Two Retired Boomers Go Trekking: Saturday, March 5 – The Fleurieu Peninsula and Adelaide

We explored the land in and around Victor Harbor. Drove up to the point at Rosetta Head and saw the fishers; drove up to the top of the cliffs, commonly called “The Bluff” from which we had magnificent views across the town and into the hills around the town; then we headed south. We passed through Waitponga Beach about 20 minutes from Victor Harbor; beautiful grassy sand dunes, ferocious oceans, and peopleless. The area around us was occupied with large farmsteads breeding sheep and cattle on the edge of the rugged coastline. At one point we got so confused we didn’t know where we were and if we were even heading in the correct direction; but then we hit a point that matched the information on the map and we were a little more comfortable.

The Fleurieu Peninsula

We came to Cape Jervis right at the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula, the “V” that Adelaide sits on the left side of. There was nothing there except a ferry over to Kangaroo Island. We gather from a couple of people we have spoken with, there is nothing particularly interesting on the island and it does look rather boring from the view at the Ferry, so we gave it a miss and drove on north through towns with names like Willonga, Yankalilla, Yankaponga, and Myaponga.

We hit the McLaren Vale wine area and stopped into an information booth to get info on the wineries. Good heavens there are tons of them and most of them we haven’t heard of; but we had heard of Rosemount, Chapel Hill, and Foxbridge so followed the “scenic route” through wine country and stopped into Rosemount to buy some wine….but despite all the advertising, it was closed! So we drove on to Chapel Hill and got a couple of bottles there. Wine country is always beautiful and this was no exception. The grapes grow on the slopes and in the valleys and you can look out over the undulating lands and see the grape vines for miles.

We were about an hour away from Adelaide and we were meeting some people we know there around 5 so got on the highways and drove in to the city. It seemed so sane, so quiet, and calm compared to the other cities and we liked it immediately. By luck we turned onto a road running parallel to the beach and it was the road our friends lived on, and we were practically at their house. This was actually Nicolle’s Dad’s house and it was beautiful. We met Nicolle on our South American Trip in 2007 and kept in touch. We texted Nicolle and she came out to meet us. It was exciting to see her after 9 years. She had arranged to meet us at her Dad’s house on the beach, and they had very kindly offered to put us up for the night. We went out for dinner with Nicolle to a neat Italian restaurant and had a great meal and sat and chatted with her and her friend until around 11 when we headed back to her Dad’s place and sleep!