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Renmark
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RENMARK
, on a bend of the Murray 254km from Adelaide, is the last major town before the border with New South Wales. There's not a great deal to see in the town, although
Olivewood
, an interesting National Trust property on the corner of Renmark Avenue and 21st Street (Mon & Thurs-Sun 10am-4pm, Tues 2-4pm; $4), is the former home of the Chaffey brothers. A palm-lined drive leads through a citrus orchard and olive trees to the house, which is a strange hybrid of Canadian log cabin and Australian lean-to. The attached museum is the usual hotchpotch of local memorabilia, unrelated to the Chaffeys or their ambitious irrigation project. The
Chaffey Theatre
on 18th Street (tel 08/8586 5462) has an impressive performing arts centre hosting amateur and professional plays, films and concerts. The main attraction of Renmark, however, is the river and its surrounding wetlands.
The riverfront Renmark Paringa Visitor Centre on Murray Avenue (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-4pm, Sun 10am-4pm; tel 08/8586 6704, www.riverland.net.au ) can book river cruises . The PS Industry - one of the few wood-fuelled paddle steamers left on the Murray - is moored outside and cruises once a month (1hr 30min; $15; contact the tourist centre for times and bookings). Daily cruises are run by Renmark River Cruises (tel 08/8595 1862, www.riverland.net.au/~renriv ), who offer both motorized dinghy expeditions through the local backwaters (2hr; $45), and trips aboard the Big River Rambler (daily 2pm; 2hr; $23), which leaves from Renmark wharf and heads upstream 7km past colourful river cliffs. The UNESCO-backed Bookmark Biosphere Reserve , a few kilometres from Renmark, manages 9000 square kilometres of land north of the River Murray. To explore this region by land or river, Bookmark Guides (tel 08/8582 5299, fax 8582 5277, www.riverland.net.au/~bbwaters ) offers a variety of day and overnight tours from 4WD bush safaris to wine-tasting.
The obvious
place to stay
in Renmark is the landmark
Renmark Hotel/Motel
(tel 08/8586 6755,
www.renmarkhotel.com.au
; $50-90), overlooking the river. Built in 1897 and given its facade in the 1930s, the hotel has been thoroughly modernized and has a large bistro, gaming rooms, outdoor swimming pool and spa. The
Renmark Riverfront Caravan Park
, on Patey Drive 2km east of town (tel 08/8586 6315; en-suite cabins $50-70, on-site vans $20-35), has an idyllic setting along 1km of riverfront. Two good
restaurants
are
Ginger Mick's Pizza
, 124 Murray Ave, open late nightly except Sunday; and, for Italian food,
Cafe Toppo e Ristorante
, 179 Murray Ave. You can eat Chinese food at
The Golden Palace
, 114 Renmark Ave (closed Tues & Sun lunch). Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Australia,
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