Of Limestone and Lakes

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.