Russ Travelling Australia

Monday was a terrible day with a howling gale so we went to Port McDonnell for lunch at a cafe – Perriwinkles.  Walking from the car to the cafe made us understand what it feels like to be in a cyclone!  Hard to keep your feet.  The food was excellent, Marg had Prawn twirl, which were prawns with Coriander and other herbs fried in a wonton wrapper in a conical shape.  They were excellent.  I had Calamari rings in Panko bread crumbs, also excellent.  We drove along the beautiful and rugged coast and visited Adam Lindsay Gordon’s house near the town as in the photo below.  He lived here for only 3 years but the Gordon’s owned it for about 30 years.

Next day the weather was better so off to Glenelg National Park for a fire BBQ picnic at Pritchards Landing.  Again a lovely place right on the river, very relaxing, even septic toilets here (two blocks for about 20 camping sites and a picnic area.

We packed up next day and off to Hamilton for a shopping restock.  Enjoyed Hamilton  and may come back for a longer visit in the future.  On Thursday we travelled to Avoca for the Cup weekend.  Funny little park but it will be good to catch up with everyone again.  Driving north-east along the side of the Grampian s was delightful, much like driving north alongside the Flinders Ranges, except much greener.  Hard to do justice in a photo but this is what we looked at for mile after mile.

Set up camp for the last time for this holiday and relaxed.  On Friday we went to Redbank winery and had a Tapas selection for lunch, not very Spanish but excellent – smoked lamb and pickles, marinated peppers with white anchovy, salamis with biscuits and cheddar with figs and quince jelly washed down with Sallys Hill Chardonnay.

Deen, Davo and Shelby arrived during the afternoon so we chatted most of the afternoon and then had tea together in the camp kitchen.  Then old Hughy chucked it down, so we retreated to our caravan and played Risk Express (nick name  Conquer the World).  Great fun and the “Olds” had the luck as Marg won the first game and me the second.  Lots of rain overnight but today is great with lots of sun and no rain.  Waiting for the Gifford’s and the Cam Incoll’s to arrive after lunch

Still in SA, we camped for two nights at Kotjee Campground, in the Canunda National Park.  Great campsite, with fireplace, table and a grassed area around our van and our hopes raised for a good stay, ever in search of that elusive orchid.

Followed a sign to Boozy Gully (thought we’d know our way there) and found a group of onion orchids, which were easier to photograph this time.  Unfortunately, the walk ended at a road directing us to “cliff top” and the road seemed to go on forever, so we returned to camp.

Decided to drive the rest of the way to “cliff top”,  to a beautiful ocean vista.  Evidence of past aboriginal life with massive middens – sea snails must have been the delicacy.  Watched a cray fisherman tending his pots (in a very small boat in very big swells).  Priced the cray on the way home and at $72 kilo, gave it a miss.  Bought some beautiful flathead though, which I cooked in the Cob.

Geltwood

In 1876, an iron-hulled sailing ship, The Geltwood, made its maiden voyage from England to Australia, but was wrecked in a fierce storm, with the loss of everyone on board.  The Geltwood camping area was right on the ocean, but the massive numbers of millipedes and ants, plus the depressing amount of weeds made us decide to continue to Nelson.

Nelson

We are in a favourite place of ours.  We call it “the Mallacoota of the West”, but I’m sure the locals of Nelson would be offended that we compare it with anywhere.

We were surprised to see a strange street sign “Isle of Bags Road” but found out that Major Mitchell thought he could store his supplies safely on a tiny island in the Glenelg River.  He was disappointed to find that he was outwitted by the aboriginals, who quickly seized his goodies.

We are staying at Kywong Caravan Park, which is full of native trees, good sized sites (some drive through), others tucked away in the bush.  We are only minutes away from the National Park.  There is a ‘good feel’ about the place.

Drove into the park for lunch at Forest Camp – a most idyllic setting, with BBQs, tables, wrens and yellow breasted robins, to name a few.

The next day we drove to Discovery Bay Coastal Park (Lake Momibeong).  It seems the lake hasn’t seen this much water for a long while, as the jetty was submerged by 200ml.  Continued to drive on to Saunders Landing on the Glenelg River, to have a wonderful lunch.  Again the area had been set up for picnickers, or boaters, with BBQs, tables and toilets.   Last night, I made rolls in the Cob, as we were sick of  trying to convince ourselves that stale bread was OK!

We are staying here for another couple of days.  We both love it.

We are extremely fortunate to be staying in a Heritage listed park, Lakeside, where the Office is the original stable, and has the original timbers, which were once used as ballast in a ship, which brought over other building materials from England.  The floor is unique and is called a “Pug & Post” floor and has local hardwood timber, which apparently go down 1 metre into the ground.  The floor was purposely built unevenly  to encourage the horses to move around, preventing poor circulation.  The owners say that this theory doesn’t work for humans!

The manor is not owned by the owners of the park, but was built between 1882 and 1885 by Englishman George Danby, youngest son of the Reverend Sir Robert Affleck, Baronet of Dulham Hall Suffolk England.  George (Danby) Affleck took the name Danby in order to inherit the family estate, and had dissipated two fortunes before building Lakeside.

Yesterday, in search of the Little Dip orchid, we had lunch at Freshwater Lake, but millions of weeds spoiled our search.   We were lucky enough to find a half a dozen Onion orchids, but the flowers are so tiny that they are difficult to photograph.  They are green and have flowers up the stem, which is quite unusual.

We moved back to Old Man Lake (where we got stuck with the van the day before) and, without the horrific wind, it was like being in another part of the world.  But still no orchids.  It was a perfect, idyllic spot and we wished we had lunched there.

Today we bought crumbed garfish and a potato cakes from the best fish and chip shop in the world!!, but had to sit in the car to eat them.  The ocean view was magnificent, but even the sea gulls had a problem with the wind.

Off up a sandy track to Stony Rise, stopping along the way, where the Rangers had placed large limestone boulders (to protect the orchids from vehicles) and we found two that were on their last legs.  We are too late for them, now that the weather is warming up.

Drove along another sandy track into The Gums Picnic and Camping area, again loads of weeds and no orchids.  There should be a lot of work done in the park for it to remain a  ‘conservation’ park.  It doesn’t appear that many people use the area.

Tomorrow we are off to South End and Canunda National Park and we may not have reception.

We stayed at Gemini Downs for 2 nights.  Gemini Downs is situated about two-thirds of the way down the Coorong.

Their advertisement boasted a 6 hole golf course, indoor swimming pool, tennis court, table tennis.  All we were looking for was a gas BBQ, power and water.  Just as well, as the golf course was a foot deep in grass, the indoor swimming pool was locked, we couldn’t find a tennis court or table tennis area and we were told (after we asked the manager to clean the BBQ), that the BBQ was only available to people who hire the kitchen out at $100 per night!!  She did relent and allow us to use the BBQ!

Nevertheless, we did enjoy the area and loved the picnic area in the Coorong NP, where we went in search of a BBQ for breakfast.  Being out of luck, we called in at a little roadhouse at Policeman’s Point and we asked them to toast our ham and pineapple sandwiches, bought coffees, then headed up to Jack Point, in the NP, and walked to a Pelican’s Observatory.

Russ was disappointed because the advertised binoculars were not there and all we could see was an island in the distance that looked like it was snow capped (with pelicans).

We then raced back to camp, had showers, then prepared lunch and set off again, this time south of Salt Creek, to a lovely picnic table in a beautiful setting of Melaleucas and Mallees.  After lunch we walked the Ngrugle Ngoppun trail (aboriginal for ‘good walk’) and it was.  We searched for orchids, but with no luck.  We were going to do the Lakes walk, but it started to rain.

The Coorong finishes approx 40kms north of Kingston, which is about the same distance from Robe.

Robe

We headed for the Little Dip Conservation Park and followed some sand tracks down to two different camping areas.  Long Gully was just a large expanse of grass and no trees and the next was Old Man Lake Campground, where we nearly had to leave the caravan and car there permanently – as we got stuck in an area where we thought we would have room to turn around, but the caravan can’t do 6 point turns, like the car!!

After driving the car into a bush and giving ourselves another metre, we were able to back the van up and out of the campground.  Phew!!  It might have been just as well, as there was no shelter from the strong, freezing wind.

We are now staying in a lovely park in Robe – very bushy, right on the edge of the lake and feeling no pain.  We will revisit the conservation park for picnics in the next few days, where we hope to find the endangered Little Dip Spider orchid – out now, but difficult to find with all the pussy willows around.

We have loved our stay in Goolwa and we have learned so much about the Coorong.

The Ngarrindjeri people were the original inhabitants of the area.  Goolwa means “an elbow in the river” and Coorong means “a long narrow neck”, or “a narrow lagoon”.

Our 4 hour trip on the Spirit of the Coorong was interesting, comfortable, with a delicious salad for lunch, and as I mentioned in the last blog, the walks were guided by Neil, who has lived in the area for more than 70 years.  He, together with Emus and Kangaroos, gathers and scatters seeds and helps to vegetate the ‘blows’ between the sand dunes.  He showed us how you can dig for fresh water, only about an elbows length under the sand.

The first half an hour of the cruise was in the fresh water of the Murray River, then, after entering a loch, and having to lower the boat down approx. 1 metre, we entered the brackish water of the Coorong.  The Coorong National Park is actually only the water, not the surrounding land, which is Crown land and freehold (at this point).  There are approx. 200 seals around the barrages, much to the disgust of the local fishermen.

We were taken out to the Murray Mouth and we couldn’t believe the expanse of the river.  Our previous photo was unable to show the width – it was quite unbelievable.  There were people camping at the mouth, having driven along the sand for miles.

Over the last 3000 years, the Murray Mouth has changed its position 6-8 kms from where it is now.  The river, at the moment, is removing 90,000 cubic metres of sand a day.  One storm can cause 100,000 cubic metres to be deposited in the estuary.  The recent flood has removed so much sand, the Coorong, at some places, is 40 feet deep.

During the 1956 flood, the Murray Mouth was 1km wide and the water level only rose half a metre, but at Mannum the river was 5 metres above its normal level.

We walked at Barker’s Knoll, named after Capt. Collet Barker (who was killed by aborigines, when he went ashore).  The aboriginals previous encounters with Europeans is believed to be with escaped convicts from Tasmania, who captured the women, so he didn’t stand a chance.

We have moved down onto the Limestone Coast and are staying on a farm/caravan park/accommodation (Gemini Downs).  There are many walks we can do from here, in the Coorong National Park (where it includes land as well as the water) .  We were amazed by the size of the Coorong after Miningie – a massive expanse of water and loads of birds.  The trip from Goolwa to Miningie was pretty depressing, because of huge areas of cleared land, which was terribly salt effected in places.

Before we left Clare we revisited Spring Gully Conservation Park and found 3 Greenhood orchids that we had either missed or were not out when we were there last.  By the way, I have edited my previous blog, because I called the park “String” Gully).

We took another road to find orchids and found this magnificent stand of grass trees.

The weather has picked up a bit and we are staying in a lovely park in Goolwa.

This is where the Murray River meets the sea, after its 2530km journey from Cowombat Flat, on the border of NSW and Victoria!  We visited the source of the Murray (approx. 1992), and were able to straddle the crystal clear, trickle of water, with one foot in NSW and the other in Victoria.  It is called The Indi at this location.

Yesterday we saw the Mouth of the Murray, which, after all the rain is now running freely into the sea.  Since 1992 the mouth has had to be dredged of 600,000 cubic metres of sand a year, enabling the mouth to remain open and to reduce the intake of salt to the Coorong.

The Murray-Darling Water Authority estimate that the mouth of the Murray has moved 6-8kms over the last 3000 years.

We are looking forward to taking a 4 hour cruise on The Spirit of the Coorong tomorrow, with, from what we have heard, the person who knows everything there is to know about the Coroong.

We visited the Barrages yesterday.  They were completed in 1940.  There are 5 structures that dam the Murray to prevent salt water entering the lower lakes.  One is on the main  channel and the other 4 are on smaller inlets.  Because of the amount of water flowing from the Murray at the moment is amazing and they have opened 6 gates.  This fresh water is replenishing the Coorong.

Today we have been sitting out in the sun watching sea eagles soaring and gliding in the thermals.  They were so high, they were almost out of view.  The wind is still freezing, but, yesterday we got all our washing done (for the first time).

Before leaving Burra, we went on the Tourist drive again and and took photos this time.  I haven’t drawn any yet!!

We have booked in at Clare for a week – in retrospect, maybe we should have left the State!

The caravan park was completely packed on Monday when we arrived, now you could swing a cat in any direction (if you are prepared to stand out in the rain and wind) and not hit a soul, except us! [bit of an exaggeration.]

Our site was not available when we arrived, so to fill in time, we went to Mr Mick’s Cellar door and Restaurant.  We stayed for lunch and it was excellent.  They served a great selection of unusual Tapas, accompanied by a very good Rose.  We had White Bait with Wasabi and Coriander mayonnaise, and Wakami (seaweed), not very Spanish but delicious.  Then it was Kibbeh served with a yoghurt and mint dressing.  Again not very Spanish, but delicious.  We’ll be back again before the week has finished.

Yesterday, we braved the cool weather and went to Spring Gully Conservation Park.  There is a lot more water here than around Burra (even though it’s only 40kms up the road), so there are a lot more birds and there are trees everywhere.  While having lunch, we noticed pardalotes, parrots, honeyeaters and magpies all visiting the same hole in a eucalypt.  We first thought that they were fighting over the hole, then we realised that the hole was full of water – it was their watering hole.

The forest is the only reserve with Red Stringybarks left in South Australia.

We walked for an hour, photographing more of the same orchids that we saw at Karte, as well as dozens of wildflowers.  It was sheltered and extremely enjoyable and there was a lovely honey fragrance in the air from all the flowers.

We’ve bought some Saltbush lamb and delicious looking cutlets from a butcher in Burra made famous by Maggie Beer, so we are looking forward to the weather clearing and cooking these over a campfire.

The weather has been abominable!!!!  Today is not too bad except for a freezing wind.  We were going to go North to the Flinders Ranges and beyond, but the storms have been amazing and, in one night, there were 4000 lightning strikes around Innaminka.  The Simpson Desert has a massive fire around the Popples Corner, burning 4 million hectares so far.  They are controlling the fire at the SA border. The road to Broken Hill has been closed, and there are other fires in the areas we were going to see.

We are changing our trip and going to Clare, then along the south coast to see the replenished Coorong and Lake Alexandrina.  We have been following the Coorong’s revival and it will be very interesting to see if the precious water from the Murray River can do its magic and reduce the salt, that has poisoned this fragile environment.

We plan to stay in Clare for a week to enjoy some urban pleasures, so the blog may lacking interest, as it has done for the last six days!

Before we leave tomorrow, I plan to take some photos of the wonderful stone cottages, so maybe I might pluck up the courage to see if I can draw them, while relaxing at Clare.