Canoe the Coorong

I am sore. And I am exhausted. And I could really go for a massage about now. So basically, it was a good weekend.


On Thursday Ali went to tea to meet her extended family here in Adelaide. Unsure of whether or not she needed to eat before her 7pm tea date, she decided to munch a bit before. Apparently tea here is supper, or dinner, or whatever you want to call it. Completely different from the tea and cakes we were expecting. After she got back Justin chauffeured us off to the shack so we could get an early start to canoe the Coorong the next morning. 

The Shack

Stairs from the back of the shack to the river 

Justin's friend Brenton is owner and tour guide for Canoe the Coorong, so Thursday morning the group of us shipped out on the hour and a half drive to Goolwa. We waited on the beach and learned the cockle dance while some of the guys went to fetch the boats. 

Doing the cockle dance (Photo by Heather)

The first stop was to one of the locks where a few new zealand furs seals have been hanging out recently. They were adorable. They were sunbathing and swimming up near the kayaks. I had only ever seen wild seals from a distance, so being within a few feet was pretty amazing. We then stopped at a bakery in Goolwa for a quick lunch before continuing on.

New zealand fur seal sunbathing

Ali in the locks (Photos by Heather)

As we kayaked to our camp site Ali and Heather sang songs the whole way. The site is right on the edge of the water, so we would wake up on the beach. Brilliant. We took a quick swim, set up camp, and strolled over to the nearest sand dune for some sandsurfing.

I have never before gone sandsurfing and I was definitely a little nervous looking down the steep hill of sand that I was about to slide down headfirst on a wakeboard. First attempt was a dud. Instant wipeout haha. At least the second time I actually got down the hill! Actually it was really fun, I guess I'm just not as graceful as I'd like to be haha. Oh well, Dave's wipeout later completely overshadowed mine, so's all good. As much fun as it is to surf down the dunes into the water, the trek back up that stupid hill is hell.

My terrible first attempt, as filmed by Heather

Later on the group split up, half of us went fishing in the mouth (where the Murray River meets the ocean), and the other half went for a seaside stroll down the beach, chasing pelicans, attempting to catch fish with our bare hands, and just generally wrecking havoc on nature.

(Photo by Ali)

(Photo by Dave)

The night ended with a dinner of sausages, lamb chops, and fresh fish. Drinks were had around the fire, and a stupid game of There's a Moon in My Bowl was played (yes Justin, it's a stupid game).


The perfect way to wake up is a morning swim in the river. Especially when it's only a few steps away from your bed. After breakfast we all marched over to the other side of the island to try our luck at body surfing in the ocean. There was no way to really stay on shore very long since it was so hot out, so we all mucked about in the ocean for a few hours and passed around a bag of water to keep hydrated.

(Photo by Heather)

After the not so ideal results of our last beach excursion, we all religiously reapplied our sunscreen every hour to ward of the strong sun rays.


Packing up was a chore (as always) peppered with some more swim breaks since it was so ridiculously hot. We had a slight detour on the way back due to some misdirection, but made it to the main land intact and very happy. Then someone had the brilliant idea of going for ice cream before taking the winding route through the hills back to the city.

Heather and Justin on the car ride home

*Thanks Heather and Ali for your photos, since I mostly left my camera in my bag...