Skip to main content

A Weekender at Victor Harbor, Hindmarsh Island, Goolwa, and Granite Island, South Australia

This rock painting is probably
thousands of years old. As you
can see they didn't much
like drones then either.

Detail, Margaret Worth's (SA)
Granite Island Sculpture,
"Walking Looking Talking
Noppan Nukkan Yunnan"
This vacation was definitely a bonus trip as it was Enigma and I's third vacation in two months. We were gifted a one night stay at the McCracken Country Club in Victor Harbor, South Australia, which Enigma extended to a two night stay so we'd have a little time to see a few sights.

Victor Harbor is about a two hour drive south of where we live in Gawler. Before checking into our hotel we stopped for some lunch at Ara's Cafe who do an excellent steak sandwich and a very tasty pork roast roll (with plenty of gravy).

The McCracken Country Club

The McCracken Country Club is home to an 18 hole championship links/lakes golf course, designed by renowned gold architect, Tony Cashmore. There's also a Golf Shop. If that all means something to you then booking a stay should be a no brainer. Enigma and I are not Golfers so we mostly enjoyed the view of the course and Hindmarsh Valley.

Other facilities include a restaurant, bistro, health club, indoor pool, basketball and tennis courts.

The view from our balcony.
McCracken Country Club.
Our room was pretty spacious with everything you would expect of a modern hotel room. Friday night was schnitzel night in the bistro so we took advantage and ordered generously sized beef and chicken schnitzels served with chips.

Hindmarsh Island

Saturday morning we decided to drive to Hindmarsh Island. The day before we had been recommended that the island was quite nice. Crossing to from the mainland via a road bridge, Hindmarsh island was quite a bit bigger than I expected, and not very well signposted for tourist to find their way around.

The main lookout on Hindmarsh
Island overlooks the Murray Mouth
Sand Pumping Project.
We made it to the main lookout point at the mouth of the Murray river, where it meets the sea. Here they dredge out the build up of sand to help maintain the rivers health. It's a great beach to walk along but not really a swimmers beach. Though you can hire canoes just down the road from the lookout where there was also a food van cafe set up with plenty of tables and chairs (maybe that part of the beach was better for swimming?).

Driving around we didn't really come across anywhere that we particularly wanted to stop so we headed back over the bridge to Goolwa.

Goolwa

It was interesting to finally visit the town that everyone thinks they hear us say when we try to tell them we live in 'Gawler'. Our first stop was Salt Water Cafe in the town centre, where we got exceptional value on two plates of fish and chips of the quality and size most hotels serve as an evening meal at double the price.

The road bridge to Hindmarsh Island with the
Oscar W Paddle Steamer in the foreground.
From there we wandered around the town, which is very arts and crafts focussed, with a number of galleries and art and craft shops within walking distance of each other.

Although we didn't, you can book a cruise on the local paddle steamer. The attached shop is also worth a look for some excellent paddle steamer model displays.

Victor Harbor

We journeyed back to Victor Harbor because I wanted to get a good photo of the horse drawn tram that you can ride across the jetty bridge to Granite Island (Kaiki), and there was only one more trip there and back left for the day.

Horse drawn Tram crossing the jetty bridge
to Granite Island.
Riding the tram isn't especially cheap but where else are you going to experience riding a horse drawn tram that gives you spectacular sea views?

The tram to Granite Island is optional (maybe you want to save your money for the camel or pony rides along the beach nearby, or maybe even the mini golf). Enigma and I opted to walk the same bridge the tram takes, and I'm glad we did, because it gave me the opportunity to take a really great photo of the tram as it went past us.

Granite Island (Kaiki)

Granite Island entrance sign. These were the
only penguins we saw.
If you take the tram I believe it drops you off at the cafe, to the left of the bridge, on the island, however we turned right, heading up the hill to follow the hiking/Sculpture Encounters trail. I didn't grasp the overall theme linking the various sculptures together but I got the idea that many of them related to the history of the island.

The trail itself takes you on a loop around the whole island. It's not particularly far but it is up and down hills so a reasonable level of fitness and mobility is helpful. Enigma and I only did about a third of the walk, cutting back the way we came, as we'd been walking a lot that day, and weren't really anticipating yet another long walk after crossing the bridge.

However we would like to do the full hike some time in the future because, as a sculpture trail, the artworks we saw were quite interesting, built with a variety of materials, and explored some fairly interesting ideas.

Horizon Figure (2009) by Greg Johns (SA)
Granite Island Sculpture Encounters trail.
As well, many were placed with perfect backdrops of the sea, adding to their already photogenic aesthetic.

If you're into more contemporary abstract sculpture rather than representational I'd definitely recommend this trail as worth a look.

I'd even recommend it if you're a photographer looking for some interesting subject matter combining art with landscape photography. I certainly enjoyed looking for interesting angles with my own photos.

Granite Island also offers the chance to see penguins on evening tours, though it can be hit and miss as to whether you actually see penguins, according to the visitor information centre.

Back to Victor Harbor

After briefly going back to our hotel for a break we went back into Victor to the Encounter Bistro at the Hotel Victor (across the square from the tram).

Apparently their carvery is famous (according to their own sign) so we both ordered that, giving us a selection of any combination of roast lamb, pork, or turkey, then adding whatever you want to it from the buffet. You also get a a soup starter and desert included in the price.

After enjoying our meals we went for a walk along the esplanade and beach trying to get a photo of a spectacular sunset... and failing. I'm sure they have spectacular sunsets in Victor Harbor but the hills and clouds did a great job of thwarting our chances of seeing one this trip.

My best effort at snapping a sunset on the trip.
Victor Harbor beachfront.

That was pretty much our trip. The next day we checked out early so Enigma would be able to attend a workshop she had booked into sometime back.

Friday afternoon through to Sunday morning is definitely not enough time to experience everything Victor Harbor and the surrounding region has to offer. I feel you could easily spend a week or two here and still not get to everything there is to do or see.

However we enjoyed our short stay and will very likely consider going back on a future vacation.
TET Life Topics:

Comments

Post a Comment

* Thanks to constant spam comments by a Casino Marketing Moron who won't get the message that spam comments WILL be deleted ALL comments will be moderated and only cool, on topic comments will be approved.

Comments not directly related to the post will be deleted. This includes spammy generic comments with links to websites not related to the post.

Buy Gifts and Apparel featuring art by TET.

Popular posts from this blog

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

Celtic Festival, Kapunda 2007

My first visit to Kapunda, Australia's oldest mining town, was to experience one day of a three day event, the 32nd Annual Kapunda Celtic Festival. Blonde Rose and I attended the second day which was a Saturday. As far as Celtic Festivals go, this one had a Celtic flavor but my impression overall was that this could have easily have been a Town Festival. Largely because many of the market stalls and some of the performing artists weren't specifically 'Celtic' themed. That said, I didn't get to see all of the Celtic performing artists such as dancers, singers and more. Perhaps if I had I would've been left with more of a Celtic experience. Don't get me wrong, I was not disappointed with the festival at all. Kapunda is an exceptional town with a lot to see. Which is why I didn't see all the entertainment. Too busy looking in local art galleries and exploring the excellent basement Kapunda history display at the Visitor Centre, as well as the basement mu
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

The Braille Skateboarding App - How it Changed My Mind on Switch Skating

My Profile on the Braille Skateboarding App. Braille Skateboarding launched it's new Skateboarding App worldwide on November 23rd, 2020. About a month prior to that they did a 'soft launch' via email for anyone living in Australia. I'm guessing this was to give the app a final test in the real world before launching it proper. Rather than explain what it is, watch Aaron Kyro, founder of Braille Skateboarding, run you through the app in the launch video below.  In a nutshell the app is virtually everything Braille has to offer accessed right from your phone, from tutorials to the Braille Army Community. The app is free but you can unlock more features if you upgrade to a paid membership. Braille App Trick List. One of the apps unique free features is keeping track of the tricks you've learned and giving you an overall score so you have some way to measure your progression. There is an extensive list of tricks, covering all types of skateboarding, categorized by diff
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

A Practical History of How The New World Order is a Global Cycle and Where We Are Now According to Ray Dalio

Still from Animation, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order by Ray Dalio When you hear the term 'The New World Order' which is somewhat interchangeable these days with 'The Great Reset' your mind may tend to wander to global conspiracy theories and The World Economic Forum (who I've previously established as so evil they don't even hide what they're doing). While I don't put much stock in what people think the WEF is doing (as opposed to what it actually is doing) there is such a thing as 'The New World Order' that can be demonstrated as a reoccurring construct of change throughout history. Ray Dalio , the founder, co-Chief Investment Officer and co-Chairman of Bridgewater Associates , which is a global macro investment firm and is the world’s largest hedge fund, is also  connected to the WEF (so must be up to no good), has written a book,  Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order  (Amazon Affiliate Link), in which he
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

How to Start From Nothing - a Video by Sorelle Amore Finance About Starting Any Kind of Business

Sorelle Amore. It's the million dollar question for many people wanting to start a business who feel they don't have the knowledge, money, skills, time, or all four, "How do I start from nothing?" If that's something you want to know too then the video below by  Sorelle Amore , an Australian photographer and social media entrepreneur success story, who is most known for literally writing the book on how to take an #AdvancedSelfie, has an answer well worth considering. Just in case you feel advice from a professional selfie photographer couldn't possibly be meaningful Sorelle's journey to financial freedom in just two years is well worth looking into. One takeaway for me is that at age 28 she was broke, but turned things around and was a millionaire by age 30. While that's an exceptional result of quite a lot of hard work, writing books, building courses, and more, what it says to me is, it's possible to be financially secure in less than two years
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

Discussion Retrospective.

One of the oddities of internet forums is that discussions can be preserved long after the interest of the participants is over. My partner and I met up with some online forum friends recently at a local restaurant. Most of them we've known for years but hadn't met in person until now. At this event I was reminded by two people about a forum discussion that I remember having but couldn't for the life of me remember the actual details of what I'd said. However, it must have been profound and informative because three people recalled it and at least one had thought it interesting enough to copy the discussion and show it to people not involved with the forum. I still couldn't remember the exact details despite the subject being a pet topic of mine. Afterwards I went home and looked up this discussion on the forum. It took a little bit of finding because it was buried in the archives. Turns out this was a discussion that took place nearly two years ago. No wonder I
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »