This hike started at Petrel Beach, then follows the coastline casually dropping and rising to shimmering sandy beaches framed with sharp rocks and grassy tussocks. In truth it reminds me very much of parts I know of New Zealand. The views were enticing. Particularly on a sunny day. My regular reader (hello!) may recall the coastline along from Island Bay from the Miramar Peninsula.
The driving force for the trip was my workmate James, who is keen to see beyond Adelaide now that work has settled down to a more regular set of hours. In fact owing to some immoderate work hours we've had to get our photographic fix around Adelaide. Which to my surprise (and pleasure) has yielded more interesting images than I first imagined it might.
The trail is a tiny part of the 1200 km Heysen trail (named after Hans Heysen a German born landscape painter who is famed for his views of Australia). The walk starts like many others with an information board that yielded a daunting amount of information on ecology, wildlife, and shipwrecks. However the bit of info we really wanted to know was about the danger of snakes. No info, no worries? Oh well there were plenty of other people on the track. We set off weighed down by the usual toys. For me this includes some kit for landscape and some kit for wildlife. Similarly James has adopted a two camera approach. Wildlife doesn’t hang about so it’s best to have something ready to bash away with, rather than scrabbling at the controls to reconfigure a camera you just used for a panorama. James has a bridge camera and a dlsr, I have a pair of dlsrs. His kit is lighter by far, of which I am envious.
The route dipped down to the sandy shoreline and on a whim we stayed sea level and scrambled among the rocks. I’m sure on the right day there are some wonderful seascapes to be had in just this spot. But my ‘compositional’ sense wasn’t on form so I had a bash a one or two shots without any expectations. I was very interested in the fractured lines of strata, but never found an angle to catch the the crashing cobalt waves and the geology in my field of view. Never mind. As we progressed there were shoreline outcrops of quartz gleaming white between shiny black teeth. I enjoyed a spot of shell hunting in the myriad of nooks and corners, the terrain was maze like.
The coastal route from Petrel Beach towards Kings Beach
At length the route petered out and as the tide blocked our progress we made our own route, and scrambled up a grassy bank to the main path. The odd seabird wheeled and screamed on the horizon, a cooling breeze into our faces. A glorious day to be be outdoors exploring. We continued on the proper path mindful of reptiles and birds. Like most of SA the walk has a population of brown snakes. We knew they were there but saw nothing. Our worries aside we had our eyes to the sky looking for ‘white bellied sea-eagle. (or snow bellied as I mis-remembered for the entire hike). Irritatingly all the birds stayed outside the reach of our longest lens. A short while after we regained the proper path it dipped down to sea level at Kings Beach. A lovely stretch of sand in an idyllic location.
Near to the coast there a small island. Which I believe is a wildlife reserve. It's ideally placed in the prevailing current to funnel the incoming tide into a narrow channel. The wave height even on 'calm' day is truly impressive. And the white horses gallop by 'overhead' accompanied by a sound of growling thunder.
Kings Beach
James wandered off in search of wildlife, wheras I chose to keep to the shoreline in an attempt to capture the drama of the seascape. I settled at a spot where I was looking up to the waves. It wasn't my best composition but I loved the location so I determined to come back with a ‘panoramic’ film camera at a later date. (The benefit to with a film panoramic camera is that it takes the complete view in one shot).
I rejoined James who’d been having a close encounter with rough back lizards (more of them later). The trail began to gently rise. The undulating farmland making way for true cliffs. Quite quickly we were high above the turbulent water/ the hills were alive with interest . Wildflowers populated the grass and numerous shrubs had a touch of colour. The grass gave way to low scrub. Bushes and groves of native woodland. Birds flitted around and inside the canopy of the scrub. More often heard than seen. The usual suspects tweeted tunelessly around us. New Holland Honey Eater, Rosella, Lorikeets, Crows etc. Despite our vigil of the sky we didn’t glimpse the mythical ‘snow bellied sea-eagle’ that I persisted calling it. The patchy scrub became continuous woodland. Someone with influence clearly understood the desire to see the view and gaps had been cut out to catch the scenery. We found ourselves high over the water on top of the Warapinga Cliffs.
We found an enviable spot to brew up. A bench with a view back along the entire route we’d just followed. We saw a bird of prey soar on a a thermal then head out to sea. Far to distant for me to ID. The view was impressive, but in my minds eye I was seeing a stormy day a large ship in peril on the rocks. That blessed information board was giving me funny ideas I think. Still tea and sandwiches revived us.
We retraced our path, concentrating on the surrounding wildlife. Several times James came to attention. At one point Scarlet Rosella flashed brightly past, settling just outside his ideal FOV. As he took aim at them a bird of prey hovered almost directly above his head, 30 ft up. Bird of prey but not the eagle we were in search of.
The walk back went faster, for starters it was downhill and we chose not to linger at the scenic viewpoints. In some ways our most memorable animal encounter was with the shingle back lizards earlier in the day. James was leading a downhill stretch of the trail, alert for the presence of a brown snake. We knew it was around as a bare footed Australian walker had advised us he'd just seen one 'back away's along the trail’. James volunteered to go first, partly being gallant, partly because he wanted a photo of a snake to send to a work colleague who was making noises about moving to Australia. The quest for a 'frightening. snake picture had been going since shortly after he arrived. Up till now there’d been no indications that we were in close proximity, but now we were in high alert. Anyhow on this section of the trail from the corner of his eye he noticed a lurking shape beside the trail. From my point of view he took a sharp sidewise lurch mid step whilst doing a comedic double take. Fortunately it was not a lethal viper but rather a stumpy tailed shingle back lizard, basking in a spot of sun. Mercifully harmless although it may have shortened James life expectancy by a good few milliseconds.
Close to the car park at Petrel Beach we spied another bird of prey landing in the cliffs. We got good sight of it as it landed and we chased it down to the sand. We needn’t have rushed. Unhurriedly it groomed its plumage and scanned the scenery. I suspect we both managed to take photo’s from every conceivable angle. I certainly had at least 40 whilst it was perched then it took off and hovered overhead on a thermal before doing a quick circuit and lunging for something in the surf. James and I congratulated ourselves on such good fortune at the end of the day. We’d nailed the ‘snow bellied sea-eagle’ … only to find out later it happened to be a peregrine falcon.
It was a long walk, we celebrated with a white beer or two in blessed ignorance that we hadn't seen the 'snow' bellied sea-eagle. A grand walk and one I’d happily do again.
