Trevor's Travels

Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor

5 Comments »2nd April, 2007; Category: South Australia, Victor Harbor, Walking

Victor Harbor and Encounter Bay

The lovely seaside town of Victor Harbor south of Adelaide in South Australia is situated on Encounter Bay. This beautiful bay owes its name to the chance meeting of two explorers in 1802.

British explorer Matthew Flinders and French explorer Nicolas Baudin were both charting the coastline of South Australia when they met in this remote location. The meeting was amicable, despite their respective countries being at war at the time.

Kayaks and yachts on Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor

Today, Victor Harbor is a bustling town with a rapidly growing population. Many people come here to live in retirement and many more come to visit, thousands making this their annual summer destination for holidays. Water activities such as kayaking, sailing, fishing, swimming are prominent. The town is also popular with people who like to walk or ride their bikes. Whole families walking or riding their bikes along the specially designated sealed tracks are a common sight.

Yachts in Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor

Australian Sea-lion, Granite Island

No Comments »1st April, 2007; Category: Animals, South Australia, Victor Harbor

Australian Sea-lion, Granite Island

On our recent trip to Victor Harbor south of Adelaide I went with two friends for a walk across the causeway to the nearby Granite Island. This is a very popular walk for locals and visitors alike. We were delighted to see a very relaxed Australian Sea-lion lolling around in the water near the jetty. The way it behaved it was almost as if it was showing off its swimming skills to all the humans watching only a few metres away. Perhaps someone had trained it to behave in this way.

Australian Sea-lion

Australian Sea-lions are relatively common along the southern and western coasts of Australia. It largely breeds on the many islands along these coasts and I know of only one mainland breeding colony near Streaky Bay in the far west of South Australia. This species rarely venture more than 20-30km from the coast while feeding. From the size and colour of this individual in was most probably a female. Females range from 1.3-1.8m in length; the males at 2-2.5m are considerably larger and paler around the head.

Reference: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia (by Menkhorst and Knight).

Australian Sea-lion

The Bluff, Victor Harbor

2 Comments »31st March, 2007; Category: South Australia, Victor Harbor

On my recent visit to the seaside town of Victor Harbor south of Adelaide, I went for a walk over the causeway to Granite Island. Two of my friends, Keith and Trevor were also in town for the weekend so we had a very pleasant time together talking as we went on our walk.

The Bluff, Victor Harbor

As we walked over the causeway we had excellent views of the hill called The Bluff on the other side of Encounter Bay. This imposing hill to the south west of the town of Victor Harbor is a prominent landmark in an area of many landmarks. Some years ago I led a group of school children to the top while on camp nearby. It is not an easy climb. Now on a few years (and a few extra kilograms under the belt) I prefer to take the sealed road to the top. The view is spectacular from the top and well worth the drive. (I’m not so sure about the climb.)

The Bluff, Victor Harbor, from Granite Island

Later, when we were on the island, I had a good view again of The Bluff, this time from the lookout overlooking the southern side of Granite Island. The area near the foot of The Bluff has historic significance. For many years a whaling station operated near the beach there. Many whales were killed there, the height of The Bluff affording an excellent lookout for incoming Southern Right Whales.

The whales still come to this bay in the winter months and are another attraction of the town. The history of the whaling industry and information about marine life in general is displayed beautifully in the SA Whale Centre in Victor Harbor. This centre is currently closed for redevelopment. I think I recall reading somewhere that it will reopen later in 2007, complete with a new large aquarium.

Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram

No Comments »30th March, 2007; Category: South Australia, Victor Harbor

One of the lovely features of Victor Harbor is the historic horse drawn tram that travels frequently from the mainland over the causeway to Granite Island. The island is a short – perhaps ten minute – walk across a causeway. This walk is undertaken by many hundreds of people daily, rising to many thousands in the peak tourist seasons. Over the summer months, Easter weekend, school holidays and even normal weekends the island and its causeway can be quite crowded.

Causeway from Victor Harbor to Granite Island

The alternative to walking is to take a ride either way on the historic horse drawn tram. These trams operate throughout the day, every day of the year and are very popular with tourists, visitors and locals. The Clydesdale horses willingly go through their paces throughout the day and really seem to enjoy their ‘work.’

Horse drawn tram Victor Harbor, South Australia

The trams have been a part of the cultural and tourist attractions for many years. Commencing in 1894 the tram ran until 1956 when the carriages were sold. The service recommenced in 1985 with four rebuilt carriages. Each carriage is hauled by one of 14 Clydesdale horses. It is one of only three horse drawn tramways anywhere in the world. (The others are in Japan and on the Isle of Man.)

Links:

Victor Harbor Tramway – web page with much more information, including prices bookings and running times. It also has photos of the horses and information about them.
Victor Harbor – more tourist and visitor information.

Horse drawn tram Victor Harbor, South Australia

Victor Harbor, South Australia

1 Comment »29th March, 2007; Category: South Australia, Victor Harbor, Walking

Yesterday I wrote about our recent caravan trip to Victor Harbor. This trip is becoming an annual pilgrimage to this lovely seaside town. My wife usually attends a special convention one weekend in March every year.

From the earliest days of settlement in South Australia Victor Harbor has been the summer holiday destination of choice of so many South Australians – and a significant number of interstate and overseas visitors too. In more recent times it has become a favoured retirement destination. One local radio announcer calls the town “God’s waiting room.”

Granite Island, Victor Harbor

Victor Harbor has a milder climate than many other parts of the state, especially the capital city Adelaide. It can frequently be 4-8 degrees Celsius cooler than the city in summer, and less harsh in winter; frosts are almost unknown. On the downside, it can be much wetter than other places.

Causeway from Victor Harbor to Granite Island

With such good weather, a long pleasant beachfront and many sealed walking trails that double up as bicycle tracks, many people are very active when they visit Victor Harbor. The most popular walking trail leads out over a causeway to Granite Island just off the coast. On the Saturday of our recent visit I went for a walk out to the island with friends Trevor and Keith. I’ll write about that tomorrow.