(River)MURRAY(River).....
By Crikey...yes I'm sounding more Australian by the month. Talking of which, it's been a whole month since we blogged. For those who've been daring to ride the Facebook journey you may well have realised by now we are LOVING South Australia! Even if we ignore, like we could, the 5 wine regions and the amazing shorelines, there has been plenty to keep us, and hopefully you, amused. I promise there is no footage of singing on this blog. We are aware that our friends and family in the UK are about to be set free (whatever that looks like) so an anticipated drop in readership might well be on the cards......particularly if Power Ballad Wednesday continues!
I'm currently composing this blog from a very lovely cool spot in our re-visit/continuum house sitting in the Barossa. It's a hot 32C here today but with a 9C overnight so not too bad at all.
Back to the blog....it's been a busy month and rather than blether on for hours I've picked a particular feature (clue in the title). A quick explanation of the title; as on researching (yes I do), I discovered that in South Australia they refer to the Murray as the River Murray, and elsewhere in Australia they call it the Murray River?! No idea why.....
The Mighty Murray, as it is also sometimes referred, is the largest River in Australia and runs a whopping 2,756km from its source in the Snowy Mountains of NSW. It is the 3rd longest 'navigable' river in the world. It is continually navigable for 1,986km from its mouth in Goolwa,SA to Yarrawonga,VIC.
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| Research...... |
In world rankings; longest river from start to finish, it is 16th.
The Murray spans across three states; NSW,Victoria and South Australia with 4 major dams,16 storage weirs and 15 navigable locks.
Its tributaries also are 5 out of the 6th next longest rivers (!) Murrumbidgee, Darling, Lachlan, Warrego and Paroo just in case you have a pub quiz soon (not the UK!).
The Murray Darling Basin can be traced back over 500 million years and was formed when the land mass of Gondwana split. The river Murray can be traced back 130 million years, so it's been around for a while and needs to stay. Major towns are stretched along its length and it was a major route for shipping goods back in the day. These days it is much more leisure orientated with houseboats being a popular activity.
The Basin covers around 1/7th of Australia and is the most important irrigated region stretching from South Queensland, to being the main water supply for the population of Adelaide in South Australia. This has been the source of tension between the States for a number of years, and there could be a whole other argument about water and land rights and who owns it. Aboriginal People have, and had, lived for millions of years along these rivers feeding from the land/water and since European settlement the erosion and quality of the water, particularly in the Murray, has steadily declined with the engineered regulation of flow. I dare say the wineries and agriculture pinch their fair share.....something to think about when I pour my next glass! We have listened to various communities throughout Australia bemoaning water allocation and rights so it is a huge personal and political issue which, as tourists, I suspect we don't know the half of.
It is fair to say that in some quarters this has been realised and there are various projects up and down the Murray to improve water flow and quality.
Due to Covid we never really had the option of solely following the Murray, from its source to the mouth, because of the State border closures. Our good friends, Jenny and Ronni, did just that a few years ago and had enthused about it. We also had intended to follow the coast around Australia so the river hadn't really featured in our plans. So ironically, thanks to Covid, we have actually managed to wiggle back and forth over the Murray at various stages on our trip, but none more so than in South Australia.
Did you know ,for example, that the River Murray (we're in SA!) has a flag. In fact it has two ; one for the upper Murray and one for the lower. I'm fairly certain this was a European idea as we do love a good flag and was probably more about vessels flying them when sailing up and down the river. Here is an explanation :-
We left the Limestone Coast only a month ago, which I find quite amazing, and headed along the coast to the Coorong National Park area. We didn't linger here for too long as Dennis is verboten so we had a quick walk to the lookout leaving his lordship in the van.
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| Dennis is in there looking disgruntled.. |
This area is of great excitement to birdwatching enthusiasts, and of course the birds. Many migrate to and from here (the birds not the humans). It is also a significant breeding area for the Pelican; we arrived at the wrong time of year so failed to spot any breeding. This part of the coastline has many Pelicans which were not breeding and happy to be swimming, flying, fishing, and resting wherever we looked! The nearby town of Meningie has gone all out Pelican crazy. From bin signs to sculptures and even real ones. We were fortunate to be camped right on the lake edge so I spent most of my time glued to my binoculars. This area was chosen as the film location for 'Storm Boy' ; an Aussie movie about a boy and his Pelican. Like 'Kes' but different....
Clayton Bay was our next stop which, again, was part of the lagoon area of the Murray looking over to Hindmarsh Island and had birds galore...my Australian Bird book was getting severe usage!
From here we decided to wiggle around to the Mouth of the Murray, as it felt quite fitting to see where it exits Australia. Other than a small sign in a car park it felt a little underwhelming as you couldn't get that close without a boat trip. What was interesting to see was the dredgers at work. These big beasts of machinery work 24/7 dredging sand to keep the mouth of the Murray open. This was set up in the early 2000's to try to help the flow and allow movement of water through the areas of the Coorong which otherwise would salinate and die. The River Murray is a very slow moving river ; having a very low gradient from start to finish, which exacerbates the flow issue.
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| Bridge over the Murray at Goolwa |
Our next stop in Goolwa also highlighted this problem. They have built a series of barrages in order to regulate the amount of salt water entering the lower part of the river, particularly during times of low flow (i.e. drought). The public can visit the barrages during the day (without dogs so his lordship caught up on his sleep...again). The Fur Seals have made a home of these barrages much to the annoyance of the local fisherfolk. Within the barrages are a series of fish flaps...yes really! These allow the fish to move through freely and it's like a perfect fast food restaurant for the Seals who noticeably appeared to be very healthy.....I'm guessing unlike the fishers who aren't catching anything !
We left the Murray at this point and ventured along the coast taking in more incredible scenery and the odd Craft Brewery. We also felt the need to check out the McLaren Vale wine region and the Adelaide Hills wine region before another look-see at the Murray at Mannum and Swan Reach with a free camp right on the rivers edge. We had heard that this stretch was a must see for the big red steep-sided cliffs that banked around, and it was!
We were not disappointed ; the views were most definitely 'Awe and Wonder'. The colours changing with the fading light into sunset, together with sunrise, made for an amazing experience and so peaceful and relaxing. We loved the FREE, yes FREE, vehicle ferries that puttered back and forth at various points along the river and ended up using them four or five times for FREE !
Thank you South Australian rate/tax payers it is an amazing service and operated with very smiley ferry men and women. Did I mention they were FREE!
And that was that...the mighty River Murray (River).
Certainly it has made us think how precious a commodity water really is, especially in Australia. Having seen the effects of severe drought, and now watched footage of severe flooding, we watch our water usage with renewed respect.
As we drove through hundreds of vineyards it made us reflect on the big mighty river that was helping to water it all.
Next week we head away from a marvellous experience house sitting too ; safe in the knowledge we caused the chickens to start laying due to our melodic singing, the plants didn't die, and the birds all had plenty of water to drink and bathe in.
Chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken, lay a little egg for me...........Happy Easter 🐣
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