We are up early, packed and make our final farewells to family, we head down the freeway , through the mist cloaking the Mt Lofty Ranges.

Breakfast is on Thompson Beach overlooking the millpond of St Vincent’s Gulf. There is seagrass, Posidonia australis, which is heaped up high on the shoreline and there is plenty of birdlife. White-faced and White-necked Herons, Pied Cormorants, Pied Oystercatchers and Swans cruising the water and feeding, possibly on the seagrass.

We travel onto Port Wakefield where we head south following the eastern coastline of the Yorke Peninsula. We drop into Androssan with its crumbling red cliffs and walk the jetty listening to the Red-wattle birds enjoying the flowering eucalypts. Then onto Wool Bay to visit the historic Lime Kiln and walk the jetty there too. We discover another seagrass species, Amphibolis griffithii, there are 11 species in total in SA.

We continue driving down the eastern coastline along the Southern Coast road enjoying the changing farmland and bushland. A couple of showers keeps the dust down on the gravel road we travel. We pass a number of salt lakes, some glistening because of the coating of crystals other pink in colour.

Then onto Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, which is spectacular. The shoreline is a mixture of rugged cliffs, sand dunes, islands and beaches, the sea is a deep sapphire blue where huge waves march towards the coastline only to roll over and crash spectacularly. The view over the Ethel wreck is impressive, so is the 360° view at West Cape lighthouse. The landscape is heavily wooded, much of it wind swept ground hugging shrubs, the small bushland birds love it. We quickly drop into the ruins of Inneston, it’s worthy of a longer look another time.

We travel the length of the park, back tracking to make camp at Gym Beach. A rainbow followed by light shower greets us then the cloud clears and a cool twilight evening and toasty fire is a good end to the days events. Clear skies and the stars are blazing.

Here is a video of our travels https://gopro.com/v/OWllZbvgwQeKr

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