Travelog post for: KalliHH

Today we visited the Coorong National Park, which consists of a large lagoon where the Murrary River meets the Southern Ocean. It is home to many types of birds and the destination of many migratory birds, some of whom fly here for the summer from as far away as Alaska and Siberia!

To access the Coorong, we had to pass through a lock at the Goolwa barrage, which was built to keep the fresh water of that part of the  Murray from the salt water of the ocean.
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

Can you see the sea lion sunning itself on the wharf?
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr


Time for lunch on our cruise... a typical Aussie picnic lunch - cold meat, garden salad, pasta salad & coleslaw with bread and butter. Followed with a cup of tea. Does this count towards my mission??
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

Further along we came across the dredging operation that has been in action for last few years desperately trying to keep the mouth of the Murray River open. This has become a problem due both to the drought and over use of the water system by farms all along the Murray. Did you know that the Murray is the largest river system in Australia?
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

And, here it is... where the Murray meets the sea, well, the Southern Ocean to be exact!
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

The beach was covered with all these beautiful cockle shells
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

This is just such a beautiful part of the world.
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

And here I am on the edge of the Southern Ocean. Next stop.... Antarctica!
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

To get here we had to cross some pretty huge sand dunes (Luckily the track was marked with a Dutch ladder, which made it a lot easier than it might look here!)
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

Sand dunes are quite a challenge for a tiny ToyVoyager!
KalliHH @ Coorong National Park by becka_kate, on Flickr

Soon it was time to head back to Adelaide, meet up with our other travelling companion (who had passed on the Coorong trip, preferring to go wine tasting) and prepare for our next little adventure.