Travelling with dogs:  We were happy to have our two Spoodles with us. They enjoy travelling and can be considered seasoned travellers. They do not present any problems and are easy to look after on a trip. They are Coffee set dogs used to going for a coffee and settling down under the table. They always order the same thing, a ‘doggy-chino’ no no, only joking, but this may be a business opportunity, a bit like a ‘baby chino’. (:-)) The only burden has been getting the sand out of them after we spent a few hours on the beach.

Coffee dogs

Coffee Dogs.. me included

Views from Cowie Beach

Fisherman returning

We had discovered a beautiful and secluded cove when we did our escarpment walk and spent some more time there in the last few days.The locals call it Cowie Beach. It is located just inside the start of Rivoli bay. See pics above.

The cliff face above Cowie beach looked like an underground cave with one wall collapsed or ripped off. When you look at the pictures below and zoom in you can clearly see stalectites and in some instances the corresponding stalegmites.

Stalectites at the cliff above Cowie beach

Stalectites at the cliff above Cowie beach

In Robe we came across a new delicious Marlborough Sav Blanc called Babich. Dawn came across some more of this wine when we were in Millicent and we consumed this on the beach at sunset, truly magic.

Babich Sav Blanc

Our second visit to Beachport revealed an attractive town. It comes across as modern, clean and organised. There is adequate signage everywhere. Large trees make for an eye-pleasing skyline. There are two good looking caravan parks with grassy sites. There also are some well-maintained stone buildings, one being the local hotel. We traveled along the Bowman scenic drive that took us out of Beachport past some spectacular seascapes. See pics

Work on Beachport boat launching facility

The Hotel

I wanted to compare the infrastructure work being done at Beachport to what was not happening at Southend. Some brochures call these two towns ‘sister towns’ as they are connected by 15 km of beach. They are at opposite ends of Rivoli Bay. However the two towns look as if they are being treated very unequally. At Beachport there is so much evidence of investment in infrastructure, just like we had seen in so many coastal towns in South Australia. Sea walls have been built and the slipway is being beefed up to make it withstand the spring tides. At Southend the sea has been allowed to wash away dunes and beach to the point where houses and cabins are now unsafe and are partially dangling in the air or perching on a precipice just shy of subsiding onto the beach. There is no evidence of any recent work being done here. Even the groynes that had been built only a few years ago are being destroyed by the sea. The neglect of conservation for this town is visible to all.

Southend beach erosion

Sorry sight at Southend

Southend: sea is about to claim a cabin

I am left wondering why this neglect is happening. In 5 weeks of touring South Australia this is the only town we have come across where no infrastructure work has been done recently. On my return home I am going to make a few phone calls to try and understand why this is so.

On the 13^th of November we travelled home, a mere 485km. Along the way we passed through Hamilton, just south of the Grampians. They always look spectacular from a distance. That got us thinking… A long weekend visiting the Grampians? Exploring plenty of 4wdrive tracks? That may be on the cards for the next trip (J)

Grampians in the distance

We are at the end of the trip and have done some 4500 km. The Southwest of this state, from Port Augusta east and south, this state is beautiful, vibrant and progressing. The South Australians are some of the friendliest people I have met in this great country of ours.

Come to think of It, we have just scratched the surface of a small patch of this massive and sensational Australia. It has many varied and diverse landscapes and seascapes across its face. We are geographically and topographically so diverse it will take a lifetime to see it all. What a challenge!

Walking the Caravan

We booked in at the Southend Caravan Park where we had been for a week 18 months before. Everything is very dry at this time of the year. There were only a handful of travellers when we booked in, so we got to pick the best spot in the park. We positioned ourselves behind a dune on the other side of the beach. The spot is protected by a few trees and the wind just bounces over the top. At night the waves sing you to sleep. It is very relaxing.

The ‘Engel’ car fridge/freezer

Our Camp

The next day we went to Millicent to get some supplies. This is a lovely town in the east of South Australia. The people are friendly and there are some shady and grassy places in the parks. We had some coffee at the ‘Java Café’ and noticed this great idea printed on a poster on the front of the shop. In a gesture of cheer and goodwill the Uniting church has started the concept of a ‘Kind coffee’. Patrons of the Café or members of the community or parishioners are able to donate money for providing members of the community, who were doing it hard, with a hot coffee for free. These are people who could not afford the spare $5. See pics.

The next morning we decided to go to Beachport for a coffee. So instead of travelling the normal route, I deflated the tyres to 20 pounds/sq.inch and we drove the 20 kilometers along the beach. There were a few patches of porridge (soft wet sand), but the rest was easy. After the coffee we returned by the same way to Southend.

In the afternoon we walked along the cliff tops and got to a secluded beach where we had to clamber down rocks. We spent a good hour playing on the beach before we returned. On the path back I saw evidence of shell deposits in the bank along the path. Only problem was that we were walking on a path six meters above the sea. The sea level must have been much higher a few thousand years ago.

Seashells 6 meters above sea level?

Commercial fishermen returning their catch

Secluded cove

When we were walking on the beach at Southport it suddenly hit me that the one thing missing here were signs of investment in infrastructure. This is the first place we have come across that has not had any work done to improve or preserve infrastructure. In fact since our last visit the seaward face of the dunes had been eroded and swept away by rough spring tides. Like at Byron Bay and Norah Heads we have here evidence of rising sea levels and coastal erosion. Unless local or State government do something about this a number of properties will disappear over the next few years. Here at the caravan park the owner had to sell a number of buildings before they disappeared into the sea, see pics.

I am smart, right? When we go caravaning I use my fridge in the caravan to store and chill produce. I also use my portable Engel 40l fridge as a freezer and it lives in my truck. That is good planning as I run it at -10 degrees from a deep cycle battery and thus can take produce along that keeps for a long time. That means I have ice cream available for a long time; haha.  When the car is running the battery is powered by the car. When the car is not running the battery is powered by mains power (240v). An inverter changes the power to 12v for the battery. All good so far!

When I use the car I unplug the 240v lead and plug in the 12v lead. This works great until today when I took off with the car without unplugging the 240v lead. As a result I ripped the lead out of the plug, the wires shorted and tripped the power in the caravan. So no power in the caravan or the freezer. Not so smart hey? I only realised my problems when I returned home and saw the bare wires lying on the grass. I’ll Have to do better next time.

The road south was interesting as it travels along the Coorong which is an inland lake system that exists parallel with the dunes and the sea from Kingston to the Murray river mouth, around 150 km. There are scenic spots that overlook the lakes in a number of places. Years ago I took my sons camping and fishing along this stretch of coast.

Closer to Robe the countryside looked even better with forests and wineries lining the highway. Every now and then there were grain fields and paddocks growing hay. It’s very agricultural down here.

Part of Robe, nestled into the hillside

Decided to buy this one — only kidding!

Robe is a picturesque seaside tourist resort with a long beach northwards that gets you to Cape Jaffa at the low tide. During summer the population swells from a few thousand to 10,000 people. It used to have a Hippie feel about it years ago. These days there has been a lot of development and it sports a harbour for recreational and commercial fishing craft. There has been new development all over the place.

New Age lighthouse at Robe

We booked in at the Sea Vu caravan park. This park certainly lives up to its name. It is situated on a small hill close to town and offers views, of the Robe bay all the way to Cape Jaffa, from most of the sites. In fact the views must be some of the best sea views from any caravan park in Australia.

Sea Vu Caravan park from the Marina

4/11

Today the wind blew up a storm. So we did some sightseeing. Travelling around Robe we came across the Marina and at the point of the bay we saw a beautiful Nature sculpture called ‘Doorway Rock’ where wind and water had eroded a passage through the sandstone to create the illusion of a door.

Doorway rock

The Robe Marina

The new and modern lighthouse is fully automated and even looks good. We found a way onto the beach at Long beach where one can drive on sand, next to the ocean for 30+ kilometres. As the bay is shallow it provides safe swimming most of the time. Here Dawn and the dogs had a run around in the strong wind and driving sand, crazy.

Navara, 10km up the beach at Robe

Family having fun

Commercial Fisherman returning with day’s catch

When we returned to Robe we visited the ‘Wild Mulberry’ Café. The name is derived from the mulberries that grow around the building. We had some really good coffee and a ‘Doorstop’ bacon and egg sandwich with relish and melted cheese. Yum that was good. The toasted bread was thick and marbled. Yum again! Tonight we will go out to the local hotel once more for some good food and a glass of wine.

Cafe Terre

What an ‘Outhouse’.

When I walked back from the outhouse I came across this young Sprite guarding some dogs (J)

Must be a Lavender Sprite!

On our last day at our caravan park we saw what must be the ultimate touring rig. When is Xmas??? The Camper was towing a special trailer that had a toolbox for storage, space to park a Suzuki Vitara and hold a Tinnie and a motor. There was a special device to lower the Tinnie to the ground. Wow, enough to make your mouth water.

Dear Father Christmas, I have been a good boy all year……

Church converted to cafe in Willunga

A scenic drive through rolling hills got us to Victor Harbor. This is a charming town on the Fleurieu tourist route. It also is one of the ways to Cape Jarvis from where the ferry departs for Kangaroo island. By the time we reached Victor Harbor it was definitely time for a coffee which we then followed with some sight-seeing.

How is this for chance; I was born in Munich, Bavaria

Victor Harbour is a natural harbour with 3 islands surrounding a natural bay. This offers protection for small craft from the elements. It also offers deep water harbouring from Granite island as the bay is a shallow water bay. Granite island is joined to the mainland by a very long jetty that is sturdy enough for vehicle traffic and a horse drawn cart for the tourists. One can also walk across and look up the displays regarding the history and geology of the area.

The horse and cart transports only tourists these days

The long Jetty to Granite island

There are some special buildings in this town and the foreshore garden has a big tale to be told. In fact it is a whale of a tail (J) see pic. The connection is the Southern Right whales that visit every year and frolick in the bay.

A true Whale of a Tail fountain

Across Encounter bay

We drove along the beachfront to Encounter bay and then went on to Normanville. The road took us through a number of lovely small places including the rich and fertile Inman valley. The landscape is green and in places sports green forests around the Myponga reservoir.

Great scenery around the reservoir

We drove through the town of Yankalilla to Normanville. After all we had been told about it we were a mite disappointed and so we went on north up to Sellicks Beach where I found, to my great delight, than I could take the Nissan Navara onto the beach. This was the first time in almost 2 years that I have driven on the beach and the moment was almost like having a religious experience. (:-))

Driving on the beach, almost better than ice-cream.

Navara on the beach

We  ran around the beach with the dogs for a while before returning to our caravan in the McLaren Vale. The area is so beautiful and we were having such a blast that we decided to extend our stay by a few days.

We decided to explore the Adelaide beaches as we had never been there on previous visits to Adelaide. We picked Brighton and Glenelg as they are beautiful sea-side suburbs. Brighton is really neat and green and has lovely homes with great gardens. The cafes are trendy and we sat down for a hot ‘flat white’. The beaches are well maintained with good infrastructure.

Where is the coffee?

Brighton Pier

Roses

Brighton beach looking onto the next suburb

Glenelg was the next place we stopped off at. Lots of Apartment buildings on the beach and a small boat marina made this place look very Yuppy. We returned back south to McLaren Vale via some beach suburbs and stopped off at Maslin Beach. Here we took the dogs for a swim and had a great walk along the beach. We thought we saw one guy frolicking in the surf without his swimming trunks. On our return to the caravan park we found out that Maslin beach is a known nudist beach; hahaha.

Glenelg Beach front

As we had a few hours left to the afternoon we went off to do some wine tasting. A friend had recommended some good wineries that we now looked up. At both the wines were excellent. In fact I tasted some of the best Shiraz I have ever tasted. As a bonus the area is spectacularly scenic; see pics of gardens at Corlio wines and Samuel Gorge wines.

Corlio’s gardens

The gardens and flowers here at the McLarenVale wineries are some of the best I have ever seen.

The trip through Adelaide was a pain in a certain part of my anatomy and took an hour. Just as well I do not have to do this on a weekly basis. Along the way we came through a bush fire in its early stages. This unfortunately developed into a major grass fire that closed the road and also claimed the life of a fire-fighter. Soo sad!

The last week at Port Vincent just flew by (23/10-28/10). We spent days relaxing at the water’s edge and watching the tide come in. They have a school program that teaches the children about kayaking, sailing, windsurfing and water skiing. I took the dogs for a walk along the sand-bar at the spring low tide and watched the shells and crabs do their thing. At high tide we had rays come in right up to the stairs to the caravan park.

Sailing

Afternoon smming at Port Vincent

We spent an afternoon going to Stansbury, just down the road, to look at their very long jetty. The real point of interest however turned out to be the red sandstone cliffs close to the coast. They were full of holes that had been worn away by birds of ages past, but were now occupied by flocks of domestic pigeons that had turned feral and making their own way independent of man. Very interesting how quickly this happens! On the other hand we had a repeating ceremony play itself out where feral birds had become reliant on man. Every day the fishermen were gutting their catches at the cleaning station and feeding the pelicans that were loitering around all day long. When the pelicans opened their beaks they revealed a cavity big enough to swallow a baby, including pram. They have a little hole in their thorax through which they make a trumpeting sound; see pics.

Waiting for a meal.

Me please!

The next day our very friendly neighbour asked me to come along fishing on his boat ‘Duifken’ which is Dutch for little dove. We had a great day all around the coast catching squid, whiting and snook. The snook are around 30 to 55 cm in length, give you a good fight and taste great once you have prepared them properly. We had a great day and after a few beers later that evening. I was exhausted from all the fresh air and exercise. The cleaned fish and squid has been cryo-vacked and frozen for an evening meal of Salt & pepper squid, yum.

Duifken

These little fellas are everywhere

I find the Yorke peninsula staggering at this time of the year. Wherever you drive, as far as the eye can see, you see grain fields. It is beautiful; fields of Barley, Wheat, Pulses and Green fertilizers that get ploughed straight back into the paddock, no wonder they call this Australia’s food basket. I cannot express things better than the link below. There you will find all the facts and pictures for this area. The link takes you to one of the main pages. Explore the many fantastic links from there.

http://www.harvestcorner.com.au/#!farming/c84j

After an hour of driving through cropping farms we arrived in Moonta. The town has a central park with a generous grassy area and many shady old Fig trees and public facilities. This is a reasonable size centre which proudly displays its rich copper mining heritage in the many well maintained churches, official buildings and miner’s cottages.

Great architecture

Moonta square

School of Mines

Miner’s cottage

The history is proudly displayed also in an artist’s contribution in the form of a collection of mining related sketches that include a picture of Elizabeth Woolcock, the only woman to be executed ever in South Australia. See pic below:

Artists sketches of mining

Elizabeth Woolcock

An internet search will reveal the following in Wikipedia:

Elizabeth Woolcock (20 April 1848 – 30 December 1873) was born Elizabeth Lillian Oliver in Burra Burra and was hanged in Adelaide Gaol for the murder of her husband Thomas Wollcock by mercury poisoning.

As one drives through the suburbs of Moonta one arrives in Moonta bay. The large jetty here is well known for being a good fishing and squidding spot. Just down the road is Port Hughes, another lovely coastal gem that is expanding rapidly.

Massive Jetty at Moonta Bay

From there we drove through an increasingly arid landscape to the port of Wallaroo. I found the shipping terminal with its massive ship loading infrastructure fascinating. Wallaroo is also a base for the trawling fleet and if you like boats you will enjoy having a look at the trawlers there.

Kadina has the ‘larger town’ feel as you drive through the light industry areas leading into the town. It is a great town with good public facilities and we went for a walk and stretched our legs before we made our way back to Port Vincent. There we spent a pleasant afternoon on the beach  swimming the dogs and soaking up the tranquility.

Port Vincent – even the fish like it!