I can’t think of a better place than somewhere along the banks of the Murray River in South Australia, for a truly relaxing carefree break in the caravan, and luckily there are still some low cost and even free spots to spend a few serene days.

One such spot is Tenbury Hunter Reserve at Swan Reach. This area is just a short walk from the ferry that you can use to cross the river by car or on foot, and the ferry runs 24/7.

Tenbury Hunter Reserve is completely free to stay and you can choose where to park along a fairly big stretch of river frontage. There are a few rubbish bins around and a clean and maintained flushing toilet. You can also have a contained fire at the right time of year.

Once you’re set up there’s little to do other than relax and watch the river flow and be mesmerised by the ferry crossing back and forth all day and night. Heavenly.

There’s also plentiful birdlife to watch with pelicans, ducks, water hen, cockatoos, kookaburras and kites constantly in the picture.

If you’re lucky you may also see a couple of riverboats passing by including the Murray Princess paddle steamer and the Proud Mary, both very impressive boats that take passengers on trips along this stretch of the river.

You can try your luck at fishing here, no permit required, and although you’re more likely to catch rubbish European Carp, you may be lucky and catch something a little more palatable.

There’s no need to unhitch as you can walk to the ferry close by and cross as a pedestrian, and on the other side you can walk up the initially steep hill, to the township and discover the shops, or you can drop in and have a meal at the lovely Swan Reach Hotel. There is plenty of dining space inside and outdoors there is a large beer garden that overlooks the river and ferry.

Next to the hotel you’ll find the Swan Reach Dark Sky Takeaway shop which is owned by a couple, he a chef, who took ownership in April this year. You can eat in at the café or elect to take away from their extensive menu of breakfasts, sandwiches, burgers, fish and chips, hot meal packs and more.

For those of you with questions about the ferry as we had, this is what we learned. The ferry operators work a 12 hour shift from 6 to 6, an alarm sounds in their cabin to alert them to a vehicle waiting on the other side and for walkers there’s a box next to the boom gates with a call button and instructions on alerting the ferry operator. The cables that guide the ferry go to a depth of 1.7 metres here, and the ferry operators are happy to answer these and other questions they can, if time permits on your journey across the river.

The road runs quite close behind the camping area but apart from a little bit of road noise during the day, we didn’t notice anything annoying overnight.

After you’ve discovered Swan Reach and enjoyed the short ferry ride, you can return to your riverfront home away from home and the business of relaxing.

Swan Reach is less than 140 kilometres from Adelaide on the Murray River.

Enjoy

Glenys

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