Trevor's Travels

Picnic at Newland Head Conservation Park

2 Comments »3rd May, 2007; Category: Birds, National Parks, Picnics, South Australia

Settler's Cottage in Newland Head CP

After our visit to Waitpinga Beach (see my previous two articles) we drove the short distance to the camping and picnic ground in the nearby Newland Head Conservation Park. This park is only a short distance from Victor Harbor and little over an hour’s drive south of Adelaide in South Australia. The camping ground is not big and can only cater for several groups of campers at once. The picnic grounds consist of several picnic tables.

Silvereye

A feature of the camping ground is the partially restored old settler’s cottage. This has a large verandah with some picnic tables and a BBQ for use by visitors. It was here that we had our morning tea of a cuppa and some biscuits. While we were doing that we were entertained by the local birds. Several Silvereyes were feeding in the bushes nearby and I managed to take the photo above. A family of Superb Blue Wrens came hopping around our feet seeing if we would drop a few biscuit crumbs for them. Several Red Browed Finches joined in the fun.

Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Superb Blue Wren (male)

More views of Waitpinga Beach, South Australia

5 Comments »2nd May, 2007; Category: Beaches, South Australia, Victor Harbor

Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP

Waitpinga Beach near Victor Harbor in South Australia is just over an hour’s drive south of our state capital city, Adelaide. Waitpinga is a long wide sandy beach facing south. On most days there is a fairly decent surf rolling in from the Southern Ocean. This makes this a popular beach with surfers.

Anglers enjoy this beach as well. I’ve never fished there so I don’t know what they would be catching there. After searching for a while I found a very old book on my bookshelf about where to go fishing in South Australia. The fact that I had to search for it means that it hasn’t been used all that often over the years. It lists salmon, mulloway, bream, mullet, flathead and snapper as the main species caught along the beach.

Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP

The beach is also excellent for children to play on, for going for long walks and for just sitting there and watching the waves come rolling in. In the first photo above, I was facing west. Slightly to the left and just out of the photo one can just make out the coast of Kangaroo Island, one of South Australia’s top tourist destinations. Ferries take people and vehicles to and from the island several times a day. The island is only just over an hour’s drive and an hour’s ferry trip from my home but I have never been there. That is something we must rectify very soon.

The second photo is taken looking east towards Newland Head which gives its name to the nearby Conservation Park. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Related Articles:

Victor Harbor – archival list of articles I’ve written about this lovely town.

Waitpinga Beach, south coast of South Australia

No Comments »29th April, 2007; Category: Beaches, National Parks, Picnics

Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP

After spending some time in Victor Harbor (see previous two posts) we drove on to Waitpinga Beach for a picnic morning tea. Waitpinga Beach is part of the Newland Head Conservation Park a few kilometres west of Victor Harbor in South Australia.

Popular Beach

It had been a long time since our last visit. This beach has been popular with anglers and surfers for many years. The beach is long and the coastline is spectacular. It also holds special memories of a very special visit we had there back in the 1980s. Ah, memories.

Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP

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Beautiful Beach:

The beach here is excellent for picnics and for spending time lazing on the beautiful sand. The sand is also great for children but the water is not really safe for swimming. While many do go swimming here the strong waves and the current make it unsuitable for children and those who are not excellent swimmers.

Hazards:

There is a further hazard. Several shark attacks in recent years have seen surfers lose their lives. While many South Australian beaches are relatively safe, there is always the ever present threat of shark attack. South Australian waters still hold the reputation as some of the most dangerous for shark attacks anywhere in the world.

Despite that, it is still far more dangerous to cross a road or to drive a car. Shark attack deaths account for only fifteen deaths in South Australia over the last 40 years. Just this week five people died in just one accident on a road not far north of this beach.

Birding at Victor Harbor

No Comments »28th April, 2007; Category: Birds, Victor Harbor

Yesterday I wrote about our recent trip to Victor Harbor in South Australia I also wrote about the beautiful birds I saw feeding in the Bottlebrush (Callistemon spp) bushes and trees in the street where we parked.

In amongst all the Musk Lorikeet parrots on a feeding frenzy were a few Little Wattlebirds. There are several species of Wattlebirds native to Australia. The most common species around home here in Murray Bridge are the Red Wattlebirds. I have quite a few photos of this species but the Little Wattlebird has so far eluded me – until now. They were so intent on feeding that they took little notice of me and the camera only two or three metres away.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Little Wattlebird

Lorikeets in Victor Harbor

2 Comments »27th April, 2007; Category: Birds, Plants, Victor Harbor

Musk Lorikeet

A few days ago we travelled from home in Murray Bridge down to the south coast of South Australia. My wife wanted to attend the native plant sale in Victor Harbor. This was one plant sale we had never attended. After talking to the various people there that I knew I went out to the car to wait for my wife to finish talking and buying. While sitting in the car my attention was attracted to the many Musk Lorikeets feeding on the flowers of the street trees. These trees were mainly bottlebrushes (Callistemon spp) in full flower. It was a delight to get so close to these beautiful little birds.

Musk Lorikeet

Related articles:

Great birding moments #17: Musk Lorikeets
Victor Harbor – more articles from my archives about this delightful town.

Click on the photos to enlarge.