Marcus and I went on the Big Duck tour which is a fast boat ride out to seal rocks out from Victor Harbour. A lot of fun as the wind was blowing and there was a bit of chop. The boat bounced and yes we got wet, not as much as I expected but it was fun. When he wasn't deliberately getting it to spray us the boat rode the chop really well, surprisingly smooth
Apart from bouncing around in boats we did the tourist thing and went out to Granite Island and then caught a ride back on the horse drawn tram. A sedate way to travel.
All up I think Victor Harbour and surrounds have been the highlight of the trip.
Yesterday we had heaps of fun doing a quad bike adventure. The guy has a farm of over 400 acres and you go around it on quad bikes. On the way he points out some of the sites and things of interest. He has a beautiful piece of land down to the ocean even though it was dry as a bone, it hasn't rained since October. The dust and the dirt just made the ride more fun.
Us on the bikes and Lev and Mary our tour operators.
We headed out to Goolwa and then on to the mouth of the Murray River. This strip of water behind the dunes is known as the Coorong. We had to cross the infamous Hindmarsh Bridge onto Hindmarsh Island to get to it.
We thought everything would be closed Good Friday so decided this would be the day we did the falls and parks. There isn't much in the way of falls, just a little spring feed one called Ingalalla Falls that isn't much to look at. So we did a bit odd a loop around down to Cape Jervis and back to Normanville.
It was only lunch time and since nothing was closed we went to the info center. They confirmed there was not much else locally to see so we drove over to Victor Harbour info Centre. Things to do!
Saturday was a waste or rest day. Marcus doesn't get up until nearly lunch time so half the day is lost before it even starts. We went to McClaren Vale for lunch and to get some chocolates. We were told about this store there that did great chocolates. It was alright, we had lunch there which was ok, nothing flash. There was another shop there Robern Menz which does a range called FruChocs, apparently really well known in SA. We bought chocolates there and I bought some FruChocs. They aren't bad, bits of dried apricot and pear wrapped in chocolate. Marcus and I ate them.
We get some spectacular sunsets from our apartment. The sun goes down over the ocean and then a twilight lingers for about an hour after. It is just as well there is a twilight otherwise it would be dark at 6.15.
Here is Strathalbyne and Marcus on air guitar, look at the sign to his left.
Thursday bee travelled up to Hahndorf ohik is about an hour away through some very picturesque countryside . We arrived a little after 10. AM just in time for breakfast. I had located a place on the internet that did chocolate or maple syrup Belgian waffles. It is called Chocolate at No. 5, had a look at the mocha photo below. Along with their own coffee and chocolate this place was an ideal place to start the holiday with a great breakfast. And so it was.
Hahndorf was originally settled by Germans so there are a lot of German shops and German foods. We wandered around for about an hour looking in this shop and that before deciding to head off to Mount Barker which turned out to be a nice country town but nothing flash, so we moved on to Strathalbyne .
Strathalbyne is the opposite. Almost all of the buildings are historical and there are antique and collectable shops everywhere . It is claimed as the antique capital of S.A. We spent quite a while here going from store to store. We didn't buy anything which is probably just as well.
The trip back was scenic and took in the little town of Mt Compass. We had a delightful afternoon tea here before finishing the journey home.
I've added some photo's from our room.
Yesterday we draw the 800 + Km to Normanville S.A.. A nice enough drive through western Victoria and thin up almost to Adelaide and then back down the peninsular to Yankalilla and then Normanville. We bought lunch at a little bakery in Nhill and ate it in the park.
Everything went smoothly right up to the bit where we headed back down the peninsular . The expressway we were to use is being re-built and is closed. Unfortunately the navigation couldn't understand that and kept trying to hate us to the expressway, so it took a little longer than it should have but we got here.
Our room looks over the golf course to the water. We had a spectacular sunset yesterday.
This is the view from our room.
