The Ngarrindjeri people , custodians of the karangk for over 6,000 years , saw that beauty , the uniqueness and made it their home . Watching the life on the water , silence only broken by the squawks , tweets and hoots of hundreds of species of birds , I couldn ’ t think of a better place to call home . Like ‘ Storm Boys ’ father , ‘ Hideaway ’ Tom , I wanted a life away from society , amongst the dunes , living on the water . It seemed like heaven to me .
The fragile strip of dunes , barricading the lagoons from the Southern Ocean , are flanked at the northern end by the mouth of the mighty Murray River , Australia ’ s longest river , and the southern end by the treacherously magnificent limestone coast . Inland of the system of lakes lay more dunes , as far as the eye can see , covered in vegetation , they are definitely there and create a unique contrast to the usual red dunes of outback Australia .
Accessing the Coorong is done in several ways , as easy as bitumen or as difficult as riding along the beach . Australia ’ s national road , the Princes Highway , A1 , runs parallel to most of the Coorong and allows easy access through a number of well-maintained dirt tracks . Many of these tracks give way to much lesser tracks , nothing more than a narrow path through the sandy dunes . Taking on some of these ribbons of sand , we were advised not to , as mid-summer , school holidays meant lots of 4x4 vehicles . These guys wait or move for no-one .
We ’ d entered the Coorong from the southern end , the town of Kingston SE , the northern tip of the Limestone Coast . Starting from Portland , in our home state of Victoria , meant riding the Great Ocean Road in part . This end of it is a dream , perhaps not as spectacular as the end closer to the cities of Geelong and Melbourne , yet away from the tourist hoards . The riding was relaxed and enjoyable , the scenery impressive , the history of the ‘ shipwreck coast ’ even more so . Passing through the sleepy village of Nelson , my third time here in as many months , provided access to the South Australian border and the Limestone Coast . First stop Port Macdonnell .
Known to the locals as ‘ Port Mac ’ this is another sleepy little hamlet . The main street was like stepping back into an 1880 ’ s village , a town built around the prosperous industry of fishing . We were proudly told that it has the highest number of fish shops per capita anywhere in Australia . Looking around I believed it .
Port Mac has a tranquil , welcoming feel , the locals quick to point out the many ‘ unknown ’ attractions . Over numerous beers we discovered that Port Mac had an auto museum . Convinced ! We made plans to take a look the following morning . We weren ’ t disappointed . Feast ’ s Classic Car Collection has one of the greatest collections of Valiant ’ s ( Chrysler ’ s ) I ’ d ever seen , every surviving R & S series car in Australia must be here . Don , the owner of the collection , was quick to point out the regions other attractions . Mount Schank , an extinct volcano , just east of the town was a sight we couldn ’ t miss . I love the spectacle of volcanoes so couldn ’ t resist , it was added to the list , but would have to wait until next time .
Heading further north , we were quick to realise the extent of the Limestone Coast and the area asso-
“ Pelicans swirled overhead in ever increasing circles "
TRAVERSE 21