Chasing Storm Boy

A south to north wander through the Coorong region, SA, is inspired by the novel Storm Boy and its pelican protagonist Mr Percival.

Story + Photos Mandy McKeesick

"His home was the long, long snout of sandhill and scrub that curves away south-east from the Murray Mouth. A wild strip it is, windswept and tussocky, with the flat shallow water of the Coorong on one side and the endless slam of the Southern Ocean on the other.”

These are the opening lines of Colin Thiele’s novel Storm Boy, about a child growing up in this region of SA and his connection to a pelican named Mr Percival. There is no better guide for a journey through the Coorong than this 1964 classic tale and its two movie imaginings, pitched to children, but beloved by all.

It is less than 200km from Kingston, the lobster-loving southern gateway to the Coorong, to the mouth of the River Murray near Goolwa. It can be travelled by bitumen or beach, or slowly by canoe or other watercraft, around the freshwater reservoirs of Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert/Yati. At every turn there are pelicans, for it is a major breeding site for these emblematic birds.

At Kingston, John and Valerie Sparrow are preparing to reconnect with the Coorong, having been wandering through this area for 50 years. “There is a quietness about this place and a great diversity of environments,” Valerie says. They are joined on Kingston’s jetty by crowds, who use fishing as an excuse to watch the sun settle over the ocean.

Their journey starts in earnest at The Granites, 17km to the north, where a short walk from the bitumen brings them to rounded boulders in the waves of Ninety Mile Beach. A white gravel road leads north, and crossings to the beach require John to deflate tyres and employ sand-driving skills to motor through the dunes of the Younghusband Peninsula.

It is possible to drive along the beach from Kingston to the Murray Mouth, but that would mean playing chicken with the tides. Near Wreck Crossing, Shaul Arnold and his family are lunching on the beach. “We’re camped at Meningie and wanted to do this beach run because the kids are looking for Storm Boy,” Shaul says with a grin. “I’ve been over the Simpson [Desert], so I have a bit of sand experience, but this can still be testing. You’ve got to keep up your momentum and watch the tide, and I’m thinking ahead to possible exit points.”