Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden in Port Augusta

On day 36 of our journey, we had to pause at Port Augusta because the Flinders Ranges National Park had been closed for a ‘pest control program’ until the evening of the following day. By the way, it is always a good idea to check the national parks’ official website for planning your travel. This will get you latest information on any closures or important notices.

In Port Augusta, which we experienced as a perfect melange of a sleepy old-days harbor town and decent commercial and industrial city, we had time to take care about basic things like refilling our supplies, laundry, etc.

We also took the opportunity to visit the Australian Arid Lands Botanical Garden. The gardens are well worth a visit as they provide a good introduction to arid flora. They even have a section on bush tucker – and yes, of course I tried one of the desert fruits. I’d better take another lesson on bush food. The fruit was sour to the extent that it left my mouth dry and with a ‘tanned’ feeling. My suspicion is – that one wasn’t ripe enough for eating yet.

There was no other way of getting the taste cleared out than to have lunch at visitor center, where they also sell some of the plants in case you want to create your own arid garden. When you have lunch there, try one of the “Arid Whirls”.

After a hot day in the botanical garden, we spent the afternoon at the pool and made final arrangements for our drive to Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges.

Yorke Peninsula and Edithburg

Today we took the scenic route via the light house at Corny Point, and Flaherty Beach then cutting across the Yorke Peninsula via Warooka to Edithburg. Edithburg is a sleepy little town, which offers a nice tidal pool. I took a swim. It’s cool water, but perfectly refreshing on a hot day. Along the way we also used the opportunity to turn into lookouts. On one of them our SatNav got lost – or do you understand what it is trying to tell us on the picture below?

From Edithburg, we took the car straight to Port Augusta, where we would spend two nights to give us a day of rest and some preparation time for the Flinders Ranges. On our way out, the Yorke Peninsula impressively demonstrated what a granary can looks like. We drove for hours along harvested fields and bypassed some of the largest corn silos and loading docks, which I have seen so far, in Ardrossan and Port Pirie.

Innes National Park

We spent the full day at Innes National Park. It’s located on the very southwestern cape of the Yorke Peninsula. It became a national park in the 1970’s, when the gypsum mine had to shut down.  You can still see remainders of the mining operations throughout the park. Most prominent is the Stenhouse Bay Jetty with it large funnel structure feeding gypsum from top of the hill to the ships docked at the jetty. Nature though has taken back most of it.

The park is a sanctuary for roos, a rare species of wallabies, emus and numerous birds and reptiles. In the morning, we drove to the very northeast end of the park at Browns Beach, which provides a spectacular view on a stretch of sandy beaches framed by mighty dunes. Throughout the day we worked our way back towards the entrance of the park.

Via Barossa Valley to Marion Bay, Yorke Penninsula

On this day, the dashboard of our rental car from Europcar squeeked. It had reached its regular service interval. Fabulous! Do you blokes check the cars when you hire them out for required service or technical deficiencies? I guess not. Let the customer do the testing. Great learning you took over from the software and now “app” industry.

Alright, let’s call the call center. “Simply go to the nearest Europcar station, they’ll exchange the car for you!” a friendly lady said with a slight Indian accent. We did. The nearest Europcar station was very courteous and sent us to the farthest Europcar station at Adelaide Airport. There we got a new replacement car. Four hours of the day gone. We are way behind schedule. Thank gracious, I selected ‘late arrival at 9pm’ when I booked our stay for that night in Marion Bay.

So we rushed to Barossa Valley at 110 km/h — yawn! I know why they have these ‘sleepy driver’ and ‘power nap now’ signs all over Australia. Driving at round about 100km/h for hundreds of kilometers will make you drowsy – no chance it wouldn’t. Strangely, I never become drowsy on German highways traveling at least twice the speed – also for hundreds of kilometers. Anyway.

In Barossa Valley, we had to tighten up our schedule. The visitor center did a nice job recommending a quick route with just the highlights: Bethany, for the view, Penfolds in town, Two Hands further out and Murray Street vinery on the way out to Marion Bay.

We followed that plan, except for Penfolds, which we had to skip due to time constraints. The wines are phenomenal, but pricey as the ones in McLaren Vale. The valley appeared to be a bit more ‘cosy’ than McLaren – although this is a completely subjective impression. In case you happen to be in the area, it’s definitely worth a visit.

After a few hours drive north and then south-west bound on the Yorke Peninsula, we arrived four minutes before 9pm at the caravan park site, where we had found a cabin for two nights. The reception was dark, the ’emergency contact number’ said “the person you have called is not available”. But there was light around the corner, which seemed to be the resident managers home. I lurked around a fence, with a large “beware of dog” sign on it and stood on the porch looking into the living room of the resident manager’s home. I carefully knocked the glass door. There was a whirl on one of the sofa’s and a lady in her nightgown scuffled to the glass door.

After I apologized several times and explained my case, she said: “I expected you tomorrow. – I’ll come around and open the office.” – In the office we checked the booking details and indeed, they confirmed our stay for today with arrival at 9pm. We got the keys for the cabin, unpacked the car and slept in the cool breeze of the nearby ocean.

Adelaide

We spent two days in Adelaide. On the first day, we took the bus to Rundle Street and strolled the pedestrian zone. On Rundle, there are a few neat arty and architectural things to see: A group of pigs in bronze and two staked spheres in polished silver invite visitors to play around with them. Adelaide Arcade has a spectacular old architecture.

We then moved on to Gouver Street, where we had an extensive lunch in one of the Chinese restaurants with friends who had moved to Australia about a year ago.

After lunch, we strolled back via Light Square and Rundle street to the Northern Terrace, which is a nice ensemble of old-day buildings. We then continued through the Botanical Garden, which is a must-see in Adelaide. Finally we took a bus back to our quarter for a good night sleep.

Adelaide Hills and Hahndorf

The next day, we explored the surroundings of Adelaide. We started with a walk to Waterfall Gully. The area is just being restored from some flooding a few weeks ago.

Next, we drove through the Adelaide Hills, where we got a gorgeous view of Adelaide from above. Lastly, we strolled through Hahndorf, one of the earliest German settlements in Australia and still maintaining the heritage. If you are looking for Weisswurscht and Brez’n – you’ll find it there.

We finished the day with a Thai dinner in a restaurant close to our accommodation in Adelaide – and had no idea of the fun we were going to have again with Europcar the next day.

Via McLaren Vale to Adelaide

When we left Victor Harbor, we had just a short drive to Adelaide, our final destination for today. The famous McLaren Vale was a perfect stop-over for the day. We stopped by the visitor center and got a recommendation for a scenic drive and a few highlights.

Clearly, this is a wine region, so cellar doors, where one can stop by and taste the fabulous wines, are a must-do. From the visitor center we strolled towards the town center and ran into the Tintara vinery. Impressive, large scale operations in a perfectly restored location including a nice cellar door and open production site.

We chatted with the hosts a bit and once they recognized we were originally interested in wine and had some experience, they pulled out two bottles of red – each north of a hundred dollars – for a taste. Yes indeed, nice wines folks!

We then returned to the visitor center after having a bite to eat in town. Next was the scenic drive, which took us through endless rows of vines, then up the rolling hills towards the end of the valley and returned us safely to the visitor center.

We waived McLaren Vale goodbye and continued to Adelaide.

Victor Harbor and Granite Island

After some days of traveling, we decided to take a ‘rest’ day in Victor Harbor and stayed there for two nights. We arrived from Coorong National Park early evening so we could take a stroll on the beach and onto the peer, which connects Victor Harbor with Granite Island.

The next day, we did the ‘big island tour’. We walked across the pier, where we met one of the horse-drawn carts about mid-way. Then we headed east on the island, towards the navigational mark. The most impressive part of the coast, when it comes to rock formations, are the south and west end of the island. Hence, after exploring the eastern cape, we turned clockwise towards south, then west and finally met the pier back to Victor Harbor on the north coast of Granite Island again.

Apart from its amazing views, Granite Island is also home of some penguin colonies, including the Little Penguins. There are guided tours at night (usually starting at 9pm), which are worth a visit.

On the island, we also spotted a sign, which we thought is funny, when you read it bottom-up like: You are not allowed to walk on cliffs, skydiving off the cliffs looks like fun and is encouraged, including taking some gravel with you, general warning. [Liability waiver: Do at own risk — and/or read the sign in the correct order]

We really enjoyed Victor Harbor, but we also looked forward to our next destination: Adelaide.

Coorong National Park

On day 28 of our journey we left Kingston SE and drove through Coorong National Park. We took a few unsealed roads again to get a better view on some of the wildlife and hidden places.

When you take a look at Coorong National Park on a map or satellite images, you might see dozens of lakes. When we traveled the park in February, which is summer and dry season in Australia, many of the smaller lakes were gone. What remained were very flat salt-pans. Most of them with clayey, semi-solid ground. All of them were covered with islands of reddish short-growing weed, which provides a remarkable contrast to the light grayish bottom of the former lakes.

As we drove along the loop roads, we encountered a species of lizard, which we had never seen before. It was dark, relatively short but fat. It’s skin looked like if it had swallowed a fir cone. We suspect it’s a shingleback skink or bobtail.

After leaving Coorong Nationalpark, we headed to Victor Harbor, where we took a stroll towards Granite Island, which we will share in the next post.

From Warrnambool to Kingston SE

We left Warrnambool for Mount Gambier still charged up with all the exciting views of the Great Ocean Drive, but the day ahead of us should proof not less impressive.

Mount Gambier – Blue Lake, Umpherston Sinkhole

Our first stop was Mount Gambier, where we visited the famous Blue Lake first. Blue Lake is a crater lake, which serves as drinking water reservoir for Mount Gambier and its surroundings. It was a very hot day again and there is little shade along the crater trail, so we just took just a short stroll on the rim of the crater.

Then we decided to visit the Umpherston sinkhole. It was a decision we took the moment when we were about to leave Mount Gambier again. We did not regret it. The sinkhole is surrounded by a small, but beautiful park with old trees, picnic and BBQ places. The sinkhole itself has been turned into a flower garden with benches to rest on and enjoy the views. A set of well maintained stairs lead to the bottom of the sinkhole. If you happen to visit Mount Gambier and have to make a decision between Blue Lake and the Umpherston sinkhole – choose the latter one.

Canunda National Park

Our next destination was Lake Bonney at the border of Canunda National Park. Why did we pick it? Because when I checked the satellite pictures of the area, this lake stood out with its quite unusual greenish color.

We drove along Canunda Frontage Road, passing a very large wind park with the large white wind wheels glaring in the sun against a blue sky.  Lake Bonney didn’t show this specific greenish color as on the satellite pictures, but the area is not less spectacular.

Our next stop was Robe, where we strolled through the town and along the shore. After an early dinner, we continued to Kingston SE, our final destination for today.

In Kingston, we fed our little one just before sunset in the local park near the pier. It’s been perfect timing to view the stunning sunset from Kingston’s pier and close out the day.

Great Ocean Drive from Apollo Bay to Warnambool

We left Apollo Bay relatively early.  Keep in mind that nursing and feeding our little one, packing up the cot and all other baby gear plus getting ourselves in shape and ready to go takes between two to three hours from alarm clock beeping to engaging first gear in the car. We knew it will be a long day. We didn’t know it would become an extremely long and exciting day.

Cape Otway

Our first stop was Cape Otway Lightstation. Briefly after we got out of the car, we entered it again. Visiting the lighthouse and surrounding area came with a 20$AUD price tag per adults. Thanks, but no thanks. We have seen enough lighthouses on our tour already.

So we changed plan, drove back a kilometer and a bit, to enter Blanket Bay Road. The road was unsealed and we were going slow through Eucalyptus woods. Then we saw a Koala hanging out beneath the road.

I have never been so close to a Koala out in the wild. It was just two arm lengths above our heads and a perfect photo model. After taking a few (dozens) pictures, we headed to Blanket Bay. The beach there wasn’t too appealing as it was flooded with rotten seaweed and smelled accordingly. But it was still an interesting area to explore.

The Great Ocean Walk passed through Blanket Beach, too. On one of the pictures you can see a cleaning station for hikers. With your sharp eye, you have already spotted the trap door right in the middle of the metal plate. When you step on it, it actually opens up and you can plunge the soles of your trekking boots into a cleaning fluid. A clever way to avoid spreading germs, fungus or any other unwanted materials.

On our way back from  Blanket Beach we waived goodbye to the Koala and then headed out to Johanna Beach.

Johanna Beach

My plan for Johanna Beach was to drive around Lavers Hill and avoid the main Ocean Drive by taking the Red Johanna Road to Johanna Beach and then – since our favorite Maps app offered it – to take the Old Coach Road northwest-bound to meet the Great Ocean Drive again way behind Lavers Hill.

Well, if you still have an old [horse-drawn] coach, you might be able to take the old coach road. After we had identified its entry point, which you could call a dirt track with a lot of goodwill, we decided to take the Blue Johanna Road back to Lavers Hill. It was an unsealed road, but a very pleasant drive winding up and down the rolling hills.

Twelve Apostels

“Look, there is a helicopter! And a lot of police. There is another helicopter, – and a third one and more police!” When we approached the Twelve Apostels, I thought there was a major accident on the road. After a few seconds however, there was that unconscious thought creeping up the spinal cord into the hypothalamus: “Disney World!”

We didn’t trust our eyes first. This was a major tourist operation including a large visitor center, heliport with helicopters launching every three minutes, vast car park with dedicated areas for busses and caravans, police and traffic managers waving you into the free parking areas. It is not the quiet romantic place you see on pictures.

On the other hand it is. The coastline is dramatic and the views are spectacular.

West of Twelve Apostels

After we left Twelve Apostels, the tourists became less and less, but the sites not less spectacular. We stopped at Loch Ard Gorge, which includes Razorback, then visited The Arch, Martyr Bay and Bay of Islands.

If I had to pick my top three on the Great Ocean Drive, they would be Loch Ard Gorge, Razorback and Bay of Islands.

Late evening we arrived in Warnambool. It was quite challenging to find a restaurant for dinner after 9pm. But we managed to get some food, then back to our motel for a good night’s sleep absorbing the impressive views we had during that day.