The Might Murray - From Moorook To Mannum

 The Mighty Murray - Part 2

Moorook to Blanchetown

We have now left the Murray River and will now have to back track and finish off our journey along the Murray River.

Last you heard, we were at New Residence and our little trip down memory lane.

After a wonderful few weeks camped along side the Murray at New Residence, we finally got enough clear weather to move the bus off the river flats.  During the dry these flats are dusty and sandy, but when wet, they make life difficult in maneuvering a vehicle such as the bus out off the flats.  After a few dry days we opportunity presented itself to get the bus out off the flats and so off we went.  Barry with a fair bit of trepidation steered the bus out up through the property and he managed to get it out without any drama.

We travelled a whole 13kms down the road towards Moorook and camped ourselves at the Moorook Reserve, where we stayed another couple of weeks.  ($12 pn with power and toilets) so reasonably cheap.  Quite a few others camped there as well.

Our Camp at Moorook - the little van to the left of us had a family of 4 living in it and where just starting their trip around Australia - wonder how long they lasted with the 4 of them in that little van

From Moorook the weather changed remarkably and we had some great weather, in contrast to what had been at New Residence, which gave us the opportunity to do some day tripping.

So many little towns and settlements to go and investigate, and towards the middle of July we took ourselves off towards Blanchetown, about 40 kms from the township of Waikerie.

Just before entering the township of Waikerie, a small locality called Lowbank, off to the side of the road was one of the oldest shearing sheds we have seen, and off course things got the better of me and I had to investigate.  What an amazing sight with the walls built out of what is seemingly a South Australian tradition of walls built of stone. Inside, the timer work was of good old mallee timber, the pens and frames still in their rough cut form.   The stonework is just amazing, and a real sign of the skill of the tradesmen that built them, and to see so many of them still standing today is testament to their skill.  The tradition lives on in this wonderfully historic state and even today, the trade is well and truly alive, with many buildings still being built in the same tradition.

Lowbank Shearing Shed

The Mallee Timber Pens of Lowbank Shed

The Stone work at the Back of the Shed

The Mallee Timber work of the Pens

Back on the road and off to Blanchetown, a small and fairly insignificant little town, with not much left of it these days, but still with the Might Murray to hold it up and home to many a houseboat.

Old Ruins at Blanchetown

Old Cottage at Blanchetown

Lutheran Church At Blanchetown

Blanchetown is the first of seven locks along the Murray River and is very unique in it's innovation. 

Blanchetown's cliffs line the river on both sides and are most famous for the beauty of their changing colours. Studded with fossils, they are also of considerable geological interest. This is classic river country, with lagoons, wetlands and a backdrop of vineyards and grazing land. The Blanchetown lock and weir – the first on the Murray – was completed in 1922. (The last one completed at Euston, near Robinvale, in 1937). It was named the William Randell Lock, after Captain William Richard Randell, the first river boat captain to navigate the River Murray in 1853.

Water is pumped for both irrigation and for diversion to major urban and industrial centres including Adelaide, and the 'Iron Triangle'.

Barry Admiring What is Left Of The Old Pump House

View From Inside The Pumphouse

The Murray Through The Window Of The Old Pumphouse

Design and operation of Locks and Weirs

A lock is a simple design; a rectangular chamber of concrete with gates at each end. The locks permit boats to move from one level to another. Locks similar to those of today were first used on the Grand Canal in China during the eighth century. In the fifteenth century, Leonardo da Vinci is reputed to have designed the first lock with the familiar pair of mitred swing gates at each end. This is the type of lock which is used on the Murray. The gates close to form a 'V' against the current and upstream water pressure helps to keep them closed and make a watertight seal. The pressure of water within the lock chamber keeps the downstream gates closed.

Lock 1 - At Blanchetown

Looking Down Toward The Lock

Picnic Spot At Blanchetown

Blanchetown  Bridge

After our usual picnic lunch we headed off towards Morgan, where we had been a couple of years ago, and continued on following the wonderful limestone cliffs of the Murray River.  Taking a different road this time we headed off through the town of Caddell, a small but quaint little town, and a place but we must re-visit, but time was getting on, and as usual our day was coming to a close and it was time to head back to camp.

A feature of any of these trips around the river land is the magnificence of the sandstone cliff faces, which on closer inspection contain thousands of fossillised shells.

The Cliffs  ~ on The Road To Morgan

Headings Landing Near Loxton

Maize Conservation Park - Waikerie ~ South Australia

Broken Cliffs ~ Waikerie ~ South Australia

What a perfect day it had been and the weather had been so good to us today, and our reputation as ‘The Rainmakers’ had,at least, for the time being, been put on hold. 

We can only hope for many more days like this and hope to share them with you soon.