Coorong to Adelaide January 2 - 12 2020
 
  The wheat belt.

Lots of it.

     
  And hay. A long way to ship to the east.

Australia is big enough it seems there is always somewhere in drought, and somewhere with good seasons.

     
  The sea. We meet it at The Granites. A few water rounded granite rocks at the south end of the Coorong.
     
  Having left the main highway we follow the road nearer the sea. Between salt lakes and lagoons, and the sea. The Murray River enters the sea about 175km north west of us.
     
  We camped at "42 mile crossing" campsite, in national park.

Walked from campsite to sea through the dunes.

     
  A sparse, exposed, coast.
     
  A blue winged parrot in the bush behind the dunes. A bit like an elegant parrot, but the blue eye brows don't stretch over the eyes .....!
     
  I took a shortcut across the salt to Chinaman's Well. About 5km. Along part of Nukan Kungan Track that is through most of the Coorong.

Just as well I took lots of water.

Just in radio range to Ali we managed to sort out coordinates lest I stray too far north and miss the track.

     
  Chasing the occasional red-capped dotterel along the way.
     
  Getting closer to the track on the east side of the lake. Patches of bush with easy to walk through salt.
     
  Then the track.
     
  In the 1860's the Victorian Government introduced a poll tax. Chinese headed to the gold fields changed course through South Australia and walked. The well is one of a series along the Coorong. Not too far away the remains of an eating house. South Australia then introduced a similar tax to Victoria and the movement of Chinese through the Coorong slowed and stopped.
     
  The sea is beyond the dunes.
     
  The well was built with stones cut from limestone rock at the edge of salt lakes. Curved stones for a circular well - what else?
     
  The heavy circular tops to the wells were cut from sandstone.

I managed the return journey to camp uneventfully, apart from another short cut that went a bit wrong.....

     
  Adelaide and the mandolin festival.
     
  With a concert finale in the cathedral.
     
Onkaparinga January 13 - 20 2020
     
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