Swan Reach to Tailem Bend – Days 303 – 304

After three days at beautiful Swan Reach, it was time to move on. The next planned stop was Tailem Bend, about 100 km south of Swan Reach. Rather than going there directly, we decided to make a slight detour and spend another night at Murray Bridge.

Our stop at Murray Bridge (Day 303) this time was purely for mundane matters such as shopping, clothes washing, and topping up the van batteries and water tanks at the showgrounds camping area where we stayed again. We had not made any attempt to conserve power in the past few days, knowing we could recharge the batteries here. Suffice it to say, all of these activities went splendidly well. In addition, we pre-prepared a few meals that we could just heat up for dinner over the next few days.

Home made burger for dinner tonight

The following morning, after a late breakfast, we set out on the short (26km) trip to Tailem Bend, which we arrived at just before lunch. Here, we stayed at the Tailem Bend Football Club Oval, another low-cost campsite conveniently located on the edge of the small town.

Parked up at Tailem Bend Football Club Oval

After lunch, we went for a walk around the small town. Tailem Bend, dating back to 1886 when the railway first came through the area, is one of the last small rural service towns on the banks of the Murray River before it flows into Lake Alexandrina and thence the Southern Ocean. It is surrounded by fertile river soils where the dairy, pig farming, and grain-growing industries predominate.

Main street of Tailem Bend

There is some debate as to the origin of the town’s name. According to https://www.aussietowns.com.au/, ‘one school of thought argues that it is a corruption of the Ngarrindjeri word “thelim” meaning “bend” – the town is on a bend in the river but if this is true then it is really being called “Bend Bend”. Another school of thought argues that Donald Gollan, an early European settler, called his property ‘Taleam’. Thus “Taleam Bend”. Still others say it has something to do with cutting tails off sheep and others argue that it was Aboriginal advice on how to get cattle to swim across the Murray ‘bendem tail, boss’ which sounds very suspect’.

Heading into town from the oval, the first building of interest we came across was the local RSL club. The RSL, or Returned Services League, is a member-based charity providing support to veterans and their families and linking them to an array of support services. Larger RSL branches typically run bars, gaming machines, and restaurants with the odd museum thrown in. We often dine in RSLs as the food is typically good and reasonably priced. The Tailem Bend RSL, being a small branch, only opens its restaurant and bar on a Friday night, so being there earlier in the week, we missed out.

Further down the street was the town’s well-tended war memorial, surrounded by a beautiful rosemary hedge. The rosemary bushes were propagated from cuttings originating from a small branch brought back to Adelaide, by a wounded Digger, from Gallipoli during the Great War. The memorial was originally erected to commemorate those who died in service or were killed in action in World Wars One and Two. The memorial’s scope has since been extended to the memory of all those who lost their lives during all wars and conflicts for the sake of peace.

Tailem Bend War Memorial

The town supports at least six churches, by my count. Not bad for a population of around 1,700 though people from outlying areas may come in for services.

Tailem Bend Anglican and Uniting Churches

Often equaling or outnumbering churches in small towns are drinking establishments. While there are only two hotels in Tailem Bend, the Tailem Bend Hotel and the Riverside Hotel, there are other drinking options available such as the RSL mentioned earlier. But, I think here the churches have it!

The Tailem Bend Hotel was first licensed in 1902. The current owners, Frank and Alison Dean, originally owned the hotel over 30 years ago and decided buy it back in 2017.

Right across the road from the hotel is the former railway station, now a tourist office and railway museum.

Tailem Bend former railway station

While the railway first past through the Tailem Bend area in 1886 there was insufficient demand or activity to sustain a station until 1913 when the now former station was built as a junction station between, I think, three lines. In May 1999, the station closed when The Overland (a now twice weekly passenger train between Adelaide and Melbourne – the only passenger service on the line), then operated by Great Southern Rail, began operating on a new timetable that skipped multiple stations including Tailem Bend.

The station was restored and on May 22, 2005, it reopened as a museum. The packed museum showcases a wealth of historical relics and memorabilia from the town’s railway past, together with the original working signal box. It’s an absolute treasure trove for a railway buff like me.

Inside the original signal box

Outside the station is one of the original steam engines that entered service in 1913, the year the station was built.

A sadly decaying RX201 locomotive. Built in Glasgow by the North British Locomotive Company in 1913 it was decommissioned and located here in 1967.

A few metres further on from the station is a display entitled ‘Tailem Bend Uneek Animals’. The display, created by the local Lions Club and opened in 2017 consists of around 40-50 animals of the Coorong and Mallee regions, mostly fabricated from scrap metal.

These where not the only model animals dotted around the town. There were a few along the main street which I could not properly access to photograph due to road work going on.

On the main highway, however, I came across an oversized rhinoceros, which I believe is an advertisement for the nearby Monarto Safari Park that I had visited a few days earlier (review HERE).

I also encountered this tin elephant image on The Tin Elephant, a local bric a brac shop.

The last stop on our short town walk was the Murray River itself which we sat and admired for a while before heading back to camp, via one of the town’s coffee shops.

The river crossing at Tailem Bend which we will take tomorrow.

In the meantime, I will concur with the summation on the Tin Elephant Facebook page – ‘Tailem Bend more than just a fuel stop’.

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The next review from my Adelaide to Canberra road trip can be found HERE.

Should you wish to follow this road trip from the beginning please start HERE.

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