Going to Renmark for the Easter Weekend....

[pgc hunter]

... to view houseboats for sale with my family. Booked 3 nights over the Easter long weekend with some of the darkest skies Australia has to offer right on the doorstep of town.

Full moon on the Saturday, smack in the middle of our stay.

Piss take if there ever was one.

[mental4astro]

Take binos and a fishing rod - not much less to do, :question:

Mind you, I do like fishing too, :fishing:

Hmmm, fish... baked with chillies... yummmm, :love:

[glend]

It will be busy over Easter. Head the houseboat up river towards Custom House - beautiful area and wonderful night skies , too bad about the Moon.

[Allan]

Sab, I grew up in Renmark so I know how dark and transparent the sky is there. I use to get my dad to drive me out into the bush with my telescope and I still remember how beautiful the sky was all these years later. Pity you couldn't organise your trip over the new moon and do some observing up river from Renmark. Will still be tons of wildlife to see in bino's if you are in to that.

[michaellxv]

You do realise that is the lunar eclipse full moon. Not that you need a dark sky for that.

[pgc hunter]

Hired out houseboats 4 times in Renmark and every time we drove it towards the Vic border. Epic skies. Heck even the moon has it's own twilight. Have to go at Easter as I need my annual leave. Never got into fishing but it would be fun to catch my own fish and chips!

[Allan_L]

We Just got back from SA trip and travelled through Renmark.
Stayed at Holder Bend Reserve & Boat Ramp, a free camping area on the bank of the Murray River, just east of Waikerie.

The skies were brilliant. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Re Houseboats for sale,
I saw a combination houseboat and caravan on the river.
Boatahome.
Great idea I thought.
Check their website boatahome.com.au

[pgc hunter]

Yup I've seen the skies from Renmark without moon and it was unforgettable. The Magellanic clouds appeared to have multiple layers, almost 3D. Tarantula Nebula, easy naked eye object. Even the moon has its own twilight! Plus it's a low humidity climate and is officially a desert (average annual rainfall 243mm), so it just ticks all the boxes. Nearby Mildura is one of the sunniest stations in the country, of all the stations with sunshine recorders in the country, only Broome, Port Hedland, Karratha, Alice Springs and Mt Isa exceed it and Mildura records more annual sunshine than Perth, Darwin, Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

As for houseboats, yes, I've seen those caravan/boat things, cool concept, but too small for a live-aboard situation. Would be neat for a holiday setup though, very versatile and clever. Houseboats are going for good prices nowadays. Going there for the Easter weekend. Will spend some time scouting out dark sky sites both riverside accessible by houseboat and by car. Already got a couple places on the list to check out.

[38degsouth]

...with the date of Easter being defined by a full moon (first Sunday after the first full moon after equinox), all I can say is enjoy the Lunar Eclipse! ;) Dean

[JB80]

My old man lives on a house boat but he is closer to Murray Bridge, he doesn't take it out much these days but still it's alright, I lived on it for 6 months a while back and it's a pretty laid back life style. Wrong end of the river to be mind you because it takes you days to get up to the more quiet areas that aren't as blighted by speed boats and jet ski's.
I say go for it.
I have often wondered if it's a worthy investment to get one and rent it out as a holiday boat whilst I'm not in the country.

[pgc hunter]

Yep I knew that Easter is based around the full moon, just wasn't sure how. Family chose the Easter long weekend to avoid cutting into annual leave, which we might need later this year.



I think it might be. Houseboats are cheap to buy, e.g. there is a 5 bedroom going for $120,000 - yes a FIVE bedroom boat; and a modern 2 bedder with new kitchen, open plan living etc recently went for 80k. It sold after the first day of inspection. Smaller boats are available for as little as 50-70k. Look up the hire companies and the rates they charge; most charge over 1000 bucks for a week on a basic but fully equipped boat off-season, the big luxury boats can command over $5000 a week in peak.