| Waikerie |
| From
Morgan the Murray River
takes a sharp bend east, meandering south to WAIKERIE; it’s 32km
from Morgan to Waikerie on a riverside road, with a crossing at Cadell. A
less attractive drive from Blanchetown bypasses the river loop, reaching
Waikerie directly by heading 42km northeast along the Sturt Highway.
Waikerie is at the heart of the largest citrus-growing area in Australia
and has a thriving fruit
juice company. The first impression you get is of immense scale - more
than 5,000 hectares of fruit orchards and vineyards are under cultivation
in what was once desert country. The first
thing you notice is Waikerie Co-op Producers, a huge complex taking
up both sides of a street – the “largest fruit-packing house in the
southern hemisphere”. |
|
|
| This
apart, it’s a pleasant town with many fine sandstone buildings. On
the north side of the river you find important fossil deposits, one of the
few places in Australia where crystallised gypsum fossils exist in great
number. Waikerie is internationally regarded as a gliding
paradise where joyrides can be experienced in the gliding season.
CLIFFTOP
LOOKOUT |
| Not
far from Waikere town centre, this lookout provides a spectacular
panoramic view over the river, cliffs, the town and surrounding land and
Hart and Jaeschke Lagoons with abundant birdlife. |
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