The morning news was full of reports on the heatwave and how to protect yourself by staying indoors, not exerting yourself, etc. But it was a cool, sunny morning in Robe and as we drove the short distance south to Beachport, we could see a bank of marine fog just offshore. Beachport was a charming little ex-whaling station with a long pier extending out into the mist.
There was ocean on one side, and funky old buildings on the other, with interesting fences,
and planters full of thriving succulents.
The scenery around the town was lovely.
The natural heathland was full of little flowers, including wild pelargoniums and asters.
From Beachport, the road turns inland, and we had planned to make a detour here into the Coonawarra wine region where Australia's most famous red wines, like Grange Hermitage, come from. But the temperature was predicted to reach the 40ºc mark there, so we gave it a miss and took a more direct route to Mt. Gambier, a large town, unique for Blue Lake, a lake in the crater of a long-extinct volcano. The water is grey all winter, but changes over a few days in November to a startling blue and remains that way all summer. Obviously the colour change was early in November this year.
Heading back towards the coast we drove through pine and eucalyptus plantations, and lush pastures where many happy sheep were grazing. In the late afternoon we came to Port Fairy, yet another delightful small port with a wealth of historical buildings. We found a campsite under huge Norfolk Island pines on the edge of the Moyne River, close beside this bridge.
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