the journey to Kangaroo Island

the journey to Kangaroo Island .... well the one that we have planned!

A month or so ago I started organising our next vacation. We are planning on Kangaroo Island seeing as it is about the only place in Australia we have not been to!

Our plan is to leave home on the Saturday and head down towards Mt Gambier staying there overnight to break the journey and allow us more time to see the South Australian Coastline from Mt Gambier, via Robe to Cape Jervis.

Cape Jervis is where we board the SeaLink Ferry to Kangaroo Island.

We are staying in Cape Jervis on the Sunday night as the ferry departs on Monday morning at 9:00am.The Saturday night happens to be the Easter Weekend and it was a total pain to locate any accommodation as I mentioned in a previous blog post titled: neither simple, easy or low cost! Most places I contacted either directly or thru Zuji, Trip Advisor etc all required a minimum of three nights booking due to it being a 'holiday weekend'. Some of them didn't even bother to return my messages! After much frustration I called The Tower Motor Inn at Mt Gambier direct, what a pleasant experience that turned out to be. I had been on booking.com and knew the lowest price that the Superior Room was selling for, so when I asked him how much would he sell the room to me for, he gave me a higher price!  Told him the lowest price I had seen and he offered me the room at the same price and then proceeded to 'sell' me the Superior Deluxe Suite at a greatly reduced price and for the one night! ..... this man knows how to sell a room and he certainly knows about 'customer service'!

Impressive.

Thank you Gary Walters!

The Tower Motor Inn also had good reports on TripAdvisor, so hopefully our stay will live up to our expectations!  Will certainly let you know either way.  I gave him the cc details and the confirmation by email arrived by the time I put the phone down.

Must admit this is the sort of 'customer service' we should all expect and receive, but sadly it rarely happens in Australia.

Superior Deluxe Room at The Tower Motor Inn at Mt Gambier

Our next place for accommodation was to be around the Cape Jervis area as we had booked the SeaLink Ferry for the 9:00am crossing.  Again, we kept hitting brick walls due to the two or three night minimum booking.

Eventually we came across the Cape Jervis Station and Cottages.  Lovely receptionist on the phone, very helpful, especially with me asking many questions and then after the booking realised I had booked the wrong date!  Had to call her back and request the change .... she was very pleasant about it and told me it was a good learning experience for her too as it was her first day on duty. I certainly hope she is still there as she is more than just a good asset to their business.

We found this to be a little expensive at $175.00 with breakfast, but again, we had no choice due to the dates traveling. Will keep you up to date on the value after we have stayed!

though most of the comments on TripAdvisor are good:

We had booked for one night prior to going over on the morning ferry but ended up staying for two nights as the ferry was cancelled due to terrible weather (next time I will get travel insurance!). Accommodation was great B & B style in the homestead. Electric blanket was a blessing as it was freezing. Had dinner both nights and was lovely home cooked style with a lovely bottle of Shiraz from Kangaroo Island. The hosts were very welcoming and nothing was too much trouble.

Stayed here overnight for an early ferry to Kangaroo Island. The owners were very welcoming and showed us to our room with en-suite. The room was in the older homestead. We were the only people in that part of the complex. There are a variety of ways to stay on the property. They have caravan and motor home sites, log cabins and stone cottages. It is a working farm and the breakfast eggs were from the farm. Delicious. Nice and quiet, I did not hear any traffic noise myself.
Good to note the extra travel Insurance needed, am glad we have purchased ours already!

The downside - for Cape Jervis Station - was when I tried to get on to their website for some images and extra information, it kept coming up with the following message:

Now that is a very bad move for their business, either they need a better service provider or they need to extend their coverage!

I still managed to get a few images of the property and surrounds thru google maps and off TripAdvisor as seen below:

The Monday morning will see us up bright and early heading down to the Ferry Terminal at Cape Jervis to get the 9:00am Ferry ....

from Google Maps, view from the highway after leaving Cape Jervis Station

from Google Maps, view from the highway just before entering Cape Jervis.

and hopefully an hour or so later we are on our way to Cape Borda Lightstation !

My next blog post will be on our return journey from Kangaroo Island, Cape Jervis to Middleton and on to Naracoorte before returning home.

Make sure you subscribe to this blog for follow up posts on our journey to and from Kangaroo Island.

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The RiverBoat Lodge at Echuca!

Recently we traveled by train to Echuca, just for a few days ... Echuca is a town located on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe river in Victoria, Australia.

We decided at the last moment to leave on the Wednesday. I quickly looked on-line for accommodation, discarding any that did not have a website! We needed to locate any accommodation within walking distance to the town as we were traveling up by train and wanted to walk to any of the tourist area's.

Our first call was to the Campaspe Lodge for accommodation but found they were already fully booked. The next one on the list was the Riverboat Lodge.

on their website it has:

Our location in the heart of Echuca!
The Riverboat Lodge Motor Inn boasts one of the most central locations in Echuca. Leave your car with us and simply walk to the heritage port area, shop in the variety of stores in High and Hare Streets and dine in the local cafes, restaurants clubs and pubs. If you choose to visit by train, bus or plane we offer a free courtesy bus pickup and return on your departure!

When I called, the manager (Grant Casbolt) was very pleasant and offered a "three night package" to which we accepted.

The package included breakfast each morning, a dinner voucher at Antonio's Restaurant for $40.00, a "Devonshire Tea" for two at the Wisteria Cafe, pick up and drop off at the rail station and a cruise on the Murray River onboard the EmmyLou.

When I enquired about the WiFi he also added that into the 'deal' as well. I find it strange that hotels and motels usually charge extra for a service that should be free. Or at the very least, packaged into the room cost. In all of the traveling we have done, certainly in the past six years, we have never had to pay the extra daily fee for WiFi ...... . except of course when we were at The Westin in Berlin!

Anyway, it was included in this 'three night package' so we were grateful.

The room we booked - as above - was advertised as follows:

DELUXE SPA ROOMS - Queen sized bed, electric blanket, direct dial phone, refrigerator, tea & coffee making facilities, toaster, microwave, table & chairs, sofa, 32" LCD TV, DVD player, AM-FM clock radio, R/C air conditioning, hair dryer and ironing facilities and large 2 person spa in bathroom.

Now I have read the reviews on TripAdvisor and some of the negative comments written.

BUT ...guests should always check the rating of the motel/hotel so they have an idea of the standard expected. The RiverBoat Lodge is a 3.5 star motel (RACV Rating) so do not expect 5 star service!

People that complain about a motel or hotel being 'old' always amaze me, how can you expect a hotel to be 'new' all the time. Even our homes become old and tired eventually!

Check the websites, look at the architecture, the cost of the room, the star rating, what is included etc .. all of these will give you a clue as to what you might expect.
 
I agree the motel is no longer bright and sparkly or brand new. If it was, you would be paying a higher price that's for sure! To me it looked rather 'tired' and certainly could do with a 'freshening'. But I did notice the manager (Grant) painting, so can only assume he is working his way around to a full makeover!

 
The pool is very small and is located close to the rooms, its not a pool for swimming, just more for a bit of playing or a dip. The garden area needs a little TLC, but even that is not a 'complaint'.

Like anyone else, I am very happy to stay in 5 star resorts, but if there are none available or cost is the issue, then you need to rethink the situation. Just so long as it is clean and comfortable, the people are friendly, the service is good and it's value for money, then that's all I ask for.

We found the RiverBoat Lodge to be fairly good value for the "three day package" that we had booked, plus Grant and the cleaning staff were very friendly and helpful at all times.

Customer Service is always top of our priority list!

RiverBoat Lodge is ideal for a 2 or 3 night stopover and is in walking distance to town and all the restaurants.

Riverboat Lodge Motor Inn Echuca

Hosts: Grant and Wendy Casbolt
476 - 484 High Street
Echuca, Victoria, Australia 3564

Phone: (03) 5482 5777
Fax: (03) 5482 6279
FREE CALL 1 800 033 134 (within Australia)

email : info@riverboatlodge.com.au

*please note*

the above blog post was not for a social media event, this particular post is for the interest of our loyal followers !!

We, however, are available for Social Media work at anytime. Be it bakeries, restaurants, festivals, wineries, galleries, cafes, coffee shops, markets or anything that needs to have some focus and would be of interest to others!!

email:

Leone and John Fabre

URL's that maybe of interest:

The RiverBoat Lodge

traveling by train to Echuca

Afternoon Tea at the Wisteria Cafe

  TripAdvisor