Coorong to Monarto :: Day 7 :: Raukkan, Ferry Crossing, Monarto

After packing up and cleaning up, we drove to Coorong Fresh Seafood Meningie for the famous Coorong mullet. 

The shop was actually closed but he opened the door when he spotted us through the door. We bought the mullet, king prawns and King George whiting.

My parents drove home to Adelaide whilst we drove towards Monarto to Kim’s dad’s. We hope that they had an amazing relaxing time with us.  

We detoured to Raukkan, the birth place of David Unaipon and his father James.  The town felt very isolated. The state of the playground spoke a thousand words. It seemed lonely, broken and unloved. 

We met a couple of missionaries outside the closed doors of the Raukkan Gallery. They were a man and woman, in their late 60s. They were looking for the town’s leader, not realising we were tourists. We started conversing and I asked where they were from and their response was they were from nowhere. 

I came away with more questions than answers. Maybe someone out there would respond to my questions.

I found their response perplexing. How can someone not be from anywhere? What are their roots? Did they teleport here from outer space? Did the abandonment of their origins meant freedom for them to practice their religion? Did they specifically come to Raukkan, knowing that it was a lonely, broken and unloved? 

In any case, I was suspicious. Purely because I would find it distasteful if someone comes to my house and criticised that my practices were wrong rather accept the difference then respect it. 

Perhaps this is the belief of the missionaries and I too have to accept the difference and respect it.

At the Narrung Ferry Crossing, where Lake Albert kisses Lake Alexandrina, the children and I walked on since the ferry wasn’t busy. It is a 24/7 free service provided by the government. The captain let us into his cabin to watch the pelicans and cormorants that were perched on the ferry landing protectors. His sun-bleached-wrinkly face smiled when we thanked him for his kindness. 

The second ferry crossing to Wellington was much different. There was a queue of vehicles on either side. The fan-forced oven air was almost unbearable. We called in at Wellington Courthouse by the river. They were already out of ice-cream. The male owner was lovely but the lady owner was not as hospitable.

Kim’s dad’s farm in Monarto was bone dry from the heat. Rain had been sparse for a long period of time. This affected growing feed on the land for their cows. Sadly, they had to be sold. I felt a sense of guilty and skipped shower for a day. The children didn’t have one either.

As dad left water out for the magpies, they flew down from the trees by the chicken shed, drank to their hearts content and serenaded.

 

As the farm is near the Ferries McDonald Conservation Park, there are plentiful of wildlife. The mallee woodland is home to the vulnerable Malleefowl. The proximity between farm and wildlife means that they were bound to clash. A few days ago, as dad was driving along the road nearby, he ran into a kangaroo. Possibly, the kangaroo ran into him. The result was a dead kangaroo and a trip to the car panel repairer’s.

We fed the chickens and watched the guinea fowls perched in the trees like pheasants. Dad reported that a few months ago, it was raining guinea fowls, like the pheasants that fell out of the trees in Roald Dahl’s Danny, The Champion on the World. Needless to say, the fox had a feast. 

The horses, dogs and cat enjoyed the extra attention. Mary, the oldest horse here seemed much older now. Her physic was lacking compared to the younger horses. She was likeable as she was very calm.

The wild rabbits were rampant here. Their warrens littered the farm. The warrens were close to the shed where the feed were kept. The cat and dogs didn’t seem to keep them at bay. 
 

We had a simple dinner of pan-fried Coorong Mullet and salad.