Are We There Yet?

Wednesday 23 April 2014

There were so many lovely beaches and coves tucked away all over the island, it is not possible to show them all here.

This photo is for you Beth. We had lunch here on day 2. There wasn't much there EXCEPT a beautiful beach, but I forgot to take a photo! There were four or five old fishing shacks on the beach front and a more modern motel type unit at the back. That was it. No shops. No tables.

About halfway between Penneshaw and Kingscott is American River, a lovely fishing village NOT on a river.

American River is named after a group of American sailors who landed here in 1803 and camped in the inlet mistaking it for a river.

We followed the inlet around and came across a monument for Matthew Flinders. He named the inlet Pelican Lagoon after the large amount of pelicans he saw there.

We then took the coast dirt road around the inlet to Penneshaw.

Penneshaw was originally named Hog Bay and consists of many little coves.

In 1803 Captain Baudin anchored here in Hog Bay to look for fresh food and water. While waiting for the water casks to be filled a sailor carved a nearby rock 'Expedition de descouverte par le commandant Baudin sur le Geographe 1803' The white dome in the background is where the rock was. There is a replica there now, and the original rock is at the information centre. It is called Frenchman's Rock.

Cape Willoughby was built in 1852 and was the first lighthouse to be built in South Australia.

... and look what we found ... The two houses still being transported. We found out that they were going to Pink Bay, near Cape Willoughby.

The road from Penneshaw was dirt (as are most of the roads here). Here is our first view of the lighthouse.

The lighthouse keepers cottages here have been moved from their original sight closer to the beach. There are 3 cottages, one used as the information centre and museum, and the other 2 as accommodation.