If you’re planning to spend a few days or longer on the Fleurieu Peninsula, there are plenty of options for exploring the region.

There are wineries, markets, boutique shopping, walks to take in nature, pristine beaches, historic buildings to see and fabulous dining options.

You could easily fill a few months touring around, but if time is limited, here are a few ideas to capture the essence of the Fleurieu.

Willunga

Around 46 kilometres south of Adelaide is the town of Willunga. This village is steeped in history with some of the original buildings bearing plaques explaining what they were once used for. It’s well known for its farmers market held every Saturday morning, which has now been relocated to the high school grounds. It’s also close to a vast number of wineries in the McLaren Vale wine region.

Willunga is lovely to wander with a main street flanked with a mix of great shops selling homewares, second hand goods, kitchenware, locally made art and crafts and more. There is a bakery and tasty cafes to dine in as well as arty pieces to find around town.

A must see is the plant nursery, Jungle in Willunga, where for a gold coin payment you can wander through a luscious palm and bamboo planted garden oasis and the kids can check off hidden animals they find along the way. It’s also a fully stocked nursery with every type of plant you could want, and it has the best array of pots to buy that I’ve ever seen.

Goolwa

Heading further south for around 40 kilometres, will bring you to historic Goolwa, once a riverport town on the Murray River. This is the last town on the river before it empties out to sea at the Murray Mouth and spills into the Coorong, a wetland of international importance, providing habitat and breeding grounds for many birds.

A great way to learn about the area and see loads of wildlife at the same time is to take a walk along the barrage. As you walk across the barrage you’ll start to see a huge amount of water birds including pelicans and black swans. The barrage walk ends at the lock where if you’re lucky you can see boats coming and going through. There are always seals lounging around on the structures here too and if they’re not sleeping, they provide a lot of entertainment as they jostle for the best sunbaking positions.

An easy way to see the Murray Mouth is to take a drive over to Hindmarsh Island via the bridge from Goolwa, and follow the direction signs. At Sugars Beach you can watch all the river traffic and birdlife while you enjoy the best fish and chips in South Australia, from the Coorong Café.

If you visit on a Sunday you can find a market near the wharf area in Goolwa which has a mix of food, crafts, books, bric-a-brac, and so much more.

Overlooking the wharf at Signal Point is the 90 Mile Wharf Barrel Shed, a relaxed wine bar which has live music on weekends, friendly service and great views of the river.

Goolwa is spoilt for choice of dining options too with casual café dining at Hectors on the wharf, Bombora on the River, Mother Duck in the main street, as well as two hotels and my favourite, Thai Days restaurant.

Middleton

Taking a short 7 kilometre drive along the scenic coast, you’ll arrive at the surf centric town of Middleton.

Whatever the weather, time of day or year, you’ll find surfers hitting the waves in Middleton. It has a huge surf culture, hosts competitions and is home to surf schools where people can take lessons to learn to surf.

Middleton is also home to whale visitors every winter, with the same ones returning each year to calve and raise their young. There are a number of viewing areas where you can see the Southern Right Whales when they visit and a relatively new addition is a wooden carved pair of regular visitors, Buttons and her calf Bobby.

The whales can be identified by their markings and the callosities growths on their heads, so these red gum carved whales depict their markings, and were created by South Australian sculptor, Silvio Apponyi. Another carving sits at the base of information boards and depicts other local sealife and was carved from pink gum by Chris Reid and Doug Collins.

Port Elliot

Continuing along the coast for another 4 kilometres you’ll arrive at Port Elliot a popular and busy village full of historic buildings, shops of new and old wares, boutique clothing stores, and more great venues to dine at.

There are two hotels, the Royal Family Hotel and Hotel Elliot, cafes, takeaway and a bakery which has become an institution in the state by cleverly promoting a donut of the month and pie of the month. These creations draw day trippers from all over SA to taste the latest exceptional flavours. You’ll find the bakery by the line of people that spill out from inside and along the footpath.

The Strand is a shopping strip that goes from the main road down towards the beach and there are lots of boutique shops to browse in. On certain days the cockle train, a historic steam train cuts through town on its way from Goolwa to Victor Harbor, and is unmissable when it blasts its steam whistle.

Head to the beautifully picturesque Horseshoe Bay for a dip in the brilliant blue water, or have something to snack on at the Flying Fish Café or Surf Life Saving Club when it’s open on weekends.

There’s a scenic walk to take along the headland on an easy to follow path, known as the Harbourmasters Walk, which winds around past Green Bay and ends up at Knights Beach and views of Boomer Beach ahead. Watch for dolphins and seals in the water as you go by.

Victor Harbor

Take a drive for another 6 kilometres along the coast to Victor Harbor, the biggest of the towns along this part of the Fleurieu coast. Before you enter town stop at Kleinigs Hill lookout to read some of the indigenous stories for the area, see some beautiful mosaic artworks and get a great view of the bay and Granite Island which is joined to Victor via a pedestrian bridge.

Drive through town to reach the Bluff, at Rosetta Head, for spectacular views back over Victor Harbor and Petrel Cove in the other direction. This headland is surrounded by wild water and there is a coastal walk you can take to see it up closer.

From Kings Beach you can see an historic fish trap at Kings Head. This stone weir was built by the indigenous Ramindjeri people thousands of years ago, as a means to trap fish in a shallow lagoon when the tide would fall.

Waitpinga Beach is another spectacular beach to take in wild ocean views, around 15 kilometres further south. It’s part of the Newland Head Conservation Park and there is a campground, basic toilets and bush walking trails to take. Waitpinga is a popular beach fishing spot, whale watching area and surfing destination for experienced surfers.

The next beach on this part of the coast is Parsons Beach which has a high vantage point for sightseers. From the lookout areas you can see the strong rips on this beach and it’s a popular spot for experienced surfers when conditions are right.

Back in Victor Harbor, park the car and take a walk through town for a huge range of shops, galleries, and food outlets, then head to the foreshore area where you can either take a ride on the horse drawn tram, or walk over to Granite Island.  A return trip on the tram for adults costs $25, but it also an easy walk along this newly created bridge which replaced an original dilapidated one.

As you walk over the 650 metre causeway you’ll notice indigenous artworks etched in the concrete. The Ngarrindjeri and Ramindjeri etchings invite a shared spiritual journey as you walk out to Kaiki (Granite Island). The designs depict dreamtime stories of the creation of the landscape, animals, sealife and birds of the area. The local artists who collaborated on the project were Cedric Varcoe, Amanda Westley, Kyla McHughes, Kevin Kropinyeri and Jamaya Branson.

These etchings make up the longest piece of integrated Aboriginal artwork in Australia and possibly the world. At the start of the causeway a sculpture of the dreamtime ancestral being, Ngurunderi the creator stands on a granite boulder, his spear and club in hand. It was created by Kevin Kropinyeri.

Enjoy discovering this part of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Cheers,

Glenys