With the October long weekend on in South Australia, we had three whole days to get away and explore our beautiful state, so we decided to head to Yorke Peninsula where we had family staying and take the opportunity to see Innes National Park (something that has been on our to see list for a while now).
We were lucky enough to finish work early on Friday and head up, meaning we missed the Port Wakefield bottle neck traffic build up and enjoyed smooth sailings to our destination. As the sun started to set, we aimed for the closest beach front, Point Souttar, and enjoyed the dawning of the day in picturesque style before continuing South. Since we leave everything till the last minute and don’t particularly love a ‘planned’ trip, we had missed out on booking accommodation in Innes National Park (if you’re set on staying in the park, book ahead! Especially during holidays), but that was ok because Rob is pretty savvy at finding his own free camping locations. So, we spent Friday night traveling and ended up at Marion Bay. How I’ve spent my entire childhood going to Yorkes and never making down here I will never know, but it was so beautiful. Being dark by this point, we stopped at the Marion Bay Tavern for a quick feed and we were pleasantly surprised with the food, service and atmosphere here. I thought we would just stop into some small town dingy pub to fill my stomach as I was getting hangry but instead, I ended up getting spoiled with a cute little date night. It was bustling but the staff got us seated and fed straight away. The menu had a massive array of options from classic pub meals to seafood and woodfire pizzas. We were sat in a corner overlooking the gardens and enjoyed our dinner by candlelight.
Being quite late by the time we finished dinner we drove back about 17kms to a camping sign that we had passed on the way down. For a small fee we were able to find ourselves a clifftop campsite for the night at Butlers Beach. Now had we any idea what we were to wake up to in the morning we would have happily paid a million bucks. This view was priceless. I had never seen a coastline more perfect. With the early morning glow rising above, lighting the flora below, it was an actual work of art. I didn’t even know South Australia had views like this (shows you how little I’ve traveled my own back yard) little lone that that was what I was waking to when I laid my head to rest the previous night.
After soaking in all the awes of the surrounding scenery, we packed up the swag and made our way to Innes National Park. The day pass fees here are a reasonable $11 (purchased online) and allow you to use their toilet facilities and enjoy the upkeep of the park in its untouched, natural glory. The first thing we had to do when we got there was recreate a skateboarding picture that I had seen on Insta; because what’s the point in having a sexy skater husband if not to use him as a prop in all your photos. I got the GoPro ready and set him on his way rolling down the hill with ocean views as the backdrop while I followed closely behind in Bessy. This then led us to the first stop for the day, Chinaman’s Hat Island, which didn’t take us long at all to understand the name.
On our way to the next stop, we were greeted by some of Australia’s most iconic wildlife; mobs of emus and a troop of kangaroos (and yes, I did just google the collective nouns of emus and kangaroos). And boy were these kangaroos bringing out the goods for a photo op. While some stood tall overlooking the clifftops, another was keen to show off her curious joey in her pouch and was happy for us to sit quietly and capture their beauty as they nibbled on their bush breakfast. Once we were satisfied with our pics, we then had our sights set on the Cape Spencer Lighthouse which was almost as photogenic as our animal friends.
We then popped on our walking shoes and explored the grounds of the Inneston ruins. Rob being a builder and me enjoying history and the aesthetics of old buildings; we found it pretty cool walking around and reading all the signage and learning about the antiquity of gypsum and how the town was built and is now re-vegetating back to its natural state with the collapse of the township.
Next stop, Ethel Wreck. Now although there is not much left of her, it’s pretty special to imagine what she would have been back in her day just going off the sheer spread of rusted iron that she has left behind. And the views alone are worth the stop. After stretching our legs on the climb down and back up from the beach, we set up for lunch and enjoyed our burgers with Ethel. We then followed the coast around and wound up at Pondalowie Bay Surf Break where we wandered the boardwalk and watched as surfers of all ages hit the waves. Then in the distance we noticed another shipwreck, obviously one that was much more recent than Ethel and half the size but equally impressive. We strolled down the beach where we were all alone and took the opportunity to have a bit of a play. We’re like big kids when it comes to climbing and exploring (I mean who doesn’t like climbing!).
Happy with our sightseeing and with a storm rolling in, we called it a day at Innes and cruised North in search of some beach driving and a campsite. On our way, we came across Swincers Rocks in Corny Point where we learnt the Aboriginal stories passed down thousands of years, believing the giant erosions in the land were left from dinosaurs and mega fauna from prehistoric times. We then ventured off road to Parsons Beach where we were able to take Bessy into the sand. This is also where we set up camp for the night. We found a little outlet just off the beach front which shielded us from the wind. This was the first time we were able to get out our whole camping set up. I was excited to try some camping style cooking on the fire. It was the perfect spot. We enjoyed a cider and a walk along the beach before calling it a night.
The next morning, we packed up camp and headed to Stansbury where we met up with family and enjoyed the comforts of a shack and hot showers as the storm set in for the remainder of the weekend.
So, considering we had had Innes National Park on our South Australian bucket list for a while, it definitely did not disappoint, and we cannot wait to make our way back there again to continue exploring the other hidden treasures that Yorkes has to offer.
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