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Thursday, August 03, 2006

Victor Harbour

We had planned a picnic to Victor Harbour last Saturday and the trip was quite eventful unlike the 2 other trips I made to the same place. We were 11 adults and a kid in all hoping for a good break from daily routine. All I knew of Victor Harbour earlier was that, it had a beautiful beach and that it was one of the most commonly visited places in South Australia next only to Kangaroo Island. This time I decided to be prepared by going through the tourism websites to know more of what to do and things to see.

Victor Harbour

The hour’s drive to Victor Harbour was beautiful, enjoying the intermittent patches of sunshine between showers. We were a bit worried if we had selected the wrong day for a picnic to the beach. But, once we reached the beach, the weather was a little more stable. The 20 minute walk on the jetty to Granite Island was again marred by a short drizzle, but was enjoyable nevertheless. Granite Island is a small island which is supposed to have rocks made of granite. The rocks there didn’t quite seem like granite, but we wouldn’t know unless they are polished. The island is very famous for the Little Penguins that are supposed to be living there, but they only come out during the dusk. We weren’t fortunate enough to catch up with the Penguins, but the Island as such was breath taking. There is a horse tram every half hour carrying people from the Island back to Victor Harbour and vice versa, but for people who can walk, that is probably the best thing.

Granite Rocks


It was a 2 hour walk around the island on a trekking path overlooking the sea. Thankfully the sun had decided to shine by then. Half way through the walk, our German friend spotted a Seal basking in the warmth of the water through his binoculars. It was a beautiful sight looking at it frolicking in the water for a while and then totally disappearing. It was interesting to note how the waves hit the rocks every now and then as though they were doing a duty very diligently. Some of the rocks were really huge and looked like they were performing a balancing act. The turquoise colour of the water was amazing and seemed very serene. Didn’t feel like taking my eyes off it.

Time and Tide wait for none!

We had found out from the Visitor’s Information Centre that this was the time for whales to come to Victor Harbour for mating. I had never seen a whale before and was even more excited on knowing that they had spotted a mother and a baby whale in a nearby beach. We decided to drive to the place called Basham’s Beach before it got dark. While driving, we noticed a beautiful rainbow forming and lo and behold there was another rainbow which looked like the reflection of the first one. It was a breath taking sight and we had to catch it in our cameras. The colours were really sharp and it made the day even more stunning.

Rainbow

Double Rainbow


We realised that the whale watching beach wasn’t too far and wanted to catch both the whales and the rainbows together. As soon as we reached the place, we were happy to see a huge whale pretty close to the shore. We could make out its body through the fountain of water it was breathing out. Out of nowhere we noticed another fountain happening nearby and that is when we realised that that was the child. He was a pretty active baby, splashing around the mother and moving away now and then. Made me wonder how much attachment animals share amongst themselves. There were a few dolphins playing around too. I didn’t know until then that dolphins were a kind of whales, reading the pamphlet from the Whale Centre was an eye-opener.

Spot the Whale!

The sun was setting and the clouds were taking over, so we decided that it was time for a hot coffee before heading back home. We stopped at Café Primo back at Victor Harbour and spent an hour sipping coffees and discussing the day. The return drive was a silent one each reflecting on his/her own thoughts of the beautifully set day.

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