The absence of ‘Outings’ posts recently has not meant that we have been sitting at home with our feet up – quite the opposite. I have been working on an exciting new initiative that some of you might be interested in, but more about that later. In the meantime, I am pleased to give a brief account of a few recent activities.
Second Valley
The first of these was a two night weekend stay at Second Valley Caravan Park.
Second Valley is a small coastal township just over an hour’s drive on the west coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. The seaweed strewn beach and heritage listed jetty are only a very short stroll from the caravan park. In fact, this is the main reason, that we decided to stay there.
Two upcoming Agricultural Shows, the Yankalilla, Rapid Bay and Myponga Show and the Port Elliot Show, host photography competitions that I am entering. The former includes two sections requiring images of (a) local Yankalilla heritage features and (b) the environs of Second Valley.
On arrival before lunch on Friday 23 August we set up the caravan, had lunch and set off on the Second Valley Heritage Trail. Having postponed this planned trip for a few days in anticipation of the weather clearing, it was great to enjoy a very pleasant afternoon with the sun shining on a windless landscape.
Disappointingly, access to the last couple of features on the walk is prohibited on account of high tides washing over the trail. On a return visit to the jetty the next day, we noted that this did not deter anyone jumping the barrier at low tide – we elected not to. However, I was happy with the shots taken and was confident that I had a couple of photographs worthy of the competitions.
On our full day away, we had decided to make a return visit to the Second Valley Forest, where we completed the Wilampa Trail in July, with the intention of walking the adjacent Jones Journey trail. Unfortunately, this plan was thwarted on account of the trail being closed. Undeterred, we started walking along the first section of the Wilampa trail with a plan to make up our own route courtesy of my ‘All Trails’ app, rather than repeat our earlier hike.
This went well until close to the end when we had to divert due to active forestry works. We were actually quite relieved as the detour forced us to avoid a long steep climb.
The weather during Saturday stayed fine as expected, although the forecast for the next day accurately predicted a change.
Normanville and Yankalilla
Electing to drive back home via Normanville and Yankalilla in order to explore other possible heritage features that might be worth photographing, we left the caravan park at about 10:00. At our first stop, Normanville, we parked up, found a picnic table and enjoyed morning coffee overlooking an increasingly windy beach that seemed to stretch forever on both directions.
By the time we walked along the beach and back to the car, it was a relief to get back into the car out of the wind.
Walking along the main street at our next stop, Yankalilla, we were a bit more sheltered. With all the heritage buildings obstructed by cars, road signs and rubbish bins, our only successful ’find’ was the bakery. At $3.50, an oversized apricot pastry to share was excellent value for money.
As midday and lunchtime approached, it was clear that the forecast clouds were also approaching. Back at the car and caravan, we set off to find a suitable spot for lunch. We chose what is probably the most exposed lookout on the peninsula, so we decided to stay in the car for our cuppa and filled roll. Before we took or first bite, the car started to rock and the heavens opened. What was a clear view up the valley changed in an instant to a waterfall down the windscreen.
Needless to say, after lunch we went straight home to relax after a very successful outing.
Royal Adelaide Show
Our next big outing was to the Royal Adelaide Show. I looked forward to this with mixed feelings. Having worked at similar shows in Tasmania, I expected it to be a quick outing. However, this show could not have been more different and we spent the whole day there.
Getting there was a mixture of driving to the end of the train line into the city and catching a train to the station next to the showgrounds – all very easy and stressless.
The Adelaide Show is very much in the tradition of agricultural shows. The pavilions included: dogs; sheep; cattle (beef and dairy), pigs and chooks. The wood chop is always entertaining and to be missed. The main arena hosted show jumping where we sat for a while and ate our packed lunch. A visit to the ‘Taste of SA’ hall was too tempting, resulting in the purchase of couple of bottles of bubbles, a bar of delicious passionfruit fudge and a slab of mint rocky road.
The other halls displayed the various competition entries: bakery, art, photography and plants, as well as a stage for musical performances.
A visit to the carnival area was also necessary as I wanted to catch up with the operator that runs Santa’s Wonderland where I will be working with my safety hat on again during December. Some of the rides looked pretty scary, not for the faint hearted and, at $20 per ride, not cheap.
Overall, it was an interesting and enjoyable day out, but for a Family with a couple of kids, I can only imagine what the financial outlay would be.
Bald Eagles
We are very fortunate to have one of SA’s premier live music venues in Goolwa. This afternoon was our first visit to the Juke Joint to see the Eagles cover band, the Bald Eagles, the first of two performances today (the evening was booked out).
Accommodating not many more than 100, this small, intimate venue is set out in a cabaret style with seating at tables of all shapes and sizes. The band were excellent, played all the Eagles hits plus a couple of numbers by Neil Young and Steeley Dan (who we were told had a great rivalry with Eagles). Back home with the ears ringing, it is now time to upload this post.
What’s next
There will be a gap of a few weeks until the next post on account of our imminent overseas trip to Sri Lanka – I am not taking my laptop. However, on return and after I have sifted through all the holiday photographs, I will write about our adventures and my performance in the two competitions.
In the meantime, I await completion of the final step in the new venture I mentioned in the introduction, but I will post a brief article about it in the next couple of days.
Until then, thank you for reading and following my blogposts.