Fleurieu Peninsula

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Today we explored the Fleurieu Peninsula. Our first stop was at Rosetta Head, you know that bluff that you can see to the west of Victor Harbour, but you’ve never actually been to any time that you have visited Victor Harbour? I think we have photographed Rosetta Head from Victor Harbour a number of times - now we have photos of Victor Harbour from Rosetta Head!



Next we made our way into the Deep Creek Conservation Park. Hmmn, totally overlooked the fact that we might need a Park Pass to go into the park. There was an entry sign warning of spot checks and fines and referring us to www.parks.sa.gov.au to buy our pass on-line. Of course that sign was right next to the sign warning that we were about to go out of mobile phone range!! We managed to get a single bar on the phone that allowed us to log on and buy our Park Pass so that we were entering the park legally.



We parked at the head of the trail to Boat Harbour Beach only to find out that it is a three and a half hour hike that is rated difficult. With no food and only a small amount of water with us we decided that we were rather under prepared for such an arduous sounding walk! Although we didn’t get down to the beach there were fantastic views looking east back along the coast. There were also lots of kangaroos about so that was quite exciting to see some wild kangaroos.



Back into the car then and let’s head to the other side of the park and see about walking in to Blowhole Beach. After many kilometres of dirt road driving we drove as far as we could go in the Golf along Blowhole Creek Road. A 4WD track continued beyond the car park but, if we were going to go any further, it was going to have to be on foot. The information board at this trail head told us that this walk would take about two and a half hours and was rated moderate. That sounded a bit more doable so we headed off under the watchful eyes of the resident western grey kangaroos.

So glad that we didn’t attempt the ‘difficult’ hike because this very steep ‘moderate’ hike down to Blowhole Beach was quite challenging enough! There were some fantastic views along the way and more grass trees than we have ever seen anywhere before. As we walked down the walking path that was little more than a goat track we wondered if we should return via the 4WD track. Looking back up the hill we decided that the road appeared to be the better option. Although it was a bit longer, at least it was a bit less steep.



We drove back to Range Road which was blissfully smooth after the dirt roads and then we turned north onto the Main South Road to head along the coast of Gulf St. Vincent. It was well and truly time for a late lunch by the time we reached Normanville.



After lunch we called in at Aldinga Beach/Port Willunga to photograph the remains of the old pier. There’s not much of it left these days! We skipped Maslin Beach which, in 1975, was declared Australia's first official nude beach! We continued along the coast via Moana and Seaford before making our next stop at the mouth of the Onkaparinga River. After persistent cloud for most of the day the sun was finally making an appearance mid-afternoon.



Our final stop was Port Noarlunga. When we were here last year we were sure that the reef was man-made. As we walked out the pier again today we started to think that it may, in fact, be a natural reef so we decided that we would have to check Google back in our motel room. It took a bit of searching, but I finally found this at diversdelight.com.au - ‘Despite looking man made, the Port Noarlunga Reef is actually natural’. It certainly looks like a lot of man-made breakwaters that we have seen - it is just so evenly spaced from the shore and so regular looking!



We took the short route back to Victor Harbour by cutting across the Fleurieu Peninsula from Wilunga. Back in Victor Harbour we made some preparations for our trip across to Kangaroo Island in the morning. We filled the car with petrol because it’s probably cheaper on the mainland and we bought some more food at Woolies. We have booked a house on KI so we decided we will prepare a couple of meals ‘at home’ rather than eat out every night on the island. Might save a few $$ that way. We need to recoup some of the outrageous cost of the ferry crossing! We have been led to believe that the ferry to KI is the most expensive ferry crossing in Australia at $188 for a 45 minute trip.





Steps: 18,243 (13.79kms)

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