The Coorong

[trickos]

Hi,

I am briefly staying in the Goolwa - Port Elliot area in April and wondering if there are any walks to the mouth of the Murray. Is it easy to access from Goolwa?
Any advice would be welcome.
Thanks in advance.

[Maelgwn]

Its normally accessed by 4wd (the actual mouth) or you can drive up to very near the mouth on Hindmarsh Island. You can also Kayak in the Coorong but it can be quite dangerous close to the mount (apparently, don't know how/why).

Looks like you could walk along the beach from Gawler to get to the seaward side also. Would be a fair way to walk along the beach, a few hours each way by the looks of it.

Or you can take a cruise very close also. So yes access is easy, but on foot not soo much.

[photohiker]

Looks like you could walk along the beach from Gawler to get to the seaward side also.

Hmm. Last time I checked, Gawler was north of Adelaide and not really that close to the beach.

Perhaps you meant Goolwa?

[trickos]

Thanks Gents,
Google Earth would suggest a walk from Goolwa to the mouth - I'l check it out when I am there and write a trip report if its any good. I would presume all the lakes are full or close to being full again after all the rain and floods in Victoria?

[photohiker]

Thanks Gents,
Google Earth would suggest a walk from Goolwa to the mouth - I'l check it out when I am there and write a trip report if its any good. I would presume all the lakes are full or close to being full again after all the rain and floods in Victoria?

Pretty much.

See for yourself on NearMap:

http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-35.500334,1 ... d=20110127

There's a new Adelaide nearmap flyover in the pipeline I believe, not sure if it will cover the Coorong, but keep an eye out.

Taswegians, the did part of Launceston this month: http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-41.485756,1 ... d=20110223

[eggs]

Yes - you can walk the beach from Goolwa to the Murray Mouth.
But the shorter route is from the car park next to the Goolwa Barrage - where you cross the sand dunes to get to the beach before walking along it.

The mouth is very popular for fishermen - and the beach can get a lot of 4 wheel drive traffic - so always be aware of cars.

There is a short walks pamplet for Goolwa: http://www.alexandrina.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Short_Walks.pdf