DESTINATIONS MURRAY RIVER | AUSTRASIA CAR OR VAN


Most of the journey is absolutely fine in a conventional vehicle, although a four-wheel drive is going to be required if you want to get off the main roads and down some of the tracks in the national parks. Should a campervan adventure be preferred, there are plenty of holiday parks in and around the Murray River towns. Two weeks’ hire of an intermediate car, picking up in Melbourne and dropping off in Adelaide, should cost about £600.


ANTI-CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The River Deck Cafe, Albury; Corowa Whisky and Chocolate; paddle steamer Emmylou on Murray River, Echuca; the Beach Huts, Middleton; kayaking on the Murray River PICTURES: Shutterstock; Destination NSW/Alexandra Adoncello; Robert Blackburn; Visit Victoria/Mark Watson


Crops took over, and Mildura was where the irrigation of the Murray started. Around the city, pretty much every fruit you can think of is grown, giving rise to plenty of good wine. It’s also the jumping off point for some fascinating national parks. To the south, the Murray-Sunset National Park shows off typical wild mallee landscapes and more than a few red kangaroos. The neighbouring Hattah-Kulkyne National Park is home to birdlife-heavy wetlands, lake systems and sand dunes. Murray Offroad Adventures combines them both in a half-day tour, costing about £93. To the north, however, is true outback. The Mungo


National Park is home to an enormous multi-coloured sand lunette stretching around a dry lake bed. It’s also where the oldest Aboriginal remains have been found – and the guides from Mungo Guided Tours explain how the finds dramatically changed the world view of indigenous Australian culture (from £67). Stay: The Quality Hotel Mildura Grand is a sprawling, historic affair opposite the railway station, and has several restaurants. Doubles cost from £59. milduragrand.com.au


MILDURA TO GOOLWA How far: 261 miles See: Goolwa, around an hour’s drive from Adelaide airport, is at the edge of the Coorong, a dreamy lagoon system, where pelicans are in abundance, seals honk


travelweekly.co.uk But it’s in a


kayak, low to the water and sidling up to the birds, that we’re given the most magical closing chapter to this iconic river route


WHERE TO EAT


Local produce is the hallmark of the Riverina region, and there are several high-quality restaurants to try out along the route of the Murray. In Albury, the River Deck is a fine place for breakfast in a riverside park, while Bistro Selle throws enthusiastic wine knowledge in with impeccable produce.


The hangar-like Port53 in Echuca sells several local craft beers, while its menu has French and Cajun influences. The jambalaya is superb.


Near Mildura, the Trentham Estate winery has a magical riverside location, and wine-sampling sessions can be combined with a blowout lunch.


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near the tidal barrages and migratory birds from Siberia feed on the sandbars. It’s also where the Murray River ends, filtering into the ocean through a narrow gap between two sand dune peninsulas. Walks across the peninsulas head out to magnificent long beaches where cockles can be plucked out of the sand with bare feet. There are two ways to tour the laid-back, sunny, blissed-out Coorong – by cruise boat or kayak – and Viator sells both, from £53 and £72 respectively. But it’s in a kayak – low to the water and sidling up to the birds, as the Murray’s journey comes to an end – that we’re given the most magical closing chapter to this iconic river route. Stay: The Beach Huts at Middleton offers villa-esque accommodation in striped huts themed on Australia’s greatest beaches. Prices start at £92. beachhuts.com.au


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