We are now at Marion Bay that is in the south of Yorke Peninsular. From here we can explore the southern end of the peninsular that incorporates Innes National Park, and that is where we headed today.
There is a lot to explore in the area we were heading, so we studied the maps and from here we worked out our itinerary. We would head to the furtherest point - Royston Head - and then work our way back, stopping at all the places of interest. It took us around an hour to reach Royston Head. Even though it is a relatively short distance - about 40k - we are only allowed to travel at 40 kmh through the national park. This is to protect any wandering animals and the blue tongue lizards that more than likely will cross the road.
Royston Head Hike was on our itinerary and it is a fairly easy 2 km hike to the end of the trail. The path is rocky for the first half and then become sandy as we crossed the sand dunes. The views from Royston Head were spectacular but it was very windy and we kept well away from the cliff edges!
We were pleased to be back in the car after a very windy hike and our next stop was at Pondalowie Surf Break boardwalk. I loved this easy walk to the beach and I particularly love the boardwalk that has been built across the sand dunes. It is vital that these dunes and plants are protected and boardwalks definitely do the job. It is a cold day today but we could imagine the breaking waves would be a surfers paradise in the summer months. The great white sharks might be a problem though....
West Cape and Ethel Beach were our next two stops and both afforded magnificent views out over the Southern Spencer Gulf. We thought we might be able to spot a seal or two today but no such luck. This is a very treacherous sea and we read about the wrecks of many ships along this coastline and Ethel Beach is named after the ship "Ethel" that was wrecked here at the turn of the century. There is not much left of her now. Just a few pieces of rusted hull lying in the sand.
The last stop was another hike, this time around Stenhouse Bay. This is a well laid out hike with lots of stops at various lookouts with interpretive signs. It is only a 3km hike but at times you walk very close to the cliff top edge so you would not want to be afraid of heights. Philip said he felt a little uncomfortable.
At the end of the hike we walked the short distance down to the Stenhouse Jetty. This was an important port when gypsum was mined in the area and shipped out from here. On our hike we see signs of the infrastructure that was needed to get the gypsum down to the dock. There is an old tram and carriages and a huge chute (now in ruins) that was used to get the gypsum to the dock for export via ship.
It was a very interesting day and we learned a lot about the area. Tomorrow we will be embarking on yet more scenic drives as there is a forecast of rain and we don't want to be hiking in that!
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