26
degrees at 7.30am, very nice but overcast and still. A couple of drops of rain
as we started to pack up. Had to clean all the Little Corella poop off the van
and awning first – sets hard too.
Back
up the hill and then through Loxton, following the Murray River as it turns
north-west. Passed Yatco Lagoon which flows off the Murray further north at
Moorook.
Through
Moorook whose first settlers arrived on the Paddle-steamer Gem in 1894.
Wachtel’s Lagoon is another huge one off the Murray River has lots of birdlife.
Onto
the Sturt Highway for a bit then turned off into Banrock Station Wine &
Wetland Centre. I like Banrock Moscato so thought that would be a good winery
to visit.
Along
the dirt road and rows and rows of grapevines.
Just
a small building – the actual winery turn off was back where we first turned in
through the gates.
Lots
of information. Interesting reading to understand why they need to dry wetlands
etc.
Will
have to find out why the carp were introduced in the first place.
Carp
are believed to have been brought to Australia as early as the 1850’s, during
the time when ‘acclimatisation’ was till fashionable and exotic species were
released into our harsh environment to make it more compatible with a European
lifestyle. The first documented release of carp was in 1907 when the fish was
introduced to Sydney’s Prospect Reservoir, thus earning their title, the
Prospect strain.
During the 1960’s, carp illegally
imported from Germany into Victoria, escaped into the Murray River when farm
dams they were being cultivated in were flushed by floodwaters. The Boolara and
Koi strains are the most widespread and have the most impact in Australia. At
one site in the Bogan River, scientists found an average of one carp for every
square metre of river surface area. Four strains of carp are known to exist in
Australia – Boolara, Yanco, Prospect and Koi.
Lovely
view over the wetlands. Unfortunately they are closed today for walks as it
will be 37 degrees and they don’t allow people to wander if it is going to be
over 35 degrees. Safety first.
Zoomed
in on vineyards in the distance one way and a sandhill the other way where the
Murray River would be.
Tried
a few wines then order a bottle for lunch with some yummies. We learnt that
white wines are necessarily from white grapes. Pink and Red Moscato for
instance come from the amount of contact with the pulp and skin to give them
their colours. Steve stuck with the Bundaberg Sarsaparilla.
Onto
a back road to Kingston-on-Murray, which was originally called Kingston. It was
another town which was part of the new village settlement scheme started in the
1890s. The tag ‘on-Murray’ was added to distinguish it from Kingston in the
Limestone Coast. The town was first surveyed in 1915 and was originally called
Thurk which was the name of the property where the town now stands.
Back
onto the Sturt Highway and across Kingston Bridge. There was a lookout but we
couldn’t stop – too many trucks behind him!! The lookout marks the spot where
Captain Charles Sturt landed on his Murray River expedition in 1830.
Continued
along a raised road above the surrounding wetlands. Turned off passed Cobdogla
to check out a free camp near the Cobdogla Pumping Station on Cobdogla Swamp.
No
shade so we kept going north through the middle of areas – Lock Luna to the
west and Lake Bonney to the east. I want to get sunset photos at Lake Bonney
but there is no shade to camp there in this weather. The clouds look unusual
but hopefully they will lift by tonight.
Continued
on to Goyder Road and turned off at the historical Overland Corner Hotel (will
check it out later) to check out Herons Bend – not very good there for shade so
we went down the other way into Overland Corner Reserve where we spotted some
other vans.
Looking
back up to the green trees around the pub.
Found
a nice spot beside the Murray again.
The
Murray flowing well – spotted some red sandhills through the trees.
Had
a cool off under the shower though the clouds are keeping the beating sun off
us. Went for a walk along the track to one end then back to the other end
looking at Herons Bend.
Cooked
dinner then decided to drive back to Lake Bonney as the sun is out so we might
get a nice sunset. 7.30pm and the sun was still high but made a great photo
with the clouds.
In
1964 Donald Campbell attempted a world water speed record on the lake and
although he achieved a speed of 347.5km/h, the lake proved too small for a
record breaking run. Unfortunately the lower clouds were very heavy so the sun
couldn’t shine through – we might be in for a storm by the looks of it.
Malcolm
rang to say hi – Kerry is in Melbourne watching the tennis. He said it is so
smoky there from the terrible fires in the Western Tiers.
A
bit of red from the setting sun shines through under the clouds. The white bit
above never got any colour in it.
Tried
ringing Daniel but no answer.
Back
to the van, 35 degrees at 9pm.
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