19.5 - 39 degC; 98-30 % humidity Biked and river cruise: 36km We left at 8:25am, five minutes earlier than our scheduled ETD. We considered waiting another five minutes for any new riders to appear, but immediately dismissed the idea! We rode back towards the Murray River to check out the timings and costs for the lunch cruise. Once that was sorted we continued on the river towards the Chaffey Homestead. The Chaffey brothers are credited with enabling the survival of Mildura due to their extensive knowledge of irrigation and the use of river water to its best. They were Canadians and were strongly encourage to move to Mildura in order to assist the people to not only survive, but prosper. They obviously did a fantastic job, as the area is still looking vey lush. We could only go so far as the rest of the area had been closed off for maintenance due to recent flooding. In Sep last year (2016!) the river rose due to upstream deluges and peaked in Nov. The evidence is still there - in fences, on roads, and water lines on trees in the river. We turned back and stopped at Lock 11 which was being used - a drop of 3.5m which is quite significant. The Murray has a series of Locks and Weirs, and the weir at Lock 11 is a removable one; it is removed when the water level gets too high (to avoid damage) and when it needs repairs. It keeps the level of water about 3.5m higher for about 50km upstream. We then retreated to the coffee shop for a well earned coffee and muesli/nut bar. It was then time to board the "Rothbury", an ex coal driven paddle steamer. Today, she is still a paddle driven vessel, only driven by a powerful Diesel engine. We went upriver as far as the Gol Gol Pub where we were off loaded, complete with a voucher allowing us a 10% discount. The food was well overpriced but we ate; we all had the burgers with chips that cost us $32/couple!! We boarded the boat back to the terminal at 2;15pm and were back at 3pm. We then took a short ride around the newly established marina area, complete with some very fancy homes, and then back to the van park via the city, stopping off at the Information Centre on the way. Greg went to Bunnings while Wendy read her book. The Fishers retreated to their van and turned on the aircon. Pre-dinner drinks were had at the Walker's pad, with dinner about 7:30pm. The Walkers then decided to turn their aircon on as it was still 35 degC in the van at 8:30pm!! Teeth, shower and bed followed.