Pelicans swirled overhead in
ever increasing circles, effortlessly soaring on thermals rising from the
warming water. We lay amongst sand dunes
that held back the angry waves of the Southern Ocean, absorbing the views of
this most wonderful of places.
Eclipsed for just a moment,
the sun cast a giant shadow over us as one of the circling birds descended from
squadron above. Unfolding its legs,
gracefully skimming the water’s surface, coming to rest not far from where we lay. Mr Percival, ‘birds like him, never die’, I
smiled with childhood memories of Colin Thieles’ Storm Boy.
Coorong National Park. We’d followed South Australia’s Limestone
Coast to its northern end and found ourselves amongst the dunes, the marshes
and lagoons of this unique echo-system.
Birds from as far as Alaska and Siberia flocked to the dunes looking for
a mate, the fresh water ponds stretching for 140 kilometres, parallel to the
Southern Ocean, a great place to roost.
The wildlife of the Coorong is both unique and beautiful.
The Ngarrindjeri people,
custodians of the karangk for over
6,000 years, saw that beauty, the uniqueness and made it their home. Watching the life on the water, silence only
broken by the squawks, tweets and hoots of hundreds of species of birds, I
couldn’t think of a better place to call home.
Like ‘Storm Boys’ father, ‘Hideaway’ Tom, I wanted a life away from
society, amongst the dunes, living on the water. It seemed like heaven to me.
The fragile strip of dunes, barricading
the lagoons from the Southern Ocean, are flanked at the northern end by the
mouth of the mighty Murray River, Australia’s longest river, and the southern
end by the treacherously magnificent limestone coast. Inland of the system of lakes lay more dunes,
as far as the eye can see, covered in vegetation, they are definitely there and
create a unique contrast to the usual red dunes of outback Australia.
Accessing the Coorong is done
in several ways, as easy as bitumen or as difficult as riding along the
beach. Australia’s national road, the
Princes Highway, A1, runs parallel to most of the Coorong and allows easy
access through a number of well-maintained dirt tracks. Many of these tracks give way to much lesser
tracks, nothing more than a narrow path through the sandy dunes. Taking on some of these ribbons of sand, we
were advised not to, as mid-summer, school holidays meant lots of 4x4
vehicles. These guys wait or move for
no-one.
We’d entered the Coorong from
the southern end, the town of Kingston SE, the northern tip of the Limestone
Coast. Starting from Portland, in our
home state of Victoria, meant riding the Great Ocean Road in part. This end of it is a dream, perhaps not as
spectacular as the end closer to the cities of Geelong and Melbourne, yet away
from the tourist hoards. The riding was
relaxed and enjoyable, the scenery impressive, the history of the ‘shipwreck
coast’ even more so. Passing through the
sleepy village of Nelson, my third time here in as many months, provided access
to the South Australian border and the Limestone Coast. First stop Port Macdonnell.
Known to the locals as ‘Port
Mac’ this is another sleepy little hamlet.
The main street was like stepping back into an 1880’s village, a town
built around the prosperous industry of fishing. We were proudly told that it has the highest
number of fish shops per capita anywhere in Australia. Looking around I believed it.
Port Mac has a tranquil,
welcoming feel, the locals quick to point out the many ‘unknown’
attractions. Over numerous beers we
discovered that Port Mac had an auto museum.
Convinced! We made plans to take
a look the following morning. We weren’t
disappointed. Feast’s Classic Car Collection has one of the greatest collections
of Valiant’s (Chrysler’s) I’d ever seen, every surviving R & S series car
in Australia must be here. Don, the
owner of the collection, was quick to point out the regions other
attractions. Mount Schank, an extinct
volcano, just east of the town was a sight we couldn’t miss. I love the spectacle of volcanoes so couldn’t
resist, it was added to the list, but would have to wait until next time.
Heading further north, we were
quick to realise the extent of the Limestone Coast and the area associated with
it. Once under a great expanse of water,
the limestone was created by billions of tiny sea creatures depositing their
remains on the ocean floor. These
deposits have created the most beautiful white sand beaches, framed by perfect
blue waters. The beaches are some of
Australia’s finest and yet remain relatively untouched. Inland the limestone has been eroded in
places to create spectacular caves, some of which are World Heritage Listed due
to the 
unprecedented amount of fossil deposits.
Astounding, is the only way to comprehend that one of the caves at Naracoorte
has over 4,000 pieces of ancient bone per cubic metre. The reconstructed remains of extinct
mega-fauna are astonishing.
The southern tip of Lake
Bonney gave an idea as to what we could expect.
The track between the lake and the ocean was nothing more than 30
kilometres of fine, white, powdery sand.
I desperately wanted to head this way but thought otherwise when advised
by a local that the track was in the worst condition he had ever seen and that
many better suited machines were struggling with the deep sand. We headed to the east of the lake then
continued north through farming country, both cattle and turbine electricity
generators were abundant.
Robe, on the southern shore of
Guichen Bay, was the destination for the night and as soon as we got there I
couldn’t wait to get away. The town,
with a permanent population of around 2,000 people is beautifully set with
historic period buildings however, at this time of the year the population had
swelled to over 20,000, mostly drunken tourists. One night here would be more than enough,
thank you.
The following morning
vindicated our decision to spend no more time in Robe. Over a delicious breakfast, at the Robe
Bakery, we noticed that the streets were strewn with broken beer and wine
bottles. The partying had gotten out of
hand the previous night. We moved on and
followed the coast to first Cape Jaffa and then Kingston SE, the two towns
linked by the unlikeliest of reasons.
A striking feature of Kingston
SE is a steel framed lighthouse that sits amongst the houses on the towns
foreshore. Keenly interested in this
sort of history I ventured in for a closer look, quickly discovering that the
lighthouse is not original to Kingston SE.
Known as the Cape Jaffa lighthouse it was originally placed on Margaret
Brock Reef 13km offshore from Cape Jaffa after a ship was wrecked there in the
1870’s. Unbelievably two lighthouse
keepers and their families would live on the lighthouse and its platform at any
one time, their only contact with the outside world being by rowboat. I couldn’t quite get my head around the fact
that at some point as many as 12 people lived in isolation on this tiny
platform.
With more advanced
technologies came the demise of the lighthouse and rather than leave it rotting
in the ocean, the National Trust decided to have it dismantled and re-erected
in the larger town of Kingston SE, where it resides today, a monument to much
harder times.
Travelling further north we
were amongst The Coorong by following Old Coorong Road, a well maintained,
compacted limestone track. The
conditions of this road are so good that it rivals many bitumen roads although,
there are the occasional corrugations and sand drifts. The Old Coorong continues north for around 50
kilometres and eventually re-joins the Princes Highway, several tracks detour
into the dunes to camping areas, the occasional beach access allowing for a
ride all the way to the mouth of the Murray River. At the right time of the day the beach sand
is quite hard and forgiving but caution needs to be given as the occasional
soft patch will suck you and bike in with disastrous affect.
Foregoing the beach route
allowed for a circumnavigation of Lakes Albert and Alexandrina, the northern
end of the Coorong and the mouth of Murray.
Keeping the coast on our left and Lake Albert on the right we found
ourselves in an area rich in Aboriginal culture, the town of Point Macleay. Known as Raukkan to the local inhabitants it
holds great cultural significance as being a sort of parliament for the
Ngarrindjeri people, a place where ‘clan’ leaders would converge and elect the Rupulle, or leader.
Riding around Raukkan felt as
if we were intruding, treating the 100 or so residents as museum pieces in
their beautiful community. Rather than voyeuristically
looking on as an outsider, spending time with the community and learning about
the traditions and culture of the Ngarrindjeri would be a much better option. I added this to the list of places to return
to.
Amongst the lakes and dunes
there’s a number of water crossings that have a throwback to earlier times,
none more so than the two punts and the many barrages. On this occasion the barrages were closed due
to the high levels of water flowing from the Murray, the punts were in full
operation and surprisingly both (Narrung & Wellington) are in operation 24
hours per day. It must cost the state
government a fortune to keep them running although, it does add a nice touch to
ride.
Following the eastern shore of
Lake Alexandrina, the land gives way to rich farmland and impressive
wineries. The dunes and ruggedness of
the Coorong behind, in the distance the low rolling hills that form the
boundary to the South Australian capital city, Adelaide, could be seen. The areas buildings are unique to the
limestone coast, built from giant blocks of the said stone. It gives the landscape a distinct South
Australian frontier feeling, as if being back in time, none more so than the
towns of Strathalbyn and Goolwa. The
latter forming a hub for the next few days before heading back home.
Seen as a major shipping port
for both river and sea transport, Goolwa was originally planned as the state capital. With the advent of the railways, the town
quickly struggled to maintain its position of importance and faded into
obscurity. It now sits as a beautiful
reminder of the past, and is a town of historical importance; natural,
aboriginal and European. We quickly
discovered it was a great place to spend a few days, Motel Goolwa being the
ideal place for a shower and decent bed after days of camping.
Exploring Goolwa was a perfect
fit to what had been seen further upriver on the Murray, it connected with the
riverboat history of Swan Hill and Echuca.
The buildings are beautiful, a blend of modern and old. The town relies heavily on tourism yet hadn’t
succumbed to the tackiness that tourists can often bring, there’s still a simple
charm that was perfectly captured in the late 1970’s movie adaptation of
Thieles’ Storm Boy. For the umpteenth time on this ride through
the Coorong I felt a touch nostalgia.
All too suddenly it was time
to leave Goolwa and head back west, to Victoria, following the Limestone Coast
however, now inland through what seemed like never ending sand dunes. Riding through the wine country of Langhorne
Creek and Wellington we came to the northern tip of Lake Alexandrina, then
headed south in an almost straight line for around 50 kilometres. Completing a loop of Lake Albert and soon finding
ourselves in Meningie, the point to turn slightly more east through the dunes.
At the very southern end of
the range of dunes is a town called Lucindale.
Close your eyes, think of 1960’s Australia, open your eyes and you are
there, Lucindale. Struggling to cling to
existence this town is one of those that most people would just turn to look
the other way, not noticing one of the most hospitable places you’ll come
across. We stayed the night. Like in Port Macdonnell, we were treated with
warmth and respect, we weren’t a passing curiosity, we were ‘explorers’,
someone the locals could share their community and experiences with. With its many hidden gems, it is a town worth
sharing.
Lucindale is one of those
towns that would make a great hub for anyone wanting to explore the
non-touristy areas of this part of Australia.
The tracks out here are like many in this part of South Australia; well
groomed, hard packed, yet very rarely see transport making getting lost a
joy.
Eventually the Limestone Coast
gives way to the Coonawarra wine region and the many affluent towns that go
with it. The wineries are worth checking
with as many will allow travellers to camp amongst the vines, and for little or
no cost. Could life get any better?
As the Limestone Coast region began
to fade and blend with the surrounding area it became apparent that this is
another special part of Australia, an area rich with history of a living
earth. Amongst the vast plains are odd
conical mounds, some just hills, others small mountains, all the remnants of
volcanic activity. The large border town
of Mount Gambier is one such volcano and with its Blue Lake is well worth a
visit, but that’s for another time.
Our ‘expedition’ along the
rugged beauty of the south east South Australian coast had come to an end. We’d discovered life amongst the dunes, lakes
and beaches as diverse as anywhere on earth.
Discovered history dating back millennia, to a time when mankind shared
the land with fire breathing hills and mammals as big as small cars. Discovered a way that was proof that
adventures don’t always need to be too far from the beaten track. We’d discovered a land of limestone and
lakes.
The Ngarrindjeri people,
custodians of the karangk for over
6,000 years, saw that beauty, the uniqueness and made it their home. Watching the life on the water, silence only
broken by the squawks, tweets and hoots of hundreds of species of birds, I
couldn’t think of a better place to call home.
Like ‘Storm Boys’ father, ‘Hideaway’ Tom, I wanted a life away from
society, amongst the dunes, living on the water. It seemed like heaven to me.
Port Mac has a tranquil,
welcoming feel, the locals quick to point out the many ‘unknown’
attractions. Over numerous beers we
discovered that Port Mac had an auto museum.
Convinced! We made plans to take
a look the following morning. We weren’t
disappointed. Feast’s Classic Car Collection has one of the greatest collections
of Valiant’s (Chrysler’s) I’d ever seen, every surviving R & S series car
in Australia must be here. Don, the
owner of the collection, was quick to point out the regions other
attractions. Mount Schank, an extinct
volcano, just east of the town was a sight we couldn’t miss. I love the spectacle of volcanoes so couldn’t
resist, it was added to the list, but would have to wait until next time.
unprecedented amount of fossil deposits.
Astounding, is the only way to comprehend that one of the caves at Naracoorte
has over 4,000 pieces of ancient bone per cubic metre. The reconstructed remains of extinct
mega-fauna are astonishing.
The following morning
vindicated our decision to spend no more time in Robe. Over a delicious breakfast, at the Robe
Bakery, we noticed that the streets were strewn with broken beer and wine
bottles. The partying had gotten out of
hand the previous night. We moved on and
followed the coast to first Cape Jaffa and then Kingston SE, the two towns
linked by the unlikeliest of reasons.
Travelling further north we
were amongst The Coorong by following Old Coorong Road, a well maintained,
compacted limestone track. The
conditions of this road are so good that it rivals many bitumen roads although,
there are the occasional corrugations and sand drifts. The Old Coorong continues north for around 50
kilometres and eventually re-joins the Princes Highway, several tracks detour
into the dunes to camping areas, the occasional beach access allowing for a
ride all the way to the mouth of the Murray River. At the right time of the day the beach sand
is quite hard and forgiving but caution needs to be given as the occasional
soft patch will suck you and bike in with disastrous affect.
Riding around Raukkan felt as
if we were intruding, treating the 100 or so residents as museum pieces in
their beautiful community. Rather than voyeuristically
looking on as an outsider, spending time with the community and learning about
the traditions and culture of the Ngarrindjeri would be a much better option. I added this to the list of places to return
to.
Following the eastern shore of
Lake Alexandrina, the land gives way to rich farmland and impressive
wineries. The dunes and ruggedness of
the Coorong behind, in the distance the low rolling hills that form the
boundary to the South Australian capital city, Adelaide, could be seen. The areas buildings are unique to the
limestone coast, built from giant blocks of the said stone. It gives the landscape a distinct South
Australian frontier feeling, as if being back in time, none more so than the
towns of Strathalbyn and Goolwa. The
latter forming a hub for the next few days before heading back home.
Exploring Goolwa was a perfect
fit to what had been seen further upriver on the Murray, it connected with the
riverboat history of Swan Hill and Echuca.
The buildings are beautiful, a blend of modern and old. The town relies heavily on tourism yet hadn’t
succumbed to the tackiness that tourists can often bring, there’s still a simple
charm that was perfectly captured in the late 1970’s movie adaptation of
Thieles’ Storm Boy. For the umpteenth time on this ride through
the Coorong I felt a touch nostalgia. 
Lucindale is one of those
towns that would make a great hub for anyone wanting to explore the
non-touristy areas of this part of Australia.
The tracks out here are like many in this part of South Australia; well
groomed, hard packed, yet very rarely see transport making getting lost a
joy. 
As the Limestone Coast region began
to fade and blend with the surrounding area it became apparent that this is
another special part of Australia, an area rich with history of a living
earth. Amongst the vast plains are odd
conical mounds, some just hills, others small mountains, all the remnants of
volcanic activity. The large border town
of Mount Gambier is one such volcano and with its Blue Lake is well worth a
visit, but that’s for another time.
