Day 7 – Port Elliot to Narrung Reserve

Well last night was interesting.   We arrived back at the van yesterday afternoon to find everything outside soaked, we elected to leave it all out, it couldn’t get any wetter.  Well overnight, we were woken at midnight with the rain driving, wind howling and the awning thrashing, really rocking the van. 

I’m thinking “is it bad enough to go out in the cold and wet to put it and the chairs away?”  After about 15-20mins the answer is “Yes”.  At the time I was more concerned if we could hang onto the awning while putting it down.   We stash the wet chairs and stuff them in the back of the car and start to bring the awning it.  While outside the rain was almost like sleet.  We dropped the guy ropes, unlocking the horizontal supports, trying to re-position the vertical bars.  The awning is now loose, my fear is this thing is going to get away from us, it felt a bit like being on a Sydney to Hobart run, Justine’s trying to position the base while I try and keep the top steady.   In the end we get it rolled up.  Back in the van we’re cold and pretty wet. In all the commotion, the kids wake up, but we get them back to sleep.  It takes a bit longer for Justine and I to go back to sleep.

We wake to bright and kinda sunny morning, but the wind is still blowing a gale.  Decision made, we’ll move on.  While windy, at least it’s mostly dry as we pack up.

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Back into Port Elliot Bakery for a snack on the road, then out via Goolwa.  From here I take the scenic route as much as I can along the lake shore.   Clayton Bay and Milang are nice little towns.  Only one section ends up being dirt.   

Fuelled up in Wellington, we catch the ferry across the Murray at the top of the lake.   From here to Narrung it teems down, we’re worried that the free camp near the Narrung Ferry might be flooded or too boggy to drive in and camp.   Of course the other concern is the small camp is already packed.

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About 1pm we arrive at the Narrung Ferry, catch it across “The Narrows” between the main Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert.  As we turn into the freecamp there is only one ute based motorhome here.  While there are some large puddles, the area is mostly grass and nowhere near as boggy as we feared.

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We’re only planning on being here one night so we stay hitched up.  We’ve got some sun, so grab out the chairs and such to try and dry off some more.

The afternoon is a mixed bag between light drizzle and sunny breaks with the odd rainbow or two thrown in for good measure.  We take a walk out to the jetty with a view over to the lighthouse on the other bank.   The Queensland Couple in the motorhome come out to do some fishing,  we hope to get some tips, but they inform us it will only be suicidal fish they’ll be catching.

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During one of the drizzly patches Justine gets out some small cross stitch kits she has bought for the kids. They spend the next hour or so finely balanced between creative satisfaction and downright frustration trying work them out.  The kids do stick it out and seem to really enjoy doing it.

It is such a peaceful spot, and while the weather is not the best, the sky certainly is dramatic

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Needless to say, we won’t be putting the awning up tonight.  We think about a fire, but it is pretty cold and the place is quite exposed.  Maybe tomorrow night.

Dinner on the Barby, and of course it’s raining.   I rig up an umbrella, occy strap and a cable tie.  Talk about MacGyvering the hell out of a situation.  We go to put a movie, like most nights the kids can’t agree. We scroll past “Storm Boy”, and for once we override the kids – we have to watch this. While it’s not the best movie (it’s the recent version), seeing it in this location, particularly as most of the town shots are in Port Elliot, and they ride the Cockle train, is so special and we hope the kids can maybe appreciate the area a bit more. 

We’ve booked in tomorrow at a National park camping area about 70 odd kms from here.  Right on the Coorong.  I hope the weather holds out.