Limestone Coast
After leaving our beloved Kangaroo Island we were relaxingly cruising along another scenic drive to Victor Harbor and later Golwa. The landscape in this part of Australia often reminded us of Europe with its farmlands and forests (but for sure everything was about ten times as big as back home). With the added sun life once again seemed pretty good.
In the afternoon we more or less followed Lake Albert till we reached the town of Wellington. Interestingly our GPS told us to cross the river here but unfortunately there was no bridge to cross. However the confusion only lasted for a second or two till we realized that there was actually a ferry (guided by fixed cables) which brought cars from one side of the river to the other. Later on we read that there are eleven such ferries throughout the Murray River region.
We entered the an area called Limestone Coast. It felt less touristy (although so far in Australia nothing had seemed too touristy to us) and in hindsight it was a part we liked a lot. Along the whole coast are long sand banks with plenty of birds on it – you can imagine it as “see-sandbank-lagoon-mainland-sandwich”. As the comical highlight of the day, we saw three guys who tried to drive their Audi on a salt lake… as the picture shows this was not the brightest idea.
We pitched out tent in the lovely town of Meningie, which was one of the many picturesque towns along the coast. As you see in the below pictures our tent-spot came with a priceless view (although I was able to pay with Master Card ・in case you remember the commercial ;)).
While Hazel took a nap, I went for a small town excursion. Beside some nice parks and a lot of birds there was also a war memorial. These monuments are built in honor of local soldiers which felt in WWI and WWII and are, perhaps surprisingly, quite common in Australia. As part of the British Empire and the Common Wealth Australia (to my knowledge) almost always joined the British Forces in conflicts. Especially important to Australia is the battle of Gallipoli in Turkey. In this early battle of WWII Australians fought the first time together with soldiers from New Zealand. There the famous term ANZAC was born and still each year the ANZAC-Day is celebrated in Australia and New Zealand. After this bloody history lesson it was time to go to bed. The night was cold again however we had upgraded our sleeping backs to warmer models and had therefore a very warm and super relaxing night.
The first stop the next morning was a pelican lookout and yes we saw hundreds of them. These buggers and really quite big and it’s amazing how effortlessly they seem to fly in perfect V-formation. It was really a spectacle to watch them.
Second stop was at Salt Creek where we saw a salt lake, a kangaroo and a lot of birds during a leisurely stroll. Later on we passed Kingston and its main attraction the oversized Larry the Crab. Apparently Australia has this thing going on of putting oversized sculptures of things alongside the highways – don’t ask us why and for what reason.
The next stop was Beachport which had a few super impressive beaches. It’s always a “wow that’s a **** nice beach” moment when we were driving over a crest and suddenly spotted a piece of paradise-like beach (and believe us there are plenty of them in Australia). In addition to the beaches there was the Pool of Sioam which has a six times higher salt concentration than the sea. Despite the ice cold water we went for a swim and we really were floating.
Night stop was at Millicent where we found a petite campground with a trampoline (much to Hazel’s liking) and free WiFi.
Last stop in South Australia was Mount Gambier the next morning. Its Blue Lake is really super blue (a bit like when you put that blue thingy in your toilette to make it smell nice). After a short hike along a second lake (which was less blue but still nice) we visited the cave gardens and its sinkhole in the city (which is basically a hole with some greenery inside – see pictures) as well the much nicer Umpherston Sinkhole a bit outside the city.
After crossing the state border to Victoria we continued to Cape Bridgewater via Portland. On the way we stopped to have a first look at the impressive cliffs of the coast. You could call it a preview of the Great Ocean Road which was about to follow the next few days.
A picture book like sunset in Warrnambool was a perfect ending to our day. Time flies and we are enjoying every moment of it.
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