A Retreat at Marion Bay on Yorke Peninsula....

We arrived at Marion Bay Sunday week ago on a windy and at times rainy day. We traveled from Willunga through the suburbs and on to the amazing new Northern road system which made us realize how neglected our Southern area has been. Of course they are busy constructing the double side of the Southern Express way now, which should have been done from day one. It will probably take at least another twelve months to complete.... The Pt Wakefield road is very busy but you can sit on 110 k/ph and that part of the trip is quite fast.

 It was before getting to Ardrossan that we ran in to quite heavy rain. We arrived at Marion Bay at about 4.30pm.The cottage we were to rent had been left unlocked with the key inside...how refreshing to find a community which is still civilized and where you can leave a door unlocked with out dire consequences.
We had booked a place for dinner at the Tavern which happened to be just across the road, how good was that. Our table was by the big window overlooking the wide bay with its' fantastic cloud formations.

The next morning after a leisurely breakfast ( when are our breakfasts not leisurely in these days of retirement?) we trotted off to go to Innes National Park. We had been given a free pass to the Park included in the rental of the cottage so we were able to drive straight in.
The top photo shows the scene as you come over the hill into the first stage of the Park. The cloud formations on that day were just wonderful and the sun would illuminate cliffs and really show them up.

The view of Cape Spencer and the Chinaman
Island were lovely in the early morning sun.
You can drive to a car park near Cape Spencer lighthouse and then walk the rest of the way to the site where it stands and see just why they needed some way of warning ships about all the reefs and little islands which were so hazardous and caused quite a number of ship wrecks.
In the year 1878 the "Young St George" was  wrecked on Allthorpe Island and after that five or seven more.

We drove on to the next stop where you can view the last remnants of the wreck of the "Ethel".
Brian remembers this wreck from his time of going to Browns beach with his uncles to go and fish there. He thought the survivors were rescued by a ship called "The Rat" but later this turns out to be "The Ferret".... well, both rather repulsive with sharp teeth, an understandable association I'd say...... Unfortunately some one set fire to the wreck years ago and now all you can see are rusty ribs of steel sticking out of the sand.

They did manage to salvage the anchor so it is displayed at the top of the cliff and we didn't have to climb all the way down, those cliffs are very,very steep.....
All this clambering about works up an appetite so by the time we got back to the cottage we were ready for an aperitive and dinner at the Tavern, no cooking by me at all, at all....
The TV didn't work though Brian followed the instructions to the letter, nor did it respond to my feeble efforts, so we were without news or weather for days on end till unfortunately Brian got hold of some smart young person who said the instructions were all wrong and put it to rights sadly.......We slept well till the first tractor roared past to launch its boat before sparrow fart....

Black and White Birds

 Our very tall Sugar gum hosts many a bird.
Of late we have had visitations of the Corellas in their hundreds, in fact we estimate them in close to a thousand in the paddock. They screech and carry on like so many white, lost harridans and cause a great deal of damage to our local trees.
They are not native to this area belonging to the Northern parts of our country where the goanas would have kept them in check. Our human intervention by cultivating the landscape and growing grain has encouraged the unprecedented breeding of these birds.

 The other birds which suddenly appeared in the tree were a big number of ravens. We had seen them in the paddock north of us on a patch of ground which they were intent on cleaning off . What they had found there we were unsure  of but assumed they were cleaning up the crickets which have been very vocal at night these last nights. We used to call the Ravens, Crows but Crows live in the North of Australia and we seem to have the little Raven here though they could also be the Australian Raven. Apparently the little Raven "Corvus mellori" is nomadic and the Australian Raven"Corvus coronoides" is sedentary......there is only 20mm difference

in size... no doubt there is a small Raven complex there somewhere?
Suddenly too, there are the Candelabra lillies  flowering in all their elegant glory, how wonderful the rain proves to be, the paintbrush lilies have popped up as well. They will produce huge big green leaves after the flowers go. I just find it awe inspiring to see all that beautiful life emerge from the dry and dead vegetation on the ground.

 I wondered if this Galah was a pet as it sat quite quietly on the ground and then sat on a limb of the gumtree looking suitably coy.
 It would not come down but it was on its own and didn't seem to worry about being spoken to.
Meanwhile there were hundreds if not a thousand Corellas in the paddock north of us in exactly the same place the Ravens had occupied a few days before. What did they find to eat there??

Something will have to be done about these bird populations, but who will bite the bullet over this? Don't forget to click on the photos to see more detail.