Idyllic Beautiful Beachport

Lovely Beachport - surrounded by water!!

Our backyard:)

Our neighbours :)

What a lovely little town and coastal area nestled on a spit between Rivoli Bay, Lake George and the Southern Ocean! The white sand runs right around the bay and yet again we have a prime spot in the MH overlooking the beach and bay with the golf course on our other side - so beautiful! Other than a lovely walk along the 772m long jetty - the second longest in SA -  and around this quaint little seaside town, we have enjoyed the day relaxing in the sun and taking in our beautiful views!

The Southern Rock Lobster is an important industry here. Yummy!!!

We weren't sure what this was a sculpture of but it looked effective - a whale? lobster ?s hells? or maybe all! ;)
The walking path stretches both ays along the foreshore - you can walk for miles around this lovely bay!

One of the swimming beaches close to town

The famous Beachport Jetty

So long you can only just see the end in the photo!
It's the second longest jetty in South Australia at 772m long

Off we go to walk to the end! Our exercise for the day! :)

Nice views from the Jetty

The Cape Martin Lighthouse (1960) on Glen Point - originally called Whaler's Point as it was near the sight of the Rivoli Bay Whaling Station,set up during the 1830's by the Henty Bros from Portland. The point was renamed after George Glen, an early pioneer of the district.

WE cold see the MH patiently waiting our return!

Beachport village amongst the Norfolks

As the town is only small there is a lot of multitasking in the historic shops. You book your game of golf, or the tennis court, at the grocery store which also has an array of other products besides groceries. The lady who works in the council building  also runs the town library and the tourist information centre from the same building.

Bompas of Beachport - a popular cafe/restaurant and accommodation
A great view of the Jetty and foreshore!

The historic buildings and shops give a quaintness to the town. There is a meticulously restored Custom House which displays a working office as it was in the late 19th century. The Beachport and District Branch of the National Trust  SA Old Wool and Grain Store Museum tells the interesting story of the district's past, and gives an insight into Beachport's early history, including whaling and fishing history. Built of local free stone and limestone quoins this two storied building is in beautiful condition and was erected in 1879 for Mr F M H Bevilaqua. It served as a shipping store,and later as bank, holiday accommodation, tea rooms, Council offices and garage.

The Old Wool and Grain Store Museum 

The Cinema!

Beach Road - the main street

The historic Beachport Hotel

Lovely, well kept heritage homes like this around the village

How tiny is the church!

The original Customs House

On the shores of Lake George is Beachport Conservation Park which is full of birdlife. The park protects the dunes and coastal vegetation between  Lake George and the Southern Ocean.

Lake George

Sunset - the soft pinks, blues, oranges and mauves were stunning!
Enticed us to say another day!!!! 

We decided to stay another day in this peaceful paradise and did the 8km return Bowman Scenic Drive to view the spectacular coastal scenery and the famous Pool of Siloam - a unique natural salt lake, the salt content supposedly 7 times saltier than the sea, making the water very buoyant to swim in! It's a popular swimming and relaxation spot with its grassy banks, small pier and swimming platform. We were lucky enough to see a visiting flock of Avocets', with their upturned beaks, wading its sandy shores.

The view across  Beachport from Lighthouse Hill

Lake George behind

We loved it here - so pretty and peaceful! A very relaxing time!

Penguin Island
The ruins of the first lighthouse 1878 can be seen - the light was fuelled by kerosine and revolved every  10 seconds.
There were two cottages built on this tiny island to house the two lighthouse keepers and their families.
A school was also built to cater for their children's educational needs.
A busy little island!

Today, with its 10-15metre cliffs, it is a wildlife sanctuary and breeding colony for silver gulls,
crested terns , Little Penguins and Australian Fur Seals. Still a busy little island! :)

Enjoying the great fishing in the area!

View from Backler's Lookout along the Scenic Coastal Drive 

The beautiful beach from Post Office Rock

The lovely pool of Saloam

View from Down's Lookout

The flock of the strikingly coloured  Avocets enjoying the sand spit in the Pool
Lucky to see these birds here apparently!!!

Awesome stretches of beaches!

A very different tale, but shows what amazing things people can do! Heading out for Robe early afternoon we stopped to look at the famous Woakwine Cutting (about 12klms from Beachport), said to be Australia's biggest engineering feat. The cutting was excavated to drain land behind the Woakwine Range. Why?

The McCourt family moved into the Woakwine area in the 1880's and soon realised that without richer land to compliment the rocky high country, living on the land would be difficult. As a result, in 1957, Mr Murray McCourt decided to "have a go" at constructing a channel from the swamp to through the range to  Lake George. The South Eastern Drainage Board assisted in designing and planning the proposed channel but McCourt rejected their plan because it was too costly. Instead he decided to take a risk by having almost perpendicular walls. This type of development had never been seen in Australia before and there were risks such as the slipping of the steep walls. McCourt and his assistant, Mr Dick McIntyre, set out to prove it could be done. He did it!!! - in 3 years with only about 4 pieces of equipment, all on display at the site. Today the cutting, a huge engineering feat for its time, is a remarkable example of how the land has been drained, ploughed, cultivated and sown to pasture, making the area efficient and agriculturally sustainable.

The cutting leading to Lake George

On the Saturday morning when we were on our way to Robe we heard a lot of revving of engines - a weekend car rally was on and the first leg started in quiet, sleepy Beachport! Interesting to see all the hotted up cars roll into town and line up for their start but a little out of context with the environment here!