Murray River National Parks & Wildlife
South Australia
Coorong
National Park and
Game Reserve
431,840
hectares
Telephone
(08) 8575 1200.
Its
name means narrow
neck, a fitting description
for the land locked
sliver of water that
stretches from the
River Murray mouth
southwards for 145
kilometres to just
north of Kingston.
At most just under
three kilometres
wide, the Coorong
is bounded on the
seaward side by
the large sandhills
of Younghusband
Peninsula .
The Coorong National
Park and Game Reserve
is one of the state's
most important areas
of wetlands and
of world-wide biological
significance. It
is the habitat of
over 400 species
of birds including
spoonbills, black
swans, gannets and
plovers.
For at least forty
thousand years before
white settlers arrived
in South Australia,
the Coorong was
the home to the
Ngarrindjeri people.
Theirs was a plentiful
world, with fish,
birds and animals
such as the kangaroo,
wombat and snakes
and goannas in abundance.
The remains of shell
middens can still
be seen at various
spots throughout
the sand dunes.
Coorong National
Park also offers
some special and
beautiful camping
locations, often
well away from main
roads and noise.
Permits are needed
from the park's
headquarters, and
they allow camping
in a good range
of designated spots.
Sailing is a great
way to explore the
Coorong; its quiet
waters are safe
and still.
Landlubbers will
find the Coorong
equally enjoyable.
There are plenty
of walking trails and
it's best to obtain
information from
the Meningie Park
Ranger Headquarters
before setting out.
Brookfield
Conservation Park
6,333
hectares
Telephone (08) 8585
2111
Visitors can learn
what it means to live
outside Goyders Line
- a division between
arable (guaranteed
rainfall) and arid
land. To live on the
wrong side can spell
drought and anguish
for farmers.
This typical Murraylands
semi-arid plain
of mallee, sugarwood
and bluebush is
home to the Southern
Hairy-nosed Wombat
- South Australia's
faunal emblem. While
some of the park
is set aside to
study this unique
creature, there
is a ten kilometres
nature drive to
explore. Watch out
for flights of parrots
and the shy gaze
of kangaroo and
emu. Put your ear
to a wombat warren
and you may hear
the creatures tunnelling.
Picnic areas have
been set aside and
excellent information
on the park and
its creatures is
available from rangers.
For further information,
please contact:
Murraylands Regional
Office,
3 South Terrace,
Murray Bridge.
Naracoorte
Caves Conservation
Park
410
hectares
Telephone (08) 8762
2340
These caves have been
a tourist attraction
with organised tours
by a local publican
dating back to 1869.
Located twelve kilometres
south east of Naracoorte
on the road to Penola,
there are at least
sixty known caves,
many of which are
in the Naracoorte
Caves Conservation
Park.
Guided tours take
visitors to the
main chambers of
Blanche Cave, and
the beautifully
decorated Alexandra
Cave. Most significant
to science is the
Victoria Fossil
Cave, with its many
fauna fossils, discovered
this century. During
school holidays
and on long weekends
special adventure
caving expeditions
are held, taking
children and adults
into caves not normally
accessible to the
public. The Naracoorte
Caves Conservation
Park has picnic
areas, a camping
ground and an interpretive
centre.
Bool
Lagoon
3,600
hectares
Telephone (08) 8764
7541
This is one of the
state's finest and
largest areas of wetlands,
with a superb range
of birdlife. Its importance
is greater because
it also happens to
be one of the state's
last wetland areas.
Registered with UNESCO
as a Wetland of International
Significance, Bool
Lagoon provides a
drought refuge and
breeding ground for
literally thousands
of birds and other
wildlife.
The best way to
see Bool Lagoon
is on a guided tour
along the Tea Tree
Boardwalk, which
has been built out
over the water.
A Ranger who knows
the area intimately
will walk you through
this very special
world. At the end
of the Boardwalk
is an ibis rookery.
Dingly
Dell Conservation
Park
6
hectares
Telephone (08) 8738
2221
Two kilometres from
Port MacDonnell is
a small conservation
park set aside to
conserve the native
vegetation of the
lower South East,
especially the very
rare Dingley Dell
gum.
Dingley Dell is
also a pretty cottage
the former home
of colonial poet
and renowned horseman
Adam Lindsay Gordon.
The cottage dates
from the 1860s and
has been restored
and refurnished
to reflect I9th
century lifestyle.
Some of Gordon's
belongings can still
be seen at the cottage.
Set in the natural
scrubland of Dingley
Dell Conservation
Park, the cottage
grounds offer picnic
facilities and nature
walks in the area
which inspired Gordon.
Tantanoola
Caves Conservation
Park
14
hectares
Telephone (08) 8734
4153
The Tantanoola Caves
are twenty one kilometres
from Millicent. The
complex nestles inside
an ancient marine
cliff which towers
over the highway.
Masses of delicate
formations arch overhead
as you stroll through
this highly decorated
single chamber on
a special pathway
built without steps.
Outside the caves
a cliff-top walking
trail has views of
forests, beach dunes
and extinct volcanoes.
Adventure caving tours
are available for
people who prefer
to get off the well-trodden
path and traverse
caves as yet undeveloped.
For more travel information on Murray River in NSW
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