The charm of Rapid Bay

'I have hardly seen a place I like better'. 

So said South Australia's Colonial Surveyor General Colonel Light when he stepped ashore here in 1836 and named this bay after his ship.

I have to agree. We, too, had a lovely time in this beautiful but rather forgotten part of South Australia. We set off on Saturday morning in perfect summer weather: warm sunshine, a light sea breeze, a cloudless blue sky. Rapid Bay is on the west coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula (half-way down this map), about 40 minutes from home.

There's a few houses and a caravan park but not much else. Today, the area is a popular site for swimming, fishing, scuba diving and snorkelling.

The few scattered houses were constructed in 1938 by BHP for workers at the limestone quarry they were busily establishing. Over 130 people were employed here in this out-of-the-way spot when production began in 1942. BHP sold the mining lease in 1981 to the Adelaide Brighton Cement Company which continues to operate the venture.

The first thing we noticed was a very long, but decaying, jetty. This was the one built by BHP in 1941 for off-loading the ore onto the ships. Abandoned in 1991, it is understandably off limits now, as this photo reveals.

Here is a view of the quarry hugging the hillside with the jetty to the right. The rocky shoreline below the quarry comprises the remains of quarry tailings. A little further on, though, and you're on lovely golden sand. 

In recent years a new, modern jetty has been built parallel to the old one.  Both jetties have created artificial reefs and the area is considered by some to be one of the world's top nine dive sites. Divers can see colourful coral, a variety of fish and the endangered leafy sea dragon. I copied the next bit of text from a diving website because it is so evocative.

Rapid Bay is not only a very popular site because of a high chance of seeing Leafy Sea Dragons here, but also because of the fact that the old jetty is a beautiful dive site and a photographer’s dream itself. The old jetty pylons are beautiful, overgrown with soft corals in a multitude of colours! You’ll find sponges and ascidians in bright colours like yellow, orange, purple and blue. You can find lots of colourful nudibranchs, (pygmy) leatherjackets, cowfish, and massive schools of old wives and pufferfish and much more. One of our favourite photography moments is when the sun is out and you see rays shining straight through the old jetty through the water underneath. If you’re lucky you will meet one of the massive local Bull Rays, which are very friendly and usually quite curious! Don’t be surprised if they circle you a couple of times!

Source: divingadelaide.com.au

Today the jetty was occupied by holidaying fisherfolk, young and old.

I strolled along the jetty ...

... then took to the beach. I loved the colourful water-washed rocks sparkling in the sun, though it was a bit tricky navigating them to get to the sand.

But I finally made it and headed towards the faraway bluff.

All we could hear was the gentle lap of water on sand. Here Steve is fighting off the crowds.

What a sense of splendid isolation despite the nearby camp ground.

The beach was bordered by towering cliffs...

... and mysterious caves.

I ventured closer into one of the caves. That gap in the rock looked too 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' for me, so I took a couple of shots and hightailed it out of there.

By the time we had strolled the length of the bay and were on the return walk, there were more people out and about enjoying the weather and the pleasant surroundings.

I even found a crab.

As we motored away from Rapid Bay, we looked back and had a wonderful last glimpse of the water.

We then headed for Normanville (check out map) where we had lunch at a delightful cafe. Here is my carrot and zucchini muffin - and you can see I was also devouring news of the Tour Down Under.

 I thought this free lending library a wonderful community idea. People place books in and can take one out.

 We then walked around the town before heading back home.

The road to Victor Harbor (the Inman Valley Road) passed through the tiny town of Yankallila and  was the route the Tour Down Under cyclists took (refer to map again), so I was imagining them winding and twisting around the curves and navigating scarily down the hills to Victor Harbor.  Unfortunately, Steve does not share my new-found interest in cycling, so my gasps and remarks fell on decidedly closed ears. 

Spectator frenzy at the Tour Down Under

On Thursday I followed the Tour Down Under which came to Victor Harbor as part of Stage 3.

Billed as Australia's premier cycle race, the Tour Down Under is a week-long series of races in Adelaide and regional South Australia.  Stage 3 saw the cyclists riding 144 km from suburban Adelaide, down the coastline, then through the heart of the Fleurieu Peninsula, ending with 4-laps of a 13 km-circuit of Victor Harbor.

Each town the race passes through decks itself out, some going to more trouble than others. All I could see for Victor was a set of whimsical cycling kangaroos that surrounded the roundabout the cyclists encountered as they entered Victor Harbor.

I decided that, with four laps to watch, I would stake out four different viewing locations. I must admit that, as a cycling race novice, I had no idea of the excitement I would feel as the police cycles led the way minutes before the cyclists actually arrived, followed by a slower police cycle, followed by a car and then .... the cyclists were upon us. By the time I raised my camera and shot, they had almost whizzed past....

... so I go a lot of bottoms.

Immediately the cyclists were through, came the support vehicles.

 I thought these papier mache figures were hilarious!

I then set off for Location 2, determined that I would get better shots when they came around in the second loop. I didn't. Some nice back views (again)...

but I do like this artistic shot of the headless riders.

I now have to confess that this next shot is not mine but my friend Fred took it.

Then around another corner. All the locals were out cheering them on.

 It was great being so close to the riders.

I was lucky to get this shot of tour leader Richie Porte being shielded by his fellow team members.

The next photo is another by my friend. The cyclists are climbing away from Victor to begin another 13 km loop.

One more loop to go. I walked closer to the finish line. 

Here they had a huge screen set up so you could follow the whole race. This photo is a screen shot, hence the pixel effect.

Now it was getting very exciting. The announcer warned everyone to get back from the barricades as the riders would be travelling at 70kms and be spread out across the road. And then, they announced that, less than 2 kms away, four riders were down. But soon, the pack came in view and I was so excited, I didn't get a shot. I was cheering along with everyone else, many of whom were ringing cow bells (a tradition, Kate tells me) and banging on the barricades. There were too many people anyway, holding up phones and leaning in front of me, as you can see.

But I did get one shot of a rider finishing.

The next photo shows two of the injured riders who finished after everyone else had gone through, with torn tops and bloodied flesh, though the photo doesn't show that.

I made my way to the presentation dais and managed somehow to get a few shots of the winners. I had no idea who anybody was, but there were three or four categories for different types of wins.
Luckily, Kate has since filled me in on who the people are.

This is Norwegian Vergard Laengen.
He was awarded the most competitive rider of the stage. 

This is Thomas de Gendt from Belgium.
He got the white jersey for being the best climber.

This is Richie Porte (from Tasmania).
He is the overall winner of the Tour Down Under so far.

Here is part of the crowd trying to view the presentation.

Amazingly, within twenty minutes or so, the support vehicles had packed up and were on their way out of town back to Adelaide for tomorrow's race.

And then, the strip of road that had lead to the winning post and was crowded with spectators a mere 20 minutes before was just a bare road again.

But what an exciting afternoon. I hope this will not be my last cycling event!!!