Victor Harbour & Wallaroo

The return ferry journey across Backstairs Passage brings us back to the mainland, and we are soon at Victor Harbour to rendezvous with Kay Field and her mum (Beryl). Before meeting them, we set up the van, then take a short journey back to Langhorne Creek and the Bleasedale winery to stock up on their quaffable 2011 red blend. Back at  Victor Harbour, it is drinks with Kay and Beryl, then we all head off to the Beach Shack for dinner.

From Victor Harbour, a slow drive through the eastern suburbs of Adelaide to again escape to the open highway takes us to Dublin for lunch in the local Lions Park and on to Wallaroo on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf. The selection of the North Beach caravan park as opposed to the Office Beach caravan park provides an ideal beachfront outlook, so much so, that we take the opportunity to extend our stay from two to four nights as an absolute beachfront site becomes available. Betty ventures on to the beach and into the shallows at first light and snares a couple of whiting.

Exploring the area, we travel to Moonta Bay and Port Hughes (all part of the Copper Coast), and encounter crabbers and fisherpersons at both jetties. At Port Hughes we both comment that the majority of people fishing are female.

News abounds of blue swimmer crab around the Wallaroo jetty and this demands a visit to the local fishing equipment shop to purchase a crab net. Armed with garfish heads from the fish cleaning shed at the caravan park we join a handful of others working for a catch. We are reliably informed that the jetty becomes overcrowded here at weekends and this quickly depletes the crab stocks, so crabbing on a Monday may not be as productive as later in the week. We soon have two legal size crabs (the small fellas being rightly tossed back) and we are happy to add these to our menu as an entrée to the whiting.

With a beachfront site, this is definitely somewhere we would return to for an extended stay.

That’s it. Time for a bourbon.

Picture Gallery

North Beach Caravan Park

North Beach sunset

Port Hughes jetty

Relaxed                                                         Sweet chilli blue swimmer crabs

Vivonne Bay, Emu Bay & Penneshaw

Vivonne Bay

Only thirty-five minutes drive from Western KI Caravan Park brings us to Vivonne Bay and the mouth of the Harriet River on the mid south coast. Along the way we slowed for a koala leisurely crossing the road, and upon sounding the horn to get this little critter to hurry out of harms way, the response was a hiss, and we are sure that this fluffy marsupial gave us the finger as we passed by.

Vivonne Bay has a self-registration camping area with powered ($25) and unpowered ($15) sites, solar powered hot water showers, camp kitchen with barbeque, wash-up sink and eco toilets. Matilda’s solar powered batteries and on-board water supply allows us to comfortably set up on a unpowered site. Initially the Harriet River gives up undersized bream, so we head off to the local jetty. Nothing at all biting at his spot, but a later attempt in the river provides one legal-sized bream taking chicken as bait.

Stokes Bay

Next day we take a mid-island tour to our next destination, Emu Bay, via Kingscote for supplies, and the recommended-to-us Stokes Bay. The road to Stokes Bay is unsealed, but the very well behaved home-on-wheels behind us is unaffected by the bumpy ride. Although the Stokes Bay outlook is quite attractive, it is a rocky shore that appears to be difficult to fish from, and the camping ground is dry and uninviting. We continue on to Parndana in the centre of the island, stopping there for coffee provided by the very friendly owners of the local IGA and bakery.

 

Emu Bay

Emu Bay camping area provides unpowered sites only, although the self-registration charges list powered and unpowered site prices (same as Vivonne Bay). Toilet facilities are in the park opposite.

Bet goes fishing from the local jetty, and encounters grand-parents and dad with a four year old boy who has just caught his first fish, a tommy ruff. An unknown species of striped fish is caught by Bet, but being an unidentified variety, it is released. In the meantime, Ken prepares roast chicken and roast vegetables in the Weber Baby Q.

We return to the exact same site at the KI Shores caravan park in Penneshaw for an overnight stay to ensure that we won’t be late for check-in at the ferry terminal next morning. Left-over roast chicken from the night before provides a scrumptious filling for lunch sandwiches. Back to Christmas Cove for more fishing, Bet manages to land small whiting, bream, parrot fish, tommy ruff, and zebra fish. The trevally, bream, tommy ruff and zebra fish are keepers, and become the basis for dinner. (With the help of another fisherman and a fish identification book, the zebra fish is the identity of the previous unidentified fish caught at Emu Bay).

That’s it. Time for a bourbon.

Western KI Caravan Park & Wildlife Reserve

 A leisurely two and half hour drive brings us to the Western KI Caravan Park & Wildlife Reserve. What a wonderful outlook. The park is 42 acres of camping ground and wildlife reserve, servicing campers, caravaners and those requiring cabin accommodation.

Extensive grasses dotted with mature trees are home to Cape Barren geese, KI kangaroos, Tammar wallabies, bushy-tail possums, koalas, magpies, New Holland honeyeaters, scarlet robins, fairy wrens, red wattle birds, black cockatoos, rosellas and galahs. The wallabies and magpies will eat directly from our hands, though the practice of feeding the wildlife is discouraged. The rest of the day is for relaxing and just taking it all in.

 

From this western end of KI, we set out to explore the south coast and central area of the island. We check out Hanson Bay and Vivonne Bay as possible later fishing and camping spots. Along the road, an echidna makes a leisurely crossing ignoring the danger of occasional road traffic to get his (or her) snout into the sand on the opposite side to seek for a further feed of ants. Not much further on a lazy black tiger snake basking in the middle of the road gets the feel of our wheels across the back, only to slither into the bush after the event.

Ahead is the highlight of the day – Andermal Marron, Marron Café, and Two Wheeler Creek Wines outlet, all located at a common location in the centre of the island. Marron are farmed here and classified by size ranging from 60g to 700g, and are reasonably price from $35 to $50 per kilogram depending on size. As we could not resist lunching on these delectable crustaceans, we share a dish of oven baked marron with basmati rice, chilli and lime butter, and a dish of chilled marron with Mediterranean salad, all washed down with a glass of Two Wheeler Creek Shiraz. Best meal ever? If not, then very close.

Last day of exploration from this location is spent in the Flinders Chase National Park, at the western most area of the island. At Cape du Couedec, the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources has constructed a network of  boardwalks, stairways and platforms that provide excellent observation areas for viewing the colony New Zealand fur seals dozing on the rocks and diving through the surf.

At the same location, the Admirals Arch archway provides photographic opportunities for capturing the sight provided sea and wind erosion. Just up the road are the Remarkable Rocks, a collection of sea and wind sculptured granite boulders, and our arrival there coincides with clouds moving south and allowing the sun to bathe the landscape in light and shadow. We are thankful that this place is not overcrowded with tourists, and provides the opportunity to take postcard pictures of the attraction.

Back at the caravan park, we dine on our own home cooked curry chicken and rice, accompanied by a local Dudley Pink Bay 2013 Rose.

That’s it.  Time for a bourbon.

Picture Gallery

The Remarkables (Flinders Chase National Park)

Kangaroo Island - Penneshaw

Cape Jervis

Unfortunately, there was a lot of concern as we leave Cape Jervis for Kangaroo Island. Two fishermen have failed to return to the shore and a search and rescue effort is in full swing. Media is well represented, and they formulate their video reports from the high point of the cape adjacent to the lighthouse structure. Ferry passengers are instructed to report any possible sightings of a sunken vessel as we cross the waters to Kangaroo Island.

Loading Matilda

The forty-five minute ferry trip transports us to Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island. We immediately head for the council owned caravan park which we are less than impressed with. Washing machine broken down, grotty barbeque (and obviously not used for a while despite a near-new gas bottle), and very little lawned area, differing remarkably from the green sites in the brochure. Still, take a lot worse than that to spoil our holiday, as we still have the luxury of Matilda (complete with working washing machine). A trip to the local information centre to acquire planning material, a couple of happy hour drinks at the Penneshaw Hotel (‘The Penny’) with its fabulous views from the balcony across the waters to the mainland, then local fish and chips for tea, completes our first day on KI.

With the intention of using Penneshaw as the base for exploring the east end of KI, we drive towards Kingscote, the main town on the island, taking a detour to American River and the Oyster Farm Shop along the way. Surprised to see how expensive some of the seafood is here despite it being local fare. There is a cold breeze blowing and the occasional shower persists, but we still manage to picnic next to the Kingscote jetty before heading off down the road to Clifford’s Honey Farm. Here the produce is created by the Ligurian bee, originally imported from Italy, and the only existing pure strain of this bee in the world. The industry is protected by quarantine of honey products from the mainland. After a honey tasting, we selected their Cup Gum honey and their honey & mustard dressing.

Pennington Bay

Island Beach

Crossing the neck back onto the Dudley Peninsula, we toured south to Pennington Bay. Here is where the blustering southerly was having its most effect, whipping up the waves as they formed and crashed into the south facing beach. Heading to the north-west coast of the peninsula, we could compare the relative serenity of the beaches and camping areas of Island Beach and Browns Beach positively looking like an island paradise location.

Before returning to the caravan park for our second night’s stay, we dropped lines into the waters of Christmas Cove, an artificial boating anchorage at Penneshaw to catch tea – one whiting, one mullet and five tommy ruffs.

Dudley Wines

Next day’s exploration is Dudley Peninsula, the east end of the island. The road deteriorates rapidly and finally becomes unsealed and somewhat corrugated. Dudley wines is situated between the road and the sea, and they have made the best of their cliff-top location with spectacular views across to the mainland. Just the spot for lunch and a wine tasting. Continuing to the end of the road, we see the Cape Willoughby lighthouse.

The spectacular sights continue with views of the rugged coastlines of Red House Bay and Moncrieff Bay, and we take the opportunity to take a walk out to the original lighthouse site on an adjacent bluff. At his point, we get caught in an incoming rain squall and hurry back to shelter of the car. Returning to Penneshaw via Willson River Road we pass the False Cape vineyards of the Lake Breeze winery (Langhorne Creek) and the cellar door of Chapman River wines.

That’s it. Time for a bourbon.

Victor Harbor

The four hour trip to Victor Harbor was punctuated by a ferry trip across the Murray River at Wellington and wine tasting (and buying) at Bleasedale at Langhorne Creek.  The misspelling of Harbor is attributed to the spelling errors of an early South Australian Surveyor General. But, strangely enough the railway station is spelled with a u  OK, this comes from Wikipedia, which means technology is never far away.

The Beachfront Holiday Park is ideally suited to our exploration of this area, being (obviously) right on the coast, and once the weekenders and their children have made their way back home, it’s a peaceful site.

Fifteen minutes walk brings us to the centre of a bustling commercial seaside town, complete with horse-drawn tram and camel rides. We skipped both. A walk in the opposite direction takes us on a pathway around to Encounter Bay where the coast road properties have a clear view across the waters to the horizon.

Fishing again came up with the same result that we’ve experienced before – nothing! Through exceptionally clear waters we can see plenty of fish about the size that you find in a sardine tin, and they are all bait pinchers. The weather remains kind to us, with mostly clear skies and the temperature hanging around the low twenties.

That’s it! Time for a bourbon.

42 Mile Crossing

An hours drive from Kingston is the 42 Mile Crossing camping area in the SA National Park on the Coorong.  Before Richard Fidler is able to finish ABC Conversations for the day, Matilda is unhitched and set up in an area that could be described as a bird sanctuary. The surrounding trees abound with parrots, wagtails, magpies and honeyeaters producing the birdsongs that you hear on recordings as background to classical or chill-out albums.

There are several others campers here – a camping bus, a big RV, a family with their van, and campers in amongst the trees. But there is enough room and you can feel that you are the only ones here.

The true meaning of the Limestone Coast can be seen here as the gravel road to the camp site appears to be the product of the millions of shells in this area, and together with the dampness of the recent showers results the in the car and van being coated with a dusting of white powder

It’s 1.6km 4WD driving over the sand dunes to the beach, and the surf fishing begins – and ends some time later with no produce. We know it’s going to come soon. But as we are rodding (as distinct from fishing) groups of dolphins cavort in the surf, one group of three surfing the waves like their trained captive cousins in the Gold Coast amusement parks.

Back in the camping ground, a big grey kangaroo bounds along the track and into the bush. Somehow this is not surprising given the amount of kangaroo evidence around the campsite (yes, it’s skippy poo everywhere). Nightfall comes with a full moon in  a slightly clouded sky and we are fortunate to be south of the flooding rains that are causing havoc around Adelaide and to the north thereof.

That’s it. Time for a bourbon.

Kingston SE

Didn’t take long to decide to stop again. An hour after leaving Robe we are setting up at the Kingston Caravan Park on a beachfront site.…just looked too good to go past. And lobster sandwich for lunch it is. On a walk down to the beach, we immediately encounter two dolphins swimming parallel to and within thirty metres from the shore. Locals tell us that they have seen pods of up to fourteen dolphins along this beach, including some that come right to the shore’s edge chasing small fish.

Evening fishing from the jetty is generally unproductive, but gave us a magnificent view of the sunset over the Great Australian Bight.

Met neighbours Mick, John, Pam, Janet and Charmaine. Mick had caught around 60 Tommy Ruffs and offered to show us how to get fillets from these little fellas. We joined in the filleting frenzy. Bet was quick on the uptake, but Ken’s fillets left more on the fish than he removed. An invitation to join them for tea leads to a meal of the freshly filleted fish consumed with plenty of red wine, including a bottle of the local Ralph Fowler cabinet sauvignon.

Down to the jetty again for Bet to have a crack at squid jigging. We spot a sea lion basking on the beach. No luck getting squid, so it’s off to the seafood kiosk for a lobster.

That’s it. Time for a bourbon.

Robe

An  hour and a half drive from Port Fairy and brings us to the Blue Lake of Mt Gambier. And at his time of the year, it is at its bluest. Just the spot to break our journey for a picnic lunch. And with the crossing of the border into South Australia, in an instant we have gained half an hour. Technology takes over. The car clock automatically resets, as does the time on our phones. A further two and a half hours drive and we are in Robe.

The Sea-Vu caravan park in Robe is completely booked out of sea view sites. Even at this time of the year, it appears you need to book months in advance. We do however secure a sheltered site, which was fortunate, as the first night brought squalls, which forced us to wind up our awning. Those on the open sea side would have caught the full force of the winds. Still, it is still only a short walk to the beach, to the main street, to the Caledonian Hotel, and to the fish and chip shop. The hotel serves garfish, chips and salad for $15 – delicious!

Robe is an eclectic mix of the historic and the commercial, and seems to be caught between a fishing village environment, and a tourism attraction, without really achieving either.

A day trip up the coast and an exploration to Wrights Bay and Cape Jaffa in search of fishing spots. Wrights Bay has a camping ground where you can park your van or pitch your tent for a small fee per night for those who are self sufficient. That’s all there is, so we drive down to the beach as have a crack with the surf rods to no avail. Cape Jaffa, further north is a fishing village smaller the Robe, where millions of dollars have been invested in creating a residential marina complex and sub-division designed for millionaires. However, it appears that the buy-in rate has been minimal. We have a picnic lunch in a local shelter, and are greeted shortly by members of the Naracoorte Angling Club, who have made this the meeting place at the end of a two day fishing competition. The crux of their completion was not the number of fish caught, but the number of different species. One bloke turned up with snook, flathead, gar, trevally and King George whiting. So we ventured down to the marina and managed to pull in a trevally and a whiting that were eating size, and plenty of undersized trevally that we returned to the water.

Monday the weekend tourists have disappeared from the main street, and we take a leisurely walk around Robe, looking at the historic buildings (dating back to 1835) mixed between newly built houses that stretch upward to gain a view Guichen Bay.

That’s it. Time for a bourbon.

Port Fairy

So we’ve hitched up Matilda and off we go. For those new to Ken’s & Bet’s travels, Matilda is our 20’6” Galaxy caravan, where we rough it in comfort. An easy four and half hour drive along the Princes Highway, including a roadside stop at Winchelsea for lunch, finds us at our first destination – Port Fairy.

The Southcombe Caravan park has nearly 500 sites, and at this time of the year, the caravanners and campers are spread thinly, leaving plenty of room for all. This is in contrast to the March Labour Day long weekend, where this park alone hosts 4000 visitors to the Port Fairy Folk Festival.

Once one of Australia’s busiest ports, Port Fairy has transformed from a thriving whaling industry to agriculture, fishing and tourism. 

During the three days here, we have taken the historic buildings walk around the town, gone swimming and snorkeling at the nearby Pea Soup Beach. The beach is a short walk over the dunes from the caravan  park, and has also been the location where Betty has tried her hand at fishing. She has not been able to catch anything but two small sand mullet, which will be kept for bait when she gets to the crabbing waters. Conversations with other fisherpersons reinforces the fact that there is not much being caught around here at the moment.

We made the one hour interpretive walk around the nearby Griffiths Island, the island being the centre of the whaling industry in the 1830s, and the site of a lighthouse since 1859. The island is now the home to a large mutton bird (short-tail shearwater) colony. The sand is riddled with their burrows, but during our late morning walk all the adult birds would have been out to sea gathering food, and the youngsters well hidden inside the burrows.

That’s it. Time for a bourbon.