Australia 2007

Sunday, October 21 – Adelaide to Robe

We got up early and had breakfast and finished packing. Then I walked about 15 minutes up to Hertz to pick up our car. We got a very new Toyota Accent hatchback, but it actually has less room in it for luggage than the Corolla. I went back and picked up Ina and checked out.

We started heading out to the highway toward Murray Bridge. We ended up going right around the main city of Adelaide and headed North/East. The terrain along here was rolling hills of green grass with lots of herds of sheep and cattle. We went over some small hills, which I think they called mountains, and continued on M1 to Murray Bridge. We stopped there to go to Woolworth’s for a few things, and then continued on. We actually crossed the Murray River on the Murray Bridge which was the first bridge across the river and was constructed in 1879, and is still in use. The speed limit was mostly 110kmh and we crossed over to hwy 5 at Tailem Bend. The land got lots flatter here, and looked like it was covered in large ranches with fields of hay and sheep and cattle. We continued on Meningie where we stopped at a Lion’s Park to use the facilities, and stretch our legs. A bit later, we stopped along the beach, south of Woods Well, where we walked about 10 minutes out to a lookout, to look at Pelican breeding grounds. There were a million flys here and we used our net hats while walking. There were a few couples who started the walk, but turned around because of the flies. When we got back to the parking lot, it was just after noon, so we sat inside and ate our lunch.

After lunch we got back on the road and continued North/East. All along here were large ranches with herds of animals, oil rigs, large evergreens, and wineries, with tasting rooms. We passed through Kingston SE and went another 40kms to Robe. This is a small beach town with an active fishing fleet, and lots of nice scenery. We stopped at the tourist info, but couldn’t get any recommendations about accommodations, just brochures. We found a place that sounded nice and drove over to it. We got a room with wireless internet for $5 an hour. We got settled in and then went for a driving tour of the area. We started at the lighthouse where we took some pictures of the shoreline and an obelisk on the other side of the bay. Next, we drove to the obelisk and took lots of pictures of the obelisk, the lighthouse, and the doorway rock. I’ll add a picture here. We left there and headed down to the local jetty to look around. There are lots of different plants in this area, and we took some pictures of these. We also drove out to Long Beach, which is exactly what it is. Then over to a lookout, but not that high, to take a picture.

After this, we drove to a restaurant/pub that the motel owner recommended. It is called the Caledonian Inn and was built in 1859, by a Scotsman, Peter McQueen. This was a neat old place, with rustic furniture, and a wonderful bar. The restaurant didn’t open until 6 pm and it was only 5:20 when we got in. We decided to have a beer while we waited and looked at the menu. The waitress, who looked like she was one of the owners, took our order just after 5:30 and brought us some warm bread to eat. Our order came at around 5:55 and there was a lot of food there. I had ordered a Pan Seared Swordfish dinner, with Chinese mushrooms, bok choy, and vegetables. It was very good. Ina had Squid Ink Fettucini with Morton Bay Bugs in spinach sauce.

After dinner we drove back to the motel and watched some TV, and updated the blog until bedtime. We turned in relatively early.