Day 8 – Narrung Reserve to Pelican Point (Coorong)

A great morning, we’ve only got 70km to go today, so we’re in no rush.   The morning is much like yesterday afternoon, alternating between light rain, mist and then the occasional sunny period.  All withing 5min or each other.  

Liam and I take a walk up to the ferry, it was the same operator that was working when we came over yesterday.  I asked if she’d been on all night, but she said they do a 8am to 8pm shift so she’d just started.  They’ve got a little cabin on the south side, I guess they wouldn’t get too much action at night and need somewhere to keep warm when it’s quiet.

Yummy bacon and eggs on the BBQ (between rain squalls).  This new flat grill plate is the best.   One of a dozen things we wish we’d had on the big trip.

About 10:30 we pull out.  As we drive around Lake Albert, we’re hit by the occasional heavy downpour, then clear skies.   We return to the Princess Highway at Meningie (seriously thinking about visiting the bakery, but we’ve not that long ago finished breaky). 

A short time later we turn into the national park.  It’s about 3km of dirt to get to the campground which ends up being pretty easy.   We see a Emu sign, and then seconds later we see an emu about 100mtrs off to the side of the road, that never happens.  I’ve got this theory that whatever animal is on the sign is the animal you’re least likely to see.

We enter the campground and find the spot we’ve booked.  We’ve picked site 3, as it was meant to have the best view, it does, but what we didn’t know is it really narrow and almost boomerang shaped, so it’s a right pain to try and reverse the van into.   Fortunately there is no one else here to see me make a hash of the first few attempts.

It’s nice and sunny as we arrive, so we extend the awning and get out the chairs,  as much to dry off as anything else.

The campground is a little under a KM from the actual point, so after a coffee we take a walk down.  A sign there indicates this point separates the north and south lagoons that make up the Coorong.  It’s a great walk and the when the sun is shining it quite warm.   Trying to get the kids interested in the area is proving harder than I expected.

Later in the afternoon another van turns up and not long before dusk a ute pull in and a couple of guys put out a fishing net,  neither Justine or I are sure if that’s OK or not.  

Unfortunately, as we entered this morning there was a sign saying only gas fires, so that means a campfire is out, which is a bit of a shame as we didn’t have one last night thinking we could have one today.  Oh well.

While cold outside, we sit and watch an amazing sunset over the water, which just seems so fitting for the location.    

All day there has been this dull rumble, sound you might associate with a distant motorway, but it is the ocean, just other side of the hills, or more accurately the sand dunes.  Rather than the rolling sounds of each set of waves this is just a constant background noise, pretty amazing.

It’s a half moon tonight and through the binoculars it so clear to see it, particularly the craters near the border between light and dark.   Even with the brightness of the half moon, the stars and the milky way are pretty impressive tonight.  As the night progresses the Coorong seems to get calmer and smoother.   I’m so glad we spent the extra day here.

One Reply to “Day 8 – Narrung Reserve to Pelican Point (Coorong)”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *