Hello again, warmer day today as its up to 32 but hotter tomorrow. I am staying in Goolwa until Sunday and today's excursion was on the Cockle Train to Victor Harbor. It's a tourist train now but once upon a time it transported cargo from ships that travelled up the Murray Rover to the port at Goolwa, for transport to the sea ports at Port Elliot and Victor Harbor. It's nickname is the Cockle train as Goolwa was known for the large cockles found on the beach.
On the trip there and back I had the privilege of sharing the train with a large group of school kids on an excursion. They put an extra carriage on the railcar but there were too many of them so they spilt over into our carriage. They were very talkative and loud, one even asked where the seat belts were (how time has changed). On the return trip as they were getting out (at an intermediate station) a teacher went through the carriage collecting left behind hats and apologising to the passengers for the disruption.
I spent a few hours at Victor Harbor, which is much bigger than Goolwa and has preserved a lot of its old buildings. It appears a lot of retirees live there too. At Victor Harbour I walked on the bridge across the causeway to Granite Island (you can also take the horse drawn train, see picture). Very nice walk around the island with nice views of the blue sea (the water at Goolwa is brown because it is on the Murray River). They even have penguins and whales that can be seen if you come at the right time.
Some interesting features of the motel I am staying in. First, it has a kitchen sink and bathroom sink next to each other. Seems like unnecessary plumbing to me. Secondly, we get free bottled water everyday. I am not sure whether that means the water is undrinkable or what.
On the trip there and back I had the privilege of sharing the train with a large group of school kids on an excursion. They put an extra carriage on the railcar but there were too many of them so they spilt over into our carriage. They were very talkative and loud, one even asked where the seat belts were (how time has changed). On the return trip as they were getting out (at an intermediate station) a teacher went through the carriage collecting left behind hats and apologising to the passengers for the disruption.
I spent a few hours at Victor Harbor, which is much bigger than Goolwa and has preserved a lot of its old buildings. It appears a lot of retirees live there too. At Victor Harbour I walked on the bridge across the causeway to Granite Island (you can also take the horse drawn train, see picture). Very nice walk around the island with nice views of the blue sea (the water at Goolwa is brown because it is on the Murray River). They even have penguins and whales that can be seen if you come at the right time.
Some interesting features of the motel I am staying in. First, it has a kitchen sink and bathroom sink next to each other. Seems like unnecessary plumbing to me. Secondly, we get free bottled water everyday. I am not sure whether that means the water is undrinkable or what.
No comments:
Post a Comment