The third Tuesday in September saw the intrepid Stickies venture forth to explore the southern Fleurieu Peninsular, a local spot we haven’t been to for a while. With several not having been to this part of our state we headed out to the morning tea spot at the trail head for the Talisker mine near Silverton just south of Delamere.
The mine discovered in 1862 by John McLeod employed Cornish miners to work the silver lead ore. The trail to the mine is about a two hour return walk and is steep in places so we decided to just have our morning tea and move on.
Travelling to Cape Jervis we were just in time to see the Kangaroo Island ferry come in. Hats off to the ferry captain in negotiating a 180 degree turn in such a tight space. The ferry terminal and jetty are going through a major refit with cranes, pile drivers and crew everywhere.
From Cape Jervis we went up the hill to inspect the Starfish Hill Wind farm. There are eight wind turbines with three blades and a tower height of 68 metres. As expected, a windy spot with a great view across to KI. We now headed back through Delamere up to Rapid Bay.
A nice caravan park adjacent to a lovely curved sandy beach on one side of the road with the storm damaged jetty on the other side with a few people fishing. It was now getting close to lunch time so at Second Valley we ordered fish and chips from the cafe’ and ate in the pleasant outdoor seating area while being entertained by the magpies and blue wrens.
After a quick toilet stop and a look from the beach car park we headed up the coast, next stop Wirrina Cove Resort and the Marina St.Vincent. The resort is certainly looking tired no one around, the golf course pro shop closed but the course itself was looking great and still holding regular competitions.
One thing spotted was the 15 hole mini golf set-up at 8 dollars a round. Maybe one to keep in mind when the annual Fearless Leader Mini Golf Challenge comes around. We drove on down to the marina, a lot of nice looking boats tied up to the wharf fingers behind a very protective rock breakwater.
Heading up Main South Road next stop was the HMAS Hobart Memorial Lookout. The HMAS Hobart was sunk in 2002 as an artificial reef and lies in 30 metres of water 4 kms. off Rapid Bay. She had 3 deployments to Vietnam during that conflict, she also helped in the rehabilitation of Darwin after cyclone Tracy and in all saw 34 years of service.
It was now time to head home so past the Links Lady Bay golf resort through Normanville and Yankalilla and up the Inman Valley road to Victor Harbor for our obligatory soft serve from McDonald’s and then on to home. A great day down South, next month we will be visiting the Aviation Museum in Port Adelaide.
Cheer all
JB
