The start of the Heysen Trail

On a gloriously sunny and windless day with barely a cloud to be seen in the sky we set off to do some more of the 1200 km Heysen Trail. We've been doing bits of it every now and again over the almost-five years we have lived on the Fleurieu Peninsula. This time, we decided to start at the very beginning, which, as we all know, is a very good place to start.

The track begins at Cape Jervis on the very tip of the peninsula, just behind the ferry terminal for Kangaroo Island ferries. Off we went feeling energised and looking forward to what lay ahead.

This first stage was a 4km trek to Fisheries Beach. The path was fairly narrow but meandered along the coast, providing us with lots of scenic variety: open scrubland, dense over-our-head foliage we had to push through, loads of wildflowers, glimpses of the rocky shoreline, pristine white beaches, and toward the end of the walk, rolling green hills falling away to the ocean. 

And not far off in the distance we could see the dim outline of Kangaroo Island, as seen in this next photo.

We spotted some lovely flowers. I know that's a lupin on the right, so I'm not sure that's a native.

 

And a pretty Monarch butterfly.

The path continued, sometimes in a straight line making for easy walking.

Every now and again it wended its way closer to the coastline where lichen-shrouded rocks contrasted with the blue of the ocean.

Or through thick vegetation. 

Steve saw this rock and reckoned it looked like a whale surfacing. What do you think????? 

After about 2kms of walking (more like strolling as we kept stopping to take photos as well as just to breathe the clean air), we spotted an old pine tree in the distance - an obvious non-native that must surely have been planted here.

The tree towered beside the remains of what might have been a small cottage. There was a brick fireplace and some stone foundations. What a view they had. 

Down below on the beach I spied a man walking his dog, the first sighting of anyone other than ourselves.

The path and surrounding land was now very limestoney and we had to be careful as we picked our way over the small rocks that jutted out of the track ready to trip the unwary. Not us though!  

We were nearing the end of this part of the walk so stopped for a breather before turning around and heading back. It was a great spot with the hills in the distance and the peaceful bay below.

We retraced our steps, stopping every now and again to take more photos, and spotted the Kangaroo Island ferry on its return journey back from the island.

We were looking for the beach we had noticed on the way out that we thought would be perfect for a picnic lunch. And there it was. We picked our way down a sort-of-path.

Steve took off looking for more photo opportunities.

I decided to be a bit creative with reflections and sand patterns.

After a relaxing picnic lunch we returned to the track. I loved the way the sunlight sparkled the water. 

We tumbled into the car after our almost-8 km walk and I'm not sure whether we spoke to one another for the entire drive back home. We were utterly tired but felt happy, peaceful and content - and that's something to be thankful for in these days of uncertainty and lockdowns.  

I journey back 270 million years

On a gloriously sunshiny day (after a lot of rainy and gloomy ones) we ventured north about 60 kms from home to Hallett Cove Conservation Park.  We learnt about this area on the SA Walks website. It sounded great - an easy duckboarded walk along the cliffs with glorious views of the Gulf St Vincent, plus a wealth of geological sites within the park.  

At a first glance it all seemed fairly ordinary - undulating hills covered with clumps of bushes and trees, a band of eroded rock encircling the area, a creek, a gully leading to the beach, and a rocky shoreline.

But interpretive signs along the way told a different story. I was soon fascinated by the information I was reading, though I must admit I can never get my head around dates such as '280 million years ago' and the various ages such as Precambrian, Pleistoscene and Permian ... 

It turns out that this is one of the best known geological sites in Australia. There is evidence of an Australian ice age giving it international significance, Aboriginal occupation, and loads of uplifts, erosion, rising and lowering of sea levels over the ages. It's even been declared a Geological Monument and is on the SA Heritage Register. I had no idea.

Our first stop on the path led us to a formation called the Sugarloaf, so named because it apparently resembles a hill of hard packed sugar. Hmmm. 

Here's a closer look.

Encircling the whole area is the Amphitheatre, and I accept that this name is fairly appropriate.  

It shows evidence of the constant changing of the land due to uplifts and erosion over the millenia.

Leaving these fascinating formations, we continued on our way. Perhaps the Sugrloaf does look like a lump of hard-packed sugar after all. 

The walk was so easy and interesting I was really enjoying myself. Looking back we could see the curve of the beach and the houses at Hallett Cove in the distance.

We kept stopping to read the interpretive boards or look at the vegetation. 

 These chocolate coloured rocks are apparently the oldest rocks exposed in the park. Who would have thought? That's why I love interpretive signs! 

And then we came upon evidence of glacial activity millenia ago. The glacial pavements (as they are called) clearly show the scratches left by boulders as they were pushed along by the glacier. According to the sign they are recognised as the best record of Permian glaciation in Australia and are  internationally significant. So there! 

We continued on, trying to visualise the area 270 million years ago.

These rocks looked pretty ordinary until I read the sign that said they were remnants of the sea floor four million years ago, and were only uplifted around two million years ago. At least that's a little more recent.

We had reached the end of the walk, so retraced our steps along the boardwalk, marvelling at our trip back in time. 

An afternoon tea stop at the Yankallila bakery convinced us we were well and truly in the 21st century.