Fleurieu Peninsula

A truly stinking hot day.  Hot, dry and gusty winds kept the fire danger index high.  Ross and Val kept getting pager messages keeping them updated on the fire situation in the area.  They and Jake are all very involved in the community fire service and watch the weather intently, because they may have to head off any moment to fight a fire or man (in this case woman) the call centre.  They talked us into staying another day, as the weather is so hot you need to sit inside in the airconditioning just to keep from shrivelling up like a sultana.

In the morning we went back to Val's mum's to put more water on the  plants and gather any ripe food.  We found some enormous squash, some carrots, lemons, onions, peaches, and one lonely strawberry.  It was a feast!

We went to look at Glenbarr again and were given a lovely tour of the grounds.  It makes it even more interesting to be given the tour by a great, great, great granddaughter. (or something like that)

 

On our way back down the driveway, we came to a halt at a big eucalyptus branch that had come down across the road in the big wind.  It hadn't been there when we came in an hour before, so it was a blessing it hadn't fallen when we were driving underneath.  Ross towed it out of the way, and we got back home and into the air-conditioning.

Later I did a load of washing and it dried in the dry wind in half an hour!

In the afternoon us Woolstons took a drive down to Goolwa, a lovely beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula south of Strathalbyn, where Hinchinbrook Island is, and where you can see the Murray river entering the sea. West along the coast a bit further we visited Port Elliot, on Encounter Bay, where you find Horseshoe Beach.  Encounter bay is named for the encounter Matthew Flinders and Nicolaus Baudin had here in 1802, a completely unplanned meeting between the two explorers, who were very helpful in sharing information together, even though their two countries were at war.  It was a very pretty place.

Finally we wound up at Victor Harbour, a lovely beach town, which has a wooden causeway (looked like a bridge to me) out to Granite Island. On less hot days you can take the only horse drawn tram in the world out along the causeway, but today we walked. The horses were resting.

Walking across the causeway it was very windy, and Nadine’s pink Hi-Five hat took a flight into the water.  Bye-bye hat.  She didn’t like it anyway…

Then we walked around Granite island to spot some fairy penguins that nest there. (actually they are now called Little Penguins....look that one up). We didn't see any.  Later, the checkout girl at Woolworths told me there weren't any anymore, they'd all been eaten by the seals....I may be odd, but I found that kind of ironic.

 

 

  

It's too hot to eat early, so we've been taking it easy and eating once it cools down a bit.  We are keeping Val and Ross up pretty late, poor things!  But we are having a great time visiting with them, and the children don't want to leave.

Ross was called out to a wheelie bin fire late in the evening.  Everyone is just waiting for a spark or hot truck brakes to set the dry grass alight.  It has cooled off a little this evening though.
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Vicki