Day 12 – Overland Corner

I have that it would be great if everyone could make a trip to Uluru once in their lifetime because it really can’t be appreciated just from pictures.  For me, visiting Uluru was probably the closest I have ever come to having a spiritual experience, and I felt that for the first time I understood the connection the aboriginal people have to the land.

I am going to add another experience to that list.  I feel that everyone should, at least once, camp by the banks of the Murray River, preferably without too many other people around.  They should sit back and appreciate this river, not because it is a mile wide, like America’s Mississippi, but more because it isn’t.  As you sit by the banks of this river, river gums clutching to its banks, pelicans gliding silently on its surface, with the usual cacophony of corellas in the background, you need to appreciate that this riverand its tributaries is very much the lifeblood of this country as it meanders through the driest state on the driest country on Earth.  I certainly found myself appreciating what this river gives to agriculture and livelihoods in this country, and why managing it is so very important for our environment, our economy and our heritage.

Wow.  I did get all philosophical there for a minute, didn’t i? 

Day 12 of our adventure and we have finally made it into South Australia. The excitement of crossing through the fruit quarantine station was almost as exciting as realising that our fridge has a special latch to help keep it from flying open on bumpy roads.  We simply had never noticed it before, but the quarantine guy, who spends all day opening caravan fridges searching for contraband melons, simply closed the door and engaged the special latch, just as a matter of course.  Thanks Quarantine guy!

After a brief stop in Renmark for a very average coffee, dry jam doughnut and equally dry sausage roll, we headed about 35 kilometres out of town to Overland Crossing, our free camp by the Murray.  If I had known more about this spot, we probably would have stayed longer, although the threat of rain was making Mark a little nervous about being able to get out through the mud (there are worse problems in life!).

Apart from the river, the main reason anyone would come to Overland Crossing is for the hotel.  Established in 1859, it is one of the oldest buildings in South Australia.  It has a fabulous beer garden, a quirky museum-like interior and the biggest beef schnitzels I have ever set eyes upon. We should have known something when the lady at the table next to us came prepared with her own Tupperware containers.  “We’re local,” she said.  For the rest of us fly-by-nighters, the meal came with a couple of sheets of Alfoil for you to wrap your leftovers in. (Note: our beef schnitzels fed us that night and two days’ worth of lunch to follow).  There is also space for camping right behind the pub, but with the river only 700 metres away, why would you?  You can also have a camp fire by the river, but with this stupid daylight savings nonsense it’s not really worth it.  By the time the sun goes down and you can appreciate the fire, it’s time to go to bed. Well, at least that’s the case if you are only staying one night in November.

Fire or no fire, I can thoroughly recommend this little detour from the highway.