MURRAY RIVER TRIP 2007
MURRAY RIVER TRIP 2007
Friday 9 November to Thursday 15 November
Hattah National Park to Victor Harbor
Blog 3
Waking up to the fresh smell of the morning bush air and the sound of the birds is the absolute best.
On our way to Mildura we stopped at Red Cliffs to look at a huge piece of machinery called “Big Lizzie” which was designed, engineered and built by an Australian and used to clear the land. Returned soldiers from WW1 were sent by the Government to start a new community at Red Cliffs. We then took the scenic drive around Red Cliffs, back onto the Highway through Mildura and on to Renmark along the Old Mail Route dirt road on the Victorian side of the river.
The road was good just unsealed but the countryside was a stark contrast to the green lush vineyards and fruit orchards through which we had been travelling. There were very few trees and the vegetation was mainly salt bush. It was real desert scrub and obviously the natural Murray River countryside pre irrigation. We arrived on the south side of the Renmark, stopped to look at the lifting span bridge that was built in 1927 that still opens 2 times a day and decided to camp by the river at Plush’s Bend. It was yet another beautiful spot, quite busy with other campers but we sat in the shade during the cooler part of the evening by the river just soaking up the beautiful scene.
Our first stop in Renmark was the Ruston’s beautiful Rose Garden. The climate is spectacular and like all the brochures say with more days of sunshine than QLD with a Mediterranean climate. The roses were beautiful although I did expect there to be more rose perfume through out the garden. Those that had a perfume were not strong. Ruston’s in this fantastic climate gets 6 flowerings a year so fresh roses of different varieties are available all the time. It is the largest commercial Rose Garden in the southern hemisphere. There were some fantastic sculptures in the garden and in fact a lot of the places that we see support local artists.
Our next stop was at the Olivewood Estate which was the original pinewood home of the Chaffey brothers. These were 3 Canadian brother who were brought out by the Victorian and South Australian Governments to develop an irrigation system in the late 1880s. The brothers are often called the founders of Renmark. Their original home, which is now a National Trust Museum, has many things in it from the area but from different times. When the local dentist closed his practise he gave the museum all the old historical dentistry pieces that were obviously in the building. Furniture and clothing were donated by various families of area.
We walked under some of the original olive trees that were planted in the 1880s and are still producing olives.
Our next night was spent at Chowilla which is a Bookmark Biosphere Reserve on both sides of the Murray and close to the NSW/Vic border. On the way we stopped at the fantastic Headings Cliffs Lookout, which provided panoramic views of the river and the surrounds. Our camp site was a very beautiful spot next to the river. We did the 5km walk with some of it along the river and the loop coming back went along the lagoon with lots of pelicans and other water birds. We saw 2 skinks on the way who thought that if they didn’t move they wouldn’t be seen and a beautiful monitor.
We drove back into Renmark and headed to Berri through a little place called Lyrup. To cross the river at Lyrup we had drive onto a very efficient car ferry. Lyrup was a little town that started when the SA Government decided to send a group of families, single men and youth to start a new settlement by putting these people on the land to try to overcome some of the unemployment in 1894. The Government transported them by train to Morgan and then by ferry to Lyrup, gave them supplies and equipment to establish homes and farms.
We then drove to Berri which is surrounded by irrigated orchards and a notable fruit processing plant town. Hardy Wines also has a large winery there, Berri Estates Winery, which is a base for the production of their wines including Banrock Wines. We walked to the aboriginal mural under the bridge which was great and then continued our walk along the river to the Memorial commemorating a respected aboriginal elder and tracker, Jimmy James.
Loxton was our next stop and like all these little towns along the river there are lots of house boats. At Loxton we stopped at the Tree of Knowledge which has markers of the height levels of all the recorded floods and the 1956 level is way above anything else. The caravan park next to the tree has a huge Pelican which was built by the locals as part of their various parades including the Loxton Mardi Gras Pageants and now is a permanent fixture at the caravan park. Our journey then followed the river and took a bit of a loop. We passed through Moorook which is a little town that you can actually pass through without noticing on our way to Lake Bonney for the night. We decided to cool ourselves down by paddling in the lake to watch the pelicans and the swimmers. By the time we were ready for dinner everyone else had gone and we had the lake to ourselves. This was one of the few spots along the river where we actually got bitten by mosquitoes.
We continued our journey to Kingston on the Murray and stopped at Banrock Station which included a wetland that no longer had water in it. Mike and I walked around the vineyards and the dry wetlands. The wetlands have been allowed to dry out trying to replicate nature. The building that has been built at the station 11 years ago is designed to be as sustainable as possible. The materials that are used, the position of the windows and how they control the heat and ventilation and they have solar panels that supply most of the energy that runs the place.
We continued west along the Sturt Highway to Waikerie and drove down to the river to the little town. Our first stop was the information centre at the Orange Tree Giftmania. Waikerie means “many wings” after the giant moth “wei kari”. We stopped to look at the Murray River Queen. Most of these river towns have their old paddle steamer moored or still in use doing trips.
We then had to stop at Haven hand Chocolates and bought some dark chocolate coated apricots and almonds. The chocolate is Belgium but the fruit and nuts are all local.
The car ferry took us across the Murray so we could easily see the fantastic cliffs on the side of the river. The cliffs contain fossil deposits and are mainly crystallised gypsum that gives the history of the Murray over millions of years. We continued on that side of the Murray to Cadell named after Captain Francis Cadell, the navigator on Captain Charles Sturt’s 1830 Murray expedition.
The tiny town of Morgan which was the busiest port in South Australia between 1880 and 1915 had very old little shops and a wharf. The goods were transported from their farms by boat down the Murray to Morgan and then they were transferred by train to Adelaide. All of that has long gone and of course everything is now transported by road. Carmine lives in the little old cottages and has an amazing collection of “antiques”. She has been living in the houses for 25 years.
We camped along the river at Morgan.
In most of these little towns the river crossing is by ferry.
We stopped at Blanchetown at Lock 1 and were lucky enough to watch a houseboat passing through the loch. There were hundreds of pelicans at the loch just waiting for the fish to come through and lots of cormorants.
We then continued along the Murray to Swan Reach. The Aboriginal name for this area is Kongorong which refers to the large number of black swans in the area. White settlement started in 1899 and there were many floods. The most devastating of 1956 caused most of Main Street to be washed away. Swan Reach has since been rebuilt.
After a few detours we finally found the Big Bend Lookout which of course looks over a big bend in the Murray River with high cliffs on one side. The scenery is quite spectacular and quite different from that around the Victorian/NSW section of the Murray.
We continued our journey to Walker Flat through beautiful country side but not vineyards or orchards, mainly hay crops as far as we could determine. We crossed the Murray yet again on a Ferry and had lunch down along the river near the boat ramp.
We continued on to the little town of Purnong and then Bow Hill to look at the general store which seemed to be advertised everywhere. The little town had LOTS of shacks along the river front which looked like weekenders cottages. We continued on to Mannum but except for a stop at the lookout there which was great we didn’t really stop there. We looked at the old places as we drove through and continued on to Murray Bridge which is the largest town on the Murray in South Australia with a population of 17,000.
The first bridge to span the Murray was built here in 1879, a rail bridge was built in 1925 and in 1979 the Swanport Bridge was built, which is the longest across the Murray. The local Ngaralta Aboriginal tribe called this area Moop-pol-tha-wong which means ‘haven for birds’.
We headed south to Tailem Bend along the Murray and picked up our mail which had been sent from Sydney.
The country side was quite different to the vineyards further up the Murray and was mainly dairy cattle country. We crossed the Murray at Tailem bend on the ferry and drove south to Wellington , home to South Australia’s first ferry on the Murray established in 1846. Wellington is at the junction of the Murray and Lake Alexandrina. Wellington has one of the oldest working hotels in South Australia. The views of the river were great and we stopped for lunch at the little coffee shop next to the old court house which was rebuilt in 1864. Wellington was named by John Morphett in 1836 and settled in 1838. We continued on the lake road along Lake Alexandrina. The lake was large but a funny colour and the land around it certainly wasn’t lush. There were lots of birds on the lake; pelicans, black swans and other birds. We took the road that came as close to Lake Alexandrina as possible which passed through the little towns of Milang which was insignificant and Clayton Bay which was very beautiful.
On our way to Goolwa we passed a few aboriginal canoe trees and farming scenery. Goolwa is a beautiful little town which was an old port town. It is where the lower Murray meets the Coorong National Park. There are many original old buildings of stone; the old court house, pub, art gallery and many others. The aboriginal meaning of Goolwa is “elbow”. We walked down to the old wharf and through the main street of the town. Goolwa is Australia’s only inland port. We drove across the bridge to Hindmarsh Island to see were the Murray River meets the ocean. It was a truly beautiful sight and the end of that part of our journey to follow the Murray down to its mouth. As we walked from the car we could hear the waves of the Southern Ocean crashing on the sand. It was both a beautiful sound and sight.
We then drove on the mainland at Goolwa to the Goolwa Barrage point which is where the salt water from the ocean meets the fresh water from the river. The barrage has been set up to stop the salt water from the sea moving up the river like it used to before the barrage was built; up to 250km up the river. The first barrage was built in 1932. Man is always interfering with the natural processes and trying to maintain the status quo when in nature things are always in a state of flux!!!! The mouth of the Murray is being dredged now to stop the flow to the ocean from sealing up. The river has slowed so much due to the drought and therefore the dumped sand is blocking the outlet to the sea. This is a natural process which of course is now being changed. We walked across the barrage and there were lots of black swans in the water. Everywhere we have been along the Murray there has been an abundance of water birds, particularly pelicans. It has been truly wonderful. From Goolwa we continued along the coast to Victor Harbour.
We have now finished with our Murray River journey and will continue to explore South Australia along the coast.
Friday 9 November to Thursday 15 November
Hattah National Park to Victor Harbor
Blog 3
Waking up to the fresh smell of the morning bush air and the sound of the birds is the absolute best.
On our way to Mildura we stopped at Red Cliffs to look at a huge piece of machinery called “Big Lizzie” which was designed, engineered and built by an Australian and used to clear the land. Returned soldiers from WW1 were sent by the Government to start a new community at Red Cliffs. We then took the scenic drive around Red Cliffs, back onto the Highway through Mildura and on to Renmark along the Old Mail Route dirt road on the Victorian side of the river.
The road was good just unsealed but the countryside was a stark contrast to the green lush vineyards and fruit orchards through which we had been travelling. There were very few trees and the vegetation was mainly salt bush. It was real desert scrub and obviously the natural Murray River countryside pre irrigation. We arrived on the south side of the Renmark, stopped to look at the lifting span bridge that was built in 1927 that still opens 2 times a day and decided to camp by the river at Plush’s Bend. It was yet another beautiful spot, quite busy with other campers but we sat in the shade during the cooler part of the evening by the river just soaking up the beautiful scene.
Our first stop in Renmark was the Ruston’s beautiful Rose Garden. The climate is spectacular and like all the brochures say with more days of sunshine than QLD with a Mediterranean climate. The roses were beautiful although I did expect there to be more rose perfume through out the garden. Those that had a perfume were not strong. Ruston’s in this fantastic climate gets 6 flowerings a year so fresh roses of different varieties are available all the time. It is the largest commercial Rose Garden in the southern hemisphere. There were some fantastic sculptures in the garden and in fact a lot of the places that we see support local artists.
Our next stop was at the Olivewood Estate which was the original pinewood home of the Chaffey brothers. These were 3 Canadian brother who were brought out by the Victorian and South Australian Governments to develop an irrigation system in the late 1880s. The brothers are often called the founders of Renmark. Their original home, which is now a National Trust Museum, has many things in it from the area but from different times. When the local dentist closed his practise he gave the museum all the old historical dentistry pieces that were obviously in the building. Furniture and clothing were donated by various families of area.
We walked under some of the original olive trees that were planted in the 1880s and are still producing olives.
Our next night was spent at Chowilla which is a Bookmark Biosphere Reserve on both sides of the Murray and close to the NSW/Vic border. On the way we stopped at the fantastic Headings Cliffs Lookout, which provided panoramic views of the river and the surrounds. Our camp site was a very beautiful spot next to the river. We did the 5km walk with some of it along the river and the loop coming back went along the lagoon with lots of pelicans and other water birds. We saw 2 skinks on the way who thought that if they didn’t move they wouldn’t be seen and a beautiful monitor.
We drove back into Renmark and headed to Berri through a little place called Lyrup. To cross the river at Lyrup we had drive onto a very efficient car ferry. Lyrup was a little town that started when the SA Government decided to send a group of families, single men and youth to start a new settlement by putting these people on the land to try to overcome some of the unemployment in 1894. The Government transported them by train to Morgan and then by ferry to Lyrup, gave them supplies and equipment to establish homes and farms.
We then drove to Berri which is surrounded by irrigated orchards and a notable fruit processing plant town. Hardy Wines also has a large winery there, Berri Estates Winery, which is a base for the production of their wines including Banrock Wines. We walked to the aboriginal mural under the bridge which was great and then continued our walk along the river to the Memorial commemorating a respected aboriginal elder and tracker, Jimmy James.
Loxton was our next stop and like all these little towns along the river there are lots of house boats. At Loxton we stopped at the Tree of Knowledge which has markers of the height levels of all the recorded floods and the 1956 level is way above anything else. The caravan park next to the tree has a huge Pelican which was built by the locals as part of their various parades including the Loxton Mardi Gras Pageants and now is a permanent fixture at the caravan park. Our journey then followed the river and took a bit of a loop. We passed through Moorook which is a little town that you can actually pass through without noticing on our way to Lake Bonney for the night. We decided to cool ourselves down by paddling in the lake to watch the pelicans and the swimmers. By the time we were ready for dinner everyone else had gone and we had the lake to ourselves. This was one of the few spots along the river where we actually got bitten by mosquitoes.
We continued our journey to Kingston on the Murray and stopped at Banrock Station which included a wetland that no longer had water in it. Mike and I walked around the vineyards and the dry wetlands. The wetlands have been allowed to dry out trying to replicate nature. The building that has been built at the station 11 years ago is designed to be as sustainable as possible. The materials that are used, the position of the windows and how they control the heat and ventilation and they have solar panels that supply most of the energy that runs the place.
We continued west along the Sturt Highway to Waikerie and drove down to the river to the little town. Our first stop was the information centre at the Orange Tree Giftmania. Waikerie means “many wings” after the giant moth “wei kari”. We stopped to look at the Murray River Queen. Most of these river towns have their old paddle steamer moored or still in use doing trips.
We then had to stop at Haven hand Chocolates and bought some dark chocolate coated apricots and almonds. The chocolate is Belgium but the fruit and nuts are all local.
The car ferry took us across the Murray so we could easily see the fantastic cliffs on the side of the river. The cliffs contain fossil deposits and are mainly crystallised gypsum that gives the history of the Murray over millions of years. We continued on that side of the Murray to Cadell named after Captain Francis Cadell, the navigator on Captain Charles Sturt’s 1830 Murray expedition.
The tiny town of Morgan which was the busiest port in South Australia between 1880 and 1915 had very old little shops and a wharf. The goods were transported from their farms by boat down the Murray to Morgan and then they were transferred by train to Adelaide. All of that has long gone and of course everything is now transported by road. Carmine lives in the little old cottages and has an amazing collection of “antiques”. She has been living in the houses for 25 years.
We camped along the river at Morgan.
In most of these little towns the river crossing is by ferry.
We stopped at Blanchetown at Lock 1 and were lucky enough to watch a houseboat passing through the loch. There were hundreds of pelicans at the loch just waiting for the fish to come through and lots of cormorants.
We then continued along the Murray to Swan Reach. The Aboriginal name for this area is Kongorong which refers to the large number of black swans in the area. White settlement started in 1899 and there were many floods. The most devastating of 1956 caused most of Main Street to be washed away. Swan Reach has since been rebuilt.
After a few detours we finally found the Big Bend Lookout which of course looks over a big bend in the Murray River with high cliffs on one side. The scenery is quite spectacular and quite different from that around the Victorian/NSW section of the Murray.
We continued our journey to Walker Flat through beautiful country side but not vineyards or orchards, mainly hay crops as far as we could determine. We crossed the Murray yet again on a Ferry and had lunch down along the river near the boat ramp.
We continued on to the little town of Purnong and then Bow Hill to look at the general store which seemed to be advertised everywhere. The little town had LOTS of shacks along the river front which looked like weekenders cottages. We continued on to Mannum but except for a stop at the lookout there which was great we didn’t really stop there. We looked at the old places as we drove through and continued on to Murray Bridge which is the largest town on the Murray in South Australia with a population of 17,000.
The first bridge to span the Murray was built here in 1879, a rail bridge was built in 1925 and in 1979 the Swanport Bridge was built, which is the longest across the Murray. The local Ngaralta Aboriginal tribe called this area Moop-pol-tha-wong which means ‘haven for birds’.
We headed south to Tailem Bend along the Murray and picked up our mail which had been sent from Sydney.
The country side was quite different to the vineyards further up the Murray and was mainly dairy cattle country. We crossed the Murray at Tailem bend on the ferry and drove south to Wellington , home to South Australia’s first ferry on the Murray established in 1846. Wellington is at the junction of the Murray and Lake Alexandrina. Wellington has one of the oldest working hotels in South Australia. The views of the river were great and we stopped for lunch at the little coffee shop next to the old court house which was rebuilt in 1864. Wellington was named by John Morphett in 1836 and settled in 1838. We continued on the lake road along Lake Alexandrina. The lake was large but a funny colour and the land around it certainly wasn’t lush. There were lots of birds on the lake; pelicans, black swans and other birds. We took the road that came as close to Lake Alexandrina as possible which passed through the little towns of Milang which was insignificant and Clayton Bay which was very beautiful.
On our way to Goolwa we passed a few aboriginal canoe trees and farming scenery. Goolwa is a beautiful little town which was an old port town. It is where the lower Murray meets the Coorong National Park. There are many original old buildings of stone; the old court house, pub, art gallery and many others. The aboriginal meaning of Goolwa is “elbow”. We walked down to the old wharf and through the main street of the town. Goolwa is Australia’s only inland port. We drove across the bridge to Hindmarsh Island to see were the Murray River meets the ocean. It was a truly beautiful sight and the end of that part of our journey to follow the Murray down to its mouth. As we walked from the car we could hear the waves of the Southern Ocean crashing on the sand. It was both a beautiful sound and sight.
We then drove on the mainland at Goolwa to the Goolwa Barrage point which is where the salt water from the ocean meets the fresh water from the river. The barrage has been set up to stop the salt water from the sea moving up the river like it used to before the barrage was built; up to 250km up the river. The first barrage was built in 1932. Man is always interfering with the natural processes and trying to maintain the status quo when in nature things are always in a state of flux!!!! The mouth of the Murray is being dredged now to stop the flow to the ocean from sealing up. The river has slowed so much due to the drought and therefore the dumped sand is blocking the outlet to the sea. This is a natural process which of course is now being changed. We walked across the barrage and there were lots of black swans in the water. Everywhere we have been along the Murray there has been an abundance of water birds, particularly pelicans. It has been truly wonderful. From Goolwa we continued along the coast to Victor Harbour.
We have now finished with our Murray River journey and will continue to explore South Australia along the coast.
posted by Mike and Carol at
12:09 PM
