Gone Bush!

Over the weekend I took the long drive (well, an on-the-verge-of-bot-rot four hours) back to Adelaide from my mini vacay at the glorious seaside town of Robe.

The road I took meanders up the coast of South Australia and is lined with banks of sandhills and native shrubs (think eucalyptus, wattle, banksia and bottle-brush) with the occasional winery (this is Australia after all ) dotted around the Mt Benson district. That is, until I get to the lagoon of water known as the Coorong.

One of the unique aspects of the Coorong is the interaction of water along its length, with sea water and Murray River water meeting rainfall and groundwater. The freshwater supports the fauna of the the area while the seawater is the habitat for much of the birdlife.

This narrow strip of water divides the Great Southern Ocean from the mainland, with two miles of sandhills to act as barrier from the sea spray. I lived in this area growing up and as a kid our parents often bundled us into the speed boat to picnic on these sands. The highlight of these days was tobogganing down the steepest hill we could find (the Champion of the Hill was the one who ended up a soggy mess in the Coorong at the bottom) and the hike over the sand to the sea. As a child, it was terrifying sight to emerge from the scrub and stand at the dune peak, the roar of the angry ocean crashing with undercurrent viciousness onto the beach below you and ferocious winds howling at your ears.

It was all sand, salt and scary but I loved the excitement of it all

Tinerate, it’s a very scenic drive, especially as you come just north of Meningie where the highway morphs for a moment to become an avenue of wattle.

For several K’s, on both sides and as far as the eye can see, superb golden wattle turned the road into a glorious tree-lined Spring event and, consequently, got me to thinking of what wonderful decorations could be done with nature (or just by using nature as the backdrop ).