DAY 62
TUESDAY
28 February 2017 –
Robe
The charming sound of bells in melodies woke us at 7am, the
phone alarm, yes an alarm, the first one in 3 months, set with good reason as I
wanted to go for an early morning beach walk before we begun the day.
Not ignoring the call we rose from the warm and cosy bed,
pulled on walking clothes and headed across the road to Long Beach. It was a
glorious morning, the sun only just appearing over the sand dunes and the small
waves rolling in rhythmically crashing against the shore.
We walked along the cold sand, enjoying the space we were
in, watching the water ahead for signs of life. I took a few photos before we
turned and retraced our steps back to the van ready to get organised. It was
going to be a hot day.
We left home at 8.45am racing to Naracoorte, 1hour and
20mins east of Robe. I was wanting to get to Naracoorte National Park and check
out one of the World Heritage caves in the region at 10.15am. The roads were
clear and for a change in fairly good condition so we made up time and pulled
into the Wonambi centre at 10am.
After buying our tickets we drove 1km down the road to the
Victoria Fossil Cave and waited with the other tourists for the guide to
arrive, then we began our tour underground. This was the perfect place to be as
it was 20 degrees cooler than outside at only 17C.
We wandered through various cavernous spaces with
stalactites hanging from the ceiling the usual things you see in caves around
the world. It wasn’t until we walked into the fossil chamber that we saw the
significance of the World Heritage listing. The floor was littered with bones,
not where you walked, but in a large pit that is still be combed through by
students at Flinders Uni. They have found evidence of the marsupial lion and a
large predecessor of the kangaroo. Skeletons were on display that looked like
they belonged in some Halloween freak show, the lighting didn’t help alleviate
the creepy feeling they portrayed.
We returned to the surface an hour later, blasted by the hot
air. With the tour over we drove back to the Wonambi centre for a read of the
boards and displays before moving on to Naracoorte.
We stopped in the town and did a wander along the main
streets checking out the old buildings. The heat and hunger were starting to
get to us, so we filled up the car with fuel, stopped at the Woolies and then
drove out to the swimming lake, a very large outdoor concrete pool with a side
sand bank.
We found a park bench in the shade and had our lunch before
donning the bathers and jumping into the very cool waters. It took me a while
to submerge, despite Paul’s attempts and pulling and splashing, once in it was
refreshing. We swam for a bit, cooled down the core and then it was back to the
car for the hour and a bit journey back to Robe.
We didn’t hang around long, changing into cooler clothing
and back in the car to check out the Robe Town Brewery. The young, Latvian
brewer is doing things old school with the only wood fired mash cooker in the
country. The smell as you walked into the small shop front off the brewing
premises was sweet and malty. Paul tried his beers, happily chatting to him
about his craft and being shown his brewing room and the family, hand crafted
process they go through in the hot back room, before coming away with a
selection.
We drove on to Cape Jaffa wines, about 20min north, where
Paul again tasted their one beer on tap before joining me in a wine tasting.
The owner behind the bar was talkative and easy going and made our afternoon a
pleasant one. Shouting Paul a beer before we trekked back.
Paul wanted to return to Robe Brewery and enjoy more of his
beer, so I dropped him off while I returned to the van so that I could plug
into technology and upload more things to Facebook and the blog.
Paul found me in the rec room a short time later, happy for
his experience where he could discuss beer techniques and garner further
information, while passing on some tips and thoughts of his own
We watched some news on the TV while the computer did its
thing before returning to the van for dinner, which was scoffed so we could get
out to Cape Dombey and check out the famed Obelisk in the fading light of day.
It was a lovely sunset view from here. The waves crashing
over flat plates of rock below and the obelisk standing tall at the edge of the
headland. It is a 40 foot tall red and white striped concrete structure which
stands 100 feet above sea level. It was built in 1855 and can seen 20km away.
In its day it stored rockets that were fired to distressed ships, sending lifelines
and baskets to save lives.
Once we had exhausted all vantage points, we returned to the
van where Paul was happy to get ready for bed. I stayed up until 10.15 putting
the photos through and then it was time for me to follow suit.
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