Cohuna and Koondrook

Driving towards Cohuna we stopped off at Gunbower to see the mural on the local hotel. Again this was completed by Jimmy Dvate, like the ones in Goorumbat and Rochester. It is a beautiful scene of waterbirds of the area. 

Gunbower Island is the largest of Australia’s inland islands at over 45 kms long covering 26,400 ha. It sits beyond Gunbower Creek, which branches off here and then rejoins the Murray at Koondrook, hence forming the island. We are camped on the island in the shade of gum trees which line the edge of the practice fairway of Cohuna Golf Course, where Stuart Appleby first developed his swing. It is a lovely setting, we just walk across the first fairway which lies adjacent to the practice one, to the creek which is very pretty and this evening was alive with birds.

Earlier in the day we called in at the local Sunday morning market to buy some fresh produce. It was held right in town beside the irrigation channel. On the other side of the channel were a number of free campers, but that didn’t appeal to us. You might as well be in a park. 

Eric has very fond memories of Cohuna as his family hired a caravan for a number of years and they camped in the caravan park here. The owners of the park had 2 sons about the same age as Eric and Laurie and they all became great mates. The older boy taught Eric how to skateboard and introduced him to Alice Cooper. Everyday, Eric’s dad would get up early to go fishing and in the afternoons they would go for family drives to Echuca, Shepparton or Swan Hill.

Once the event was over today, we had a chip and a putt then joined the competitors in the clubrooms. Turns out today is the biggest event on the yearly calendar with a field of almost 70 players which is pretty impressive for such a small community. Listening to the speeches you can tell they are quite proud of their course and with only one paid employee, rely heavily on the generosity of local volunteers.  What was also plain for all to see is that the field was almost exclusively of the older generation, a plight common to many golf clubs it would seem. Once the last car drove out of the carpark we had the place to ourselves. Not a sole to be seen in any direction, just a lovely bush setting with plenty of open space. The deal here is you pay $10 each for a social membership and you can stay as long as you like. $25 gets you as much golf as you can play on any day.

Mon 28^th Oct

Woke to a beautiful blue-sky morning, perfect for a game of golf. We thoroughly enjoyed the course, carved out of the bush with the creek edging a number of fairways. Not so many bunkers, though with all the practice I have been having, I am getting better at getting out of them. For the first time I played to my handicap which suggests all the practice is paying off. Eric began roughly but straightened up and came home well. The course is in terrific condition and there were many volunteers here today shifting sprinklers, blowing debris off tees and mowing. They have a big event here beginning next weekend and are expecting 80 caravans to be parked on our home patch. We have struck it lucky arriving when we did.

After lunch Eric went out for another 9 holes while I found plenty to do. I am persisting with the guitar (now that I am out of earshot of anyone else), I have a yarn project on the go and neck exercises to do that I’m apparently not doing often enough. I’ve started a new novel but never have time to read. 

In the evening we went for a walk along the creek looking for birds. It was so picturesque that at times like this you wish you had a canoe.

Tue 29th
Another glorious morning so after breakfast we went out for nine holes only to be eaten alive by mosquitoes. Yesterday in the club rooms we were talked into buying an insect repellent that a local horse trainer first developed to keep the flies off his horses. Fortunately, he added rosemary and cedar oils before putting it on the market for everyone else, so it smells nice but the mozzies were not deterred. 

We were set up in Koondrook before lunch having covered all of 24kms. Perhaps our shortest day on the road for the whole return trip. Our caravan park is on the riverbank just where the creek and Murray reunite. There is a tree here with a fantastic girth!

The old wharf has been recently renovated with a floating pontoon, to accommodate the lower water levels I suppose. We got the bikes off the tow bar (it has been some time since we last did that) and rode downstream to cross the bridge into Bahram. 

From there we followed the Red Gum Statue Walk back to our park. There are 17 statues in all, paying tribute to local identities be they human (eg John Gorton, Stuart Appleby) or animal (eg pelican, goanna, laughing kookaburra). 

There is a local sawmill here owned and operated by the Arbuthnot family (remember the paddlesteamer at Echuca?) since 1889. They donate all the redgum for the statues and someone else carves them. 
Then we rode further upstream to the bridge that crosses over to the island. We confirmed that you can drive across so that is the plan for tomorrow. 

30th Oct
We set off to explore the island in the morning, not as early as bird watchers should, but still....  This is one of the 10 most important wetlands in the Murray Darling Basin and a recognised RAMSAR site for wading birds. It was also once extremely important to the local Baraba Baraba aboriginal tribe who moved between this floodplain and the drier mallee to the west. We took local advice and began on the Canoe Trail which follows the Gunbower Creek side. We were pleasantly surprised by the good condition of the road and the number of benches and tables placed along the bank, there was even a toilet block provided. A number of lucky campers have set up along the creek having complete serenity other than the constant birdsong. We came across a farm that was once part of a huge run, but now is a small holding where they farm swamp buffalo. Other than this farm the rest of the island, at least on this end, seems to be untouched other than logging which began with the expansion of the railway network. The timber was hauled to the river by bullock teams then transported by barge to Echuca or Swan Hill. 

We chose Iron Punt Track to take us across to the Murray side of the island but found that it was not so picturesque and the track often left the river so we crossed back on Spur Track and retraced our trail, stopping for a late morning tea at a shady table. Red X marks our campground.

We recorded all the birds we could remember seeing and came up with more than 30 species from a possible list of 170. No new sightings but a good mix of water and forest birds. Highly recommend a day or so camping on the island if you get a chance one day.

In the afternoon it was very hot so we shut up the van and hid in the air-con with a good book until it cooled down. Looking at he forecast ahead we have a few more hot days before a cool change for the weekend so we will book a powered site in Swan Hill.