Walking the Wet Lands at Banrock Station

Banrock Station is a big wine producer situated at Kingston - on -the - Murray, 3 hrs drive north east of Adelaide. It's property is bounded on one side by the River Murray and sweeps up on a low escarpment to the east. Possibly resulting from the erosion of the river in the distant past.

The eastern side of the river banks form a natural wetland area which in the past was flooded every year. The river weirs have reduced flooding and this has affected this natural environment.

*Since 1994, Banrock Station have been restoring this environment by removing domestic livestock, reducing natural wetting and drying cycles, removing feral animals and planting thousands of native plants.

The area houses a vast vineyard, cafe/wine tasting area, wetland centre and walking trails. The trails take you right through the area, with side hikes to bird hides and water holes. You can walk on the Boardwalk 4.5 kilometres or the Wetland Circuit walk of 8 kilometres.

We wanted to do the 8km walk so we could see the whole of the wetland area. We saw one brown snake on the boardwalk which did not seem to want to move out of our way, but after a bit of gentle persuasion with a big stick, moved into the water and swam off.

Along the route we spotted a few kangaroos, one which had a joey. The joey did not spend much time out of the mother's pouch after we walked towards them.

Overall it was a nice walk. Not a lot to see and it was getting quite hot by the time we got back to the Cafe. We walked 10 kms in total, saw 1 snake, lots of snake and lizard tracks and 6 kangaroos. There were a few black swan, cormorants and ducks but overall a bit disappointing. Maybe if we had walked in winter we would have seen more wild life.
Here are some photos I took along the walk.

We spent one night in Barmera and took a few photos from a lovely side of Lake Bonney, recommended by Jack Miller, a long time resident, photographer and tour guide.

* Taken from Banrock Station Pamphlet.

Whose Idea Was This Anyway?

I am not sure I am even qualified to be writing this. I am starting out - it's taken me 65 years to get here and I have no idea if I can do this.

It started with a mad rush to the head when I went walking to get a bit fitter and to find out how bad the arthritis was in my knees. I also have a back problem - lower discs pretty stuffed and I was spending a lot of time in physiotherapy  and feeling immensely fed up.

I was researching walking for fitness and I came upon this lovely website from the UK, written by a guy called George. (That was my dad's name. so I knew it would be good) It was filled with information about walking and everything you could possibly want to know about how to walk, where to walk, what to wear and what to carry.

So I emailed George and struck up a conversation about walking and I got quite enthusiastic. But the furthest I had ever walked in one go was about 3 - 4 kms and that seemed pretty exhausting .

Visiting Europe and UK in June/July, I found myself doing a lot of walking.  There were quite a few short hikes around Cumbria, Hadrian's Wall and of course a lot of mileage in and around London. There is so much to see and do and walking is the best way to see and do it.

Aira Force, Hadrian's Wall, Cows at Greater Strickland, Wass Water,
 Stone Circles, Castlerigg, Keswick, Cumbria

When I got back from UK, I overheard someone in my Pilates class talking about planning a long distance walk in the England and very quickly the seed was sown.

Initially I started to walk two or three times a week only 1 -2 kms just to get a little fitter. I added  Pilates classes twice a week, that really helped my back and I began to extend my walking distance. In August I clocked up 85 kilometres. The longest stretch being 8 kilometres and a lie down for a day after.

So here I am! It is October 2014 and I am planning to take a long distance walk in UK around September 2015 - There I have said it and it is out there. There is no changing my mind or not doing it!!!  All I need to do now is to get fitter and stronger while still protecting my back and knees and save some money.

This blog is a record of what I am doing to get fit enough to walk and highlights of the walk. I might post on a monthly basis or just when I feel I have achieved something worthwhile.  If there are any other crazy people of my age that get the idea that they would like to walk too,  this may be the motivational tool they need. You can all learn by mistakes too!

Please send me any hints and tips to keep me moving, nice things to make and eat on the trail and any other words of wisdom. A bit of encouragement will help too. Leave me a comment.