Trip to Victor Harbor

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week Ryan and I decided to take our first solo road trip.  We went down to Victor Harbor which is just over an hour south of Adelaide with the intention of seeing whales and penguins, and just exploring the area.

It was a fantastic trip despite the terrible weather, so there's lots to tell and show.  You're in for a long post today!

We rented a ridiculous little Mazda Metro, but at least it was automatic.  It's really weird driving on the other side of the road, but with two people to navigate it was a lot easier.  The car was pretty old and had next to no power, so in a 100km/h zone going up hill we could only do about 60!

When we arrived we went to the visitor centre to ask about whale sightings, but unfortunately they are really low this year.  The Murray River is draining dirty water into the ocean, so the Right Whales that usually come really close to shore to raise their young were further out than usual.  There had been one sighting in the harbor that morning, but they were much further out than usual.

Because of the weather forecast, we decided to stay in a hotel instead of camping.  We found a hotel called The Anchorage with a fantastic restaurant and a great spa room overlooking the ocean with a balcony.  I spent a lot of time with our binoculars looking for whales off that  balcony!  Also, they had really low mid-week rates which is always appreciated.

Our second reason for going was the smallest penguins in the world.  These were found on Granite Island, which is accessible by a bridge from Victor Harbor.  (A message from Ryan to all you geologists out there: "granite island = pegmattic leucocratic granite")  We did a nice hike around the island, but unfortunately saw no wild penguins since they all go out fishing during the day.   At the end of the walk we got to the rehabilitation centre where they help the injured penguins, so we did get to see them in the end.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

From Granite Island looking towards Victor Harbor

That night we had an AMAZING dinner at the Anchorage of beef, scallops, prawns and calamari.  We shared so we could get dessert!  It was so good that Ryan claims I said "delicious" in my sleep.

Wednesday we decided to get a slow start, so I had tea and whale watched from the balcony.  No whales, but I did watch a black circle that could have been a seal or a buoy for quite awhile!  Mostly it was fun just to watch the massive waves with the binoculars.

On our way home we decided to stop at Newland Head Conservation Park, just west of Victor Harbor.  Again, I'll let the pictures do the talking.  It POURED rain (with a lucky burst of sun later on), but it was very beautiful.  We saw about 6 rainbows over the two days - most of them here!  Also, on our way to the park I saw my first wild kangaroos!

The vegetation was really beautiful and this picture doesn't do it justice.

The last thing we did before heading home was stop at Glacier Rock.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was a long drive to see an unimpressive rock.  One of the reasons we ended up going though is because the pamphlet was written using excerpts by Alan Morgan - Ryan's first year geology professor at the University of Waterloo!  Geology really makes the world feel small.