kiwibird: Coastal views

The next blog focuses on places we visited while Kathy was staying with us. We took her to every beach from Second Valley to Port Adelaide, plus the ones along the south coast. Kathy must have become quite confused with all the names; Second Valley, Normanville, Carrickalinga, Sellicks, Aldinga, Port Willunga, Maslins, Moana, Noarlunga, Christies, Glenelg, West Beach, Henley Beach, Grange, West Lakes, Semaphore plus Victor Harbour, Port Elliot and Goolwa. I think I have remembered all the beaches we visited, even I am starting to get confused, and I must admit they do start to look all the same.

The beaches around here are beautiful though, with clean white sand, clear water, and sandstone cliffs plus granite and volcanic outcrops. I never tire of walking on them, with their ever changing views and sand formations.

Mind you, the weather was quite chilly most of the time Kathy was here, so there was no swimming for us, just the views and battles with the wind.

We went to Snapper Point to view a sunset, not the most reddest of sunsets, but still very pretty.

We went to Henley Beach, in order to view our old house, which is now an enormous house, with an extra floor on the top. It also matches most other modern and expensive seaside properties. They have sprung up everywhere around the coast here. The modest small holiday house has long gone. I feel sorry for the people in the semi detached house on the south side, as there will be no sunshine for them.

Walter and Kathy standing guard, on what is left of the old house, which amounts to the outside bluestone walls, and a few inside walls, plus the brick servants' quarters at the back. No leadlight windows, no ornate ceilings and no marble fire places left.

Second Valley. A small beach, but we have had some fantastic picnics there.

The jetty at Second Valley which is a great place to jump off as the water is very deep Not for me though. I have plunged from the platform at the bottom of the steps, very daring I thought. Also clambering back onto the platform was quite a feat with the waves crashing against it. I always wondered what was lurking at the bottom of the very deep water. Nothing probably.

There is also a very deep inlet, accessible only by clambering around the edge of the cliff, where people, including some of our grandchildren, like to jump into, mostly from very high cliffs. The rocks are very sharp around these cliffs. My heart always races when I watch them. Mind you it races when I clamber around the cliff in order to watch them.

Now Kathy, you did not visit the area in the photographs below, but I thought I would include them anyway.

I walked here last Thursday, with the U3A walking group, in quite wild weather. The walk is part of the Heysen Trail, and runs from the Bluff in Victor Harbour and the cliffs are pretty spectacular. We only walked about 7 kms altogether. Another walk I wished we had done when you were here, Kathy.

Victor Harbour. A seaside town that has grown from mainly holiday houses for retirees to a thriving large town which spreads out in all directions.

We walked over the very long walkway, in a roaring gale, to Granite Island, which we walked around, and then had a lovely lunch in the sheltered cafe. A very windswept day.

A view back, via the curved beach, towards the hills. It is not a brilliant beach for swimming, but I guess Victor Harbour has other attractions.

The rounded granite rocks on the island.

We drove along the road, past Port Eliot and Middleton, with hundreds of large holiday homes filling the space between the road and the sea.

And then to the barrages, which do a great job of holding back the Murray River so that it enters the sea slowly, and stops the sea water from entering the river, which ensures that the river levels remain at a viable level all the time.

The pelicans love this area. But there were not as many as usual. No seals either.

Finally we drove across the bridge to Hindmarsh Island, which now has a marina, and arable farming land. No large stretches of salt marshes there anymore.

The photograph below shows the Murray River mouth in the distance.

And back to Aldinga Beach. We went for a circular walk in Aldinga Scrub, with its numbered markets highlighting points of interest. Unfortunately I did not have the information leaflet which matched the numbers. However I was able to point out a prehistoric plant, the grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) and native mistletoe. We nearly veered off the circular track, not that we would have got lost forever, as the scrub was not that large.

We encountered no snakes or kangaroos on our walk. Thank goodness.

A view of Aldinga Beach, looking towards the brown hills.

On most mornings Kathy and I took Piper for a walk on Port Willunga Beach. Piper's favourite activity is running and catching a ball, which she brings back to me, most times. The exceptions being when she drops it into the sea, and waits for me to wade out to it. I really missed Kathy accompanying me, once she returned to the United Kingdom. Piper missed her too.