When deciding how to explore this section of the Murray, it seemed easier to choose a place and set up base for a week than continually move. Part laziness, part convenience it certainly worked for us when exploring this part of the world.
We made our base Lake Bonney and went out from there. Nothing was too far away and the drives through this part of the country were quite pretty.
River and Lake
A huge part of this part of the adventure was to see the Murray itself. We explored several sections as we travelled the area. They all seemed different, high banks, shallow banks, flood plains, big bends and a huge variety of views.
Some of the most interesting and fun thing were the infrastructure required to have people live with the river. We saw plenty of bridges big and small, but it was the locks, weirs and ferries that really grabbed our fascination.
The locks were something different. In our minds they are something from some European river system. We went and found one, although couldn’t see it in action. There was a distinct lack of water traffic owing to the recent floods. It was a pretty big piece of infrastructure, built to accommodate some of the big tourist paddle steamers and houseboats. The different river levels on either side were interesting to see. Although it would be interesting navigating the locks as a novice skipper.
The most entertaining element of the river for us though was the ferries. Used instead of bridges at the smaller crossings or where a bridge would be almost impossible to build owning to the flood plains. They are cable driven barges running continually from one side to the other. You simply line up, park where directed and slowly cruise across. It was unique and a bit of fun, everything loaded onto these, from pedestrians, cars, caravans to trucks and buses.
The lake was a quiet spot, providing great views (especially sunsets) until it came alive over the weekend. Large numbers of people descended for the weekend for the watersports and the lake which resulted in a packed caravan park. But come Monday, all was quiet again.
Flood
Our trip to the Murray coincided with the recent retreat of one of the largest flood events in European history. Depending on where in the river system you stopped the heights were all different and varied as to how close to record flooding the event was. For the most part the 2022/23 floods were the second highest on record.
By the time we passed through the area the water had receded a few weeks earlier. River levels were pretty well back to normal, in some places they were lower than normal. Talking to people, there seemed to be very few people directly impacted, but still a huge clean-up effort ahead. It was strange hearing about a flood that you know is coming, will hang around for months and then slowly receded, without ever having an actual drop of rain in your community.
Many of the public green spaces had been first inundated and left submerged for extended periods. Everything was damaged and some infrastructure washed away.
Wine
With so many of the natural experiences still closed due to flooding, we decided to do something new (for this trip) and go wine tasting. Banrock Station had both a tasting option and a series of short walks that were at least partially open.
The tasting was even child friendly, they had a kids tasting platter. It turns out there is far less complaining this way. The kids enjoyed juice and milk, while we tried four of the Banrock Wines. Given how infrequently we have been drinking this trip, it was a nice change. The wine was good enough that we broke a cardinal caravan rule on our way out, buying a six-pack of their Rose. It was a nice wine, and when they were clearing it for $5 a bottle… It was a nice change.
Towns
The main activity we did in the Riverland was exploring all the little communities along the river. There were quite a few of them and each was a little different. Some were much larger than others, some seemed a bit more prosperous, but the main thing we noted was there was so much history. With the Murray River being the lifeblood of early European Australia, the buildings and stories here feel so much older than everywhere else.
During our stay we visited Berri, Barmera, Loxton and Renmark They were all pleasant stops and each little town in the area seemed to have its own drawcard. Some places were clearly more tourist orientated than others. Renmark and Berri were the pick for sure. They were the biggest centres and had some of the best waterfronts.
We enjoyed our introduction to the Murray River. We knew we had at least two more sections of our journey ahead to finish the exploration; the Coorong and the Murray Mouth.