PORT ELLIOT - We called into our favourite coffee shop in Victor Harbor before commencing our exploration of places we still hadn't been to and Robb had some raisin toast while we both had a coffee and a bit of a read. We started our road trip today with a visit to the beautiful town of Port Elliot which was only a short drive down the road from Victor Harbor where we are staying. As in all these small towns in South Australia we have lots of beautiful old buildings to look at but the very special thing about Port Elliot is the magnificent views over Horseshoe Bay. I couldn't really do the views justice with my photos but I don't think I will every forget how beautiful it is.
GOOLWA - We drove into this major town in the Alexandrina Shire from Port Elliot and had a quick look around before taking the road to Hindmarsh Island. Part of our initial travels in Goolwa took us to the Goolwa Barrage where the lock separates the fresh water of the Murray River from the salt water. Very interesting area and well worth a visit, you can walk inside the Barrage and have a bit of a look around. After visiting Hindmarsh Island we came back to Goolwa for a better look around. First of all we drove to the port and then the railway station before moving into the town, there is lots to see here and worth spending a bit of time walking around.
HINDMARSH ISLAND - To get to this island you travel over a very modern concrete bridge and once you arrive it is easy to see you are in a conservation area of some importance. There is housing on the island that seems well established and there is also a very big newly built development Coorong Quays where it looks like all the houses have there own moorings onto the various inlets. The majority of the land though seems to be conserved for the native wildlife and there has been lots of re vegetation to the extent of 75,000 hours of planting. What thrilled me though was that we were able to view the Mouth of the Murray River. We have visited the Murray in many towns throughout Victoria, NSW and SA but to come to the mouth just blew me away. It is constantly being dredged because it is so important to the eco system in the area that the mouth never closes up.
WILLUNGA - We drove from the coast at Goolwa into the hills to visit Willunga which is another historic town on the Fleurieu Peninsula. We had a quick look around before driving onto our next stop.
MT. JAGGARD WINES - We called in here for a cheese platter for lunch because we had passed the winery so many times in our travels around the Fleurieu Peninsula and thought it would be a nice way to finish our time in this spectacular area. The lady who served us was very welcoming and we spent a nice time talking to her. The fire was going so we sat in front of that and bought a bottle of sauvignon blanc to share with our cheese platter which highlighted lots of local produce. The wine was excellent and we will keep an eye out for Mt. Jagged Sauvignon Blanc from now on.
