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Published: February 6th 2011
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Monday 31st – today we were heading back to the coast. We left Mount Gambier fairly early and had a good journey as the roads were quite quiet. We had thought of staying a night or two at the little coastal town of Beachport but it didn’t seem far enough along our journey west to justify stopping. We still wanted to see the town so made the short diversion from the main highway and parked up on the grass next to the Information Centre where of course we chatted to a couple of charming and helpful ladies. Armed with a map of the area we strolled to the front by the jetty which is very long – 772 metres in fact. It started out being 1220 metres in length but the end part was never very safe so was dismantled in 1882 to leave the jetty of today. We liked Beachport a lot and left already planning to return to spend more time there. It was only just over 40 kms to our intended destination, Robe, so we were soon there. There were several caravan parks to choose from and we weren’t sure which would suit us best so we drove
through the town until we reached the Information Centre – another good one! We had stayed at Robe on our previous trip but it had been just after Christmas, the height of the summer season, and all we could remember was the chaos and the crowds! This time, with the school children back to school, it was much, much quieter and much more appealing to us grey nomads. We decided to go back to the Big 4 site on the outskirts of town and thought we might as well join up in our own names as we would save some money in the long term. I had been ‘Sarah Howells’ on a couple of occasions as we used Sarah and Darryl’s membership card which was still current but I squirmed uncomfortably each time when I thought of the possible embarrassment of being caught out. So, perfectly legitimately, we set up on a ‘double’ (length wise) very roomy site and ate our sandwiches. We soon discovered a wonderful, heated huge indoor swimming pool about 20 metres away but even better than that was the most fabulous stretch of almost empty beach just across the road! As it was a hot sunny
day we did something that we had not felt able to do during the whole of the time we’ve been in Aus – we went for a swim in the sea! There were a few waves but the water was clear and only got deeper very gradually. It was brilliant! We’re not big on sunbathing so came off the beach and went to the CP swimming pool. We were the only ones there so I could indulge myself by doing a few lengths backstroke without worrying who I might hit! Graham enjoyed his swim too. After supper we drove around the perimeter of Robe taking in the harbour and the short, scenic coastal drive. There we spotted some more strange rock formations, an obelisk and the remains of the old gaol. Back through town we stopped at the delightful picnic point by the main beach and familiarized ourselves with the shops and restaurants. All in all we were impressed with Robe and pleased to be spending a few days here.
On Tuesday we ventured into The Little Dip Conservation Park where most of the tracks are for 4 wheel drives only. We should have anticipated that some of the
roads would be poor as we passed a “grader” – a machine used to level particularly bad surfaces and not always successfully. We found our way to the remote campsite called ‘Long Gully’ which had access to the beach. It would have been possible to drive along the beach to the far end of Little Dip. We haven’t done any beach driving yet and Graham was reluctant to venture there on our own as it requires a reduction in tyre pressures and a certain level of experience. Perhaps we’ll do that one day when we can go along with others. Two cars suddenly emerged from the beach from the opposite direction from which they had travelled for several kilometers. We contented ourselves with a walk to the adjacent, sheltered beach – a fabulous little spot with clear blue water, beautiful sand and a small boat (a tinny) moored ready for someone to go fishing. We continued along what was considered the road, making our way towards Nora Creina. It was marked on our guide leaflet, was conveniently placed on our route and had a beach and a potential picnic site. When we got there, after about 20 kms on a
truly terrible road, quite the worst we’ve experienced this trip, we found it all gated off – private property!! Disappointed, we made our way back along the poor road towards Beachport which we eventually reached about lunchtime and consoled ourselves with lunch in the Jetty Café. Unfortunately the weather was dry but a bit blustery so our intended walk to the end of the jetty was cut short when we reached half way for fear of being blown away! When we got back to the car we were amused by a class of school children, perhaps 9 and 10 year olds, whose afternoon lesson was clearly taking place on the beach. They were divided into three groups which seemed to be 1) very experienced 2) capable and 3) wary. Each group had at least two tutors and were being put through their paces, mainly on paddle boards. What a brilliant way for kids to become confident in the sea. With the weather still blustery we did one of our customary things – drove along the tourist scenic drive to various lookouts. Some of the beaches we stopped at were idyllic and the beautiful coastal scenery seemed to go on forever.
Robe Obelisk
It was used as a beacon to guide ships into the potentially treachous harbour at Robe. The inside of the obelisk was originally used to store rockets. The obelisk could soon fall into the sea as the limestone cliffs crumble around it.
Eventually we made our way back towards Robe along the same main road we had travelled with the caravan the day before. On our way back we spotted a sign for The Woakwine Cutting. Puzzled, we went to investigate - it seems that in 1957 the tenant farmer, Murray McCourt, was frustrated by a large area of his land which was always boggy and virtually useless. He set about digging a cutting through rock, which was in places quite deep, for over a kilometer to provide drainage for the area of land. It took about 3 years but was so successful that the marshy ground is now one of the most fertile areas in the whole of South Australia and signs and a small museum of the machinery used exists to show this off to the public. Back in Robe we went to the local lookout – we could just about see the sea and one of the many lakes in the area over the top of trees.
Wednesday was a much nicer day and we decided to take it easy so after a slow start we popped into Robe and strolled along the historic street before we stopped
for lunch in one of the many cafes. We grabbed a few groceries in the supermarket and went back to the CP. We intended to swim in the sea again but come the afternoon it was a bit chilly and the sea seemed to be a few degrees colder so we just paddled. Quite a few children had arrived on the CP and they all seemed to be in the swimming pool so Graham decided to finish reading his book but I waited and eventually the pool emptied out so I was able to go for an uninterrupted swim before the pool closed very early at 6pm.
We were so pleased that we had a second look at Robe and managed to discover another delightful stretch of coastline.
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