There and Back Again 2022 – Day 8 – Dhilba Guuranda

Today we took in the sights of the western end of Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park.

A different day entirely with blue skies all day.

Today we could see Kangaroo Island in the distance across the Investigator Strait.

The eastern beach from West Head – I call it Oxymoron Beach

Pondalowie Bay from West Head

The track follows a circuit around the headland across limestone pavement.

Magnificent coastal views

South Australia must have had a wacky lighthouse design competition.

H marks the spot. Grey nomad wisdom: Don’t worry if plan A fails, there are 25 more letters in the alphabet.

Horizontal trees sheared by the strong, salty winds

Snails were plentiful ovet the low heath bushes.

We found these guys following a family around the track – apparently the Shelduck chicks regularly imprint themselves on people. A ranger arrived in the carpark and some people asked him if he was here to rescue the chicks and he replied, “I’m here to clean the toilets!”

We then did the walk to “Oxymoron Beach” Apart from the waves, there was deafening silence. It was awfully good.

Suddenly two chicks raced across the dune to see us…..

…and plopped down at our feet.

They stayed close to their “adopted mother”.

Very close.

Safe at last.

A sleepy shingleback enjoying some late winter sun. Lucky it didn’t go on the road and become someone’s flat mate.

Goblet Bay

Silvereye – found Australia-wide but this one from a race found on the Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas

The Grey Currawong has many variations – the Yorke Peninsula has the “Brown Currawong”

Brown falcon in a bad mood over Ford’s decision to drop their eponymous model.

White-browed Scrubwren on the track to the Pondalowie Surfers Break

Sand dunes on the western side of the park

Pondalowie Surfers Beach – the huge carpark and viewing boardwalk suggests this is a popular spot.

Gilligan and the Skipper came to the realisation that the tour would last for more than 3 hours.

From the “Minnow” to a historical wreck – the Ethel ran aground here in 1904.

The view along the coastline

Sooty oystercatchers greeted us to the beach.

More of the Ethel further up the beach

I asked this young lady for a cuddle….

….and this is all I got.

The way back up. The effort reminded me of Old Grey Nomad saying: “Never play charades just in case you have a heart attack.”

We tracked some emus (off track!) over the dunes to a high sand ridge…

…and a view over one of the many lakes in Dhilba Guuranda – Innes NP.

Inneston is a ghost town in the park that was a gypsum mine in the 1920’s. The original lake bed was mined for gypsum.

Shining bronze cuckoo

White-backed magpies at Inneston

A rest in the late afternoon

Back to Cape Spencer Lighthouse for sunset. Most explorers would name geographical features after Lords, Governors, benefactors and crew. After that they turned to the great Australian tradition of obvious nomenclature – Great Dividing Range, Sandy Creek etc. The island above is Wedge island.