The Cockle Train, Goolwa, South Australia
Cockle Train, Goolwa, South Australia
The historic Port Goolwa played a very significant role in the early development of South Australia. When many areas along the River Murray were being settled by farmers there were few ways to get supplies to them. It was just as difficult to get their wool and wheat to the markets.
Cockle Train, Goolwa, South Australia
Port Goolwa was established in the very early years of settlement. Paddlesteamers took supplies up the River Murray to towns and farmers along the river. They then brought back loads of wheat and wool to Goolwa. Although the mouth of the river was just a few kilometres downstream from Goolwa it was generally unsafe for navigation. Their cargo was unloaded at Port Goolwa and transferred by train to Port Elliot where sea going ships carried the goods to other ports in Australia or to the growing European market. Economically this was vital to the growth of the new colony of South Australia. In the 1850s Victoria was in the grip of gold rush fever and South Australia was able to forge ahead supplying the other rapidly growing colonies.
Cockle Train, Goolwa, South Australia
Australia’s first steel railway line was built here from Port Goolwa to Port Elliot a few kilometres to the west. Today this historic line still has steam trains running regularly, but now the cargo is tourists from all over the world. The so-called Cockle Train takes its name from the abundance of the shell-fish cockles found along the beaches near here.
Schedule of services:
The Cockle Train now runs from Goolwa to Port Elliot and on to Victor Harbor. The trains run three times each way every day during Easter, long weekends and during most school holidays. It also operates every Sunday throughout the year.
Link:
- Steamranger Heritage Railway – more details on prices, schedules and bookings, as well as other historic trains in South Australia.
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
After lunch at the Flying Fish Cafe we spent some time taking in the magnificent views over Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot. This delightful bay is just a short distance from Victor Harbor and only an hour south from Adelaide and a similar time from our home in Murray Bridge.
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
Lunch at Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
After visiting Waitpinga Beach and having morning tea at the picnic ground in the Newland Head Conservation Park, we drove back through Victor Harbor. This was the start of our return journey home. We stopped for a lunch break at Port Elliot. This little beachside town has become very popular with tourists and day visitors from Adelaide.
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
Horseshoe Bay is a very safe swimming beach which makes it very popular with families. The wide sandy beach is ideal for beach activities for children. We had lunch in the appropriately named Flying Fish Cafe. We just had to have their famous fish and chips for lunch. This was absolutely delicious though a little expensive I thought. The magnificent scenery overlooking the bay certainly added to our enjoyment.
Click on the photos to enlarge the image.
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
More views of Waitpinga Beach, South Australia
Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP
Waitpinga Beach near Victor Harbor in South Australia is just over an hour’s drive south of our state capital city, Adelaide. Waitpinga is a long wide sandy beach facing south. On most days there is a fairly decent surf rolling in from the Southern Ocean. This makes this a popular beach with surfers.
Anglers enjoy this beach as well. I’ve never fished there so I don’t know what they would be catching there. After searching for a while I found a very old book on my bookshelf about where to go fishing in South Australia. The fact that I had to search for it means that it hasn’t been used all that often over the years. It lists salmon, mulloway, bream, mullet, flathead and snapper as the main species caught along the beach.
Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP
The beach is also excellent for children to play on, for going for long walks and for just sitting there and watching the waves come rolling in. In the first photo above, I was facing west. Slightly to the left and just out of the photo one can just make out the coast of Kangaroo Island, one of South Australia’s top tourist destinations. Ferries take people and vehicles to and from the island several times a day. The island is only just over an hour’s drive and an hour’s ferry trip from my home but I have never been there. That is something we must rectify very soon.
The second photo is taken looking east towards Newland Head which gives its name to the nearby Conservation Park. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
Related Articles:
- Victor Harbor – archival list of articles I’ve written about this lovely town.
Birding at Victor Harbor
Yesterday I wrote about our recent trip to Victor Harbor in South Australia I also wrote about the beautiful birds I saw feeding in the Bottlebrush (Callistemon spp) bushes and trees in the street where we parked.
In amongst all the Musk Lorikeet parrots on a feeding frenzy were a few Little Wattlebirds. There are several species of Wattlebirds native to Australia. The most common species around home here in Murray Bridge are the Red Wattlebirds. I have quite a few photos of this species but the Little Wattlebird has so far eluded me – until now. They were so intent on feeding that they took little notice of me and the camera only two or three metres away.
Click on the photo to enlarge.
Little Wattlebird