This morning we woke up to a howling gale as a line of storms approached and eventually passed through. By the time we were up and ready to head out the rain had cleared, but the wind was still blowing pretty hard, putting a bit of a hole in my plans for lots of drone shots around the southern part of Yorke Peninsula.
There isn’t really a place that serves breakfast in Edithburgh, I bought a ‘healthy’ sausage roll and we were on our way. The first feature of today’s trip was the Wattle Point Wind Farm that was commissioned in 2004. It consists of 55 wind turbines and can power up to 52,000 homes or about 2% of South Australia’s supply.
There is a scenic route that took us around some of the most spectacular coastline I have driven around (in Australia… anyway). By now it was a pretty grey day and it was hard to get the best colours out of the photos. Our first major stop was the Troubridge Lighthouse. This was built in 1980 to replace an existing manned lighthouse and is renowned for the custom-made bricks used in its construction. It still warns ships of the Troubridge Shoal and the Marion Reef that claimed 19 ships during the 1800s.
The road follows the coastline closely, providing stunning views of wind-swept cliffs and beautiful beaches.
As we made our way towards Marion Bay (our target for lunch) we noted that after yesterday’s seal encounter, the wildlife theme continued. We counted 7 snakes (mainly red-bellied black snakes), 12 Blue-tongue lizards along with plentiful birds and the odd feral cat.
Being springtime here, there are lots of wildflowers blooming wherever they can find purchase. I suspect the major rain events have also contributed to the abundant flowering season.
We arrived at Marion Bay around lunchtime and had lunch at the General Store. There are lots of holiday houses, but little else. Upon a visit to the public restrooms we found that it is considered inappropriate to take your bike or to clean a fish in the toilets – good life advice I am sure. Marion Bay is a popular holiday spot, but I wasn’t seeing the attraction. Perhaps a penchant for fishing and crabbing would help.
The next stop we were aiming for was was the Corny Point Lighthouse, but as we drove around the coast I noticed the wind was dropping, and so decided it would probably be safe to get the drone out. I had a few nervous moments when some big wind gusts persisted, but there were no mishaps. We were now on the Spencer Gulf side of the peninsula, which is much wider and longer than the Gulf of St Vincent and where we will spend the next couple of days as we head back up the peninsula. There were lots of little coves and beaches to explore.
The Corny Point Lighthouse was commissioned in 1882 to assist shipping to avoid hazards on the western side of the Spencer Gulf, and was converted to automatic operations in 1920. It was built from locally-sourced limestone and has been Heritage Listed since 1980.
With our circuit of the bottom end of the peninsula completed we headed back to Edithburgh for a pub dinner and to sign off on the day.
Until tomorrow.
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 