Murray River, Mannum, South Australia

The river town of Mannum is less than a half hour drive from our home in Murray Bridge. This popular tourist town is quiet with a good range of facilities including an excellent caravan park and several hotels. The picnic area at Mary Ann Reserve on the banks of the river is a popular spot. It is also where several touring boats moor, including those which provide meals, short trips of the river and longer week long cruises.

An excellent Tourist Information Centre which features the historic nature of the old Mannum River Port which was in its heyday in the paddle steamer era of the late 1800s.

Murray River, Mannum, South Australia

Silver Gulls and the Murray River, Mannum, South Australia

Burra Gorge, South Australia

Late last year we travelled to Peterborough in the mid-north of South Australia. We were visiting family and on the way we stopped at the beautiful Burra Gorge for lunch. This gorge cuts through the hills to the south east of the old mining town of Burra. It is a popular picnic area with picnic tables and toilets but no other facilities.

It is also a popular camping area, as shown in the photo above. Our visit was during school holidays as so there were quite a few campers and caravans in the camping area. All campers have to be self sufficient as far as food and water is concerned. The nearest shops are in Burra, some 30km away. There are also no powered sites.

Burra Gorge, South Australia

Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Encounter Bay at Victor Harbor on the south coast of South Australia is one of the most picturesque spots in our state. We love visiting for day trips as it is just a little over an hour from home.

We also enjoy taking our caravan there and staying for a weekend or a few days. On our most recent trip in March of this year, my friend and fellow writer Rod and his wife took us on a tour of the highlights. He drove us around in his 1928 Model A Ford which, in itself, was a highlight. The tour included a picnic cuppa on The Bluff, from where I took these photos.

Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Our caravan spot at Victor Harbor March 2010

Back in March this year we had a long weekend in Victor Harbor. This is an annual pilgrimage for us a a number of friends. Our wives go to attend a convention while the men do the cooking, cleaning and generally sitting around solving the world’s problems.

It’s a really relaxing weekend for all concerned.

Above is a photo of our caravan site, situated under some shady trees which were in flower and full of very noisy lorikeets. Our caravan is the one on the right – this one with the towels drying on the front. We were sitting around with friends discussing what friends discuss.

Below is a photo of Encounter Bay taken the next day.

Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Granite Island, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Probably the best known feature of Victor Harbor is Granite Island, shown in the photos on this post. Victor Harbor, on the south coast of South Australia, is about an hour’s drive south of the state capital, Adelaide. It is a favourite day trip from the capital as well as being a popular destination for interstate visitors.

These photos were taken while we had a weekend there last year. we stayed in one of the excellent caravan parks, ours being right on the foreshore of Encounter Bay (see yesterday’s post for more photos).

Granite Island, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Granite Island is joined to the mainland by a causeway. It takes less than two hours to walk out to the island, around the walking track that circumnavigates it and to return to the town. You can linger longer of course for there is a fine restaurant near the jetty as well as some excellent fishing spots.

Granite Island, Victor Harbor, South Australia

A highlight of a visit is to see the Little Penguins which feed out to sea and return to the island to nest and feed their young.

Little Penguins, Adelaide Zoo

Further reading:

• Horseshoe Bay
• The Cockle Train
• The birds of Granite Island
• The Breakwater, Granite Island
  

Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Early last year we had a few days in the coastal resort town of Victor Harbor. This delightful town is a popular day trip from Adelaide or a holiday destination for both interstate and local tourists. We stayed in one of  several excellent caravan parks. This one was right on the foreshore of Encounter Bay. On the Sunday afternoon I took a gentle stroll along the beach to get a few photos of this beautiful spot.

Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Further reading and more photos:

• Victor Harbor, South Australia
• Horse drawn tram Victor Harbor
• The Bluff Victor Harbor
• Australian Sea Lion, Granite Island
• Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor
  

Granite Island, Victor Harbor

This sojourn in the caravan park at Encounter Bay is an annual pilgrimage by us and a number of our friends. We always reserve a number of sites in close proximity to each other. During the weekend our wives attend the CWCI Convention. The men have a relaxing weekend reading, talking, walking and generally lazing around.

Related Articles:

• Caravan holiday in Victor Harbor – last year’s post on this.
  
• Victor Harbor South Australia – also from last year.
• A beautiful day – some days in South Australia should be bottled.
• Victor Harbor – general information about this seaside town.

Access

Aroona Valley is about five to six hours by road north of Adelaide. Except for the last section, the highway is now all sealed. When I first travelled there in the late 1960s about the last 100 kilometres was dirt road – and not in a very good condition either. It certainly was an adventure in those days, but I had to go there because my first teaching job was at nearby Parachilna Rural School.

One can take several routes from Adelaide to the Flinders Ranges.

• The main highway through Port Wakefield, Port Pirie, Port Augusta then Quorn and Hawker is the longest.
• Through Gawler, Clare Valley, Wilmington, Quorn then Hawker is the most picturesque but can be rather slow in parts because there are many interesting places to stop on the way.
• Another picturesque route is Gawler, Clare, Riverton, Burra, Peterborough, Orroroo then Hawker.
• The most direct route is Gawler, Clare, Jamestown, Orroroo and then Hawker.

From Hawker one has several choices to get to Aroona Valley and other parts of the ranges:

• Many people base themselves at Hawker, leaving their caravan there and driving through the various tracks north of there.
• Others take the route to Wilpena Pound and base themselves in the shady camping ground there.
• Yet others go only as far as the lovely caravan and camping ground at Rawnsley Park on the southern edge of Wilpena Pound.
• The other route is due north from Hawker towards Parachilna, turning off at the Brachina Gorge dirt track heading in towards the ranges.

Oh no, writing about such interesting and beautiful places makes me want to pack and leave immediately. This would make up for the disappointment of the last trip there a few years ago. We took our caravan to Rawnsley Park Caravan Park for ten days. On the way I was aware of having a sore throat. I then spent much of the next ten days coughing, wheezing, sniffing, sneezing and generally feeling miserable.

I spent some of the time huddled up in bed. This wasn’t as bad as it seems. I had a ten million dollar view of the ranges through the caravan window.

Beautiful Morning

This morning the sun arose to a beautiful day. Bright sunshine, clear blue sky, gentle cooling breeze and the nearby sea of Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor a brilliant deep blue punctuated by stunning white waves breaking on rocks out in the bay. Perfect. After lunch we sat in front of the caravan and just watched the sea. How relaxing.

More Bird Sightings

Around the caravan park I observed about 30 different species without really trying. There were quite a few Little Ravens around, mostly flying overhead. Spotted Turtledoves and Feral Pigeons are also resident birds, as are Striated Pardalotes. I only saw a few Crested Pigeons nearby.

Parrots
Galahs were in evidence throughout the park and nearby gardens. In the tree in front of our caravan we watched two juvenile Galahs begging for food from their harried parents. They seemed old enough to fend for themselves; it must be easier to sponge off parents. In previous visits I have seen hundreds of Little Corellas; this year I only saw about three individuals. Adelaide Rosellas are also common in the area but I only heard two flying past the van. I have seen Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos in this area in the past but not this time.

Birds of Prey

The only bird of prey I observed was a Black Shouldered Kite. I saw one several times over the weekend, presumably the same individual. The first time I saw it traversing the banks of the Inman River, occassionally swooping down to catch its prey in the grass of the bank. Later I saw it hovering over the sedge grass on the sand banks along the beach front.

Mammal Sighting

While standing on the beach taking photos of the yachts at anchor and of Granite Island we were suddenly aware of several dolphins in the bay between us and the island, some two hundred metres from the beach. They were too far to positively identify or photograph them but they were probably common Bottle-Nosed Dolphins

A Walk becomes a Sit

My friend Keith and I had intended going for a walk this morning, probably around Granite Island. There is a causeway to the island and from the caravan park it takes several hours. The views are quite spectacular on the seaward side. The large waves crashing over the granite rocks would have made for some great photography. The rain did not ease until late in the morning. Instead of a walk, Keith and I sat in the van talking, having cuppas, eating chocolate cake and hot cross buns and reading the paper.

Afternoon Nap

After lunch Keith and I were so exhausted from the morning’s frenetic activities that we both had to have a nap. Life’s so hard. Later we sat around talking with some of the others we knew who were staying in the same caravan park.

A Bird Walk

Late in the afternoon I went for a birdwatching walk to the beach and along the nearby river. I took my camera with me and was able to take some good shots of several species of birds and also some good shots of several yachts at anchor in the bay. Just a few metres from our van there was a small lagoon, perhaps the size of several tennis courts. This lagoon was well populated with birds feeding in, on or above it.

Lagoon

The most prominent species was Chestnut Teal. There were some 30-40 of them. This was a species I hadn’t managed to get photos of as yet. One photo shows three of these ducks all diving for food simultaneously; all you can see is their tails sticking up in the air. They were accompanied by about 30 Silver Gulls swimming around on the surface of the water. Hawking for insects above the water were numerous Welcome Swallows. Several Magpie Larks and a solitary White Faced Heron patrolled the water’s edge for whatever they could find to eat.

Also on the water’s edge was a single bird I couldn’t positively identify. I wouldn’t let me get close enough for a photo or a good look through my binoculars. By its shape, colour, size and habits it could possibly have been a Sharp Tailed Sandpiper.

River

The Inman River forms the south west boundary of the caravan park and often provides some good bird watching. Several Masked Lapwings, a few more Silver Gulls and two Wood Ducks were seen immediately. Waiting quietly near some bushes on the bank revealed some Pacific Black Ducks, Silvereyes in the bushes and I heard some Superb Blue Wrens in the nearby bushes. A Caspian Tern patrolled up and down the river while a Willie Wagtail flitted around on the lawn nearby.