Blanchetown is a small township in South Australia, on the (west) bank of the Murray River, 130 km northeast of Adelaide. The Blanchetown Bridge is the western-most (and farthest downstream) of the four crossings of the Sturt Highway over the Murray River. During the nineteenth century it was an important transportation centre on the lower Murray. In modern times Blanchetown has been described as "a strange mixture of historic buildings and temporary shacks built by holidaymakers on the banks of the river". Blanchetown is widely regarded as the entrance to the Riverland district.© Wikipedia
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We stopped at Blanchetown in South Australia for morning tea during our trip from Mannum to Renmark following the mighty Murray River. There is a large BP service station on the edge of town as you approach from Adelaide - about 135 kilometres away. We had a look at the Big 4 Riverside Caravan Park before heading to a nearby parkland on the banks of the river.
Blanchetown is home to Lock 1, completed in 1922, and the first on the Murray River system. The Lock and weir were originally built to provide year-round navigation for cargo boats and irrigation to surrounding farmland. The lock is still used for irrigation purposes and is important for recreation boating. Boats pull into a structure beside the lock to go up or down the river and the lock is open from 8 am to 4 pm. There were a number of pelicans and shags sitting on posts and on the water below the lock to catch fish that were flowing over the weir.
The park located below Lock 1 has picnic tables, plenty of shade and information boards about the lock and history of Blanchetown. There are public toilets above the park and plenty of room to park while towing the caravan.
There is another caravan park on the other side of the bridge called Blanchetown Caravan Park (near Paisley Wetland) and also a camping Ground known as River Palms Holiday Park (accessed from the edge of town). Houseboats are popular on the Murray and you can hire one in Blanchetown for a relaxing holiday cruising up and down this section of the River. Of course it is also popular for fishing and water skiing. There are some large cliffs at Blanchetown famous for changing colours as the sun hits them from different angles - look closely and you will see a range of fossils such as starfish, shells and fish.