Robe to Coorong - 31 May to 2 June 2009

On 31 May we drove to Robe, via Beachport, home of South Australia's second longest jetty.

Work on the Jetty began in early 1878 but in August 1878 it was stopped and a Royal Commission set up, part of the then lawyer led recovery. It was then built by the Government and has been somewhat controversial ever since. It was meant to be 4000' long but is in fact now 2536' and is still much longer than is needed for the Port now - but it is just in the process of being refurbished.

No doubt the less than 10 Cray boats moored in the lee of the pier appreciate it being in tip top condition, and once you have the second longest pier you need to keep it up!!




We drove on to Robe, another fishing Port, the best of a bad lot according to the histories. They must have been desperate for a Port in this area. Robe is nice, it has very sophisticated eateries and is an attractive town that has made the most of its old buildings.








There is a nice hotel called The Caledonian dating from the 1850's which serves lovely meals and is also full of atmosphere and wood fires. Robe was the seaside escape for the local graziers as well as a Port. These ports were mainly to get the wool clip out, now the towns seem to export sea food.

We then moved on to the Coorong camping at the aboriginal owned and run Coorong Wilderness Lodge.

It is very pretty except for the cloud of mosquitos that descended at twilight.  Even the cold did not seem to deter them.

We were the only people there - it was quiet and later on the skies cleared and the stars shone and you could hear the sound of the distant surf. 
 
For those in financial markets looking for "black swan" events there were plenty to see in the Coorong.