Blogs from Robe, South Australia, Australia, Oceania

The temperature is predicted to hit 27 degrees today but I am not optimistic enough to reach for my shorts just yet. We only have a short distance to cover; 80 miles up the coast to the resort town of Robe. But this means we will have notched up a total of 20,000 miles in total. After some navigation issues in Millicent (caused by the old man’s inability to tell the difference between left and straight on) we reach Robe mid morning and take a walk along the headland trail. It’s very pretty – a rocky bay surrounded by succulent covered dunes. It has a terribly ugly 1970s lighthouse built to replace the 19th century obelisk which is teetering precariously on the eroding cliff top. We drive further round the coast to Long Beach, a 10 ... read more

After Kingston we found Robe to be quite a contrast. While Kingston felt like a quiet country sea side town, Robe was full of up-market holiday houses, beautifully renovated historic buildings and people with money to spend. It certainly helps that Robe has a number of lakes in the town as well as a beautiful bay; so many houses have water views. A walk down the main street showed many eating options, shops selling high class beach and holiday wear, and shops selling objects to make a holiday house that bit extra special. The town features many old lime stone buildings and a high proportion of these seem to have been very well renovated. But these were not just the standard old houses and pubs; there were stunning shops with quirky courtyards and commercial buildings from ... read more

Friday pm..........went for walk in the town centre.........even went into some shops (aargh!). walked through the university campus and then along the River Torrens, past the Adelaide Oval where they play.........soccer! Interesting variety of bird ( and Rae was with me this time)........saw pelicans, black swans and their cygnets, gulahs (brightly coloured parrots), coots (I think) and other species that I've found out the names of yet. After eating, we went to see the start of the Perth Fringe Festival.......lots of floats with scantily clad women and men on them, advertising their businesses. Today we picked up the hire car and made our way down to Robe...........a bit of a slog.......long quiet, straight roads......not really any views of the "Great Ocean" till we reached Robe but.......we did see our first wild kangaroo hopping over the road ... read more

happy snaps... read more

These small coast-side towns are all truly lovely spots. Kingston comes very close to the very definition of peace and we enjoyed dipping into the icy ocean, cycling to the lighthouse and over to the small creek-surrounded island with its ‘human involvement’ sundial. Kingston is also home to the Big Lobster. What can I say about that… it’s… a big lobster… Our next stop, the fishing port of Robe, was my favourite. It’s got proper old country charm and a lovely laid-back atmosphere. What a pleasure it was to go sit by the pretty beach, go meandering along the main road and duck in and out of the wine shops and galleries (I love the work of glass artist Tim Shaw www.timshawglass.com). Robe has an abundance of old stone cottages (not something you see very much ... read more