Maslins Beach is 5 kilometres of golden sand, heavy-duty walking, sand castle perfect, early morning horse riding and unclad swimming at one end, a top 10 amongst Aussie beaches and deservedly so. Bare buff bathers have a haven at the end of the bay where a sign marks the boundary of choice- go south to strip off and north to sartorial security.
Sitting above in the Maslin Beachscape armed with binoculars helpfully provided by our hosts, not only can you check out the beach population, you can see Cape Jervis in the distance, where in three days we will be boarding the ferry to Kangaroo Island. The cliffs ahead are striated in gold and red and everywhere piles of soft sandstone have cascaded onto the water’s edge. Unusually by European standards there are beautifully formed stones in red, gold and white scattered across the whole beach left untouched by those who come here. I guiltily resolve to return my two small souvenirs.
From our balcony, the rip tides could be seen clearly, where earlier on, lying in the waves, you could feel the force of the water building up underneath a disarmingly calm surface. A light plane flies over regularly reminiscent for me of the shark spotting craft that used to patrol Adelaide’s beaches back in the 1960s when I swam there. Now sharks are rare sights along this coast. The occasional attack is greeted with characteristic SA steady as you go and little appetite for altering behaviour in the water beyond a day or two.
Not far south is Port Willunga, an attractive beach, overlooked by the Star of Greece restaurant where the eating is café style good quality. From the open terrace dining area the skies were pink with suffused sunset light. It was on this beach that the merchant ship ‘Star of Greece’ foundered in 1869 with the loss of 17 lives. There are markers of Aboriginal dreaming tracks throughout the area.
Back at Maslins, the skies hung heavy with ochre remnants of another beautiful day’s ending. February was once school return time in sweltering 100 degrees fahrenheit which dragged on until the beginning of March when some relief could be expected. Now the vegetation is green from the aftermath of heavy wet storms and the temperatures vary dramatically from pleasant early 20s to late 30s celsius. As refugees from the recent dank humours of semi-tropical Sydney, we have been basking in perfect Mediterranean weather.
We are not far from Willunga a small town at the heart of the Fleurieu peninsula and home of South Australia’s first farmers market as well as being hosts to a variety of festivals throughout the year: http://willungafestivals.com. The McLaren Vale region doesn’t just excel in wine but also great fresh vegetables and fruit as well as cheeses and local delicacies. Hoping to savour more of that tonight and tomorrow. There are so many wineries and restaurants it would take a month to get round. See here for a taster https://mclarenvale.info/wine/
If any of you plan to come to South Australia- and you should - it's especially perfect for about to be no longer EU citizen British and trumped off North American liberals, bear in mind how large a territory it is and how long you need to go about it- imagine a country that covers a journey most of the way across Europe- 1 million square kilometres.. The first time visitor goes to Glenelg, the City Centre and the Barossa Valley and misses out on Clare Valley and McLaren Vale not to mention further south the Coorong, Goolwa and the great Murray River and Kangaroo Island. Further north are the Flinders Ranges and beyond. A trip to Maralinga perhaps, once site of British nuclear testing and recently a strong candidate for holding the world’s store of nuclear power waste. Would have been a good deal had it gone through in a state almost gone broke and without much public property to sell off to balance the books.The risk factors are small compared to the perils of living in London's polluted air.... thoughts sparked off by a conversation with my brother.
Although I grew up here I hardly touched the surface of the place- water skiing, water snake-scared is my main memory of the Murray River as a young woman and as a fair skinned red head who burnt through her clothing on a regular basis, I never appreciated the beauty of beach walking and swimming. Those were the days when I was so preoccupied with surviving the rigours of schooling and friendship that there was no energy left to look outwards to the wider world beyond. That came later on and through each decade, as my awareness developed I discovered how many more exciting things I had to learn. Entering my 8th decade soon and I feel I have never before been so busy savouring what the world has to offer and learning how to live. I go walking on the beach each morning head clear and calm as I skirt the edges of the water until breakfast after which the buzzing starts afresh. The only way to contain it is to write and sometimes talk with others. The space that being on a journey to new territory brings is extraordinarily expansive.
And thinking of one of life's big journeys, on Saturday 4th February we drove to Barn 1890 near Willunga where Jess and Jonathan were to be married that evening. And waiting for the adventure to begin, unusually for this part of the world, meant waiting in huddles under umbrellas first under the superb trees and then on a verandah, a damp gathering of all ages and attire cheerfully enjoying the suspense while the venue was ported inside. Eventually, ever cheerful, the bridal party drove up in a Combi van and lovely Jess arrived on the arm of her mother Jenny to say her vows to Jonathan and cement an already strong bond. The wedding celebrations are another story but enough to say that it was a truly memorable occasion.I won't even go where the Four Tones took me last night on the dance floor!
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