Tramping tales for January 2014

The largest river in Australia is the Murray. It rises in the Snowy Mountains and weaves its way across three states: New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia creating the natural border between these states before discharging into a complex of Lakes and lagoons dominated by Lake Alexandrina. Its final connection to the sea has been interfered with by a series of barrages between Goolwa and the Coorong National Park, an enormously long sandy spit known as the Younghusband Peninsula. We have a special affection for the Coorong National Park on this 145 km narrow neck of sand dunes. It arose through an Australian classic children’s story set amongst the dunes. Storm Boy was introduced to us in Darwin by Judy Lennie. Such is our passion or more probably aging brain; we gave our grandson Finn William the DVD Storm Boy for Christmas, a second year running!

 We first came to the Coorong after buying our home on wheels in 2006. During that quick visit we’d been horrified to see our window blinds fall off on the first use of gravel roads in our new, supposedly ‘off-road caravan’ in the Coorong. Now, as seasoned travellers, marking time between our visit to Kangaroo Island and a houseboat trip scheduled for mid January we had time to return to the Coorong.

We took up a lone site at Long Point, a bush campground, 23km west of Meningie, overlooking the Coorong Northern Lagoon that lies immediately behind the Younghusband Peninsula. From start to finish of our two days and nights there the wind blew.  We were reminded of our trip to Tiree in the Inner Hebrides during high season for windsurfing! From the windows of our delightfully cosy stone cottage we’d looked out upon calm and contented scenes of grazing cattle and sheep across the flat pastures. Other than a continuously gentle sound of rattling we had no idea of the strength of the arctic wind that swept ceaselessly across the virtually treeless island as nothing swayed to alert us. Outside we could barely stand up; let alone stand still. It was much the same in our caravan in the Coorong. Until we stepped out the door and the elements roughly pushed us aside and the wind threatened to rip our door from its hinges. A closer inspection of the open waters showed the rippling of many white horses and glancing across the golden grasslands we observed little movement until eyes dropped close by and noticed flattened grass barely rippled such was the velocity.    

 

All these descendants of Mr. Percival the Pelican, Silver Gulls and Terns were forced to take shelter from the relentless southerly....

The weather report had warned the remains of Western Australia’s Cyclone Christine was tracking southwards across the country and South Australia scheduled to feel the effects. Since New Year day the wind had been building and five days later we were still being buffeted and the whistling only seemed to get worse despite a blue sky. We moved on to Narrung Jetty Reserve overlooking Lake Alexandrina. We’d read of this ‘Favourite Free Camp’ in a Caravan Magazine and it was certainly merited. It was busy when we arrived that we plonked ourselves in the middle hoping someone would leave the sheltered area but no sooner had 24hr folk moved off other caravans drew in so we stayed where we were as by then we had a Great Egret entertaining us with its dainty stepping and fishing in the shallows just metres from our door. Pelicans circled or perched on the jetty within sight and not far across the grey green waters a lighthouse and stone cottage, an added feature to our scene. Later, we discovered this was Point Malcolm, built in 1878 and operated until 1931. It is the only fresh water lighthouse in the southern hemisphere and was used by isolated farmers for their supplies. At the narrow neck between Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert is the Narrung Ferry concealed by a clump of river reeds on our side. We see it when it banks on the far side not far from the lighthouse up on the bluff and hear the clunk when a heavy vehicle drives off on our side. There are many ferry crossings in operation on the Murray River. They are a free, 24 hour service that can take up to 8-12 vehicles at a time.

The view from our door at Narrung Jetty Reserve

The following day, the wind produced a very grey and chippy day. Nevertheless we unhitched and set off just west of Narrung, to hopefully discover just who David Unaipon was.   

Money drew us here! More specifically, the person depicted on a Fifty dollar note...

We stumbled upon a gem of a community in Raukkan and spent hours there; learning not only about David Unaipon but the modern history of the Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal people of the Lower Murray lakes and George Taplin, a Methodist missionary. Entering an Aboriginal settlement can be rather daunting especially when you are unsure of what you need to do. From the first, we found a clean, well kept town and driving slowly through we recognised the church on the fifty dollar note before stopping at the general store to enquire about protocol. The shop too was a pleasant change – spacious, clean and more of a cafe. The Aboriginal man behind the counter was busy preparing a take away coffee for someone who’d left money on the counter – as he turned to find Lea waiting, his pleasant greeting instantly put her at ease and he explained we were welcome to walk around but he doubted any pamphlets existed to help us learn more on David Unaipon. At that point the coffee man returned to collect his order and thanks to him, an enlightening visit was set in motion. Steve Sumner came out of the Council office with keys and happily answered our thousand questions. He even presented us with a book by Graham Jenkin - ‘Conquest of the Ngarrindjeri’ [Imagine our stunned amazement when we opened the book in the caravan to have the name Roger Howman jump out in the preface with his quote “a healthy community needs its past... the sense of identity with forebears and traditions – just as much as it needs the experience of the present and the aspirations of the future.”. Is it plausible the words of Lea’s Dad, a man from Africa whose life work in Community Development reached here?]

Ngarrindjeri People, of whom David Unaipon belonged, are a proud tribe whose habitation and governance of the Lower Murray region stretches back thousands of years until  unknowingly dispossessed when the British Government passed an act in 1834 declaring South Australia to be “waste and unoccupied’ land. The influences of Aborigines’ Friends’ Association founding Port McLeay mission and establishing it on the traditional Ngarrindjeri campsite known as Raukkan; employing the first missionary George Taplin was to have far reaching results. This Methodist priest arrived to set up the Point McLeay Mission in 1859 earning the everlasting respect of the Ngarrindjeri People with positive effects on the Ngarrindjeri clan’s destiny over 20 years. He directed the school to be built first. 

 In 1869, this chapel which also features on the bank-note was built under Rev George’s direction.

The Australian Government took control of Point McLeay in 1916 subjugating it to their will and despite many efforts, control was not handed back to the Ngarrindjeri Community until 1974. Beginning with the name of our camp at Long Point we noticed this and the names of roads within Raukkan were all named after those earliest modern day Aborigines who’d lived at Raukkan / Point McLeay. As white people placed undue pressures upon Aborigines so Raukkan became a refuge for the Ngarrindjeri people.

David Unaipon (David Nguraitponi) the first Aboriginal person to feature on an Australian bank note was born in September 1872 on the banks of the Murray River.  He went to school and lived much of his life in Raukkan (Point McLeay). He was a scientist, Inventor, Lay-preacher and musician who dedicated himself to advancing the rights of Aboriginal people - ”In my despairing moments Providence has enabled me to take heart again and continue my advocacy of the rights of Aborigines to occupy a more worthy place in the life of a nation”. His contributions to Australian society helped to break many indigenous Australian stereotypes and in commemoration he appears on the fifty dollar note.

For Ngarrindjeri descendants there is so much to be proud of in Raukkan and we left there with a most favourable impression.    

With the 72 hour limit on camping in lovely Jetty Reserve up, we crossed The Narrows on the ferry. George didn’t think it necessary to switch off the engine for the short haul across. Imagine the shock horror when the ferry lady screamed “You’re rolling”! Totally unaware he’d taken his foot off the break SKV had rolled forward a good metre before the shriek had alerted us to the close proximity of the lightweight barrier and the river below well before reaching the other side. All’s well that ends well! On arrival at another ferry taking us into Wellington, George made sure to put on the hand brake. Wellington is located at the junction where Murray the River spreads inconspicuously into Lake Alexandrina and it was here, the first South Australian ferry was established in 1846. The first bridge to span the Murray occurred in 1879 in the town of Murray Bridge! We’d decided on Wellington caravan park as we needed to refill our water tanks and enjoy a good shower and hair wash.  Thwarted! The water was not potable.  Fortunately we found water in a Service Station as we journeyed up the eastern side of the Murray River to a ticked site in Camps Australia 6 – Purnong Reserve. With a temperature of 37 we were dismayed by this barren and shade less camp beside the ferry. The ferryman told us it was better on the other side.  There in the Caurnamont Reserve, we settled within a narrow area alongside the river in the semi shade of River Red Gums. A thick band of Weeping Willows obstructed our vision of the water nevertheless we were aware of the boat traffic thanks to loud blasts from houseboats approaching the ferry lane. Power boats and skiers also roared around upstream so it wasn’t the most peaceful of places on a hot afternoon.

 

George was happy to seek respite by wallowing in the shallows of this murky brown river.

 We pulled into Mannum next morning specially to check moorings for a houseboat before booking a table in a waterfront hotel on Saxon’s behalf. We recrossed the Murray by ferry in Mannum and found ourselves a pleasant site in Bolto Reserve amongst River Red Gums and a lawned riverbank directly opposite The Pretoria Hotel. A week to the day we’ll be moored there! The last leg of this loop took us back to Murray Bridge and the Long Island Marina and caravan park. We prepared for the arrival of Saxon, Paul, Talia and Erin. The Gee clan were meeting up in Adelaide and being transported to Murray Bridge in readiness for the 40^th Celebration week aboard First Edition.  

BLISS is feeding and sleeping our Perth family overnight on our campsite in the Long Island Marina Caravan Park.

Monday 13 January with the temperature climbing into severe realms we rushed around the supermarket buying in the food for 12 in readiness for the 2.30 p.m. boarding... Carting everything aboard in 42’C heat was B-A-D! So bad, we couldn’t face a team photo on departure. That came later...          

 

From left: Saxon, George, Lea, Alan, Sam, Breanna, Kay, Aaron and Shane with Erin, Talia and Paul behind.

 

Outer views of ‘First Edition’ along with one of many sightings of the paddle-steamer MV Murray Princess.  George took a turn at the wheel to give Shane Redhead, our very able Skipper a break; while Paul and his Dad decide where we should moor up next.  

First Edition was a lovely spacious 12 berth boat – each cabin en suite and upon the roof, a spa bath with canopy to give shade. In those extreme temperatures unless you sought cool in the spa the dry hot wind made it too fearsome to sit up on the hot roof. The air conditioner ‘died’ our first night and, despite trying everything to remedy it next day as temperatures soared to 47 we were forced to moor in a reserve and await an electrician. Even the boat inverter couldn’t cope and we were awoken to alarms each night as power cut out. Summer heat brings added danger – Fire! We were horrified to hear on the late night news that fires were sweeping through an area 6-10 km from Paul and Saxon’s home in Maida Vale. Thankfully, the winds fuelling the flames took it in the opposite direction. Two lives lost and fifty homes destroyed understandably had us twitchy when smoke was sighted billowing not far off from the Murray River, the following evening. Our proximity to the fire became all the more real when Country Fire Service advised all the mobiles on board First Edition of a bush fire burning near Rockleigh “to take shelter now and listen to ABC radio”. Aside from the bemusement of falling within a danger zone we felt a measure of protection thanks to the alert. We were safely moored on the opposite bank to the fire. From top deck we watched through an orange glow of smoke as the flames raced ahead and helicopters dropped water bombs in an effort to extinguish them. Again, luck was with us as winds fanned the flames up river and swirling smoke simply blocked the sunset, adding an ethereal atmosphere to the river as it drifted around causing us minimum discomfort aboard.  Considering all the little problems encountered we were, nevertheless, in the best place when it came to a heat wave of that magnitude.

Talia did a roaring trade of foot massage while Erin did hairstyles! Redhead and Gee families made whoopee in the river. Father and daughter kayaked; granny lowered her core temperature with feet in a bucket of cold water reading ‘The Poisonwood Bible’!

Joint family time is precious – we have been more than fortunate to enjoy many Ramsden/ Begg occasions over extended periods of contact. This was our first opportunity to enjoy a week of close proximity between the Gee/ Begg families.

Music bonded as we all relaxed and recharged on the houseboat.

Each evening the talented Redhead children added to the entertainment with concerts. Breanna wowed us with her singing voice and she arranged dancing shows with her little cousins Talia and Erin. As for Aaron, besides his guitar, his sheer wizardry at magic kept us all enthralled; especially when he honed in on George’s scepticism and confounded him even more. Aaron was excellent!

We became accustomed to the naturally turbid waters of the Murray River in the spa and discovered it was a good place for quality time with our daughter. 

We’d been made aware of the Sounds of the River Festival being held in Mannum with 4,000 people expected to descend upon the very town in which we required an overnight mooring. Anxious not to have our plans disrupted we decided to hang around the outskirts of Mannum and make a beeline for one of the very few central 24 hour mooring sites. Concern rose when numerous houseboats began encroaching - nosing into awkward bush sites surrounding us that evening. We were left to wonder if they had the same intentions. We had gathered together on First Edition especially to celebrate Paul’s 40^th Birthday and we were loath to see well laid plans go awry... No fret it all came together superbly with a mooring below the bowling green next door to the party venue – Pretoria Hotel.

No sooner than settled for the celebration dinner in the beautifully air conditioned Pretoria Hotel overlooking the Murray River than out of the blue, came a forceful wind sending ski boats and pelicans scuttling for shelter. We were glad to be indoors as unexpected mayhem reigned: boats rocked about; branches cracked away from trees; leaves hurtled everywhere.  Luckily, the main course was over when a man arrived at Saxon’s shoulder and advised her kayaks had blown off! (She’d fortunately greeted him in the houseboat next to us and mentioned we were seeking refuge from the heat in the hotel enabling him to locate her with ease!) Dinner was disrupted as Shane, George and Aaron rushed off to rescue the hired kayaks. Paul begged off the traditional birthday cake ceremony in such a public place and with that we retired to the houseboat with the cake to end the evening in fine style, jamming.

The kayaks hadn’t escaped downriver, luckily they were still restrained when the wind had lifted them off the back of the houseboat and they had merely rattled and slammed against the houseboats lined up beside us.  Interestingly, there was a time when the Lower Murray was tidally influenced. Since construction of the barrages this no longer occurs. Nevertheless, wind, especially south-westerly winds still have the same effect on the river. Generally speaking, winds blowing upstream cause river levels to rise whereas, when blowing downstream, the reverse occurs. Wind driven changes in river level (technically known as seiche movements) can vary as much as 30cm in 24 hours and, as we found out, this often results in moored houseboats becoming stranded on the river bank during the course of the night when the prevailing winds normally ease. Next morning our bow was stranded high and dry on the landing! Not only had the neighbours helped retie the mooring lines the previous evening they were back to help give weight to the stern in dislodging our boat! All these friendly overtures lead to the discovery that none of houseboats planned to adhere to council regulation of 24 hours unless they were moved off. First Edition’s crew delightedly followed suit! 

Mannum is the homeport to the Murray River’s largest stern wheeler tourist liner - Murray Princess and it was the birthplace to the Murray steamboat trade with a beautiful riverfront to the town itself. Along from our mooring, the Mary Ann Reserve stretched with playground, boat ramp and picnic tables beneath the River Red Gums. At the southern end an enclosure of security fences was rapidly being put in place in readiness for the annual Sounds of the River Festival beginning that afternoon. The attractive main street, full of interest and bits of history was directly up out of the river’s harm, behind the green – plenty for everyone to do what they fancied throughout the course of the day. Alan and Kay arranged a game of Bowls – probably off putting when their grandchildren watched from top deck and called ‘go gran go’!  A steady influx of people, with deckchairs and picnics grew as the concert hour approached. Sold Out performance had people happy to park them-selves on the lawn to listen; just as we planned to do from the houseboat. Suzi Quatro was top billing along with  many other supporting groups – yet no ‘bells rang’ for the likes of us. As the afternoon wore on and well into the evening, not much of the music even appealed as we listened. A passer-by offered Paul their spare $90 ticket and he was off like a long dog to listen to The Angels – the ‘curtain raiser’ to Suzi! The crowd went wild and we realised this band had a big following especially amongst the bikie fraternity. The crowd became wilder still when Suzi Quatro took to the stage and the sheer excitement radiating downstream was enough to draw Kay, Sam, Shane and Lea towards the entrance gates. Kay and Sam sauntered straight in... Security men were enough to have Lea turn tail until Shane saw how easily mother and daughter had entered. Together, we took after them and made our way towards the stage. Growing up in Rhodesia – Rock star live shows had been virtually non-existent hence for Lea, this was an electrifying experience even without recollection of Suzi Quatro’s music until she belted out her 1978 hit: If you can’t give me love. 

Adrenalin high it was hard to come down at the end of the night!     

The penultimate day had arrived and mindful that we had to dock our houseboat before 10 a.m the next day we motored the 5 knots per hour back towards Murray Bridge some eight hours away in river travel. Despite being a busy river at this time of year we enjoyed peaceful stretches of natural bushland and scenic cliffs. We refused to spend our last night where we’d begun our first, in the Avoca Dell Reserve; being a Sunday it was alive with day trippers and the waterway around there hummed with motor boats towing skiers, wakeboards or tyres. We were all watching this busy section as we passed by on the far side of the river until horrifyingly jolted by a speedboat cutting across our bow, avoiding collision with our boat by a hairs breath. Seeing a rope dragging behind – eyes swept to the side and Kay’s anguished cry of ‘there’s children’ sent a sickening shock through our systems as Paul baled over the safety railing into the river and Shane cut the engines. Mercifully all was well. The young girl, in grabbing the bottom rail to stop from going under the houseboat only suffered minor abrasions to her arms. The 9 year old boy had toppled out on the far side of the tube. The boyfriend had allowed his 7 year old daughter to steer the boat while he attended to something within the speedboat! Immediate after the drama, rope had entangled  the engine and the trio aboard drifted away leaving us to wonder what was going on as we rendered aid to the poor victims – all of us suffering a mixture of shock and anger. In time they returned to our stern with no word of apology as Lauren and Noah climbed back into the speedboat watched by the grandmother and little girl. It could so easily have been a tragedy that we reported the incident on arrival back at Long Island Marina next morning. River Police were called with Shane and Paul, the witnesses.

Less than an hour away from Long Island Marina we spent our last night tied up alongside one of the smaller limestone cliffs that characterise the lower reaches of the Murray River and toasted Skipper Shane  and Saxon the organizer for a most enjoyable trip. We highly recommend houseboating the Murray - enough to seriously consider buying our own houseboat (on a smaller scale) to wander the mighty Murray River at will – watch this space!

As with all good things coming to an end – the Gee clan went one way and we sorted the laundry and attended an emergency dental appointment in Murray Bridge before making the decision to go to the southern end of the Coorong. Looking at the map we were drawn down the Dukes Highway to visit Kiki and Keith first!

 Lured there because we have a granddaughter named Kiki and a son, Keith!

If we’d blinked we’d have missed Kiki as there was only a tiny community hall and a scrap wire art gallery selling coffee for a dollar! We found Keith at the junction of the Duke and Riddoch highways and very fittingly, we discovered an old Land rover on a pole in the Lions Park; This Land rover, pole and chain was The Desert Conquest Memorial signifying an AMP Insurance Company funded land clearing and development scheme back in 1950 which led to Keith and district becoming the largest Lucerne seed growing area in the southern hemisphere. We stopped for lunch in Keith’s Soldier Memorial Park and spotted another memorial to a motorbike rider – Andy Caldecott, an off road motorcycle racer, born in Keith. He won the Australian Safari Rally four times and was a competitor in the Dakar Rally in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Sadly, after winning the third stage in 2006 he was fatally injured in the ninth stage.  It never ceases to amaze us how one thing leads to another – no wonder we are thoroughly hooked on travel!

A direction, taken all thanks to names, had us stumble across a series of steadily unfolding attractions... The artwork of Black Cockatoo Bush Camp caught our attention as we rumbled down the highway and we decided to give it a try as our overnight stop. Perfect and peaceful with a lovely heritage woodland walk on Ken and Elizabeth Yelland’s Albert Park farm. In turn, a dusty brochure there led us on to Naracoorte Caves National Park. We generally by-pass caves having seen many but these were a World Heritage fossil site. George most keen to see the marsupial lion! Despite concessions it was expensive as each cave was a separate tour and a separate price. The ranger helped us make up our mind – Victoria Fossil Cave before allowing us a quick look through the Wonambi Fossil Centre before our tour began. In there we found a re-creation of the ancient world of Australia’s long extinct mega-fauna in simulated forest and swamp land, something many have little appreciation of.

 

Intriguing! Especially the ossuary- a grave yard of mega-fauna skeletons discovered in 1970, assumed to have accumulated on the floor of a sink hole into which they had fallen some 50,000 years ago.   

With Coorong our destination in mind –disappointingly we didn’t return to the town of Naracoorte simply continued on to Penola thoroughly enjoying the scenery that reminded us of Kangaroo Island with even bigger trees arching over the road as open golden land or green Lucerne fields extended beyond. Unexpected chain saw sculptures appeared close to the road and we pulled up and entered the enclosure and discovered Father Woods. Born in London, this eminent scientist, devoted priest and founder of religious orders spent over 30 years in Australia before dying in Sydney aged 56 in 1889.  Father Julian Tenison Woods spent ten years as parish priest covering 56,000 square km in the South Eastern district of South Australia. Regularly stopping-over during his parish travels at the original Limestone Ridge Station, he’d be found in meditation, preparing sermons or celebrating mass below a towering red gum here. It became known as Father Woods Tree.        

 

In time, this bit of land was donated to the Archdiocese of Adelaide as a memorial in recognition of Father Wood. In 2010 the Archbishop blessed these sculptures and rededicated the park as a place of pilgrimage, prayer and contemplation.

Furthermore Father Woods impacted on Mary MacKillop, changing the direction of her life. More recently, she became Australia’s first Catholic Saint – St Mary of the Cross. 

As is well known, we are not wine drinkers and have driven through popular wine locations without turning much of an eye to them. However, approaching Penola through attractive and widespread vineyards; recognising labels - particularly Penfolds and Coonawarra, we were amazed that this lovely area within ‘our’ parameters was not up there with such names as the Barossa, Clare, Hunter and Margaret River that we overhear being bandied about so regularly.  We stopped at the Penola VIC to pick up information on the Limestone Coast, discovering not only was this Australia’s red wine centre; the Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre was to be found in town. Sadly, there was barely an hour left to it’s opening hours and we had to give it a miss.  Lea began to regret that more deeply as the kilometres clicked over in our westward travels as she read up on Mary and Father Woods and briefly learned Mary came to Penola in 1860 as a governess to her Aunt and Uncle. As well as educating her wealthy cousins she taught a station-worker’s young daughter and an Aboriginal woman to read and write (this touched a chord as it was the same trigger that set Lea off to become a teacher). In Penola, Mary met Father Woods and both, recognising the desperate need to provide good secular Catholic education to isolated, poor rural children; put together an   idea of co-founding a unique Australia Order.  Their idea was kept alive by letters as Mary gained valuable teaching experience in Catholic education. Their dream steadily materialised into the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart where Mary took her vows.  During her lifetime, her order opened schools throughout Australia and New Zealand and Sisters of St Joseph have spread education and social welfare to other parts of the world too.  

We headed for a bush camp in a small coastal village, Southend, for a night until the realisation of a long weekend made us decide to enjoy our well situated and pretty bush camp for the full duration of the Australia Day weekend. Wonderful walks in coastal splendour; Australian Open tennis finals on TV – we were delighted! 

Southend, located at the eastern end of sweeping Rivoli Bay and the gateway to the Canunda National Park is a well kept secret place!

The next heat wave on its way we departed for Beachport at the other end of Rivoli Bay and found an old fashioned looking seaside resort emptying rapidly as the long weekend and summer school holidays came to an end, simultaneously.  Two huge caravan parks stood testimony to how popular this place is. Before deciding which park to use we took the Bowman Scenic Drive.

Unspoilt natural beauty and wonderful views galore...

A shady site with sea breeze attracted us into the caravan park closest to the jetty in magnificent Rivoli Bay looking like a huge curly C (phonetically spoken please!) We sure are being distracted from arriving in the Southern Coorong by the scenery along this south eastern coastline!   In slightly cooler late evening, we took a walk along the beach and out along the 772 metre jetty and explored the precinct with its old buildings.

The L-O-N-G jetty dating back to the early 1830’s when Beachport was one of South Australia’s important Southern Ports. Many renovations later there are only a few original bits left to the jetty.

A birthday dawned with early warnings of the scorcher coming for the rest of the day. George thought we should rest up but ‘curiosity got the better’ and we moved on west stopping at the Woakwine Cutting 12 km north of Beachport with 39’C registering at 9 a.m.

Although George cursed the glorifying of a cutting by draining 420 hectares of peat swamp, he couldn’t help admiring the effort taken to do so!

In the 1880’s the McCourt family moved into the Woakwine area and soon realised living on the land out there was going to be difficult to almost impossible. It was not until 1957 that Murray McCourt decided in Australian inimitable ways, to ‘have a go’ at constructing a channel from his swamp lands through the Woakwine range (an old consolidated sand dune) to Lake George. The cutting is a huge engineering feat for its time and a remarkable example of how land was drained making the area efficient and agriculturally sustainable. Ecologically, the idea ‘wetlands were waste lands’ that reigned back then has long since been turned on its head!  

Many kilometres were to click over on a scorcher of a day, made all the more uncomfortable by a hot wind buffeting the rig with little to capture our attention enough to settle. Robe was lovely, another in the group of historical Southern Ports and we enjoyed walking along notoriously windy Guichen Bay to the carefully protected harbour. It seemed too early to halt there though - bad move! Cape Jaffa didn’t match up to brochures and in Kingston SE, home of the big lobster- we mulled over staying in the caravan park a lengthy time before moving on. Before we knew the landscape had radically changed and we were in the southern Coorong.  The very area we had marked as priority fast became a disappointment! Largely, the heat played a part but the southern lagoon was very shallow and rapidly drying with wide expanses of shoreline exposed. We stopped at Jack Point and walked out to the Pelican Breeding observatory but the protected breeding islands were too far off even with binoculars. Again, as in the northern Coorong, wind was relentless and sensible pelicans in hiding.  We couldn’t wait to reach Coorong Wilderness Lodge and entered its fancy gateway with high hopes. The corrugations should have told us something – the let down even worse as we came upon a barren unforgiving and neglected place all closed up. So much for thoughts of hiring a kayak to experience shallow lagoons and abundant wildlife over a couple of days! The hot winds blasted us back to the highway and we ended up in Meningie feeling very hot and bothered. George tired of fighting the strong wind gusting across the road was not prepared to go another 40km to free camp in our favourite Reserve at Narrung. Lake Albert and a cold smoked salmon salad became a good combination to end the day.  

Wellington’s ferry was about to have maintenance done forcing us to continue on to Tailem Bend’s ferry for a crossing to the western side of the Murray (kid-like- we find ferries such a treat) before our travels took us back to the northern shores of Lake Alexandrina and on to  Langhorne Creek. Frank Potts Reserve provided us with free camping in a delightfully shady setting under River Red Gums with vineyards stretching out in all directions. TV and mobile reception made it a perfect place to see out the last days of January as the onset of another severe heatwave descended.  

Kangaroo Island interlude

Australia’s third largest island is just off Adelaide in South Australia and we had a ferry booking across to Kangaroo Island (KI, the shortened form prevalently used) departing at 7p.m. on the  28 Dec and returning the afternoon of 31 Dec 2013.  However, we were encouraged by the lady in our Murray Bridge Caravan Park to extend our trip as it is an expensive outlay and the three days would only give us a taste. Peak time of year to extend - we managed to push through into another day!  We anxiously left Getaway in the Murray Bridge storage area and hoped the sun would constantly shine and keep our solar powered fridge and deep freeze in good order. $14.00 - half price to keep on site, against $3.00 per day to store. Although it was a 2.5 hour road trip down to Cape Jervis and the ferry terminal we left early that morning with the intention of enjoying the coastal route down the Fleurieu Peninsula with a lunch stop in Victor Harbour. We had covered this route with our brand new caravan back in April 2006 in the company of our friend Joe and Mona Skehel from Lincolnshire. It was a blustery day and with plenty of time to spare we walked across the causeway used by a horse drawn carriage to Granite Island to do a quick march around the hiking track before lunch in SKV people watching. Despite taking our time we still landed up with hours to spare. It was as well we had books to read as the wind certainly wasn’t letting up and the sea was running a strong swell.

 Wild winds and choppy sea we could barely see Kangaroo Island across the Backstairs Passage.

The 45 minute trip across the water was enough to make a young boy sick in front of Lea and whether she imagined that distinctive smell or not it was enough to make her feel peculiar and turn her stomach. Book held high to block any further vision it was a relief to reach land. We certainly didn’t fancy trying to cook supper in such windy weather that we promptly stopped outside the ferry terminal and bought a most tasty Isola pizza of pumpkin, mushroom and feta  to take away.  Although we’d been keen to find a council campground we decided in view of the weather to use the Penneshaw Caravan Park. That stung! And to make matters worse a group of girls turned up at 11p.m literally neighing with laughter as they noisily erected their tent barely a metre from SKV with their car lights blasting though. George, ever the deep sleeper, didn’t stir until morning and was taken aback to find a tent that close to our vehicle and immediately wanted to clear out of there. As a result, we were away well before 7a.m and ate our breakfast at Christmas Cove overlooking the Backstairs Passage between KI and the mainland.

 

We soon became acquainted with the ‘Kangaroo Wave’ as we passed other vehicles... If they waved they were friendly locals; if not they were tourists. As we travelled the north coast we stopped at the different campgrounds to size them up. All quite small and very busy with only an odd open site available. By night fall we had covered a lot of ground following the different roads down to the northern coastline. Approaching American River there were plenty of SOS signs to encourage folk to slow down and Save Our Swans as black swans cruised the inlet. At the town’s entrance a nautical display topped by a bronze Pelican introduced us to Pete the Pelican used to demarcate the scenic trail through the seaside settlement. George had a mulberry tree on his mind so we were soon through to Kingscote to find Reeves Point, the historic site of the first official European settlement in South Australia.    

 Planted in 1836 this ancient mulberry tree, full of fruit and birds is carefully guarded. Further away a young un’ grows from a cutting carefully propagated from the original.

George loves Mulberries while Lea can only recall a family of four young girls simultaneously suffering mulberry pie poisoning with dire results! Reeves Point, large and picturesque parkland with walking paths and interpretive signs was a lovely recreational place with great views and revegetation of local species underway.

 Overlooking the Bay of Shoals and beyond from Flagstaff Hill at Reeves Point. Useless photographer didn’t include much of the stonemasonry representing the first settler’s ships or the central flagpole featuring the crow’s nest!!!

Between visiting Emu  and Stokes Bay we came upon a strange sight – at the gate it said visitors were welcome to come in and enjoy the over 50,000 lights! Unsure, we drove in to find an empty car park so we ended up none the wiser.

No miniature, this was a huge white castle with many turrets. Outside, different features caught our eyes amongst which, this Viking boat.

We could not understand why there was no mention of this fairy tale wonderland and why anyone would go to such detailed lengths in the middle of nowhere with nothing to explain it all. Some turrets appeared to have been formed from that polythene piping with bits carved out.  Eventually George was to ask a guide at Admirals Arch whether he could throw any light on the castle we’d seen. Turned out a 75 year man lives there with a passion for building things and putting on a Christmas light pageantry. This year his special show was cancelled due to rain but he is happy for folk to drive in at night and see his Christmas lights at no charge. We were sorry not to have met this imaginative character.   

 We were most taken by the secluded beach at Stokes Bay. No photo would truly capture the tunnelled walkway through the rocks to reach the beach. Looking back at the rocky headland it is hard to believe a narrow passage threads its way through there.

Travelling the main road we came across the odd dead kangaroo and many freshly killed brush tailed possums but had no sightings of any kangaroos out in the rolling farmlands covered in golden grasses or densely forested ravines. We were to be reminded of Western Australia and Tasmanian habitat many times throughout our trip especially as we enjoyed stunning views across the sea; walked the white sands beside turquoise waters with amazing clarity on secluded beaches and coves.

 Snelling Beach from the top of Constitution Hill

A steep gravel road took us down to Western River Cove and we found a most unattractive campground perched on the top of the hill – no shade although it overlooked a footbridge over the river and a little sandy track ran beside it through to the pretty cove.

Lea stands on the eastern flank of the rocky headland to Western River Cove.

 

Lunch time!  A family had gathered in the trademark council Picnic shelter and we decided to find shade back at the top of the mountain overlooking farmland before taking a very corrugated road through to Harveys Return in the north western corner of the island. A rustic campground with secluded sites amidst shady sugar gum woodlands and Yakka (grass trees/ blackboys) that we had to ourselves for most of the afternoon.   We were interested in the camps odd name. We discovered it referred to ‘The Return Road’ between the Lighthouse at Cape Borda and Scott Cove. Back in the 1850’s, “Yatala” the lighthouse schooner used Scott Cove as a landing site to resupply the very remote Borda Lighthouse every three months. The stores had to be hauled up a steep incline and eventually these difficulties were recognised by the powers that be and the Lighthouse keeper given a horse and capstan to assist (horse drawn winch). We were amused to read that back in 1858 ‘a wayward underkeeper’ allowed the horse to stray and stores had to be man-hauled once again until a year later double rails were laid up the cliff from Scott Cove. That evening we did the Harvey Return Hike following the original route used by the three Cape Borda Lightkeepers. Below the site of the capstan the trail is very steep so walkers were warned to descend carefully. Just as Lea peered nervously down three young girls came scrambling up while their parents took constant rest-stops. With trusty walking stick in hand, Lea followed her husband down at a far slower speed and it was well worth the clamber. Time and erosion has taken a heavy toll on the track with few remnants of the rail remaining.  Scott Cove had a tiny sandy beach set within the most amazing outcrops of tightly folded zebra striped schist boulder rocks thinly embedded in some places with crusty crystalline. This was geological designs in nature at their best.    

Next morning Lea prepared to walk the old cart track along The Return Road to the Light house at Cape Borda 4.5kms away and was disappointed when George decided time was against us and best to go in SKV (9kms by road and very corrugated). We stopped at the well kept tiny cemetery and gained a poignant insight into the harsh realities of life in those early years. The first grave site was required for the Lighthouse keeper after he tumbled over a stump and pierced his eye. While the seven year old son of another keeper fell to his death from the lighthouse cliff; an infant battled Scarlet Fever in this remote area and sailors drowned as they unloaded supplies at Scott Cove. 

Cape Borda Lighthouse. Notably it was here we saw a single and on the face of it, habituated KI kangaroo, a markedly darker sub species of the Western Grey.

From the Lighthouse we enjoyed the Lighthouse cliff-top hike through the rock gardens into the thick surrounds of stunted vegetation to the Lookout giving dramatic views over the cliff edge.

 In a sea of stunted heath and mallee on the uneven and potholed rocky pathway to the lookout.

On our return, we spent time in the museum where the words FEAR GOD AND HONOR THY QUEEN definitely required a mention as it captures another aspect of that era ... A light keeper at Cape Borda named his children for each letter...

Florence 4/8/1868

Ethel 28/11/1871

Alice 30/6/1873

Rose 27/7/1874

 

Gertrude 23/4/1876

Olivia 30/9/1877

Deslandes 3/4/1879

 
Alf 1/6/1880

Norrie 26/1/1881

D’Arcy 15/7/1883

Hilda 6/4/1885

Octavious 6/11/1886 ...Wherein, his poor mother Mary, died giving birth to him.

The Light keeper remarried in 1900 and although his new wife presented him with twin girls; she appears to have refused to complete the ‘letters’ as they were named Ella and Stella!  

Returning along the so called Playford Highway – nothing but rough corrugations, we turned south to visit the Flinders Chase National Park.  We checked out the two campgrounds before entering the National Park Visitors Centre to find out whether we could ‘book’ a site. Nothing in the pricey main camp and pleasingly site 8 (the very site that had appealed to us) at Snake Lagoon was open.  With a place ensured for the night, we worked through the wildlife and historical displays at the centre and after a quick lunch back in SKV we set off for Cape du Couedic.  Here, we were captivated from our first viewing of the lighthouse extending across to The Brothers – two Casuarina Islets. 

From the lookout above the colony of New Zealand fur seals we looked across at the Casuarina Islets and the mainland boardwalk down to Admirals Arch.

 Little did we suspect such a stunning portal through which to watch seals wallowing around in a pool and waves surging up the surrounding rock-faces, existed when we had stared across from the fur Seal platform.

We were intrigued at how heavily weathered the wooden viewing platform had become – the grain within the timber had become distinctly furry! George asked a Guide attending to a  party of American guests what accounted for that. Salt spray! Normally a very strong salt bearing wind funnels through the Arch making photography difficult and depositing a salt that steadily eats away at the wooden structures. Admirals Arch was a highlight!

 

This was the other highlight -  the wind sculptured Remarkable Rocks set on a large granite dome with a backdrop of rugged coastal scenery.  

Busloads of tourists poured in to visit this famous landmark and from a distance we equated them to ‘meat ants’ scurrying all over the rock. Fortunately by the time we had wandered down, there were not quite as many. On returning to Park Headquarters we stopped for a shower ($4 each) in the main campground before heading back along the deeply corrugated gravel road (so much so the whole headlight had dropped out of someone’s car) back to Snake Lagoon campsite. Came time to cook supper and the gas stove would not work. Had we run out of gas or the jet had blocked. Fortunately we had some left over rice and chopped up cooked chicken that had steadily defrosted over the days – so that saved the day. After supper we’d took the Snake Lagoon hiking trail expecting to come across the lagoon. Nothing! George suggested the wetlands, lying alongside our campsite, was the dry lagoon. No kangaroos came to graze on this potentially prime feeding area.

4 a.m. .-  Lea bolted upright in bed trying to clear her head of a lion growling – Where was she... Africa?  As she clarified the noise she began to think the ongoing grunting that continued to reverberate around her must be a feral pig! She woke George, with “LISTEN” and after a long pause followed by the silence of the night – he said it was a koala. This had us both considering the habitat on and off for the rest of the night. Were the specific trees that koalas eat, in our vicinity?  By morning we had decided that Snake Lagoon, a wetland area probably did have the right gums. We had a good look round but saw nothing in surrounding trees.

Koalas were introduced to KI in 1920 and apparently the population numbers grew so fast they ate the island out of house and home. By 1977, Parks Wildlife began a sterilising program and some koalas were used to restock areas on the mainland. It had been implied in brochures that you wouldn’t have to try too hard to spot a koala on KI but for all our trying - we’d seen nothing until hearing the deep guttural grunting and growling of the night and even that we questioned!  Further along the south coast, near Hanson Bay, was a ‘Koala Walk’ in a Wildlife Sanctuary - $6 a head.  Not quite the same as coming across koalas in the wild but we were keen. With necks craned upwards we steadily walked the avenues searching the forks and bowers of each tree. Koalas tend to spend 20 hours of their day asleep... Naturally, our sightings spotted them hugging the tree fast asleep in typical koala positions. Then we struck lucky with a mother and joey remarkably close on a sprawling gum, although the rising sun was not in our favour. This agile little creature was keen to show off his acrobatic abilities with some heart stopping moments. He/she had just reached the age of learning to be independent and was the cutest little thing as it clambered over his seemingly exhausted mother. We were entertained for a good hour before we reluctantly withdrew and went in search of others - 9 in all but the others all in repose. Lea spoke to a carer and he confirmed we’d definitely heard a male koala – as they will ‘roar’ when advertising their presence in a new area especially below a tree.       

 Koala walk

Thereafter we moved steadily down the south coast popping down the side roads to the different beaches. We walked along many just to enjoy the wonderful cerulean colours of the clear waters and the rugged rock formations. We had brought bathers and yet not once had we put them on despite such inviting waters- Southern Ocean just too cold for us!  Vivonne Bay, once voted Australia’s Best Beach, was picturesque with crayfish boats bobbing at anchor. Further east, we came to the Seal Bay Conservation Centre. Tours were expensive and as Lea had enjoyed close encounters with sea lions in San Francisco she was happy to give this a miss and retired to read her book leaving George to weigh up a tour onto the beach ($26) or the board walk ($12). He chose the latter and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the setting of the lookout, the very substantial board walk constructed and watching over 100 sea lions lazing on the beach, some lying in the shade below the boardwalk itself.    

Seal Bay 

On reaching the  Murray Lagoon road we were surprised to see a road closed sign on one half- was it or wasn’t it? We disregarded it and continued on only to find a very high water table at Curley Creek  walking trail so we returned to go inland for a couple of hours. In the last working hours of 2013 we decided to visit two places that interested us before heading further round to the eastern section of Cape Gantheaume Conservation Park to find ourselves a quiet camp for the night.

 ‘Emu Ridge’ a eucalyptus distillery – now the only commercial Still in operation in South Australia.

Our interest in visiting a Eucalyptus Distillery was sparked back in 2012 when we passed through Inglewood, South Australia and pondered the words Eucy Museum. On the other side of Inglewood we had spotted a strange looking contraption and turned back for closer scrutiny. It was the Eucy Museum and although closed we were able to ascertain that it was a historic eucalyptus distillery – on a far bigger scale than we were to see at Emu Ridge.  Kangaroo Island’s major industry in Eucalyptus Oil began around the 1880’s and peaked in the 1930’s to become Australia’s first true export. Sheep farming steadily took over the island as it was easier work and better money. Now, 90% of the country’s Eucalyptus oil requirements are imported! In 1991, in a turn of the wheel of fortune, Larry and Bev Turner of Emu Ridge looked for an alternative form of income to sheep farming and rekindled an interest in the distilling of Eucalyptus oil from the narrow leaf mallee. They have steadily increased productivity and harvest to produce fragrant oil, 100% pure.

Far back in 1885, Kangaroo Island was declared a Bee Sanctuary as it was ‘home’ to the famous Ligurian Bee. Thus our next stop had to be Clifford’s Honey Farm to discover what the devil a Ligurian Bee was!  We came across an example of an introduced species which has proved to provide successful and valuable service to the country. Surprising us further was the fact that Australian native bees do not produce commercial honey. Hence, the importation in 1881 of a very placid, gentle bee producing fine honey; arriving from the region of Liguria, in Northern Italy. Australian honey bees are all descendants from those bees brought in from Europe. Kangaroo Island even exports Queen Bees all over the world for breeding with more aggressive species in an effort to try and calm them. Furthermore, Ligurian Bees in Italy have all interbred with other species and thanks to the isolation of Kangaroo Island – the only genetically pure population in the world are to be found here. After the informative video in the interpretive centre and watching the Ligurian bees in a glass beehive do the waggle dance on a very hot afternoon we decided to try Jenny’s original honey ice-cream and while chatting to her discovered that all the unexpected bodies of water we had noticed as we travelled towards D’Estrees Bay was the result of very recent heavy rainfall in the Cape Gantheaume area and many roads were closed.  That accounted for why we couldn’t get to Murray Lagoon and we definitely would be unable to access the camp sites at Wheaton or Wrecker’s Beach. Jenny suggested American River. We had our doubts but returned to find one site remained on the small narrow campground and it wasn’t on the waterfront. Then we noticed a band would be playing over the road for New Year – we departed in a hurry.  Not only would we complete our circumnavigation of KI, Lea thought our chances of a quiet camp site may be better over at Antechamber Bay. However, the road that would take us across the Dudley Peninsula was immediately opposite Browns Beach – we popped in there for another look. There were three or four tents well spread out with a shady spot that suited us well as it seemed increasingly hotter despite the evening hour. We stayed! Spent a relaxed New Year’s Eve reading – even our cold meal out of a tin went down well in view of the heat. Just before sunset (9p.m.) we walked down to the beach and discovered a brand new shower block had been completed in time for the peak season. We had noticed that all the council campgrounds not only have a fine large shelter with electric BBQ overlooking beaches they also provided picnic tables  around the grounds ; some with a roof tops. We were even more impressed with the Council’s new addition of two showers to basic bush camping at Browns.    Hot inside SKV, Lea restlessly tossed around before falling asleep. A night so very quiet, we were totally unaware of the year’s change over until we awoke next morning to overcast skies and drizzle.

As soon as we’d eaten our breakfast we made for Cape Willoughby Lighthouse followed by a trip to Lashmar Conservation Park where we checked out the camp sites at Antechamber Bay, They too, would have suited us last night. To close off the round trip of Kangaroo Island our first stop back in Penneshaw had to be a cafe for a warming and very welcome cuppa – much appreciated as we enjoyed sweeping views of the island and mainland. In the remaining hours we walked down to the Fairy Penguin Centre and across Hogs Beach to Frenchman’s Rock where Mathew Flinders found fresh water.  Soon after departing, his ship met up with the French explorer Baudin in the Geographe and they told him where his crew would find fresh meat (kangaroo) and water on newly named ‘Kangaroo Island’ in honour of the roos who’d provided their first fresh meat!  While waiting for the casks to fill with water from the spring, a French sailor produced the first graffiti on a nearby rock carving ‘Expedition de decoverte par le commandant Baudin sur le Geographe 1803’.In later years, a white dome was built over it for protection until it was deemed necessary to move it to the Adelaide Museum before being returned to the KI VIC. A replica placed on the actual site.    

 

Hog Beach at Penneshaw, with the Ferry Terminal at the far end. Lea inspects the replica stone under the white dome.

 From the Contemplation Seat overlooking Hog Bay we reflected on the surprisingly kangaroo-less days spent enjoying the Island’s natural beauties.  

As we began KI so we ended with lunch at Isola Pizza Parlour before catching the ferry back to the mainland.  Despite being overcast and drizzly we had calm seas for the ride back to the mainland and completed the round trip of Fleureau Peninsula back to Murray Bridge by 5.30 p.m. Pleased to find Getaway and the solar panel in good order after a grey day.