Summer in Australia is nearly officially over, but there will still be plenty of good weekends ahead to getaway. We’ve just spent a weekend at Normanville on the western side of Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, less than 80 kilometres from Adelaide.

Our reason for going was a group reunion and with a lot of the participants being caravan fans it was decided to base ourselves at the Jetty Caravan Park, which as the name suggests is the closest accommodation you can get to the beach.

Not everyone had a caravan but the park also caters for those that want to tent it or take the camper trailer as well as those wanting on site cabins.

The beauty of this caravan park is that as a group you can book an area together in a number of spots within the park. We were mostly based together with wide sites, great for sitting around together and chatting, (or sharing a big combined breakfast) a view of the water and a walking track to get to the beach easily.

Also within walking distance of the park is the Surf Life Saving Club and the Normanville Kiosk and Café, both venues are well worth visiting.

On a Friday night the Surf Life Saving Club bar is open for drinks from 5pm to 7.30pm and has the best views from the balcony of the coast from Normanville and along to Carrickalinga beach. Drink prices were very good and some bar snacks were available. It’s also open on Saturday nights during the season.  If you’re lucky you may just spot a pod of dolphins cruising by. For a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon I would recommend booking a table at the Normanville Kiosk and café where you can spend a couple of hours watching yachts racing while listening to some live music over good food and drinks. The bonus here is that dogs are welcome on the deck as well as in the caravan park.

Evenings in the caravan park can be spent enjoying the outdoors with friends, watching a blazing sunset, sharing drinks and stories or if the weather turns a bit too chilly there is a huge camp kitchen. This kitchen is not only well stocked, clean and tidy but is also a welcoming place for a group to gather and kick on after dark.

During the day the town of Normanville is worth a visit, dotted with small shops to browse. All your basics, supermarket, newsagent, butcher, surf shop, gift shops and more.

While you’re in the area take a drive along the coast, I promise you won’t be disappointed with the views. The drive that takes you past Yankalilla Bay is pretty breathtaking so luckily there is a spot to pull over and park to take it all in. The next two bays are also worth detouring off the main road to see. Drop in and visit Second Valley and then Rapid Bay for more stunning scenery, jetties for fishing, sandy coves, snorkelling and diving and rocky cliffs and caves. The choices of where to drive and what to see and do are huge so I would suggest picking up the Fleurieu Coast Visitors Guide from a business in town and plan your outings.

Away from the coast the farm land is very picturesque too with huge rolling hills dotted with sheep and cattle, stone buildings and roos everywhere at the moment. In fact we’ve never not seen kangaroos in this area so it would definitely be our go to region to take overseas visitors if you want to see a perfect snapshot of what Australia has to offer.

Enjoy the last days of summer,

Cheers

Glenys