Dean's Travels

Day 110 - 31st July

Carpenter Rocks to Macclesfield

Distance Travelled - 501.4 km

Having survived a very windy and rainy early part to the evening the wind eased off and sleep came relatively easily although I did wake occasionally throughout the night. Got to of bed at 6.30 am and went for a walk towards the lighthouse to see if it was going to be worth taking photos or not. There did not really seem to be much difference in the sky and light between then and when I took photos yesterday so I decided to forego photography this morning and make use of the extra time driving to other sites.

Got back from the walk, had breakfast, packed away and was on the road just before 8 am heading towards the first of the lighthouses for today at Beachport. The drive was quite nice, going through dairy cattle country and along the coast in parts with a glimpse of the ocean appearing every so often.

Arrived at Beachport and found the lighthouse very quickly and easily. Took some photos and looked around, spotting an old tower on an island not far out to sea. Took some photos of that, using the telephoto lens and wondered if it might be the remains of the old lighthouse on Penguin Island.

Left there and went to the information centre where I posted the blog and found out that the tower was indeed the remains of the Penguin Island lighthouse. It is now classed as a Reserve and whilst you can wade out there at low tide access is reasonably restricted. Having sourced information and looked through some local craft I headed off towards Robe.

Robe was only about a 45 min drive away and as I meandered along the roads the thought of heading home started to feel a lot more like a reality now that it is so much closer to happening. Arrived at Robe at discovered this lighthouse is the same design as the one at Cape Jervis, a modern looking triangular shaped building, fenced off with cyclone fencing.

Left Robe and headed to Cape Jaffa. Arriving there about 50 minutes later I found someone to talk to about the lighthouse and was told that I could be disappointed. The stand is still here, about 8 km out to sea but you can see it just, if you walk along the beach and around the bend. I was happier though when told just passed there you can see the ruins of the old keepers quarters. I went for a walk, about 4 km all up, along the beach and could just make out the stand, way off in the distance. Did however see some whale bones washed up on the shore. Kept going and found the ruins before heading back to the car.

The top of the Cape Jaffa lighthouse is stored in Kingston S.E. about 25 km away so drove there and took some photos, had lunch and a chat to the people in the information centre before starting the next leg to Point Malcolm. I had made very good time so far and decided to keep going as Point Malcolm is the last one on the list before heading to Adelaide.

The drive was about 180 km, a little tedious but not too bad. Found the lighthouse and was pleasantly surprised. This lighthouse is classed as an inland lighthouse as it is used on a lake and is the only inland lighthouse in Australia. It is also Australia's shortest lighthouse at only 7 m tall. I was able to get a few shots of the lighthouse is rapidly diminishing light with today's ever present clouds and rain making another appearance. Jumped a barb wire fence and got a couple of shots of one of the old homestead / residences from the areas early use as a station.

I was now only about an hour away from Aunty Jan and Uncle John's place so decided to keep going and be there for tonight. I had received and sent several messages to Aunty Jan throughout the day so it was not going to be complete surprise to them when I landed on their doorstop. They were out but arrived not long after I got there. We chatted for a while, had tea and watched a little bit of cricket before I went ot bed around 9 pm, quite exhausted and well and truly ready for bed.