The morning started sunny and warm. Forecast top is 28 degrees. There was a local farmers market in town this morning, so that was our first stop.
Farmers Markets in SA (by Teresa)
So instead, I had seen a brochure for a across-beach tour of the Murray mouth which started at 2pm, so I headed to the information center to book. They were very happy to book me in except as it was 1:45, the online booking system was already closed. A quick call to the tour operator confirmed that there was a place available and they would meet me outside the information center. After paying, I walked out of the center to see the big red tour bus waiting for me. That’s great service!
I say bus, but it’s more of a hybrid. It used to do tours around Fraser Island before it was brought down here.
I was the only customer for the first leg of the journey (the bus picks up from Middleton and Goolwa on the way – there were 8 people total) so spent the time chatting to the driver. He was a fisherman for 20 years but his competition and the seals were getting to be too much for him. The seal population has increased dramatically over the last few years and he said they they like the liver so take a chunk out of the fish and leave the rest. So a lot of the fish they caught couldn’t be sold.
In the end, he sold to his main competition. He said his catch allowance (4 tonne from memory) was worth much more at ($350k) than his licence ($150k). He’s been working for Murray Mouth Tours for just over a year now.
The tour leaves the bitumen at the Goolwa surf lifesaving club. There is a track the takes you to the beach, and it’s very popular with owners of 4×4 vehicles.
I took a quick shot through the front of the van of the cars sitting on the beach – it’s been cropped a lot so the quality isn’t great.
People make a day of it and take an awning, chairs and even tables. Lots of fishermen too. The guide said there is lots of fish to be caught just off the breakers.
I did consider taking our Landcruiser onto the beach just to try it out, but when I asked the guide about it, he said he would not take any new car onto the beach. Sand gets everywhere along with the salt water and it’s almost impossible to get it all out.
Along the way, the guide pointed out the location where Storm Boy was filmed. There are only a couple of poles left of the shack now… time and weather have taken their toll. Storm Boy celebrates it’s 40th anniversary this year. I remember watching the film when I was growing up, and loved it.
The trip to the mouth of the Murray took about 45 mins. We stopped there for 1/2 hour – plenty of time to take lots of photos, although it was hard to capture the beauty of the scene since we were so close to the water. We could definitely see the brown water of the Murray draining into the ocean, and mixing with the pristine blue ocean.
They are continually dredging the mouth to drain as much water as possible from the lakes in preparation for the flood waters from Victoria and NSW in early October – due to hit here soon. They pipe the sand they dredge onto a cordoned off area of the beach, and then every couple of months cart the sand away in trucks (otherwise with the right wind direction, it’ll all just settle back where they dredged it from).
Although you can see the water moving slowly out, looks are also deceptive. Our guide said the depth increases dramatically – just a few feet off shore it’s 15 feet deep, and the water rushes out.
Pippies/Cockles are popular to catch on this beach. It’s just coming to Pipi season (1st November-31st May) so we couldn’t catch any yet (that’s part of the tour in Summer), but he showed us where you could see them on the beach. They come in for the high tide; stay on the beach for a couple of hours; then leave when the tide recedes.
We got back just before 5pm. It was a great trip, and I enjoyed it immensely. Definitely chose the right day too – it was the warmest day we’ve had in SA so far.
Campsite
We’re loving our campsite. The park is empty enough that the back part where we are has only two other vans. The front part is quite busy this weekend, with not many free spaces. We’ve extended our stay in Victor Harbor another couple of days. There is a lot here to see, and a windy change is expected tonight and tomorrow morning which would make towing the caravan hard. So we’ll now leave Tuesday morning and head for Mt Gambier (stopping one night on the coast somewhere).
Steak and Mash
We considered going out for dinner, but figured on a Sat night there will be too many people. We’ll wait for tomorrow or Monday night. Instead we fired up the Weber. In Mildura we bought the correct Gas connection so we can hook the BBQ directly into the caravan. Much easier than needing to connect to one of the gas bottles on the front of the van.
Teresa cooked a lovely local Angus steak with mashed potatoes and peas. Satisfied, and tired, we turned in early.
We have been out to lunch and afternoon tea, not that we ate any amazing local produce but we enjoyed the company for friends. The gusty change reached here about an hour ago and is very unpleasant so you made the right choice by staying an extra day. Does Leo get some local food treats too? Sounds like you are both having a great time.