Steam Train, Pt Elliot, Middleton & Goolwa

Today, after we made the decision to stay another night as we were enjoying exploring Victor Harbor (albeit on foot) we made a judgement call (in between showers) to walk back into town and kill time before catching the Cockle Steam train to Goolwa.  Originally it was a service between Goolwa to Port Elliot originally in 1854 as a first line to the colony as an outlet for the Murray River trade(food produce, meat livestock etc)  in the 19^th Century. Port Elliott was a bad choice due to lack of shelter, shallow anchorage meant seven shipwrecks between 1853 and 1864.  The railway was extended to Strathalbyn to Adelaide and later to Victor Harbor.  You can catch the train from Mt Barker for the day and catch the train back at around four.

It was amazing to see how many people caught the train with us and how many carriages there were.  It was also a romantically nostalgic thing for passersby, kids playing near the line and people who lived near the line as there were waving hands all along the journey! Some children even ran a fair distance along their footpaths trying to keep up!  Some people pulled over in their cars to take photos as we went through crossings!  It was amazing that for half the journey until we got to Port Elliott, that the train line was close to the beach as you could possibly get!  Amazing!

  The train from Mt Barker was joined to ours at Goolwa and those passengers stayed on their train to journey with us back to Victor Harbor.  This train had more than seven carriages of people who came for a day visit, lunch at the many pubs and for all sorts of touristy activities offered at VC.  Many pubs were offering all day breakfasts, lunches, coffees, live music and a number of speciality shops were also open.

We stopped at the Goolwa station which was also right near the bridge to the mouth of the Murray as well as near a number of wine or spirit manufacturers which were very busy with tourists as well. The only suggestion I would have is that a bus to take train passengers around Goolwa for a twenty-minute trip would be a great extra as part of the ride.  It was fabulous to see so many people who volunteer to make the train journey happen twice weekly.

The carriage we travelled in on the way back was once used by Princess Di and Charles on their visit to Victor Harbor!  It has been restored and preserved with the embossed pink as you can just see in the photo!  Before heading back to the caravan park, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice Italian treat of Pizza!