Home Our Trip South Australia 52-Robe to Kangaroo Island
52-Robe to Kangaroo Island

15th March 2009.

The skies opened up as we left Mount Gambier and headed for Robe and it was non stop rain all the way. Fortunately, the skies cleared the next day but we still had to put up with the strong winds.

Robe:

Although Robe is a small town with one main street and only a few shops, we couldn't believe how many houses there were there. We soon discovered the only industries in town were fishing and tourism and the majority of houses were either holiday homes or  tourist accomodation. It's a 4WDrivers paradise with all the bush tracks and beach drives although you need to get up to date information from the rangers, coz some of the beaches can quickly become extremely soft and impassable. There's lots of history here and the coastline is spectacular. The recommended tourist drive which includes a drive out to Cape Dombey and the Obelisk is a must. The Obelisk was built in 1855 and used to store rockets to fire out life lines and baskets to shipwrecked sailers and it still stands proud today. Saw our first modern lighthouse and the rugged coastline and cliffs are awesome.

A 4WD south through the National Parks and beaches is full of surprises with scenic hide aways around every corner, pure 4WD paradise.
On one particular detour, "I don't like this Ken, it's all too steep and twisty for me and it's too rough, get me outta here. Don't worry luv, we'll be fine, we can't stop or turn around anyway, so have to keep going till we find somewhere suitable to turn around".  After quite a steep climb over a huge sand dune, we suddenly landed on the beach. As I hadn't deflated the tyres, we came to a grinding halt in the soft sand and, you guessed it " Told you so, now we're bogged and miles from anywhere, what are we gonna do. I'm taking a photo of this and going to show it to everyone coz you wouldn't listen to me". Well, I gotta do as I'm told and let her write the message in the sand and take her photos. When it's all over and she says "now what?", I deflate the tyres to 18psi and off we go for a pleasant drive along the beach as if nothing had happened and then I get a fat slap for not telling her everything. It was awesome :)

Coorong:

Next headed further west and came across the Coorong National Park. My arm still hurts from the fat slap yesterday. The salt lakes go on for miles and are separated from the sea by a narrrow stretch of beach and really are a fishermans paradise, but you do need a boat to get out into the deeper water. Check out all the fishing photos in the local roadhouse if you need more convincing.

Victor Harbor:

Victor Harbour is mainly a holiday escape for the city folks of Adelaide and its surrounds, plus retirees that have opted for a sea change. The weather has cleared up and the sun is shinning. The views over the town and surrounding area from the lookout are absolutely stunning, probably the best town views we've seen so far on the trip, awesome. The main attractions here are Granite Island with it's Penguin Tours and the horse drawn tram across to the Island. A delightfull town and well worth a visit.

In fact, The whole Fleurieu Peninsula is definitely worth exploring with it's National Parks and hidden gems, scenic drives and picturesque towns and bays.

Rapid Bay:

A camping/caravanning paradise. Hidden away down the south of the Fleurieu Peninsula, is Rapid Bay, a gem of a place. Quiet tucked away camping in a sheltered bay and only $5.00 per person per night. There are no powered sites, but there are limited ammenities, what a paradise.

Kangaroo Island:

22nd March.  We found the trip to Kangaroo Island extremely expensive at $330.00 return for a 3/4 of an hour ferry trip just for the car and two adults. As they wanted $350.00 each way for the caravan, we left it in storage at Victor Harbor ($5.00 per night) and stayed in a self contained cottage in Brownlow at $95.00 per night for the two nights. The trip over is fairly pleasant and wow, just couldn't believe how many vehicles they crammed onto the ferry, unbelievable. There is lots to see and do for tourists discovering Kangaroo Island, although must admit we didn't do them all. We've seen more than our fair share of wildlife parks, koalas and kangaroos etc. The scenic drives are well worth doing and the highlights for us were Seal Bay and feeding the Pelicans at Kingscote.

 Brighton:

A two night stop over in Brighton on the outskirts of Adelaide to recoup, relax and plan the next leg of out trip.

Life On The Road:

Next, we're heading inland up to the Flinders Ranges, then further north to outback South Australia and really looking forward to this leg.
Life's still treating us well and we're enjoying every moment.

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