A Railway Not Taken

Day 34 continued.

We arrived within minutes of our scheduled time, full from a lovely brunch on the Ghan as we passed the last few kilometres into Adelaide. Well fed, we made our way into downtown Adelaide to pick up our rental car. 

Once again we resurrected our mantra for left turns, “inside, inside, inside” and right turns, “outside, outside, outside” as those silly Australians also drive on the wrong side of the road.

We have an 80 kilometre ride to the small town of Victor Harbour where another train awaited our arrival. The drive would also take us through the self proclaimed, world renowned wine region of the Fleurieu Peninsula known for its Shiraz and Cab Sauvignon.  We stopped into Mt. Jagged Wines to check out those claims and found a $20 AUS bottle of Shiraz that was pretty tasty.

Victor Harbour is a pretty little town with lots of opportunities for things to do. My “must do” was a ride on the Cockle Steam Rail line from Victor Harbour to Goolwa and Port Elliot. Sadly we had arrived in a down period and the train was not running. Damn, missed the small print.

Photo- steamrangerrailway.com

Day 35 and there was still an option to scratch my rail itch, another rail line was available and running. An historic horse-drawn tram that once transported goods but now hauls tourists across a causeway to Granite Island that sits just off shore from Victor Harbour. Six Clydesdale take turns pulling the tram along a steel rail line across the causeway to the island. The line has been in operation since 1894.

We opted for the ride out and save money by walking back, racing the tram on our walk back. We would have won too but we stopped to catch a picture as the tram passed by.  

Since we could not take the train to Goolwa and Port Elliot, we decided to check them out before we made our way to Cape Jervis and our late afternoon ferry to Kangaroo Island.

Goolwa Beach is the main attraction for the little town. After reading the sign, I am not sure what the attraction was all about. 

Once on the beach, the reasoning became a bit more apparent although Nonie was on high snake alert. The temperatures were down in the low 20’s with a nasty wind chill and the surfers were all tucked away in their swanky beach clubhouse. Sipping hot toddies, I’m sure.  

Port Elliot is a cute little town, with many original buildings but once again the beach is its major attraction. At its inception, the hope was the town would become a major ocean port but Victor Harbour proved to be a better location.

Tomorrow we will wake up on Kangaroo Island with our main goal, to see some kangaroos in their natural environment. None so far.