Port Goolwa, South Australia
Port Goolwa, South Australia
Port Goolwa played a very important role in the early development of the young colony of South Australia. As the areas near River Murray were settled in the 1840s and 1850s, paddleboats started trading up and down the Murray-Darling river system.
They would travel upstream with supplies for the farmers and graziers along the rivers. They would then bring back items produced in these farmlands, mainly wheat and wool. Port Goolwa became, for a few decades, one of the busiest ports in Australia.
A railway was built to Port Elliot and goods transferred to ocean going ships. Some paddlesteamer captains braved the treacherous and ever shifting sands at the mouth of the River Murray just a few kilometres from Goolwa.
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Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
After lunch at the Flying Fish Cafe we spent some time taking in the magnificent views over Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot. This delightful bay is just a short distance from Victor Harbor and only an hour south from Adelaide and a similar time from our home in Murray Bridge.
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
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Lunch at Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
After visiting Waitpinga Beach and having morning tea at the picnic ground in the Newland Head Conservation Park, we drove back through Victor Harbor. This was the start of our return journey home. We stopped for a lunch break at Port Elliot. This little beachside town has become very popular with tourists and day visitors from Adelaide.
Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
Horseshoe Bay is a very safe swimming beach which makes it very popular with families. The wide sandy beach is ideal for beach activities for children. We had lunch in the appropriately named Flying Fish Cafe. We just had to have their famous fish and chips for lunch. This was absolutely delicious though a little expensive I thought. The magnificent scenery overlooking the bay certainly added to our enjoyment.
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Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia
Picnic at Newland Head Conservation Park
Settler's Cottage in Newland Head CP
After our visit to Waitpinga Beach (see my previous two articles) we drove the short distance to the camping and picnic ground in the nearby Newland Head Conservation Park. This park is only a short distance from Victor Harbor and little over an hour’s drive south of Adelaide in South Australia. The camping ground is not big and can only cater for several groups of campers at once. The picnic grounds consist of several picnic tables.
Silvereye
A feature of the camping ground is the partially restored old settler’s cottage. This has a large verandah with some picnic tables and a BBQ for use by visitors. It was here that we had our morning tea of a cuppa and some biscuits. While we were doing that we were entertained by the local birds. Several Silvereyes were feeding in the bushes nearby and I managed to take the photo above. A family of Superb Blue Wrens came hopping around our feet seeing if we would drop a few biscuit crumbs for them. Several Red Browed Finches joined in the fun.
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Superb Blue Wren (male)
More views of Waitpinga Beach, South Australia
Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP
Waitpinga Beach near Victor Harbor in South Australia is just over an hour’s drive south of our state capital city, Adelaide. Waitpinga is a long wide sandy beach facing south. On most days there is a fairly decent surf rolling in from the Southern Ocean. This makes this a popular beach with surfers.
Anglers enjoy this beach as well. I’ve never fished there so I don’t know what they would be catching there. After searching for a while I found a very old book on my bookshelf about where to go fishing in South Australia. The fact that I had to search for it means that it hasn’t been used all that often over the years. It lists salmon, mulloway, bream, mullet, flathead and snapper as the main species caught along the beach.
Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP
The beach is also excellent for children to play on, for going for long walks and for just sitting there and watching the waves come rolling in. In the first photo above, I was facing west. Slightly to the left and just out of the photo one can just make out the coast of Kangaroo Island, one of South Australia’s top tourist destinations. Ferries take people and vehicles to and from the island several times a day. The island is only just over an hour’s drive and an hour’s ferry trip from my home but I have never been there. That is something we must rectify very soon.
The second photo is taken looking east towards Newland Head which gives its name to the nearby Conservation Park. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
Related Articles:
- Victor Harbor – archival list of articles I’ve written about this lovely town.