Caravanning Camping Touring
Let me share some of our stories with you. I'll try to keep it fun and interesting, with heaps of photos, hints, tips and reviews all relating to life on the road.
Part Four – Stokes Bay & Chapman River
Australia’s most beautiful beach? Well, it is quite lovely, and very unique. The bay is divided by a headland; one side the beach is more rocky than it is sandy, the other is mostly soft white sand, but the only way from one side to the next is by going through the headland; pretty cool huh?
But I’m not sure about the most beautiful beach title. Still, I don’t know what the voting criteria is, so I won’t disrespect the judgment. Whether you think it’s the most beautiful beach in Australia or not, I’m sure you will agree that it is a great place to visit.
Peter took the opportunity to do a spot of kayak fishing on the bay. I sent him off with this simple request, “Bring me a good sized flathead back.”
So, Peter came home with a good catch of Wrasse, when I asked about my flathead, this is what he said.
“I hadn’t been out there long when I got a good strong bite. I pulled it straight in and it was a big flathead. I thought, Jo’ll love this. Feeling pretty good about my catch I killed it, gutted it, thought I’d better wash it and…well, lets just say, it was pretty keen to go home.”
The best ‘The one that got away story.’ I’ve heard for a while.
There’s another council campground here, no potable water, dump point or showers. But there were toilets and a coffee shop. There were also a lot of Kangaroos (the most we’ve seen since we arrived here) Tamar Wallaby’s (the cutest things you ever will see) and koalas. So…who needs water?
KI Kangaroos are smaller, darker in colour and with a longer coat than many of the mainland Kangaroos. We didn’t see many of them (not counting roadkill) until we reached stokes Bay.
The Tammar is one of the smallest wallaby’s and it has to be one of the cutest. With a longish grey/brown coat, big dark eyes and eyelashes to die for, these shy little critters are a pleasure to see.
We’ve seen so many Koalas while exploring South Australia, and Stokes Bay on KI was no different. We had a group of four koalas in the gum trees around our camp spot. I Never get tired of seeing these in the wild, even though some of these koalas look a bit…weird.
I was very excited to see this next bird, it’s a Hooded Plover, it’s estimated that there are only 700 to 800 of these in all of South Australia. I saw two in fact, and one juvenile. This little bird is one of Australia’s most threatened beach nesting birds. Their chicks have one of the lowest survival rates of all birds, so they are really doing it tough. I didn’t get too close to them, and they’re really fast, so the images aren’t great, but good enough. This link will tell you more if you’re interested. https://cdn.environment.sa.gov.au/landscape/docs/ny/hooded-plovers-yp-beaches.pdf
One of my favourite guls has become the Pacific gul, they’re a big bird, about three times the size of the common silver gul. We’ve seen quite a few of them, and I was lucky enough to see this one find a meal, and of course there are a few more birds to see as well.
While here, we took the opportunity to drive to King George and Snellings Beach and explore the Western River Cove area. We had a great day out, and both agreed that if we could have taken the caravan, we would have been happy to stay at Western River Cove.
From Stokes Bay, we made our way back to the Dudley Peninsula. We had a couple of nights at the Seafront caravan park in Penneshaw, where we had a great spot overlooking the ferry terminal and the Backstairs Passage (the strait between the island and the mainland). This gave us plenty to look at while we waited for the many, many loads of washing to be done. I even got to touch the full moon with my fingertip.
From there we headed to the Lashmar Conservation Park, and our campsite at Chapman River.
We absolutely loved our stay at Chapman River. The Chapman is only about 3klm in length. It starts inland, and runs out to Antechamber Bay, which is a beautiful stretch of beach. We made good use of the kayaks, did a spot of fishing, and just enjoyed the ambience.
The Chapman is a great river to explore, and when it’s calm, the reflections are amazing. Always one to really explore, Peter even managed to guide us up a storm outlet. Oh the fun. 🙂
We had five nights at Chapman River – but I think we’ll be back.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
Part Three – Western KI
My last post was longer than normal, so to balance, this’ll be a short one. We stayed at the Western KI Caravan Park for three nights, there are kangaroos, birds, koalas, and a lovely lagoon there. Overall there was a really nice feel to the place. But, more importantly, there was potable water. So we topped up our tanks and did a heap of washing.
We spent most of our time there just enjoying the ambience, the lagoon was especially lovely.
Even though Western KI is a good kick-off point for Seal Bay, and Flinders Chase NP, we had already visited those from Vivonne Bay. However, we did do a couple of daytrips; Cape Borda and Parndana. We’d been to the latter before (to use the dump point) but this time we went to have lunch in the pub. It was Thursday, we arrived at around one thirty, but the pub was closed. Apart from the pub, a small grocers and bakery, there’s nothing at Parndana. It’s a shame really as it’s slap-dab in the middle of the island and would be an excellent base camp. But it is just…lacking – as are any photos. 🙂
Cape Borda, on the other hand, is most definitely not lacking. Tucked away in the north western corner of KI, the road there is, hmm, let’s say ‘rugged’, perhaps that’s why, apart from a few kangaroos, we had the place to ourselves, but it is well worth the bumps. We had a good look around the Lighthouse and other buildings and once again, enjoyed the beautiful coastline. This is a really well preserved heritage lighthouse, and it’s short, squat and square – different.
And that’s it. Told you it’d be short. From here we’re heading south to Stokes Bay, which has been voted Australia’s most beautiful beach. I’ll let you know.
Actually, before I go, people have been asking about the fires that raged through the island in the back end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, and what impact they’ve had. I took this information from the tourkangarooisland.com.au website, I hope it answers some of your questions.
“During a scorching summer unusual for the regular Kangaroo Island weather pattern, lightning strikes ignited fires first on the north and north-eastern coasts of the island on 20 December 2019, then in Flinders Chase National Park ten days later.
Over several weeks, the Kangaroo Island fires burned 211,474 hectares of land, almost half of the island. It is unknown how many of the island’s wild animals perished, along with the estimated 32,000 head of stock and domestic animals that died. The widespread fires also damaged or destroyed homes, businesses—including some tourism venues—grazing land, forests, crops, machinery, and infrastructure, and two people tragically lost their lives.”
tourkangarooisland.com.au
But the island is recovering well. New growth can be seen everywhere you look; on trees, shrubs, and grasses and the wildlife is slowly starting to recover.
Ok, so this post wasn’t as short as it could have been, but I’m done now, next stop Australia’s most beautiful beach.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
Part Two – Vivonne Bay & Surrounds
Vivonne Bay is on the south coast. It’s roughly the halfway mark east to west on the island and is a very pretty spot. The Harriet River flows from the north, its only about 5klms long and stops just short of the coast and occasionally, when the tides allow, empties into the Southern Ocean. It’s a great place for kayaking fishing, or long walks along the beach. We even braved the waters and had a full-on swim, this was a lot of fun, even if the water temp was a tad chilly. 😉
We solved another seaside mystery while at Vivonne. Walking along the beach, we noticed some strange creatures being washed upon the shore. The biggest we saw were 4cm, which is much bigger than the Salps we saw at Port Fairy, and very different in appearance. These pretty little creatures are called Velella velella. They go by a few common names, but mostly as the By-the-wind-sailor.
The By-the-wind-sailor is a free-floating hydrozoan of the Porpitidae family (thank you Google,) which sail across the surface of the sea as the wind hits their little sail. What’s really amazing is that some of the young will develop left hand sails, while others, right hand sails. This way they don’t all travel in the same direction. Rough seas and strong winds will blow them up onto the beaches, where they are left to die, much like our tiny Salps friends. Mother nature can be amazing, but cruel.
As well as a great location, close to the river and the beach, Vivonne Bay is also a great base for exploring the area. So, apologies in advance as this post is a little longer than usual.
Seal Bay is only a short drive from Vivonne Bay. Once there you will see another stunning coastline and, yup, you guessed it…seals.
There are a couple of options to see the seals, a paid guided tour, which takes you to a lookout then down onto the beach. Or a paid self-guided boardwalk tour. We prefer to do things at our own pace, so we opted for the self-guided boardwalk. We were lucky as the tide was high and there were plenty of seals close to the boardwalk. Whichever option you choose, you won’t be disappointed. The boardwalks are brilliant, easily accessible and give great views.
The following day, we drove into the Flinders Chase NP where you can find Admirals Arch, the Remarkable Rocks and Cape Du Couedic. We did Admirals Arch first, and we saw more seals. They were having a ball along the rocky coastline and in their very own rock swimming pool.
Ok, no more seals… I promise. Remarkable Rocks was our next port of call. They are very interesting formations and we were able to roam all around the area, not a fence or barrier in sight. Though I’ll admit, when I walked around a corner and got hit by the strong wind, I kinda wished there was a fence.
Some people said they didn’t think the rocks were that “remarkable”, but when you look at the unique formations, and understand that it took over 500 million years of crashing waves, rain and wind erosion to create these individual rocks from one massive granite boulder. I’d say that was pretty remarkable.
Also part of Flinders Chase NP is Cape du Couedic, and another of the three lighthouses on KI. The coastline just keeps getting better and it was well worth the drive along the rough, corrugated, dirt road to see it and the lighthouse.
One cold and blustery night, Peter decided to do a spot of night fishing. Needless to say, he went alone. I was in bed at 11:30 when he left, and asleep when he crawled, shivering into bed at 2 am. He came home alone.
The following day, we both went to the jetty at Vivonne Bay to see if we could do any better. But all we were catching were crabs, which simply stole our bait and let go of the line when the air hit them. We were just about ready to give up when wham! Peter caught a flathead.
Poor little fella, I think the hook was bigger than he was. Don’t worry, he quickly slid through the cracks in the jetty and made it home safe and sound. 🙂
After that we walked to Point Ellen and watched the sun go down.
We did one last thing before leaving Vivonne Bay; we visited Little Sahara. I guess the name is self-explanatory, and the photos can fill in any blanks.
And if that didn’t put a smile on your face, try this.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
Part One – Getting There
We’ve been wanting to visit Kangaroo Island, or KI as the locals call it, for some time now, so we finally bit the bullet and booked a trip on the KI ferry.
For those of you who don’t know, Kangaroo Island is off the south coast of Australia, about 110 km south of Adelaide. It’s 157 km long, (East/West) and 50 km at its widest (North/South), with a population of around 4700. This of course varies with the never-ending tide of tourists. You can get to KI from the Sealink Ferry Terminal at Cape Jervis and it is a pleasant forty-five-minute cruise from there to Penneshaw on the Dudley Peninsula.
Even though there are multiple runs through the day, spaces are surprisingly limited on the ferry. We booked three weeks in advance, but there was only one slot available on the date we wanted to travel, (March 10) and that was at 0600. For those of you who don’t speak 24hour clock…that’s bloody early!
We travelled to Cape Jervis the day before and camped there, near the lighthouse, which was just a short drive to the ferry terminal.
After an early night we were woken by our alarm at 0430. I’d like to say we got up bright and early, but that would be a lie. We had to be at the terminal by 0515 but we still made time to have our coffee, and to make our “coffee to go”. After stowing a few things away on the van, we found ourselves in the queue with time to spare. Needless to say, we were both excited about the crossing.
Once there, the crew were super-efficient in getting us all on the ferry. Small vehicles drove straight in on the lefthand side, around the back of the parking area, then up the righthand side until full, while the larger rigs, like us, had to reverse down the middle two lanes. Peter did an excellent job, and within minutes of the last vehicle being loaded, we were on our way.
Once on board we bought a couple of cheese and ham toasties, drank our “coffee to go” and settled down for the ride. Although it wasn’t rough, we could feel the gentle swell under our feet and had to steady ourselves when standing. As we neared the island, the sun began to rise, and we got our first glimpse of KI and Penneshaw on the Dudley Peninsula. The crew were even more efficient in getting us off the ferry and inside of ten minutes, the ferry was empty and taking on new passengers.
Our first camp spot was Browns Beach. This is a council run camp area with a Pay Station, much like those used in the city to pay for parking. Basic facilities, toilet, and camp kitchen, and only a minutes’ stroll to the beach. The left of the beach was a mixture of rock and sand, the right was an unusual volcanic rock formation. We stayed there for a couple of nights and took the time to do a bit of exploring, checking out Baudin Beach, Pennington Bay, American Beach, and Lashmar Conservation Park.
We also enjoyed a lovely sunset on the beach with our favourite red and a cheese platter
On the North side of the Dudley Peninsula, American Beach was a lovely long stretch of beach. While walking we noted some strange lines in the sand. It took us a while to figure out what they were, and Hugo did a bit of shell shopping. On the other hand, Pennington Bay, on the south side, was far more rugged and great to explore on a blustery day.
We also did a trip out to Cape Willoughby, and apart from the fact that I lost my only spare camera battery there, this is my favourite spot to date. On the drive out there we had our first wildlife encounter, something I would never have guessed…Wild Turkeys.
Our next stop was American River, another council camp area, right on the riverbank. Our neighbours, twenty metres away were a permanent colony of swans – literally hundreds of them, but don’t worry – Peter told me I could only post five swan photos. (But you know I never do as I’m told).😊
While at American River we visited Kingscote, the main town on the island, but we forgot it was Saturday and everything was closed when we got there. So we headed on to the Bay of shoals and had a lovely picnic by the water.
Rather than continuing along the north of the island, we decided to go Southwest and work around clockwise; our next stop, Vivonne Bay.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
Short but sweet
Firstly, I must apologise for my poor geography, and my even poorer editor, (we all know who you are Peter).
In my last post, I may not have been clear about which state (SA or Vic) Cobboboonee was in. I indicated SA, but it is in fact in Victoria. Peter apologises for that. 😉
Just a few kilometres across the SA border is the little town of Nelson. It’s a picturesque little fishing village, with a population of around 190 humans and lots and lots of birds. I think that the coastline of SA and Vic must be home for most of Australia’s population of black swans. They are everywhere, but you can never see too many black swans, they’re just so elegant and graceful.
So, our second port of call in Vic was Port Fairy. A very pretty name, and a very pretty town. This was the first caravan Park we had stayed in since leaving Adelaide over five weeks ago. We were hoping to bush camp the entire time, but there were no suitable spots in the area. Still, it was a good little caravan park called The Gardens, and we made it our base for four nights while we explored eastward as far as Warrnambool.
One of the things we love about travelling like this, is that we’re always learning something new and interesting. We were walking along the beach at Port Fairy Bay and noticed masses of tiny, little jelly-like creatures being washed up on the shore.
As we walked further it became clear that there were millions of the little things, just drying out where the tide left them. We couldn’t avoid them, in the water or on the sand. So, what are these tiny little creatures? They are called Salps.
Salps are gelatinous, cylindrically shaped, transparent, and a completely harmless sea creature. They can grow up to 10 millimetres in length so I think the one Peter is holding must be fully grown. They feed by sucking in seawater, and ingesting the phytoplankton which live in the water. When they have taken all of the phytoplankton, they then expel the water, and they do so with such force, that they propel themselves through the water. So, their feeding method also acts as one of the most efficient jet propultion systems in nature. Of course there is a lot more to them than that, so look them up if you want to know more.
Between Port Fairy and Warrnambool is an area called the Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve. This was a very interesting area. It’s basically an old volcanic crater, with a landmass in the centre, and water surrounding it. So, its like a little island in the centre of the crater, surrounded by a lava boundary. There’s a road that takes you onto the island, and once there, there are several walking tracks to explore. I think it’s safe to say that this is one of the more unique places we have visited.
Aerial shot of Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve.
Image courtesy of VisitVictoria.com
As well as the’ water ‘moat’ surrounding the island, there were a number of large lakes on the island itself. It really is a great place to walk. There are some easy, and some not so easy tracks so you can take your pick.
On one of the walks Peter spotted a cave in the distance, it was well off the walking track, and in a fenced off area, and you can clearly see why.
It was a huge bee hive. It was very dark inside the cave, but after “tweaking” my photo, I was able to lighten it enough for us to see the extent of the hive.
Leaving the coast we headed inland, due north, ready to start meandering back to SA. We saw a sign for a lookout and thought…why not. It was a tight, winding road, and we had to take it easy with the van on tow. Peter, as always did an excellent job. At the top there was ample space to park, and after an invigorating walk, we were rewarded with a wide, expansive view with the Grampians in the distance, and…a bird.
Continuing North, we made our way to Glendinning campground on the 16th of Feb and have been here ever since. A short drive from the camp, we visited Air Terjun Wannon Falls. Very impressive when in full flow. But when they’re not, you can do this.
We swam and kayaked most days, we went wood collecting, Peter made a date damper and I gave my camera a good workout. All the things we enjoy so much and in such a lovely place. So, when Peter said, and I quote.
“I don’t want to leave here.”
We didn’t. I mean, who am I to argue? Here we are camped a hundred meters from the water’s edge of the Rocklands Reservoir – who could ask for anything more?
View from under our awning 
The live trees in the water indicate the water levels are much higher than usual 
Returning home with wood 
Yup, it was cold enough for a fire 
Dam at the end of the reservoir 
Regular visitors 
What is it? 
Is it a people? 
Hmmm, could be a people 
Yup…it’s a people 
Crimson Rosella 
White Plumed Honeyeater 
Very shy Eastern Rosella 
Red-Rumped Parrot 
Female Red-Rumped Parrot 
Red-Wattle Bird 
Pacific Black Duck 
Map of the Rocklands Reservoir
As the days passed, we planned to leave on the 22nd, then the 23rd but we’ve stretched it to Friday 24th Feb. this means that we have a whopping 460klms to travel in just two days.
I think we can do it. 😉
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
After leaving Kingston we drove for about an hour twenty before pulling up at Tantanoola. Famous for (debatable) the Tantanoola Tiger. It was a good free camp, nothing there except a crab apple tree, full of fruit. And what do we do with a crab apple tree full of fruit? We harvest it of course. Then we spend a riveting two hours peeling coring, slicing & dicing, these tart little fruits. After stewing the apples, I ended up with 3 x 400gm serves, froze two of these and adapted my banana loaf recipe to an apple and date loaf. YUMMO!
And that’s what we do when there is nothing else to do. 😊
When we left Tantanoola, we called into the caves there. I’m not big on caves but these really were impressive. I’ve included a link below, in case you’d like to know more about them. There is also a walk around the hills above the caves which offers wide open views of the area.
https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/tantanoola-caves-conservation-park#about
Our next stop was Lake Leake, a short twenty-minute drive from Tantanoola, and that became our home for the next twelve days.
This is a great spot to camp, and it’s very popular too. It’s only a forty-minute drive to Mount Gambia, which we did a few times for supplies, including water for the caravan, and to empty the toilet cassette. We also visited the Blue lake, which is pretty much in the centre of town, very picturesque, and I sighted a bird I had not seen before; a Red-Browed Finch.
Back at Lake Leake, we really made ourselves at home. Kayaks on the edge of the lake and our hammocks hung in the trees. What more could we ask for? Oh yes, birds. There were a couple on land and lots on the water.
I wasn’t going to take my camera out on my first paddle, from where I was standing, I could only see a couple of seagulls and a pelican in the distance. But I am so pleased I did take it. It’s quite a large lake, and as I made my way towards the south end, I saw birds by the hundreds. There were huge flocks of Australian Shelducks, I counted 11 Spoonbills, I’ve never seen that many in one place before, and I do love my Spooners, and a variety of others, some of which were first sightings. I didn’t get them all of course, but I got a fair representation of the birds that were there.
Lake Edward was a short fifteen-minute drive from Lake Leake. You can’t camp there but it is an idyllic place to visit, or fish, and we spent quite a lot of time there.
Once we left Lake Leake, we hugged the coast and did a number of overnight stays; Cape Northumberland, (SA’s southernmost point) staying at Port MacDonnell, Captain Kirks Lookout, Piccaninnie Ponds, then back inland to Cobboboonee NP. (I swear I’m not making these names up) before we crossed the border into Victoria.
It is quite a beautiful coastline and I’m pleased we braved the wind for the scenery and the birds along the way.
Cobboboonee was a great forest camp, you’d think we were in the middle of nowhere. Truth is…the dirt track was only twenty meters behind the van.
As for the weather, well the locals say it’s cooler than normal, us Queenslanders say it is bloomin’ freezing (or words to that effect). And we’re loving it! On the 2nd of February, pretty close to mid-summer, we had a top of 16 degrees. I know, it’s crazy right? I mean, we’ve even had to put the heater on a couple of nights, and mornings come to think of it. And that’s not an anomaly, we’ve had many more days in the high teens, to low twenties, than we have in the mid to high twenties.
But for now, we’re just dipping our toes in Victoria before we head back to South Australia and Adelaide.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
