Goolwa weekend

Hello again, after rather a long break. Last weekend we went down to Goolwa, not far from Victor Harbor. However, while Victor Harbor is very much on the ocean, Goolwa marks the boundary between the ocean and the wetlands where the Murray River flows into the sea. It was originally founded as a port to handle the transfer of goods between ocean-going ships and the river craft that would carry them far up the river. The Murray and its tributary the Darling arise in the mountains to the east, in Victoria and New South Wales, and provides irrigation and formerly transport to the huge area between there and Adelaide. It is also one of the sources of Adelaide's water supply. Consequently, there is almost no aspect of its management that is not controversial. Goolwa was an amazingly active shipyard for river steamers in its day. Later, the construction of a railway that bypassed it cut off much of its trade. But it's still a pleasant small town with most civic facilities, increasingly used by tourist traffic.
We were fortunate to be offered the use of his house on the dunes in Goolwa by Brian O'Neill, a colleague in the Adelaide department. Much of the water-front is taken up by new tourist and second homes constuction.

This is the historic wharf area. The train is the "Cockle Train", that runs a scenic route between Goolwa and Victor Harbor. We didn't get up early enough to catch it.....

There is a bridge from Goolwa to Hindmarsh Island, one of those that separates Lake Alexandrina, the final stage of the Murray's meanderings, from the sea. This is from the island side. We walked over and nearly froze. Leaving Adelaide in brilliant sunshine, we neglected to bring sufficiently warm clothes or waterproofs. Home is going to bring a great revision of our habits!

This is the beach, looking over to Victor Harbor in the far distance. As the land thereabouts is fairly flat and alluvial, the dunes assume an almost Netherlands significance.

Liz on the beach. The shades were a little excessive, in my view- it was overcast and distincly cold.

This is the lock in the barrage from the ocean spit to Hindmarsh Island that separates the sea from the freshwater environment. Use of Murray water for farming and idrinking water has reduced the flow at the mouth to 27% or less of its original value. A series of barrages, not just this one, were constructed in the 1930s to prevent the lakes from suffering salinification. The actual Murray mouth is still open, but shifts in position at an almost perceptible rate by build-up of sandbars. Lately, there have been further problems with Lake Alexandrina. Lowering of the level due to drought and over-use of water has exposed sediments to the atmosphere and these are leaching into the lake and reducing its pH. This is being addressed in a way rather similar to the Aral Sea- a barrage is being constructed between the upper and lower lakes, with a view to preserving a habitat for local species at least in the upper portion. I'm not sure what will happen to the lower portion.

This is me looking over the channel between the spit and the island. It is downstream of the barrage, therefore saltwater and properly a part of the Coorong.

And this is typical Coorong terrain.

Plenty of bird life, including pelicans

Black swans

Egrets

And the first Australian Ibis I've seen so far south. They're very common in Queensland, there they scavenge garbage. But these seem still to do their thing in the shallow water.

On the way back we had a walk at a place called Currency Creek. It doesn't look much from the road, but once one goes underneath the viaduct it is unexpectedly pretty.

The entrance to a disused copper mine

It ends in a rocky pool with a small waterfall. Idyllic. This is a rather poor picture that contrives to omit the waterfall.

And another rather poor picture.

Next weekend- an outback safari, visit to Wilpena pound (huge natural amphitheatre in the Flinders ranges), various gorge walks, sleeping under the stars for those who like it
(we're in a lodge room, thank you very much) and a visit to the Clare Valley winery area first-to dull the senses? We shall see.