Waikerie Rotary Cliff Top Walk The Waikerie Rotary Cliff Top Walk is a wonderful and accessible trail located in Waikerie, in South Australia’s scenic Riverland region. Stretching roughly 1.8 to 2 kilometres one-way (around 3.5 km return) along the top of limestone cliffs above the Murray River, it offers dramatic views, local history and artworks. Trail Overview The walk begins near the…

Loch 11 Mildura on the River Murray Introduction Loch 11 at Mildura is one of the most important structures along the River Murray, helping control the flow of Australia’s longest river. It lies near the Victorian city of Mildura, a region known for its irrigation, citrus, and grape industries. The lock and its accompanying weir are vital to managing water levels for agriculture, navigation,…

Early in the morning on Pental Island near Swan Hill in Victoria circa 2020.

This was early in the morning on Pental Island near Swan Hill in Victoria circa 2020. It was a little sanctuary beside the meandering Little Murray River; a sanctuary surrounded by a world of intensive irrigated agriculture and thirsty crops. The Little Murray River is also known the Marraboor River, and it is an anabranch of the Murray River with the Marraboor River and the Murray River…

The Coorong wetlands on the coast of South Australia have a history of being in constant transition and change. This shifting movement between sea, freshwater and land has fostered various forms of life.

The Coorong wetlands on the coast of South Australia have a history of being in constant transition and change. This shifting movement between sea, freshwater and land has fostered various forms of life. The Coorong is a Ramsar-listed wetland and so these shallow, dynamic lagoons are often seen as natural, given that they are a national park. But the Coorong, which is a liminal place that marks…

Living in the flood country of Murray-Darling Basin means living with droughts and floods, with rivers that move and floodplains that change and with no two floods being the same.

I am currently reading Emily O’Gorman’s 2012 Flood Country: An Environmental History of the Murray-Darling Basin (CSIRO Publishing) in the context of the large 2022-23 summer flood of the River Murray was due to the torrential rain caused by a La Niña weather event. This flood had a noticeable impact on the coastal foreshore around the mouth the River Murray. O’Gorman’s’ text in the…

The various rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin often run dry during the frequent droughts and then they flood when the drought breaks and the heavy rains fall. Once such flood event happened during the November 2022-February 2023 period to the heavily

The various rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin often run dry during the frequent droughts and then they flood when the drought breaks and the heavy rains fall. The history of floods in the Murray-Darling Basin show that they are crucial sources of water for people, animals and plants in this often dry region of inland Australia. Once such flood event happened during the November 2022-February…

The effects of the war on nature by irrigation communities in the Murray-Darling Basin

One of the popular white settler views around Federation was the need to create a culture and society premised on the conquest of nature; that human beings needed to establish mastery domination over nature; the natural world was seen as waste; and it was a waste to let the flowing water of the rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin run to the sea. The society that was to be established was an…

I last photographed along the Murray River in 2019 when I explored the area around Lake Bonney, Barmera and the Overland Corner in South Australia. I had intended to return to Lake Bonney with a large format camera, then the Covid-19 pandemic happened. I haven’t returned to the river since. It is time I did so. I have started reading though. I am currently reading Margaret Simons’ quarterly…