The Limestone Coast

Leaving Kingston SE our first stop was the other camp – free – at Pinks Beach. Lovely beach with not as much sea weed, and only a small area for camping behind the dunes. We much preferred the $10 for 48 hours close to Kingston. Next stop was Cape Jaffa. This where the lighthouse in Kingston SE was originally located. Originally named Cape Bernouilli in 1802, I'm not sure when the name was changed. It is a great area for rock lobsters – in season – and a fishing port. Today it is mostly holiday shacks, a caravan park, a few fisherman places and a long long jetty. There are ruins of the old light house cottage, but we couldn't find it. Just outside the village is a new housing development called Cape Jaffa Anchorage.

About 25 km along the coast is Robe. We passed by some wineries and some ruins on the highway before turning towards the coastline and Robe. What a lovely town. We looked for some caravan parking and even had a look at staying at a caravan park for a few days so we could explore. The caravan parks were priced from $38-$45, and the low cost and free camps were not that safe, so we decided not to stay. The town was named after South Australian Governor Frederick Holt Robe, who chose the site in 1846 as a new port. The area was first settled by Europeans in 1839 when Charles Bonney brought cattle from New South Wales to Adelaide. By 1859, Robe had become one of southern Australia's busiest ports. Driving around we saw in the distance a beautiful old house so went to have a closer look, hoping the caravan would be able to get closer. A beautiful large seaside house, named Karatta House, built in the 1850's by pastoralist Henry Jones, it later became the 'holiday' house of many significant figures. One of the first churches was St Mary's Star of the Sea. It was often visited in the early days by Mary MacKillop.

We had a drive around – old buildings, lots of open cafes, and went up to the old goal ruins. Really interesting. There is a heritage walk, but as we couldn't park in or near the town we were unable to do it. The information board at the ruins had a little history, but appeared to be part of a continuing story from the previous boards. It was good to be able to walk around the ruins. The first part of the gaol was built in 1860/61 with a keepers residence and male cells. There were some escapes by prisoners digging through the soft rock, so boiler plates from a shipwreck were used the reinforce the walls. A town well worth visiting, just needs to be more RV friendly.

Further down the coast was Beachport. On the way we saw a brown sign – we turn for brown signs – and came to a Lions lookout over the Woakwine Cutting.

Some very determined men.

Not far away is Beachport, and again the two caravan parks were out of our budget, despite being empty, there were no winter specials to be had. The area was once a whaling port and in 1845 buildings were being constructed. We did see a lot of old buildings, but without a map or info boards – which I'm sure would have been there – we really don't know a lot. However, we are so glad we went in to have look as there is a scenic coastal road, with views that photos don't portray. We couldn't stop at many of the lookouts as we had the caravan. Hopefully we will come back another day. It is obviously a fishing and holiday town.

So off to our overnight camp at old Tantanoola Railway Station.