Monday 10 December 2018
Well today we had big plans but unfortunately yet again the weather changed those ideas. We had planned to walk 21km along the Walk the Yorke trail from Marion Bay to Hillocks Drive Butlers Beach and then cycle back to the car about 21km. This was then shortened to Meehan Lookout to Hillocks Drive Butlers Beach a 10km walk and then cycle back. This was then totally canned as the wind was blowing very strong from the east which would have been horrendous the whole way. The beauty of life these days is we really don’t have to do anything we don’t want to do. So I am starting to adopt the David Broadbent ways and am not doing things in unpleasant conditions just because we had it planned.

So we started the day with a walk from our campsite to Pondalowie Bay and back through the little sleepy fishing village (3km). Then after breakfast we headed to Pondalowie Surfbreak walking the track and boardwalk (1.1km) where we watched the surfers and dolphins for a little while. There was an ok sized wave. Then we headed to Royston Headland where we hiked 5km return through the bush and out along the cliff. This was very pleasant and a great view for most of it. Then next stop was a couple of beaches where we saw the Shepherds Hut. Then on to West Cape Lighthouse (1.3km). It is amazing how different each lighthouse can look, this lighthouse looked like a spaceship. You can see 5 lighthouses from the lookout.

Next stop was Marion Bay where we enjoyed pizza for lunch at the Tavern and debated whether to do the long walk, the shortened version or not at all. As we watched the white aps out to sea whilst we ate our lunch, the final decision was made to abort the mission. Yeehah!!

So the rest of the afternoon we drove along the bottom of the Yorke Peninsula and then up the east coast to our home for tonight. Port Vincent. Here we just sat around reading for me and researching animals we had seen for David. In the Innes National Park we had seen lots of emus, Western Blue Tongue Lizard, lots of shingleback, feral rabbits, Central Bearded Dragon, kangaroos, lots and lots of flies.

A little bit abut the Ethel Beach Wreck
“On the 2 January 1904 the iron barque Ethel ran ashore on Reef Head, near Cape Spencer (Yorke Peninsula). One crew member died trying to get ashore with a line, but the rest reached safety. The wreck was visible for many years from the cliffs in Innes National Park, before it broke up completely in 1980s.”