Geez… the overcast, on again / off again, rainy, sunny weather just keeps following us… Not complaining… just sick of that damp feeling where nothing that gets wet ever seems to feel dry… But here we are at Tailem Bend and back on the magnificent Murray River that we visited a year ago in between COVID waves…
Meningie
We passed through Meningie on the way to Tailem Bend. We were originally going to stay in Meningie but were unable to get a booking over the long weekend. The caravan park was beautifully positioned on the shores of Lake Albert and looked like a really relaxing place to stay…
It turns out that accomodation was tight, at least in part, in Meningie over the long weekend due to Mowers@Meningie… a ride-on mower racing event that is becoming something of a drawcard for the town… Who knew? We didn’t get to see any of it but we did see enough of Meningie to note it as a place that would be nice to go back to in the future…
Tailem Bend
We opted to pull in at the Rivers Edge Caravan Park for four nights to fill the gap between Robe and Nuriootpa, which we had pre-booked some time ago. Rivers Edge Caravan Park has been under new owners for the last six months and they are basically gutting the entire place and renovating everything so it’s a bit of bomb-site whilst we’re here but there is nothing to fault because amongst all the excavation and construction everything is still available and the new owners are very nice, friendly people. It’s going to be a brilliant place when they’re finished (in a year or so) but in the meantime it is still a fully functioning caravan park in a top spot high above the banks of the Murray River.
So… as to Tailem Bend, it’s a historic railway town but we did think we would probably end up being a bit bored after four days… Who knew how much we would find in the surrounding region and ultimately how enjoyable it would be…
Tailem Bend Railway Station
We stopped in first at the Railway Station that also serves as the Information Centre. As we arrived the staff member was out on the platform, along with a couple of train-spotters waiting for a special train to roll through on its way to elsewhere. Within a couple of minutes a very immaculate diesel locomotive thundered past at full tilt, blaring it’s horn and trailing a set of special carriages taking some NSW train drivers on to some special event.
After that we were given a five minute tour, that turned into thirty minutes, of the station museum and all of the railway equipment, artefacts and memorabilia housed there by a very enthusiastic volunteer, It really was a good welcome to the place and wasn’t the cringeworthy experience that you sometimes have in these types of museums. The volunteer was a genuine rail enthusiast who told you enough, taught you a bit and didn’t try to shove his love of trains down your throat. We absolutely recommend dropping into the railway station if you’re in Tailem Bend.
The town itself is quite small with only a small set of shops, which gives a slightly false impression about the town. What it lacks in size it makes up for in other offerings.
The Bend Motorsport Park
After returning from visiting Wellington and the Pangarinda Botanic Gardens on one outing we decided to go and have a look at the The Bend Motorsport Park. We’re not huge fans of car racing and we were just expecting to see a race track until it slowly dawned on us that this was a world class race-track that hosts V8 super cars, open wheelers, etc. and boasts a large hotel and race facilities. It is a massive complex that includes Hotel, Race Track, A Big4 Caravan Park and camping areas, fast food outlet and petrol station.
The centre is freely open to the public and the lobby entrance houses a range of exotic cars ranging from Mclaren, Ferrari, Bugatti to a couple of stately Rolls Royces. Some, but not all, of the exotics are for sale. It was worth it just to get right up close and have a look at these machines all polished up into showroom condition.
You can also go upstairs to the bar/cafe and out onto a viewing deck and watch the weekend warriors do hot laps in everything from race ready Porsches to stock standard Audis, Lexus, Holden, etc.. I’m almost certain one car that zipped past was just a standard Holden Cruze, nothing special, but still going like the clappers down the main straight.
If you love the sound of ripping engines then this is your place… Even out in the general carpark you could walk past car trailers holding an open wheeler, an AC Cobra and other various sports and muscle cars all waiting their turn to get out on the track and go fast… It’s a very impressive complex and although a few kilometres out of town stands in stark contrast to the historic nature of the town when compared with the relative newness of the race-track and facilities.
Turn your sound up to see some weekend warriors in action…
Pub Night
Our tradition of last night being Pub Night continued with a meal at the Riverside Hotel. We did have the option of the more historic Tailem Bend Hotel but chose the Riverside because it was closer and had a slightly more interesting menu. We only just got in without having booked, which surprised us be we suspect that the Motorpark crowd had booked it out as part of their long weekend activities.
Jo had salmon on a bed of vegies that was very nice and Rob had a beef schnitzel with ‘creamy chilie’ gravy, which was basically the side of a dead cow, crumbed and fried on a bed of potato bake and veges, with chips topped with a creamy sauce mixed with sweet chilie sauce… Gourmet? No! Satisfying? Yes!
So… from Tailem Bend we head up to Nuriootpa on the heart of the Barossa. We can hear the wine and food calling…
Across the Murray River from Tailem Bend, on the west side, is the small town of Wellington, which is mainly a dairy community with a twin town of East Wellington back on the eastern side of the river.
You get to Wellington from Tailem Bend via a ferry (or punt as they were called when I was growing up) across the Murray. Another ferry at Wellington allows you to do a circuit drive and take in the sights of the region. The ferries are free, courtesy of the S.A. Goverment, and a long, flat barge like boats with ramps at either end for onloading and offloading cars and pedestrians. The operate 24 hours/day and quietly glide backwards and forwards across the river by pulling themselves along two cables, one each side of the ferry, which are anchored on the riverbank to a pair of flat bollards.
Whilst not a convenient as a bridge, they are a very pleasant way to cross the river and hark back to less hectic times when the journey was important than the destination.
Pangarinda Botanic Garden
After a short break at the Hall, an historic stone hall, renovated into a coffee shop, we went to the Pangarinda Botanic Garden. This is 30Ha of Crown Land devoted to native plant species, mostly South Australian). Paths take you all through the extensive grounds and are lined with grevilleas, hakeas, banksias and all manner of flowering gums.
Flowering gums are generally produce their flowers in winter so we were treated to an endless display flowers of all colours, types and sizes. One we really liked is that the grounds aren’t meticulously manicured like a lot of botanic gardens. They’re well kept and designed but the trees and shrubs are not all perfect specimens. There’s stunted trees and snapped branches, some dead patches and some jumbled areas… all of which lend some authenticity to the place as though they’ve self-seeded as they would in the natural environment.
It happened to be a long weekend whilst we were at Tailem Bend and we decided on the Sunday to take a drive up to Murray Bridge for no other reason than to just see somewhere different.
It is named for the long sweeping bridge that spans the Murray River and continues to sweep around the levee and flood plain. It was the first road bridge to cross the Murray River, which is not an insignificant thing given that Tailem Bend still operates a car ferry (punt) across the river.
It just so happened that on this particular weekend Murray Bridge was hosting the South Australian Water Ski Racing Titles. We had no idea about this until we drove into the carpark by the rivere and noticed the large number of 4WD and boat trailers parked there. Then the long line of sleek ski boats lining the banks as well as pop-up shelters, boat drivers in their racing suits and ski racers in wet suits…
We stayed and watched three races in total, that consisted of three laps of a 9km course rounding an island at one end, back under the rail and road bridges and then rounding to come back under the bridges again. The boats were every bit as loud as the cars at the Tailem Bend Motorsport Park and were a thrilling spectacle to sit and watch (for free) as they thundered past with skier in tow straining to maintain correct positioning for maximum speed. Looking at the boats and gear on show you can’t help but think that it’s not dissimilar to sitting in a bathtub ripping up $100 notes but it was thrilling and spectacular none the less… and wholly unexpected, which made made it even more so.
Turn your volume up and check out some of the boats and racers below:
After a Lions Club burger at the ski races we walked along the Murray Bridge Linear Park that follows the river along a disused railway track. It takes in a number of different areas including a boat wrecking/restoration yard, natural vegetation, Sturt Reserve and a number of wharves along the edge of the Murray.
You sort of get the feeling that Murray Bridge is a ‘work in progress’ and is undergoing a bit of a revival based on the amount of construction work going on along the river side and wharves. It proved to be a nice day trip but we were happy that we stayed in Tailem Bend all the same.