We are still catching up with family in South Australia, but for the next couple of days we are staying on a circa 1902 paddle steamer built at Morgan on the Murray River and now moored in the reed meadows at Goolwa.

We are enjoying a rest on the quiet freshwater stretch at the end of the Murray River. Just a kilometre away is the barrage that seperates the salt water from the fresh. We have swans nesting nearby, pelicans and other water birds are feeding all around us, we can see Rakali hunting in the shallows and the salt spray from the ocean surf is pouring over the vegetated white dunes creating a pink mist as the sun sets. We watch a special moment with the swans as they “change the guard’” on the nest and do some running repairs to it.

In the morning we are greeted by a colourful sunrise, birds and a seal catching those pesky Carp. Seal numbers have increased in the Coorong after years of persecution now they comfortably relax on the barrage wall some making forays into the freshwater to feed. There is something magical about living so close to the water, the reflections which shimmer on the ceilings of the boat are rhythmical and relaxing. Along with a Little Grassbird calling in the nearby reeds reminds us of the constancy of nature, at least in the short term.