Thursday, April 24, 2014

Preview -- The Riverland, March 2014

The riverboat Captain Proud at her moorings in Murray Bridge.
Houseboats on the Murray River near Murray Bridge
The Murray River, from the foredeck  of the riverboat Captain Proud -- heading downriver toward Goolwa.
The Murray River near Swan Reach, South Australia
Cliffs tower over the river near Swan Reach, South Australia
Dawn breaks over the Murray at  Blanchetown, South Australia
Kookaburras in the pink of the dawn at Blanchetown, SA.

Wetlands at Blanchetown, SA, in the evening light 
Cliffs on the Murray River near Morgan, SA
The Morgan car ferry on the Murray River.
Mainstreet Morgan, South Australia
Site of the old boiler house on the old wharf at Morgan on the River Murray, SA.
The weather is changing rapidly over South Australia's Riverland.
We're off on the road to Waikerie --
The paddlewheel riverboat Murray River Queen, moored at Waikerie, South Australia
The Murray River at Pelican Point, not far from Waikerie, SA.
The historic -- 1860s -- coach inn at Overland Corner, South Australia...
The Overland Corner Hotel, authentic and original, inside and out.
The Overland Corner Hotel is under new management, with a great menu ... Riverland, South Australia.
Overland Corner itself is a wetland that has dried out: work is beginning to restore it.
Lola, the Mitsubishi Magna, "roughing it" in the wilderness .... almost!
Murray River Lock Number 3, at Overland Corner. Now, why does a river need a lock system? Stay tuned!
Welcome to Banrock Station,  an old sheep station that's become a winery and wetlands wildlife refuge...
Banrock Station's wetlands, from the balcony behind the winery's cafe.
Lake Bonney in dramatic weather, near Barmera, South Australia 
Vineyards by evening light -- Loxton, South Australia's Riverland
The rolling road to Karoonda, South Australia ... homeward bound
The Big Ram of Karoonda ... about two meters tall!
Sunset, on the road home from Murray Bridge
Lunch on a riverboat, fabulous houseboats among the willows on the riverbanks, water skiiers showing off ... dawn over the Murray River, mudstone cliffs and stormy skies ... brunch in a timewarp, step back to 1865 for tea, pelicans and monster lock gates, coffee and cake at a world-famous winery, a gigantic concrete ram in a town in the middle of nowhere, a spectacular sunset --

You wouldn't believe what you can do between 10:30am Saturday and 8:00pm Sunday, with an intrepid Mitsubishi Magna called Lola fueled up and ready to go, and a cabin with your name on it waiting in Blanchetown!

The next series of posts will share all, in order. We were trying to cover every kilometer of this river west of the South Australian border, and ran out of time only by about thee hours; but we covered most of it, and ... gives us a reason to go back and do it again, doesn't it?!

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