RIVERBENDS AND VINEYARDS
Explore the backroads to SA’s mighty Murray Riverland and northern wine country
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRINA AND RAY MORRIS
Fred’s fantastic exposè on Remark came at a great time for us. His closing advice, to explore further, was far too tempting. Instead of charging off down the Sturt Highway to Adelaide, Ray pointed our rig onto the Goyder Highway, near Barmera.
A beautiful journey unfolded, through the fertile SA Riverlands to the lovely viticultural regions surrounding historic Kapunda. We enjoyed a variety of river crossings and saturated ourselves in the rich heritage of this once vital river-transport region.
The Goyder Highway skirts around the top of Lake Bonney, where a scenic and pet-friendly waterside camping reserve is located, near the Napper Ruins. It’s a great base from which to explore the Barmera area. Another lovely campground is available seven kilometres further west, in the pet free Loch Luna Game Reserve, beside Chambers Creek.
On the southern shores of Lake Bonney is the historic town of Barmera. Learn about the town’s wartime internment camp, take the heritage walk and see Australia’s biggest guitar at the Country Music Hall of Fame. The surrounding area supports orchards and vineyards, such as Bonneyview Winery.
At Bella Lavender Estate, inhale the camphory aromas of this healing herb, and sample products made from their distilled lavender oil.
We timed our visit to Barmera perfectly, to experience one of the best open air markets we’ve ever attended. Roughly once a month, on designated Sundays, the main street of Barmera becomes a hive of activity, sound, aromas and colour. Visitors are enveloped by fabulous market stalls and live performances. Their spectacular Easter event is more like a festival than a market!
Another wonderful experience is the little-known half day cruise offered by Barmera legend, Jack Miller. This little character is larger than life with energy and passion to boot, and has been operating ‘Unique Cruises’ with his boat, the Wetland Explorer IV, for several decades. Well into retirement, Jack realised, “I needed something to do with my time, so I decided to start running my cruises again! But all the profits now go to charity,” he added.
Jack is a dedicated RVer who escapes north during winter, so you’ll need to catch him during the warmer months to enjoy his amazing cruise. The boat explores no less than four different waterways; the Murray River and three of its tributaries - Lake Bonney, Chambers Creek, and Loch Luna Wetlands.
In between Cobdogla and Kingstonon-Murray lies a fabulous wetland system – the Loch Luna Game Reserve. Explore Loch Luna’s floodplains, wetlands, lagoons, creeks and shallow swamps by paddling your own canoe, or slip aboard a cruise boat. This amazing habitat nurtures aquatic birds, mammals, and the colourful regent parrot. Sadly, waterfowl hunting is permitted in the reserve on declared open days, so you may want to avoid the area during hunting season.
After exploring Barmera, Cobdogla and Kingston-on-Murray, we ducked back up to our camp at the top of Lake Bonney. Next morning, we hitched up the rig and continued west, because there was one place we really wanted to visit, on the northern banks of the Murray.
The extensive, lush river flats at Overland Corner once provided sustenance for hundreds of generations of Aborigines, until their numbers were decimated by introduced European diseases. Throughout South Australia’s early settlement period, thousands of weary travellers and drovers sought refuge and supplies from entrepreneurial Overland Corner merchants.
Today, weary travellers still use it as a watering hole, receiving warm country hospitality from Phil and Karen Reddy, the in-keepers at the Overland Corner Hotel. This limestone block structure has been standing above a beautiful bend of the Murray River since 1859. The contemporary fine food and crafted brews they serve far exceeded our expectations from an old country pub!
There’s a scenic riverside free camp at Herons Bend, one kilometre west of the hotel, but it’s not for travellers with pets, as it’s in a conservation reserve. There’s also a campground inside the Pooginook Conservation Reserve, 23km west of Overland Corner. It’s well away from the river, so there’ll be no fishing for your dinner there!
If you’re touring with pets, try the ‘Morgan East Rest Area 1’, located 11km west of the hotel, although it’s neither scenic nor private, being close to the highway. It is also said to be inhabited by the ghost of the redbearded cattle rustler, Paddy Devlin, riding his galloping white horse. Since we didn’t want the dogs howling at ghosts all night, we headed for Waikeri.
Philip Reddy advised us to take the scenic Devlins Pound Rd. He says: “Devlins Pound Road is my number one recommendation for visitors – an absolute must-do Riverlands drive.” The wonderful Murray River scenery, with views from cliff to cliff with the wetlands below, is the epitome of the Riverlands’ beauty.
Touring the Riverlands involves skipping and hopping across the Murray on free ferries, which was a novelty for us! At the end of Devlins Pound Rd, we enjoyed a refreshing ferry ride across the Murray to Waikeri – a gorgeous town. We stocked up on supplies and enjoyed lunch at the riverside park, where there is plenty of parking for big rigs. We were tempted to stay in the Waikeri Caravan Park, which looked very inviting on the banks of the Murray, but our preference for free camping meant our trail lay ahead. Half way to Morgan, on Cadell Valley Road, lies a fabulous riverside free camp at Hogwash Bend.
This lightly wooded freecamp has a gigantic sandbar which juts into the river. It offers plenty of scenic camping sites with peaceful paddling, swimming and excellent fishing, and nice walks in the adjacent conservation reserve.
We enjoyed the resident pelicans paddling happily about, watching squillion-dollar houseboats cruising by, and spotting rare parrots fluttering around the treetops. Our campfire roared and the night sky was beautiful, as we listened to the drifting sounds of a guitar from campers nearby. Had we not had a deadline to meet in Adelaide, we would probably still be there, camping by the Murray River at Hogwash Bend. We visited in the quiet season, but during peak summer and Easter periods, locals advise this popular spot is neither quiet nor roomy.
If you feel like upping the ante on the ‘posh grub’ stakes, fabulous Caudo Winery is right next door to Hogwash Bend, but call ahead to book your table.
Cadell, a hamlet close to Hogwash Bend, has impressive limestone-cliff views from a park – the perfect spot for a cuppa. There’s a great little free RV camp at the oval, with a dump point. Cadell has a beautiful wetland, an excellent interpretive centre, and it’s fast becoming known as a ‘foodie’ destination. There are rumours that local food and wine producers are in the process of setting up a Farm Gate Trail, which will be a fantastic addition to the attractions in this area.
The drive to Morgan involves another ferry ride across the river, either at Cadell to stay on the main route, or at Morgan if the minor road is travelled. Either way, it provides another opportunity to sing Chris de Burgh’s song – ‘Don’t Pay the Ferryman’ – at the top of your lungs, to give the jaded punt operators the biggest thrill (or not) of their day!
If you ever wondered why Morgan was the state’s busiest river port in the 1800s, and home to hundreds of paddle steamers, just take a look at any map. See that elbow in the river, where the Murray finally decides to head south, rather than continue on its westerly run? Known prosaically as the Great Nor’ West Bend, this decisive turn in the river was the ultimate location for a trading point. Supplies and passengers were unloaded from paddle steamers to be shipped by rail into the colony’s northern regions, while produce – mainly wool – was loaded onto the steamers for shipping to markets in the south.
Morgan’s 12m high wharves, historic rail precinct, and huge warehouses are a testament to the tons of goods shuffled daily through this river-transport hub. Today, Morgan is now just a whisper of its old self – a sleepy little town, loaded with heritage buildings, a fantastic lookout, a bric-a-brac store, a wonderful museum complex, and a lovely riverside caravan park.
Our trail headed south west, through Eudunda to Kapunda along the B81 – the Theile Highway. What a beautiful journey this is! The red soils of this region must be very fertile, because the agricultural activity is dynamic and varied. Having left the river precinct where irrigation is prolific, intensive orchards gave way to broad acre farms. Tractors stirred red dust into the air as they worked the earth, tilling the land for pastures and crops, to sustain fat livestock, and feed distant cities and countries.
The Kapunda region is one of South Australia’s best kept secrets! For fine wines and old mines, the gorgeous heritage settlement of Kapunda is at the very heart of the action, perfectly located on the edge of the Barossa and Clare Valley viticultural regions, 80km from Adelaide. It’s a thriving town amidst the rolling green hills, clean air and blue skies of South Australia’s delightful mid-north.
Heritage buildings line the streets and an equally historic, elaborate wrought iron gateway heralds the Kapunda Tourist Park, set inside the manicured grounds of Dutton Park. Beside the entrance is a small triangular paddock, known as the ‘Coat of Arms’, because it contains one kangaroo and one emu!
After setting up the van, we cycled into town to explore. I headed straight for the charity shops in a critical state of vintage withdrawal, having not seen a Vinnies since Renmark. Ray made a dash for the Kapunda Museum to satiate his curiosity about the region’s mining heritage. There are two lookouts which provide awesome vistas of the region – Gundry’s Hill and the Mine Chimney lookout.
From Kapunda, the world is your oyster – roads to great destinations lie in every direction. This journey proves that regions we travellers treat as ‘through routes’ to major destinations can provide fascinating touring in their own right.
