Carrickalinga is a small coastal town about 60km south of Adelaide on the Fleurieu Peninsula overlooking the Gulf of St. Vincent. No shops have been allowed in Carrickalinga to spoil its relaxing beachside atmosphere. However, full shopping facilities exist in the township of Normanville - only a kilometre away.

 

Carrickalinga is in the vicinity of several emerging wineries (see here) and it is also on the edge of the world-renown Southern Vales wine region. It is only a 30 minute drive to Victor Harbour where whale watching has become a popular pastime. Views of Kangaroo Island can be seen from nearby Cape Jervis. The beaches are wide with beautiful white sand that stretches down to the pristine water.

A variety of fish can be caught from boats or from the beaches around Carrickalinga. There is a beach boat ramp at Normanville and an excellent all-weather ramp at the Sunset Cove Resort Marina.

Jetty Food Store (next to Normanville Hotel) is something of a local treasure. Coastal food hunted and gathered for you they say, which means you'll be able to access fresh KI fish (usually garfish or whiting as well as salmon) on a daily basis. Organic vegetables and other providore lines also available. You can take home & cook or Peta and Stephen will do it for you. Good coffee too.

 

Sunset Cove Resort has a premiership golf course only a short drive away.

The newly established Links Lady Bay golf course is challenging and of a very high standard. And of course Yankalilla has its own golf course, adjacent to the town's sporting complex. Please feel free to use the golf clubs we've left in the garage, although you'll have to bring your own balls - we hit all of ours into the Gulf.

Take a drive to Delamere. Take a right turn just through the town, past an old church and continue on for about 4-5kms until you see the majestic Starfish Hill Wind Farm, towering over the Gulf.

At present Starfish Hill is the largest wind farm in Australia in terms of production. When you get up close to the turbines (as we did to take this snap) the noise they make is almost as loud as the wind in the nearby trees...

 

 

Yankalilla is the local football team and they play in the Great Southern Football League. They're having a pretty horrible 2009 - back to plumbing the depths of 2004 after a brief spurt of finals glory. At least the Junior colts team is doing ok - they'll play finals this year. Table after 15 rounds of the season.

Fleurieu Peninsula General

The best place to learn more about the Fleurieu is the McLaren Vale and Fleurieu Visitor Centre. It has a wealth of information and you can pick up a free copy of the colour Secrets of Fleurieu Peninsula guide. With guide in hand, head straight for the McLaren Vale wineries for tastings and sales.

Alternatively, have a look at South Australian Tourism's site.

A new site that looks like it will receive lots of attention is Fleurieu Food. This is a good jumping off point to many Peninsula food & wine sources.

Here's a comprehensive article from the April 2006 edition of Delicious magazine that doesn't hold back in promoting the delights of the Fleurieu food-wise.

For a trip back in time, a visit to the tiny Hallett Cove Conservation Park is a must. Here, a walking trail takes visitors through a geological world dating back 600 million years when much of the area was covered by a giant glacier. The self-guided walk alongside the coast takes about two hours.

And the metallurgists among you wouldn't want to miss the Talisker Mine Trail, site of early galena mining operations in SA.

At the tip of the Fleurieu is the fishing/holiday town of Cape Jervis. Alongside the small jetty, the long-distance Heysen Trail starts its 1200 km meandering journey to Parachilna Gorge in the Central Flinders Ranges.

The jewel of the peninsula parks is Deep Creek Conservation Park, a few minutes' drive from Delamere.

You can dive the ex-HMAS Hobart out in Yankalilla Bay.

For those interested in religious sites (or perhaps that should be the occult) then Yankalilla should be the focus of your attention.

Yankalilla and region run the Leafy SeaDragon Festival each 2nd year, most recently April 17th-26th 2009.

Fleurieu Peninsula Biennale takes place every two years of course. The last Biennale took place November 2008.

Tracey Smith took out the Fleurieu Vistas prize in 2008 with Mapping Vistas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not entered in the comp because it's one we made ourselves at Carrickalinga...