Our late organisation required a bit of back tracking. We left the Riverland to head into the Barossa, before heading back to the Murray for the Coorong. It was out of order but it was nice to break the river time up. Our time in these two places was pretty short, so we tried hard to capture the best bits.
Barossa
The Barossa has to be one of the nicest places we have visited on the trip. Given it’s an area well known to holiday makers it was hardly surprising. We have always loved wine, food, art and those kinds of experiences. This trip we had barely chased those things and had been nowhere like this since the Margaret River.
We really enjoyed our short stay here and tried to make the most of it. We went back for another wine tasting (at the home of one of our favourite reds), tried some artisan treats at Maggie Beers, hunted through markets as well as just enjoying the slower pace. It was nice spending a few days pretending to be normal holiday makers.\
We had hoped to do a little cycle touring, but Hannah’s tailbone crossed that one out. Instead, a couple of short walks, a little sight seeing filled our days. We felt we had just enough of the Barossa to make us want to return. Those Adelaide folks have another gem just on their doorstep.
Organ
One very famous sight to see in the Barossa is the Organ. It’s hidden away in the very unassuming Tanunda Town Hall. The history of the organ is intriguing. At over 150 years old, it was damaged while trying to modernise it. Eventually it was saved from the tip before being lovingly and carefully restored by passionate locals.
Formerly of the Adelaide Town Hall, it has now found a new life in Tanunda. It’s displayed so tourists like us can see it in all its glory. Come at the right time and you can get the full tour, hear it played and appreciate what a marvel this thing is. We got even luckier and had a couple of private tours into the inner workings. The final treat was an extended show by several holidaying organists.
The sound this instrument makes is incredible, replacing a full orchestra and doing the whole thing incredibly well. Even for non-musical folk like ourselves this organ can only leave you awestruck.
Whispering Wall
The second big highlight of the Barossa had to be the Whispering Wall. We created a bit of a loop with a short walk, the Whispering Wall and a stop at Maggie Beers. Although it was all enjoyable, the Whispering Wall was by far the most memorable.
In this case the humble dam wall has become a bit of an acoustic phenomenon. Its tall, curved face allows sound to be loudly and clearly projected from one end to the other. It’s certainly a quirk of design but one that has been put to great effect.
A platform against the dam wall has been built at either end, allowing you to whisper to people at the other side. This special effect absolutely freaked Hannah out for a few minutes. Eventually we all got the hang of it and a whispered conversation was had between the two halves of our travelling party. The whole idea made little sense to the kids, but the acoustics worked and genuine whispers could be heard around the long curve.
Besides that, the dam itself was quite pretty and the engineers in us were geeked out by the opportunity to walk across a dam wall. Abby in particular enjoyed the engineering excursion.
Coorong
The main reason for our visit to these parts was to see the Coorong. The huge wetland and lake system where the Murray River meets the sea. Interestingly enough from this side of the Coorong it’s not possible to see the actual Murray Mouth without a boat. We have left that one for our stop in Victor Harbour.
One afternoon was spent exploring the nearby community of Murray Bridge, seeing the major attractions and exploring some of the local history.
Another day trip was made out to the Coorong itself. We explored the shoreline of Lake Alice and Lake Alexandrina, going as far East as Parnka Point and all the way to the Pelican Point barrage. We had hoped to walk to the barrage, but some confusing signage around trespassing meant we gave it a miss.
The whole way we spent cruising slowly along the coastlines, taking in the sights of the waterways, wildlife and dunes on the other side. At Parnka Point we spotted a lone seal having some time in the sun and passed some very remote campsites, fishing huts and farms. It seems the little section of land surrounded by the water was quite isolated.
We had managed to create a loop out of our travels and stopped in at the Raukkan indigenous community to see the lookout, before heading towards Australia’s only inland lighthouse and a barge crossing to take us home.
It was obvious the best way to see it would have been from the water, but without infinite funds, we thought we would assess our options from Victor Harbor. Seeing this side of the water was certainly an important part of the Murray experience. It was eventually time for us to leave the Murray behind and head to the big smoke of Adelaide.