Victor Harbour - Birthplace of 'The Erratics'

To be honest, The Erratics at Port Vincent were a bit of a let down.... basically a few bowling ball sized bits of granite that had been spotted and identified as, geologically speaking, 'not belonging' where they lay. By coincidence we found some much more impressive offerings on our road trip to Victor Harbour; the identified ancestral home of those precociously named little globes. The real deal are to be found at Rossetta Head but locally referred to as The Bluff, just 4 km south of the town centre.

The Bloke tested just what level of force it would take to relocate the granite boulders to a distance of 120km, where we saw the smaller versions called 'The Eratics' in Port Vincent, Yorke Peninsula.

I climbed up to prove these were much, much larger!

 Geological explanation

In case you forget where this is

As you can see, it's a pretty popular spot

 View to Victor Harbour down below

 

In it's early days whaling was a key industry.

The Bluff was used as a lookout to spot the pods of whales.

A whale tail fountain referencing the importance of whales to this town

The proclaimed home to 14,500 people, Victor Harbour is a stunningly picturesque town. It's wide bay (Encounter Bay) with tall headlands is dotted with some small islands creating visual interest and the built environment is a mix of heritage stone buildings as well as a nicely designed and constructed modern residential mix that includes stylish low rise waterfront apartments. The impression given by the civic spaces and ocean side promenades is of a prosperous area and like so many South Australian Coastal towns we've seen, very clean and neat. There is obviously more water available here too since many gardens actually contain lawns and plants with less emphasis on 'follies' for adornment.

A political statement?

This area is also known as The Encounter Coast. The maritime explorers Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin once again crossed paths here in 1802. Locations significant to their exploratory journeys are a thread running right through our own. We continue to boggle at what they achieved.

This plate set into a granite block at the top of The Bluff suggests that Flinders and Baudin met there. Methinks that might have been a tad 'staged' as it's quite a hike to the top and much easier to meet on the beach. ....just thinking!

The scenic route along the Fleurieu Peninsula took us beyond Victor Harbour to Port Elliott were we'd arranged to meet up with Team Midnight Blue. A sausage roll was hastily sampled at Victor Harbour and declared a dud but the Bakery at Port Elliott had been recommended by the Marvelous  Miles. We needed to hurry along.

 Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliott

Ladies Beach, where the ladies swam in the days of segregated bathing.

 

Ian and the Bloke with an immortalised local identity

Port Elliot is a very cute town and popular holiday destination.  A steam engine runs through the town on week-ends along a path that, in by-gone times, carted export goods to the now long gone jetties. Heritage stone buildings are everywhere and there are lots of little shops selling all the usual "stuff" that's fun to browse through at holiday destinations.

 Lovely slate-paved hill side walks with bonus pretty views

It's hard to imagine that it's midwinter - 22nd of July!
Happy Birthday to The General - the Bloke's brother.