Aaaahhhhh–deep exhale. Here’s me, freshly showered (FYI),mostly recovered from the head cold, and in front of the computer with no urgent tasks to drag me away. Now I can share with you some of the photos from our recent trip to the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia.

River Torrens, Adelaide, near Adelaide Oval

We flew to Adelaide to visit with our daughter, and to attend a day of World Cup Cricket at the beautiful Adelaide Oval. Very tired, I left early and was rewarded with the golden light just before sunset, as I walked the half an hour back to the hotel. Though I missed Australia’s victory at the cricket, I was further rewarded by a bit of extra sleep, having given myself some much needed ‘wind down’ time.

The next day we picked up our rental car and had a leisurely drive to Victor Harbor, about an hour and a half or two hours south of Adelaide. We stayed at the Anchorage, the last of the original ale houses in Victor Harbor, but I will share that with you as a separate post as there is too much to include in this post.

Indigenous, mosaic lookout over Victor Harbor

Aptly named, we used the Anchorage as our base, and each day set off in a different direction to explore wineries or coastal areas. We love this kind of travel. Don doesn’t mind the driving and he is very generous about stopping when I see a photo that must be taken, providing it is not on the edge of a rocky cliff and there is somewhere to pull over!

Port Elliott is on Horseshoe Harbour, the original port along this part of the coast. It had its heyday in the mid-1850’s. Then suddenly it was abandoned for the more accessible Victor Harbor* in 1856, after severe weather caused several serious maritime incidents. Horseshoe Harbour was truly a highlight of the trip. Why? I’m not sure, but everyone we have talked to who has visited there has waxed lyrical about the place! First of all there was a place to buy fresh fish and chips—always a good start. The Flying Fish Café was full to capacity, which usually means the food is good. It was, though not the absolute best I’ve ever had, but the view was as good as any I’ve seen!

Horseshoe Bay

After lunch, we sat on a bench, wishing we had brought a blanket and a book, so that we could emulate other couples lost in their books with the sea lapping in the background. It was an absolutely perfect day, and hardly a person on the beach, save a family with two young children who reinforced the idea that a ratio of one adult to one child is only barely adequate. Very funny. The local Surf Lifesaving Club was located nearby, as any iconic Aussie Beach would boast. There were young people eyeing each other and parading back and forth to size up the competition! So peaceful and perfect–a little jewel suspended in pale sapphire, forever in my mind.

Another memorable moment happened because of a photograph that almost didn’t get taken. We stopped at a lookout, not far from Yankalilla (don’t you just love the name?). It was the place at which the HMAS Hobart was sunk after it had been decommissioned from the Navy. It is used as a diving reef, and very good, by all accounts. A worker with a strong Irish accent was cleaning up the viewing area in preparation for ANZAC day. They are expecting families of those who had served on the Hobart to come and pay respects on April 25^th for the 100^th anniversary of our involvement at Gallipoli and in WWI.

beach near Yankalilla, with beach house and rainwater tanks

The Irish worker wanted to have a bit of a chat, and gave us the benefit of his knowledge of the place. Much as I love a good Irish accent, we began to doubt if we would get away before sunset, and it was not even lunch time yet. Fortunately his phone rang, and we took our chance to escape. You have to appreciate a well timed phone call. At the very last second, something sparked my photo intuition to snap the scene above. I’m so happy I did. It is one of my favourite photos of the trip…and, again, I’m not certain why. Perhaps it is just that it looks so Australian, and I do love traveling in Australia. Oh, Fleurieu, I wish we had you to discover all over again.

beach at Onkaparinga

Australia vs Bangladesh, Adelaide Oval

cellar door sales at Lake Breeze, Langhorn Creek

a work in progress–restoring an old community hall/church in a paddock

remains of old butter factory and petrol pump in Alexandrina

traditional style SA beach huts, Alexandrina

Mouth of the Murray River (in the distance)

treacherous shores of old Port Elliott

xx Ardys

(*You will notice the name Victor Harbor spelled thusly, because that is mostly how they spell it, though we did see a couple of signs that used the ‘u’ version of the word, as did other ‘harbours’ we visited. I guess it’s a local thing and you just have to roll with it!)