29 January 2011 - Trains, Goolwa and the Coorong

Having completed our whirlwind tour of Victor Harbor yesterday, it was onward to explore the surrounding towns and sights today. Nick kicked off with an early bike ride - which I thought was going to be a round trip to Goolwa 30km away but ended up only being a few km down the road to Port Eliot. (It wouldn't surprise me if he just went to a coffee shop for a little peace) Even Hannah, Em's newest campsite friend commented on what a quick ride it was on his return. Ha! Anyway, the excuse was we had lots to do.

We kicked off with a coffee at the Anchor Cafe on the waterfront. Coffee was pretty good, but $2 for a babycino!!! Wow, this place is more expensive than Sydney - though thank crap it came with 2 marshmallows. Lachie ate the marshmallows, knocked his babycino on the floor and went bananas while I went back to beg for a refill without forking out another $2 for a few spoons of froth. Much to Em's horror and Lachies delight we could see the Steam train the 'Duke of Edinburgh' pull up at the station outside the window. Em again bawled at the whistle.

Em and myself bid Nick and Lachie farewell as they took the steam train to Goolwa while we drove as Em refused to have anything to do with the train. We stopped along the coast road to take a few happy snaps of it passing and again there were tears.

The markets from Victor Harbor yesterday had relocated to Goolwa today, but we gave them a miss and headed for a picnic by the Goolwa Barrage before heading off across sand dunes to Goolwa beach, cockle/pipi heaven.

The beach was absolutely stunning, pity we walked there before realising where we were and preparing ourselves with sunscreen, water, swimmers etc. Needless to say, Lachie had fallen in the sea within 5 mins of arrival, and spent the next hour proudly running nudie through the waves. (This must be a Foster trait) The surf was amazing, and the beach pretty much abandoned bar the 4WDs that cruised past from time to time. Em and Lachie waved as they passed, thrilled to have a highway on the beach.

After Nick teaching the kids the "cockling dance" and catching and releasing a few pipis, it was onward to Hindmarsh Island to finally see the mouth of the Murray in the Coorong National Park. It is a fascinating spot where the fresh water meets salt water and considerable investment is made in clearing the sandbars from the mouth of the river into the ocean. Unfortunately you need a serious 4WD to get across to the sand dunes, so we were left on the Island to take in the views from here.

Finally the fishing rods made their maiden voyage on Sugars Beach where Nick and Em had a go at catching anything that might bite with some pipi. No success unfortunately, and then even Lachie gave it a go as he dug the rod into the sand. And, whilst we left empty handed I was relieved we escaped without a fishing hook lodged in one of the kids.

Back for fun at the bouncing castle, more balance bikes and new camping friends. It was great to see all the school holiday families ship out today to leave the "hard core" grey nomads and ourselves in the campsite. We finally had beach views having had about 3 row of caravans and tents move out from between us and the beach - yay! And it was interesting to finally meet a family from Sydney on a similar trip to ourselves with 2 young kids - although they are travelling for 12 months and on the final leg now. It makes one question should we really head back to Sydney after 6 months..........Hmm........