Rusticana Wines and on to Goolwa -- seals, black swans and pelicans on the barrages

Rusticana Wines takes as its icon this ancient tree remnant which stands
preserved in their coutryard.

Rusticana Wines, sleepy and fragrant on a warm morning at Langhorne Creek

Newmans and Rusticana are two sides of the same company...

(All images are uploaded at large size -- click on them to pull them up BIG. Duh.)

The view from the cafe deck favors their fields and, beyond, the vineyards. What a glorious morning.

Access to the cafe and shop is up  ramp surrounded by tropical plants. Lovely!

Bees working hard in the lavender in the cottage garden out front.

...and we're off on the road to Goolwa in the early afternoon.

Goolwa: the main street, lined with fantastic coffee shops and specialty stores...

The historic Corio Hotel, established 1858, as you head out of town.

Houseboats moored on the riverbank, on the way down to the barrages and the Coorong...

A hot, bright afternoon right beside the Goolwa Barrages, Look to your right, and  --

Goolwa's signature, the Barrages. ..

...and yes, the public can walk out to the mid-point, right in the middle of the river. We did. It was hot!

The signboard in the water: the Coorong National Park begins right here, on the ocean side of the barrages

Black swans, cruising on the ocean side of the lock gates at Goolwa.

So surprising to see fur seals at Goolwa at this time of year, and especially to see them sun-baking ... fur coats and a healthy layer of blubber, in this sun! Looks are not deceiving; the day was a scorcher, especially when you didn't have a patch of shade, and even worse when the breeze dropped away.

We'd expected a stiff wind out in mid-water but at least when we were walking out there, the air was still and sizzling. The fur seals seemed to be soaking up the heat. They must be part feline.

Fur seal, basking in the sun on the lock gates at Goolwa, South Australia

This was also a great day for "birding" on the river because the waterbirds abounded, and were also close at hand as you strolled out to mid-water across the barrages.

Left: black swans, which were out by the fleet; below left: a silver gull, common in any part of Australia. Below right: a pelican -- one of scores that were fishing along the Goolwa Barrages, close enough to reach out and touch. Paradise for bird photographers and obviously not to bad for the waterbirds that thrive here.

A "trailer sailer" heads into the Coorong National Park for a day sail...

...alas, low water at the Goolwa Bid Hide, so it was lucky we'd had good "birding on the barrages...

Rusticana Wines -- aka Newmans, the horseradish farm at Langhorne Creek -- is a destination in itself. They stock gourmet foods from local chefs, such as (!) crocodile pate, and emu liver pate, home-made jams, dukkah from local almonds, and of course the full range of their own products, including wines to die for. The most intelligent thing I can do here is send you right to their website for information!

The Langhorne Creek region is gorgeous, and on the of the qualities they ought to be able to bottle and sell is the sheer peace and quiet. You have to be there to appreciate it. Open the car door, stop and listen before you even get out. You can't buy serenity, but this region dishes it up for free, and come back for seconds if you like. (Also, see this post, and this one, for other visits to Langhorne, and to Bleasdale Wines, just up the road from Rusticana.)

From Rusticana, it was on to Goolwa, and I (Jade) was actually wondering about stopping by the Corio Hotel for coffee. Always wanted to drop in there, and if you've seen their menu, you know why. Check out their website too!

But we decided to press on for the Barrages and the Bird Hide, and do the cafe thing another time (of course a year's gone by, and we still haven't done it). Barrages? What the heck is it all about? The story is here: http://www.murrayriver.com.au/about-the-murray/barrages/ ... and it's all about keeping seawater out of the Murray River. Orginally, the river mouth was closed off, the sea didn't get in. Then it was opened up for shipping, and (what a shock), a freshwater river turned brackish or downright salt, for about fifty miles upstream. Species died off -- it might have been good for business, but it was a natural disaster. Something had to be done, so ... lock gates, barrages, and a lot of work invested in encouraging reed beds to build a proper shoreline.

After the Bird Hide -- where the water was low and the birds much too far away to permit good pictures, we headed north with only one stop: a picnic at Mount Compass. Pictures there were too thin to be worth taking up page space here, especially as we'll be covering Mount Compass in the next trip. So --

Next up: Fall Colors and Crashing Surf, 2016. Coming soon.

"Birding" at Milang, breakfast at Wellington, on a glorious morning

The railway used to come to Milang in the days when this was a busy freight port. The track is disused now...

...the station and remaining cars are a standing exhibit, with Devonshire Ceam Teas serves on Sundays!
You find historic railway exhibits in many rural places, often with a retired steam locomotive.

Main street Milang in the early morning light: the wetlands and lake are on the right...

Milang wetlands; main street is right behind you.

The long jetty, where barges and paddle boats would unload freight. The old crane is still in place.

A brilliant morning on Lake Alexandrina. It'd be a great day for sailing.

The view from the jetty to Paddlesteamer Drive.

Lake Alexandrina -- the shoreline, with Paddlesteamer Drive just ahead. A major caravan park is on the right.

Paddlesteamer Drive in all its glory. For years, Alexandrina Council tried to get rid of these "shacks," but
the folks who live and/or holiday down here are grandfathered in. Well, would you sell out?!

Pelicans next in the reedbeds opposite the shoreline -- see two pictures above.

Gulls, egrets and pelicans gather on the short jetty ... on your doorstep, if you live on Paddle Steamer Drive.

Turn around, look in the other direction: the sky is changing.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s Milang was as busy with trade as today it's drowsy and laid back with
boaties, fisher folk and people like us just staying overnight to share the peace and quiet.

Where you find water, you find gnats, and where you find gnats -- swallows. These are welcome swallows,
common in all coastal and watery areas in South Australia.

Welcome swallows are tiny and rarely sit still. Lucky to get this shot!

Lake Alexandrina is one of the best places in this region for "birders," and especially camera-happy birders. We sometimes try the Goolwa Bird Hide, which is a timber shed with benches and long windows, nestled in the reedbeds just short of the Coorong; but in a half dozen visits we've yet to get really good pictures. The reason is, the water is a long way off, and the birds usually so distant, they're specks in your camera lens.

At Milang, quite a number of birds are not so shy of humans. They'll hang out on the shore and jetties, and it's fairly easy to get good pictures. One of these days I'd like to go to the Bird Hide with a massive 1000mm lens attached to a DSLR camera, on a glorious blue-sky day. But till then, Milang and, just up the shore, Clayton, are the places to be.

The plan was, we'd hit the road early and head over to Wellington for breakfast. And here we go...

The Old Courthouse is exactly that: the original 19th century building that was once used as a lockup and regional
court. Its recently been renovated with B&B rooms added, while the original building houses a museum...

In the middle of the Courthouse facilities was the most fantastic indoor/outdoor courtyard dining facility.
We absolutely loved this ... sad to say, when the building/business changed hands a year or so later, the new
owners redesigned everything. It's not like this any more. Dang. See the sunny archway? Go through it, and --

--you find yourself on the lawns behind the building, with a view of the car ferry. The ferry runs about every ten
minutes, and its free. Across the Murray River is Tailem Bend, and the Duke's Highway.

Above: As you eat breakfast, look out over the river at the flocks of cavorting little corellas which swarm around Wellington by the thousands. Earplugs might be a good idea. These guys are loud even one at a time, and when you get a hundred ... whoa. (Pictures uploaded at full size: click on them to view.)

Back to the courtyard for breakfast, which ought to be just about ready by now --

There's little to add to the picture captions! Milang in the morning light was glorious -- though it was rather cold, which you can't tell from these images. The day warmed up rapidly, however, and by the time we were in Wellington it was almost hot.

The Wellington Courthouse is a great cafe/B&B, with a nice line in breakfasts and a fascinating local history musem. We haven't used the B&B yet, since we always stay about 45 minutes up the road at the Milang Lakes Motel, but we've had breakfast at Wellington Courthouse many times. It's a great place to stop and fuel up for the day before taking the ferry over to Tailem Bend. Must do the B&B there one day.

Today, we were just meandering, and birding. The whole object was to see what species we could find and photograph, and we lucked out on the shore of Lake Alexandrina, as you see above!

After breakfast we were headed for Rusticana at Langhorne Creek, and the Goolwa Barrages, and then we'd swing home in a northbound loop via Mount Compass. One more post will wrap up this trip!