Back to Adelaide

After packing on Friday morning we checked out of our resort:

Myponga is just a few miles north of Normanville and that's where we planned to watch the Tour Down Under cyclists going through. We had time to kill so we went for coffee and doughnut/Danish Wedge at the local bakery, from where we planned to walk up to the corner where we knew the tour would be passing in a couple of hours. In the end, we just drove our car up to the junction and checked with the parked police car that it was OK to park there - "as long as you make sure it's well off the road when the cyclists come past, mate".

I wasn't quite sure exactly when the Tour would pass this spot. I knew they were scheduled to leave Glenelg at 11:30 am and that's just over 40 kms away, so I had told Kelly that it would likely be between 12:30 and 1:00 pm when they passed, but I was anxious not to miss the moment. We tried sitting at a few places, but one of them was near a dried up underground pipe and there was a bit of a stench there and it was plagued with flies, so we moved away. Some of the other Tour watchers told me 12:50 would be when it happened, so we had tons of time and went back to the car for a while. I kept going back to check, however, and eventually a flotilla of 20-30 advance promotional cars came racing through, tooting their horns and cheering:

We assumed the cyclists wouldn't be far behind but we were wrong - it would be at least another half hour. Another local gave me a good tip to stop me from continually jumping in and out of the car needlessly - "when the cyclists are getting near, the first thing you will see and hear is the TV helicopter coming over the hills". Good tip, but actually before that there was a procession of police motor bikes and cars, each a few minutes apart. I guess there were as many as 15-20 motorbikes and 10-12 cars. Bit of a holiday day out for the boys in blue, methinks.

Not long after the scheduled arrival time, the cyclists eventually appeared. The leading group went past so fast that I barely saw them - certainly I never got time to photograph them. I was wrestling with Jo's camera and trying to remember how it worked (mine was low on battery) and my eyes were focused on the large peloton behind:

Now I was standing off the road on the gravel but I nearly got run over as some of the group, who were incredibly tightly packed, were forced off the tarmac and whooshed inches by me.

Behind this was a fleet of back-up vehicles with spare bikes, wheels etc aboard, followed by ambulances and even more police cars. We joined the procession north-eastwards for a few miles before they turned off and we carried on to Willunga on to McLaren Vale, then McLaren Flat, where we'd arranged to meet Kelly and Miller at the Currant Shed for lunch.

We were a little late in arriving - it wasn't that easy to find - but Kelly and Miller were happily playing in the lovely garden there and we sat down to join them:

We had a glass of wine and some bread in this spot and then sat at our table for our meal.

Kelly asked us if we needed some guidance or to follow her back to Semaphore, but we thought we would manage - and we did - eventually. We had a couple of stops first of all - firstly for some take-away beer at Ekhidna's (https://ekhidnawines.com.au/) cellar door, then later to re-fuel Kelly's car, which we'd had use of all week.

We had beers in the back garden and awaited Chris' arrival home after his first full week's 9-5 regular job for a few years. Chicken, salad and, of course, wine for dinner.

You'll be pleased to know the family Huntsman spider is still alive and well - although she (we think it's female as it appeared to have eaten the previous one) had moved to a new, more prominent, position high on the lounge wall - but it's nowhere to be seen this morning. Cue dramatic music.

Last 2 days in Normanville

It's Friday morning now and we're having breakfast before packing and heading back to Adelaide. We're going to meet Kelly and Miller in McLaren Vale for lunch after taking in a bit of the Tour Down Under cycling on the way there.

How's Jo you ask? Hale and hearty again. Wednesday was a write-off for her but it gave her a chance to recover her strength after a really bad night and yesterday (Thursday) she was all go and raring to go for a long walk.

Whilst Jo was sleeping on Wednesday afternoon I played golf. I walked 18 holes in the afternoon heat and felt it when I was finished. The course was quiet - I hardly saw anyone else, although I did have a bit of a funny experience on the 2nd tee. I was about to play when I looked over and there, staring at me, just a few feet away were:

I turned round and there were another two, then another three. In total, I was surrounded by 10 kangaroos. They watched me intently - never threatening a move, but they're big animals and it felt kind of spooky being out there alone.

Jo planned our walk on Thursday. We drove up to Willunga and set out on the Shiraz Trail, which is part of the much longer Coast to Vines Rail Trail (aka The Kidman Trail). It's a former rail line which is now a walking, cycling, horse-riding track. Our plan was to walk to McLaren Vale, have some lunch and then walk back - a total of 12 miles (19 kms).

We were pretty well prepared - lots of slap on, wearing hats and carrying a backpack with a couple of bottles of water. Our first experience was the loud screeching of all types of birds, including:

It seemed for a while that there was some kind of bird war going on. We still don't know what was driving them all crazy but they were still at it when we returned five hours later.

The trail has little shelters and seats where the former stations were. Here we are at the first and second stops:

Jo was fascinated by some of the apparently dead trees and the growths on them:

After a few miles of walking through nothing but vines, we eventually came in to the outskirts of McLaren Vale and some vineyard visitor centres, the first of which was Serafino:

We walked past the town centre and out to the McLaren Vale visitor centre for re-fuelling and a brief rest before walking back and finding a suitable spot for lunch - which we did. Oscar's was the first proper restaurant we saw, adjacent to the Trail. We thought we may have been there before with Kelly and Chris, but we couldn't be sure. Anyway it was very nice - pasta for Jo and salmon for me, washed down with some Swell Pale Ale:

That's water that Jo's throwing back - honestly!

Tuesday week 2

We decided to take a drive from our resort in Normanville and headed inland and eastwards on a planned loop over to Victor Harbour and back round past Ingalalla Falls.

First stop on the tourist trail was Selwyn's Rock:

View from above:

Pretty enough, but a little underwhelming. Nice cafe adjacent overlooking the above view and we considered stopping but, in the end, we decided to press on to Victor Harbour. Car parked with 3 hour limit, we hurried off to the Information Centre before walking across the causeway to Granite Island.

There's a horse-drawn tram that takes you there, but we preferred to walk:

We had been advised to walk anticlockwise round Granite Island and this was the view of the causeway and Victor Harbour as we started up the walkway:

We'd been on G.I. a few years ago, but I seem to recall we didn't walk very far. This time we were determined to do the circular tour. We came across some of the odd-shaped rocks that we had seen on nearby Kangaroo Island on one of our previous visits to Oz:

So what do you think we are doing here?:

The idea was to frame the view of the rocks below, which Jo saw as a man lying facing down with his bum in the air:

Once we'd done two-thirds of the circular walk, there's a stairway down to the jetty and cafe:

We had heard about a Heritage Trail and went in search of it, but soon gave up and headed back along the beach when there appeared to be no sign of a proper trail. Lots of seaweed on the beach and scores of what we deduced were probably cuttlefish shells:

Our walk round Victor Harbour's attractions covered 5 miles. Time almost up in the car park, now it was time to head towards the Falls, but we got diverted to the Bluff at Rosetta Head, where there were a number of trails around and up to the top of the hill, which was 340 feet above the sea below. Jo chose to stay in the car park below and read her book but I had to go up:

Eventually we left the Victor Harbour area and found our way to Ingalalla Falls, a beautiful cavernous spot, which must provide spectacular falls in winter, but at this time of year, it was little more than a trickle:

A special place, we both felt.

It was just 5 or 6 miles back to our resort from there, but, first we had to go to Foodland to pick up something for dinner. BBQ chicken and Caesar salad was our choice - easy, cheap and very nice.

I had a quick splash in the pool to cool down and then jumped in to the jacuzzi bath after Jo had finished. Now it was time for G & T's.

Jo had a bad night last night and struggled with her breathing - she was very congested. This morning, I'm blogging whilst she sleeps off and on - I don't think we're going far today.

Sunday/Monday activities

Sunday was a really lazy one. Chris' Mum & Dad, Lorene & David, came over to see us in the afternoon, so we just hung around the apartment in the morning, only popping out to grab some cake to offer our guests. We needn't have bothered - they arrived bearing gifts - edible, of course. We shared this Germanic-looking concoction consisting of pastry containing apple and custard, topped with icing - can't remember the name. The second gift they brought we haven't opened yet - it's a gift pack containing Brioche Crispbread, Masala Jam and Nigella Kasundi, whatever that is. We look forward to trying it out.

We had supper in the on-site Peninsula Bar, where we sat on the veranda, overlooking the golf course, with the sun going down:

For the record, Jo had prawns and I had squid - both very nicely cooked.

Monday morning's exercise was golf. I decided I would like to try and walk rather than buggy - and I did for the first 9 holes, with Jo accompanying (but not caddying) me. Jo's still struggling a bit with a cough/cold - she blames Chris and Miller! - and she couldn't walk any more, so we took a buggy for the back nine. Jo was snapping away with her camera:

I always used to joke that Jo was "barking" and she certainly has been these last few days - she sounds like an Alsatian dog, but we think it's easing a little now and she's moved on to the runny nose stage now. We understand Miller is on the way back as well now, having taken antibiotics.

I'd finished the one and only book I'd brought down to Normanville with me - the others I left in Adelaide - so we went looking for another book to keep me occupied for the rest of the week and we came across a charity shop with a few second hand paperbacks. Nothing much took my fancy but I decided to invest 50 cents in a Frederick Forsyth novel - The Afghan - the first time I've tried one of his books.

The rest of Monday was spent lazing around - a short snooze then a dip in the pool, followed by a jacuzzi bath, then supper - a take-away pizza, washed down with Penfolds Koonunga Hill Cab Sauv. Sitting on our porch, watching the sun go down, we waited for the kangaroos to come hopping over the golf course as they do at this time every evening. A mother and her Joey came right up to the tennis courts beside us. When I got up to take a photograph, I got a proper stare from Mum:

I didn't go any closer and after a few minutes, they hopped off, with little Joey bringing up the rear:

Today (Tuesday) we'll probably drive around a bit - once we've both had breakfast.