Alysse's Travel and Birding Adventures: November 2020

Monday 23 November 2020

Spirit of the Coorong Cruise November 2020

Last Wednesday my dad and I went out on the Spirit of the Coorong cruise for the day. Departing from the wharf next to the Hindmarsh Island bridge, we passed through the Goolwa Barrage, where we saw many cormorants and pelicans, and a couple of Long-nosed Fur Seals. We travelled through the Coorong National Park, stopping at Barker’s Knoll, where we went for a walk through the sand dunes to the ocean beach. We sampled local Goolwa Pipis, and enjoyed a lunch Of cold meat and salads on board the boat. Throughout the cruise, the excellent guides identified birds they spotted, and told us about the history of the area, pointing out significant sites along the way. We learned about the Ngarrindjeri - the traditional owners of this whole area, the early European explorers and settlers, and the filming of the movie Storm Boy, both the original movie and the recent remake.

We travelled as far as “Cattle Point”, where about half of the tour group departed the boat again to go for another walk in the dunes and watch our guide find fresh water in the dunes. We opted to stay on the boat as it was quite hot and the dunes here were quite steep! After this second shore excursion, we headed back towards Goolwa. We really enjoyed the cruise, the guides were excellent - very well informed and good story tellers, and kept everyone calm and everything running smoothly when the news about the SA lockdown hit and a few people started getting anxious. Would highly recommend this company and this cruise! Bird list at the bottom after photos.