Getaway - Victor Harbor

There are three main peninsulas in South Australia, and the one directly south of Adelaide is the Fleurieu (flur-eeh-uh) peninsula.  Victor Harbor is a small (15k) person coastal town that is an hour from Adelaide, but to us it felt like a world away. Because the boys had two days off of school, we took the time to explore this little beach town in our proverbial backyard.  We rented a gorgeous house just off the beach; it was a 3 story gorgeous space with lovely views of the hills and a bit of the expanse of Southern Ocean. (As you can see from the before/after shot below, the ocean feels pretty darn cold at 57*!)

The air temperatures were warmer-than-typical temperatures on Thursday and Friday, so we focused on outdoor activities, including a visit to the Urimbirra open range wildlife park, which includes hundreds of Australian animals and birds.  This place we amazing, and we spent nearly 3.5 hours there which included hands-on experiences with koalas, feeding kangaroos and wallabies, and a snake handling opportunity.  The kids were in heaven being up close and personal to some of these amazing Australian creatures!

We also did a guided sunset kayak at the mouth of Murray River and enjoyed seeing loads of seabirds and even a few frisky fur seals.  (Each us of took a kid in their double kayak.)  The kids ran up and down the sand dunes while the adults enjoyed a little wine and picnic watching the beginning of the lovely sunset.  We also got mobbed by mozzies (mosquitos) for the first time since we've been here!

Our house was a 2 minutes walk to the beach, so Jeremy shot amazing sunrise photos each day, as well as a few sunsets.  We walked and ran on the beach.  Kids dodged waves along the shore and spied a few dolphins and human surfers.  We did a whale watching tour on a chilly day, observing a mother Southern Right whale and her calf, learning about the whaling history of the area as a huge diversity of whales migrate through this region.  

The whole trip was a lovely short getaway from our house here.  We haven't given up the possibility of interstate travel, but the unpredictability of state borders opening/closing makes our plans a big question mark.  I am sure we will have a few more of these explorations around the beauty of South Australia!