Australia's Limestone Coast! Kangaroo Island to Port Fairy

Our drive along the Fleurieu Peninsula to the start of the Great Ocean Road from Kangaroo Island took us through the Langhorne wine region and the Limestone coast. The Langhorne is another renowned wine region but just spending time in Barossa and Clare wine areas we decided not to make the stop. The Limestone Coast is located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins the coastline and the Victorian border. It also includes more wine regions…Coonawarra, Mount Benson, Mount Gambier, Padthaway, Robe and Warrnambool. As we said in our last blog post, so much wine…and not enough time!

The town of Meningie was our target for the evening, but we planned a few stops along the way. The first relatively larger town we came to was Victor Harbor. Approaching Victor Harbor is a beautiful site, approaching from the hills to the west and looking down on the city and coast.

There happened to be a British Car show going on in the town with hundreds of British cars from Jaguars, MGs, Morris, to Rolls Royce, many as old as the 1920s. I have always liked British sports cars as I had a Triumph in my younger days and friends with MGs. It was a great day to walk through the show and then sharing a pizza at Ninos. We also walked the waterfront where there is a horse drawn tram that takes visitors out to Granite Island.

We stopped briefly at Goolwa, an historic former port town at the mouth of the Murray River. We didn’t stop long to explore but did make it to the beach where surf was beginning to build and some surfers taking advantage. The beach was pretty but the sign warning of snakes didn’t make it the most inviting. Tracey did not get out of the car!

The Murray River must be crossed and instead of taking the newer bridge we decided to take the more traditional route…the small ferry crossing at Wellington. This is a small ferry that only holds a few vehicles that runs continuously at no charge. It took me back to some memories of the small ferries in Kentucky across the Kentucky River.
After crossing the river, we made our final approach into Meningie just before sunset. We checked in quickly at the Lake Albert Motel to position ourselves for a sunset on Lake Albert. It is filled by water flowing in from the larger Lake Alexandrina at its mouth. To the south is the Coorong and Coorong Lagoon. Coorong is the aboriginal word for sand dune and these large long dunes and lagoon extend 130 km (81 miles) along the coast.

After sunset, we walked a couple blocks to the Meningie Hotel for dinner. It is one of the typical 1800s style Australian hotels. We ate on the bar side and enjoyed wine, beef schnitzel and conversation with the bartender and mates at the bar.

The next morning, we stopped for coffee at My Friends Cafe next to the Lake Albert Motel. Bronwyn and Peter the great couple that manage the motel also run the cafe. Peter went to barista school and opened the shop with his wife. They also manage the motel. We spent a bit of time talking to this couple. They have been living somewhat of a nomadic life the past nine years, traveling and working around Australia. They have more plans to do so after they complete the rehab of the bus they are redoing as an RV and facilitate the sale of the motel.

Peter’s advice to wannabe travelers who say they would love to take off and travel…” just do it, don’t think about it too long as you will come up with excuses not to do it”. They said their kids wouldn’t leave home…so they did. At the café, we also ran into Naomi, the “pop up princess” (affectionately known as) who we met the night before at the Meningie Hotel during dinner. She is an industrious one, working at the Meningie Hotel, Lake Albert Motel, and coffee shop!

After our coffee we said our goodbyes and traveled down along the Coorong, the spectacular 130 km stretch of lagoon and dunes along the coast.

We moved on to our place for the evening in the small town (population around 1,200) of Robe . Robe is a beautiful historic coastal town with some wonderful architecture and incredible coastal scenery. The wind was continuing to build as a strong front was beginning to move in that would bring high winds and surf. We still managed a brief walk across some cliffs and a visit to the obelisk that was built in the 1800s to help avoid shipwrecks. We ended the day with a wonderful seafood dinner that night at Sails.

The next morning, we moved on to Mount Gambier. Mount Gambier is the second largest city in South Australia with a population of just over 25,000. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a dormant volcano close to the Victorian border. One of the several craters contains a large lake, Blue Lake. It is said to have a high-quality artesian drinking water which changes color with the seasons. In winter, it is supposed to be steel grey and then changes to a cobalt blue in the summer. It still had a blue hue to it as we visited it in the fall.

A short drive east of Mount Gambier takes us out of the state of South Australia and to Victoria! Our final overnight before the official start of the Great Ocean Road was Port Fairy on the Princes Highway. We enjoyed a couple days and evenings in this beautiful coastal town (yet another!) that is situated on the Moyne River with a population around 2,500. The town was established in the 1800s for fishing, whaling and sealing.

Great sites here include a stroll along the river and fisherman’s wharf, along the main streets of the downtown and a walk that circumnavigates nearby Griffith’s island. Griffith’s island is abundant with wildlife and has a beautiful lighthouse on it. Ocean Road along the Southern Ocean was spectacular with the cold front moving through that was producing waves over seven meters! Many locals said they have never seen barrels of that size here before.

We had a couple of great dinners here. The first night was Ramellas Café for Mediterranean cuisine. We enjoyed a great dinner and talking with Andrea on a number of topics. The second night we enjoyed good dinner at Gregory’s Cafe. We were lucky to get in these places as well as our overnight accommodations. The nearby town of Warrnambool has a very popular horse racing week that filled the hotels and restaurants of nearby towns. We have to mention that great little spot we stopped at for lunch for fish and chips, East Beach Take Away. We have been eating our fair share of this delicacy, but this was superb! I had a couple scallops thrown in as well. Great friendly service by a couple that has been at this for a while!

Just outside of Port Fairy is another significant area, Tower Hill. Tower Hill is an inactive volcano with some fantastic landscapes and abundant wildlife…more kangaroos, wallabies, emu, parrots and other birds. This was a great spot to do a little hiking to work off some of the great meals in Port Fairy (especially walking up to the top of the volcano!).