RENMARK TO MANNUM

We still had a bit to see before leaving Renmark.

We headed first to Headings Lookout about 12 kms out of Paringa. These are beautiful red cliffs overlooking the Murray and are spectacular at sunset. We actually visited them twice as the first time was a bit overcast and so we did not get the sunset reflection that they are renowned for. As you can see from the photo it was worth the second visit. Further out of town (about 30kms) we also visited the Customs House. It is run as a house boat agency and general store now but the building was built in the early days of the paddle steamer trade and all boats coming from NSW or Victoria had to stop and declare their goods and pay duty. A bit disappointing that it hasn’t been kept as an historical building though.

Another day we visited Rushton’s Roses. This is the largest rose farm in Australia and covers 25 acres and has 50,000 roses. Even though it is winter there were still enough roses out to see their beauty. It would be a spectacular place to visit in October during the rose festival. There are also large old fashioned display gardens and lovely nooks and crannies to explore. A huge avenue of David Austin roses and a corridor of ‘specials’ Such as roses dedicated to special people such as Princess Dianna, Grace of Monaco and even Ian Thorpe. They have a lovely cafeteria there too with a great old classic car collection and even some old outboard motors!

Within the town limits there is Olivewood House. This was the original home of Charles Chaffey – one of the Chaffey Bros. An orchard of very old olive trees stands in front of the house and even the old olive press is on display in the museum behind the home. Run by volunteers, it gives a fascinating picture into life in those early days. The volunteers are in the process of re-constructing the processing plant at the rear of the house showing the original methods of olive processing. They have sourced much of the original equipment and are currently putting it all in place.

After a week at Renmark we headed just 39kms down the road to a tiny place called Kingston-on-Murray (KOM). The village has only a population of 200 but again right on the river. We had picked up information on a number of things to do and see from this location. One was a river cruise called Loch Luna and the second was to visit Banrock Station winery and wetland centre. Banrock was only 5 minutes drive down the road and the winery overlooks their wetland. It is in a beautiful situation and they run a truly remarkable wetland conservation program and have been the recipient of many awards for this program. Their wine is pretty good too and in fact one of the rare wineries where we found the wine cheaper there than in the bottle shops! They have good walking trails around the wetlands but so bird lovers can see it in peace (no ankle biters running around making a lot of noise) you have to book. This way they leave at least an hour between walkers. We made our booking for the following Thursday, picked up some nice champagne at $7.50 per bottle and had a nice cup of coffee and wattle seed scones with Quandong Jam and cream….yum!

We also rang and booked our cruise (3 hour duration) on the Loch Luna cruise boat for the Monday. The weather was a little cool on Saturday and Sunday and Walter had a cold so we spent the time going to the Berri Farmers Markets on Saturday, also did some shopping there at Coles and then onto the Mallee Fowl restaurant which has really whacky décor and their signature dish was Quandong Cheese Cake!

On Monday we walked the 5 minutes down along the river to the cruise boat. The fog was thick but beginning to rise as we reached the boat. Blue skies were showing promise of a nice day. Cal was the boat owner and tour guide. He purchased the business about 8 months previously, quitting the bank for a ‘sea change’. He had a real passion for the river and its’ wildlife. His afternoon cruise cancelled just as we boarded so he said if it was alright with us we wouldn’t hurry and spend a bit longer then the 3 hours out there. It was a marvellous day with heaps of bird life and some quite rare sightings. We had homemade bikkies for morning tea and ended up spending 7 hours out along the river and the back creeks, arriving back after 4 pm. We certainly got our monies worth!

Banrock Boardwalk was 8 km s long and wended its way right around the billabong. Lots of black swans, Eurasian Coots and Purple Swamp hens around the water, but also Golden Rosellas, and many Mallee birds through the bush. Too many to list! We had packed our lunch and so just spent about 4 ½ hours wandering our way around.

We also took a drive ‘down stream’ to Loxton. Again a town of about 3,000 people has a pioneer village and lovely park areas along the river. We didn’t bother with the Pioneer Village as it didn’t look anything like the great one we saw at Swan Hill.

After a week at KOM we then headed further along the river (another 40kms) to Waikerie. Another nice park across the road from the river. It’s a town of about 5,000 people and like Renmark and KOM, rich in agriculture, particularly citrus and grapes, both wine and table. There is even a fresh orange juice factory here. Along the lovely cliffs along the river there is a cliff walk, and outside of town the Maize Island Conservation Park. Also the lovely Murray River Queen Paddle steamer resides here. You can even go on board during the day as they run a café/coffee shop on the back deck. We did this but also found that that evening (Saturday) they were running a 5 hour dinner/dance cruise. We jumped on that opportunity and booked. Gee now I had to go and work out what I was going to wear! Hadn’t “dressed up” for a while! We were treated to a couple of hours cruising down the river before sun set and then called into dinner. A lovely 3 course meal was served and they had a live band playing as well. After dinner (still cruising) everyone got up to dance. The cruise travelled for 2 ½ hours downstream toward Lock 2 before turning around and cruising back to Waikerie.

In Waikerie there is also Haverhand Chocolates and local place that hand makes chocolates mainly for the Adelaide market but also sell hot chocolate made with Belgian chocolate and also Chocolate fondues. We opted for a hot chocolate and a chocolate cookie only!

We drove out through Ramco towards Morgan through citrus orchards and vineyards. Morgan was one of the busiest river ports in the southern hemisphere during the Paddle boat era. Many travelled by train from Adelaide and caught the passenger boats to go along the Murray to Wentworth and then either along the Murray further or up the Darling. Morgan is also interesting as it is here where the BIG BEND is in the river. From its source, the Murray travels west until Morgan and it is here it turns south to the mouth. Geologists believe that many millions of years ago the river did disgorge itself into St Vincent Gulf, north of Adelaide but there was a great volcanic upheaval of the land forming the Adelaide Hills and blocked the river so it then found its way south.

Morgan had another great little museum run by volunteers which we found interesting. We drove back to Waikerie via the top road visiting Lock 2 on the way home.

From Waikerie we also spent a day driving up to Gluepot Reserve. This is about 65kms north of the town and owned and run by Birds Australia. Gluepot Reserve is Birds Australia's first publicly funded Reserve. Located in the semi-arid South Australian Mallee it is considered by many to be one of the crown jewels in the nation's reserve system. This 50,000 ha large area of virgin Mallee scrub contains no less than 6 nationally endangered bird species and a unique flora and fauna adapted to the harsh conditions. Purchased in 1997, Gluepot is rapidly becoming a centre for scientific research. Its accessibility means it is one of the few areas in Australia where birdwatchers can relatively easily observe otherwise hard-to-find species. So we packed another picnic lunch and went and visited and walked. Saw some amazing birds we had never seen before. If we come that way again we would go out and camp for a few days

From Waikerie we decided to drive as far (61 kms) to Swan Reach. This is another very tiny town on the river but we had a reason for going there. We wanted to drive up to Blanchetown where the first Lock is on the Murray is and just outside of Blanchetown is the Broomfield Conservation Park. This is one of the known habitats for the threatened Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat. They are only located in a few spots in Australia, another being along the Nullabor. So we packed up a picnic lunch and the Thermos and headed to Blanchetown. It’s another small place on the river but as we were having a cup of coffee in the café the girl told us we should go out to Portee Station. Portee Station was originally settled as a sheep grazing property along the banks and flood plain of the River Murray, the station took its name from the French verb PORTEE (to carry) caused by the need to unload and carry vessels and freight over the Moorunde sand bar at times of low river flow. It is 20,000 acres and now run as a B & B. However, the Australian Shearing team was there for this weekend to practice their craft. The team was punching through 3,000 sheep in order to get their time down so they can get their hands on the Golden Shears World Title being held in Norway in October. They were trying to raise money for their team so the public was invited. Well it was only 8 kms out of town so we made the decision to go. It was fantastic watching this team work. The roustabouts, Debbie Chandler from West Australia, and Mel Morris from Tasmania are wool handlers that are also part of the team heading to Norway. They made us tired just watching them! The current World Champion, Shannon Warnest, says this is the only time the team had to practice together. He told us that "This was pretty unique. This was the first time the Australian team had ever got together before the World Champs." The station owner and his daughter Liz invited us both back to their Gourmet BBQ dinner that night in the ground of the old homestead. So we went wombat hunting out at the reserve, finding plenty of warrens and holes but no wombats and then returned. It was a beautiful night with white tablecloths and crystal under gas heaters in front of the homestead. When Liz asked if we found any wombats and we said no, she told us a track on the property to drive on before returning to Swan Reach. Sure enough we saw three Southern Hairy nosed Wombats so all boxes and then some were ticked for theWe then left Swan Reach and drove another 69 kms to Mannum. It is a beautiful and historic river town with lovely stone buildings and good museum and lovely views across the river. We have driven further down to Murray Bridge (shopping and fuel cheaper here) and came back on another road crossing the free ferry back to the caravan park. The beautiful Murray Princess Paddlesteamer leaves from here for 4 to 7 day river cruises. It would be lovely to do but does fit the budget at this point in time.

Yesterday we travelled down to Monarto Zoo. This is jointly run by the Adelaide Zoo but is an Open Plains Zoo. We arrived early at 9.30 am and were on the first Zoo bus leaving for the Grasslands. This took us through Barbary sheep, Bison, Przewalski's Horses and varied Antelope including Bongo. We had never been up so close to some of these animals, even though they are at Dubbo Zoo. We got back to the Centre to be able to jump on the African Bus. Again so close to Giraffe, Hyenas, Zebra and then amazing Cheetahs and lions. Absolutely a different zoo experience. Very different to Dubbo.

Today is cold and miserable and tomorrow we leave for a longer trip (150kms) to Goolwa and the Mouth of the Murray. From all accounts the mouth of the river and Lake Alexandrina is quite sad with no water flow coming down at all so the salinity is rising and wildlife and aquatic life dying. We will report on this in our next bulletin.
We hope you are all well and happy,

Love to you all
The Happy Travellers

Rob and Walter