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.
 |
Black-faced Cormorant
|
 |
Fairy Tern
|
 |
| Cape Barren Geese |
 |
| Cape Barren Geese |
 |
| Red-necked Stint (bottom left), Great Cormorant, blurry Black Swan and Sandpiper |
 |
| Black-faced Cormorant |
 |
| Australian Pelican |
 |
| Coorong Emu |
 |
| Walk to the ocean beach at Barker’s Knoll |
 |
| Our cruise boat |
 |
| Trying the Goolwa Pipis |
 |
| Australian Shelduck |
 |
| Delicious and filling lunch provided onboard |
 |
| Emu |
 |
| Pelicans |
 |
| Australian Pied Oystercatcher |
 |
| Crested Tern |
 |
| Whiskered Tern |
 |
| Emu |
 |
| Kangaroo with Joey in pouch |
 |
| Long-nosed Fur Seal hanging out on the Goolwa Barrage |
BIRD LIST:
1. Emu
2. Cape Barren Goose
3. Black Swan
4. Australian Shelduck
5. Grey Teal
6. Chestnut Teal
7. Red-necked Avocet
8. Australian Pied Oystercatcher
9. Masked Lapwing
10. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
11. Red-necked Stint
12. Common Greenshank
13. Silver Gull
14. Pacific Gull
15. Fairy Tern
16. Caspian Tern
17. Whiskered Tern
18. Crested Tern
19. Little Pied Cormorant
20. Great Cormorant
21. Little Black Cormorant
22. Pied Cormorant
23. Black-faced Cormorant
24. Australian Pelican
25. Great Egret
26. Australian White Ibis
27. Straw-necked Ibis
28. Royal Spoonbill
29. Little Raven
30. Welcome Swallow
