Apr 18, Kingston on Murray, Morgan, Burra

We met up with Carl at his boat on the river. It was a small pontoon-like boat that could hold up to 10 passengers, but today we were the only 2. It was a wonderful cruise down the Murray, into Loch Luna and around Snake Island. It was leisurely and incredibly peaceful. We saw snake birds, relatives of cormorants, who swim with their bodies submerged and only their long heads and necks above water - looking very much like snakes. We saw kites and yellow spoonbills, black swans, pelicans and parrots. There was a small blue kookaburra-like bird, herons and egrets.
We cruised, then stopped for tea and cookies, then finished the cruise.

Carl had been a banker in Adelaide and then in Barmera, but gave it up for more family time. He does up to 2 cruises a day and really loves what he does. He has 3 children and 2 of them attend the primary school in Kingston on Murray. The school has a total of 16 students, from kindergarten to grade 7. He said his son invited the whole school home for his birthday party!

After lunch we drove to Morgan, taking another ferry, and wandered around a little bit, looking at their 100 year old wharf and an old railroad turntable.

The drive to Burra was a bit longer. When we got here we stopped at the information and bought a Heritage Trail Passport. It's a unique way for visitors to see the sights. We got a key which allows us to visit 9 historical places, a booklet with a tourist drive to 50 interesting sites and entrance to 3 museums. We spent the evening going to see miner's dugouts. When copper mining was at its height, there wasn't enough housings so some miners dug rooms and homes out of the creek bank. A few of them remain.

We visited some of the mine sites and are now camped at a lookout point with views of the town below.

Pictures - Sunrise over the Murray, Murray River, Parrots, Pelicans on a Log, Samson in a Miner's Dugout