Murray River
The pace and the living is easy on a guided Riverland walk, writes KIRK OWERS
SUNSET on the Murray is something to behold. The serpentine river mirrors the sky as it transforms from vivid yellow to the pink and purple hues of dusk. Pelicans bank and glide like sea planes, rippling the water when they land.
The twitchers in our group recognise the calls of rarer species: spoonbills, treecreepers, honeyeaters, restless flycatchers.
We’re on a scenic bend of the mighty waterway and its banks are coloured in shades of ochre and book-ended by enormous redgums and hardy black box. There is not a single tourist in sight. The river is all ours.
This is a multi-day hike with a difference. After walking across flood plains and along riverbanks we meet up with our floating home, a riverboat named Desire.
On our first evening there is a cold beer in my fist and a decision to be made as the sky fades to black and the first stars appear.
Do I dangle my feet in the cool river water, head for the hot tub bubbling away on the upper deck or make for the lounge where soft cheeses and a cheeky South Australian rose await? I decide on all three. Who said bushwalking had to involve deprivation?
AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WALKS
Hiking is no longer the unavoidably arduous activity it once was.
Today many of Australia’s best multi-day hikes can be enjoyed while swinging a day pack, sleeping in premium accommodation and savouring delicious food and wines.
The Murray River Walk is one of 12 Great Walks of Australia, a tourism initiative to promote high-end hiking in some of our country’s most scenic corners.
It is a four-day, three-night affair which starts at Renmark and meanders north east with mostly flat easy walking (we average 12km a day).
All bushwalks are unique but this one is strikingly singular. There is the movable feast that is our houseboat home for starters. And then there’s the track itself which isn’t a track at all. Instead we follow animal trails or geographical features looking out for the pink ribbons that mark the way.
Flooded wetlands are skirted or crossed used rudimentary brides which we help construct. Independent hikers and other tour groups can’t access the route and our small group is kept to just 10.
RIVER STORIES
An overlooked dividend for shelling out for a Great Walk is the knowledge imparted by an expert guide. In the same way an art gallery tour can enliven an exhibition, a good hiking guide can breathe life into an unfamiliar landscape.
We are fortunate on our trip to be led by Tony Sharley, the visionary behind the Murray River Walk who holds a Master of Applied Science and has worked for the Murray Darling Commission.
A Renmark local who spent his youthful summers in the Murray, his passion for the Riverland — its history and geography, flora and fauna, and its significance for Australia — is in- fectious. Tony recites extracts from Charles Sturt’s diary with emphasis and joy. “At 3pm Hopkins called out that we were approaching a junction and in less than a minute afterwards we were hurried into a broad and noble river,” Sturt wrote about encountering Australia’s biggest and most important river.
BUSH HISTORY
Sturt and his men followed the Murray to its conclusion at the Coorong and then rowed all the way back in the heat of summer, a feat which nearly killed them (Sturt went temporarily blind).
Of course, the region was already home to indigenous tribes who had no trouble living off the land.
Along our journey we’re shown red gums with huge eye-shaped scars, where the Erawirung had made bark canoes, woomeras, shields and coolamons.
Our guides point out ancient middens and cooking fires and identify grind stones which suggest trade with other tribes.
The broader ecology tells the story of a sunburnt country of droughts and flooding plains in microcosm. Huge stands of dead river gums are juxtaposed on their opposing bank by crowds of red gum saplings from the flood which broke the millennium drought. On another leg of the walk we come across a bush cricket pitch and building foundations — remains from an internment camp for Japanese Australians during World War II.
FOOD AND WINE
The walking may be graded easy, but we still work up an appetite each day. Thankfully, the food aboard Desire is consistently delicious, highlighting some of the region’s best produce; each course expertly matched with Riverland wines.
The menu was designed by Adelaide chef Andrew Fielke, who is renowned for his use of Australian ingredients and bush flavours. We sample kangaroo tail osso bucco, Murray River callop chowder, yabby bisque and quandong crumbed tart among many other delights. The wines are a well-chosen selection of mostly lesser-known grape varieties — Vermentino, Greco, Arinto, Fiano — which are quickly embraced by our group.
On our last day we finish up with a barbecue lunch at the rustic Woolshed Brewery, a beautifully reclaimed sheep shearing station which still smells faintly of lanolin.
THE RIVERLAND
Interstate visitors may want to tack on an extra day or two to further explore the region which is well known for its food and wine and includes Australia’s biggest winery and distil- lery, Berri Estates.
There are some fabulous accommodation options such as The Frames, an award-winning trio of luxury apartments overlooking the Murray. The property offers seclusion and lavish indulgences such as a hydrotherapy spa, sauna, heated pool and a fridge stocked with complimentary local food and wines.
Renmark’s most unique dining experience is aboard the refurbished riverboat The Murray River Queen, moored at the local wharf. The region experiences scorching heatwaves in summer which is why the walking season is restricted to the cooler months (May-September). It’s also the quietest time to be out on the river. Kirk Owers was a guest of Great Walks of Australia