates Winery, which allows several mooring options for passing Houseboats.

Shipmates, as are we, are members of their wine club. We are very well versed in there offerings of the products of the grape. But along with their Cellar Door Trentham Estates also has an excellent restaurant. There will be the obligatory wine tasting today but the real reason to stop here is to have lunch, be it on the deck, or on the beautiful grasslands adjoining the river.

We arrive early and with fishing lines deployed even before we get to head off to the wine tastings a number of carp open ended up in the bucket.

Internet reception is more than scratchy along the river. At various parts there is no ability to connect whereas others have strong connection and everything else in between. Overnight spot was one of those where there was no reception,  so mooring at Trentham Estates gives us one of the few times we will be able to access the internet without significant wandering up and down to gauge the best spot. As our time on the boat continues there will be more and more wandering up and down the river to engage the internet sufficient enough to do the business that all four of us need to do. 

All the business done there is time for the wine tasting.There is some new fare to try, but our orders remain with those vintages that we have come to enjoy. It is clear that our extra passenger has become the focus of the attention of the sommelier. Whilst Maurice and I 10 to get the normal tasting amounts in our glasses our companion seems to be provided with significantly more . Not a problem of course because being the skipper Maurice needs to remain able to control a boat and I am his backup.

Our friend is starting to feel the effects of the extra alcohol which is evident by the increasing volume of his voice. He seems to take great happiness in listening to the nuances of the wines and then repeating them in a summary of what is presently quaffing. 

With the wine tasted and the orders filled and taken to the houseboat it’s now time for lunch. Its a Particularly busy time for the staff and the restaurant. We had the book well in advance to insure our spot. Even then we are in a temporary area under a marquee, but still on the grass overlooking the river. 

Like all good waitresses ours immediately becomes our friend as we delve into what we might and what we finally decide to have as a main course. The maitre d however, who we find out later is our waitresses husband, is a little bit jaded in his disposition.  Whilst face-to-face here’s all charm and business like, soon as he faces away from his customers,  transferring them to their tables, his facial expression takes some marked change.

What is the business like jocularity of his position, soon becomes an apparent sullen drudgery for those already seated to endure. 

There are 5 of us at the table. The girls are starting with bubbles, whilst us men folk have resorted to some excellent red wines. By the time our meals come we are ready for more bottles and our waitress quickly ensures our glasses are never empty. 

As usual the meals are spectacular.Normally the one course would do us,  but being only day two of a 14-day expedition we allow ourselves to not only see the desert menu but even indulge. The wine and the company make for some interesting choices. First we need a change in wine, not to suit the change in course, but because the other bottles have emptied.

Whilst the girls are resorting to cups of tea,  the boys are going to indulge in another Merlot. The madness tales over with deserts consisting of  2 chocolate fudge cakes and a bowl of chips with the obligatory tomato sauce of course. Unperturbed our waitress arrives with not only the bowl of chips but with several sauces to try with them. All to be washed down with the Merlot, that we have every intention of recapping and taking with us to the houseboat. 

It doesn’t make it.

Belies overfilled we womble back to the houseboat, but not before we re-book for later in the trip, where nanna naps are quickly in progress before we even think of casting off.

A couple of hours killed with the food coma and we move only marginally along the bank to keep the modicum of internet that this area provides, available to those of us needing to do business.

We are woken to the sounds of large engines on the water. A boat and water skiers are wandering up and down the river. They lose a skier adjacent to the houseboat and have much trouble getting the large gentlemen back on top of the water. The boat is a little under powered and the driver not experienced enough to do what the pros call “whip them out”, using centrifugal force added to the straight line power of the propeller in instances where more is required.

i re-engage the fishing lines and sit and take in the show. The eventually give up having tired the would be skier out and extract him from the water, replace him with a much smaller version who is immediately able to pop out and the noise wanes into the distance.

Carp come and enter the bucket for their final trip to the top of the bank. I hook another catfish and unlike the carp who are destined as goanna food, the fish is returned to the river.

As the sun begins to set, other houseboats begin to moor not far from us. One, a group of young guys, perhaps on a “trip of a lifetime” have the music cranked up as the sunsets. There is much laughter and cavorting of bodies from the top deck of the boat and into the water. Soon after dark though, the music stops and the peace of the river re-engulfs us.

Day 2 has been very tough. We struggled through the wine tasting, purchased enough wine for the fortnight (well hope we did), forced ourselves into a food coma and caught fish, some of which actually counted in the “real” count – not just carp.

The shrimp net is set with soap as the attractant so we have not just worms as the fare for those wandering the depths. No point setting the fixed lines for the night, as during the day I had lost several rigs to a snag not far from the back of the boat.

As the insect pall rises with the setting of the sun, we put out the mossie light to keep them out there rather than in here and it starts its relentless fight against the bugs. It will be interesting to see the battleground in the morning, but for now, even with the afternoon napping, everyone is retiring early.