Mr Percival, Mr Proud and Mr Ponder’s cousins on the Goolwa wharf.
After a couple of days spent with good friends in Adelaide we head down through the rugged and dry hills of some of our favourite wine regions and stop for a tasty ploughman’s lunch in McLaren Vale and on through to Goolwa.
This buzzing little seaside town sits at the base of Lake Alexandrina and the mouth of the Murray River, which marks the final chapter of our monumental River tour.
There is an odd circumstance of nature here, called the Coorong which is a very long narrow waterway sitting in between a skinny pristine sand dune coast line that acts much like a fortress wall, protecting the fresh waters of the lake from the salty Southern Ocean.
Our humble tour boat… perfect!
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- 3000 year old Midden, evidence of abundant aboriginal shellfish feasts.
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- Fresh water soaks in the sand dunes.
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- An old stockman’s cottage on Hindmarsh Island.
There continues to be much much controversy over the water management of this whole area with huge man-made barrages purposefully manipulating the salinity for the good of man and animal… I think! But at the end of the day, no matter which side of the argument you sit, the Coorong is an absolutely stunning natural environment that is definitely worth a visit.
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- Huge concrete barrages or weirs control the coming and going of salt and fresh water in and out of the Coorong.
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- A constant battle to keep the only opening to the ocean open. This machine fell in the sea last night and efforts are made to salvage it.
- A Barrage seal’s perfect spot for a lazy afternoon snooze.
This morning we hop onboard a small flat bottom boat with Michael, our skipper and highly knowledgable guide, who for the next 7 hours, gives us and 8 others, a deep and intimate tour of the Coorong’s nooks and crannies, ancient aboriginal middens and burial grounds. He shows us how to forage for bush tucker, find fresh water in the dunes and dig for pippies on the wild surf beach, later cooking them up in coconut milk and chilli back on the boat for all to try. Michael reminds us that the famous Australian children’s film, Storm Boy was shot and based in and around this whole area where huge colonies of pelicans are known to breed.
It has been a fascinating day and we sneak into a nice little camp spot near an abandoned railway bridge at Currency Creek, our heads chockas full of interesting local knowledge.
A beautiful feat of engineering, this bridge near our Currency Creek camp.
This morning, we finish our Murray River tour and the South Australian leg with a couple of cellar door visits to some renowned Shiraz Vineyards in the Langhorn Creek region. Oh so sadly, Alan is not able to partake, as the driver of our Bushman truck can have zero alcohol onboard, and oh so happily I get myself slightly sloshed at 10 o’clock in the morning trying a few or ten lovely red wines before hitting the road heading east toward our next big Australian must-see chunk of landscape, The Victorian Great Ocean Road.
Stay tuned everyone, the next bit of adventure won’t be long in coming… I promise.
Hello there, I’ve spent a bit of time in this area and John’s Godparents lived right on the Coorong at Magrath Flat, 15 km from Meningie. They had a dune buggy and permission to ride along the Coorong. And Colin Theile’s daughter taught with me at Trinity for the 10 years I was there.
I’ve also been on that tour boat and it was awesome! Can’t remember if it was me telling you about it or not. Also Michael Mosley, who ran the Wooden Boat Festival there for years is a very good friend.
Love hearing about your adventures.
Thanks Bobbi, yes you were responsible for a lot of our touring plans around the Coorong. I had taken notes the last time we saw you and I went back to them when we arrived at Goolwa. Thanks for the tip, that boat trip was a definite highlight.