Visit Innes National Park on a fine day and if you don’t end up with a photo that looks close to the one above, you’re just not trying!

But joining the ‘Entrance to Innes National Park’ photo club isn’t the only reason to visit this smallish 9400+ hectare National Park.  It’s around 300 km from Adelaide on the toe of the ‘ill shaped leg’ (take the link to see it on the map) that is South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula.

Although I’d been here several times over the last few years, we had never actually stayed there until now. We left the camper trailer at home and stayed in the restored Engineers cottage in historic Inneston for a few days, right inside the park with entry fees included in the tariff.

If only I could say that this meant getting up early for sunrise shots, but alas …

However, being on site made our exploration MUCH more leisurely!

So let me give you my updated insider’s TOP 7 things to do – a true traveller’s teaser taste of all that’s GREAT about this FAAAABULOUS spot!

1.  The Wildlife

Thanks to a close encounter at Inneston, I know EXACTLY what to do if attacked by an emu! Just raise your hands above your head, and walk backwards until you get to a place where you can run like hell!!

You might have to forget the photo …

Getting a little too close to an emu with chicks during spring hatching season isn’t recommended. In a civilised gender role reversal rarely seen elsewhere in the animal kingdom, it’s the male who sits on the eggs and cares for the young – the female is long gone by then!

But hard core twitchers* come here for the rare Western Whipbird – the reason for the park’s proclamation in 1970, it’s virtually the whipbird’s southernmost limit and one of the few habitats preventing it from being a Western Australian endemic. It’s also a known nesting area for Malleefowl with regular sightings in and around Inneston.

And if you don’t see a kangaroo somewhere in the park, don’t bother buying a lottery ticket … you’re obviously the world’s most unlucky person!

2.  The Scenery

If magnificent (and nearly empty) beaches, rugged rocky cliffs, towering sand dunes, coastal vegetation, jewel like islands, lakes and wild coastlines leave you cold, then Innes National Park probably isn’t for you.

But while you’re gazing out over the Great Southern Ocean at a cliff top lookout, bear in mind that if not for the sea spray, waves and curvature of the earth, you’d be able to see clear to Antarctica!

3.  The History

The four clans of the Aboriginal Narungga nation maintain strong cultural links to the Yorke Peninsula area, and the historic campsites and shell middens found in the park.

Charted by Matthew Flinders over 200 years ago, the remains of civilisation from the area’s early 1900’s settlement are scattered throughout the park, including the not-quite-ghost-town of Inneston, unsurprisingly established by William Innes. In its heyday, Inneston’s Gypsum mining, with a port at nearby Stenhouse Bay supported a peak population of around 200.

Interpretive signage along the Investigator Strait Shipwreck trail tells tales of the treacherous rocks, reefs and unpredictable weather that sank many ships. Down on Ethel beach, the ever-diminishing remains of the Ethel, wrecked in 1904, show how dangerous these waters can be.

4.  The Lighthouses

And that’s where the lighthouses come in! There’s good reason why the lighthouses at Cape Spencer (see photo above) and West Cape – both accessible by short walking trails – are still operational, with Cape Spencer lighting up the night sky a short distance from our accommodation at Inneston.

But the unusual designs of all-metal West Cape and rectangular Cape Spencer lighthouses AND the amazing vistas from Cape Spencer over the cliffs and out to the Althorpe group of islands (where the Althorpe Island lighthouse overlooks 6 shipwrecks) and the panorama from West Cape across Pondalowie Bay (see photo below) make them worth re-visiting at any time of day!!

Which is the best?? It’s a near thing – but its scenic public toilet to die for (Yes! It’s in MY BOOK!) gives West Cape the edge!

5.  The Wildflowers

It’s worth visiting the park in a good season just for the bright RED Cocky’s Tongue lining the roads. And the RED Correa.

But believe it or not, there are also a few NOT RED wildflowers in Spring (Sept-Nov down here!) and half the fun of a walk in the park is finding them.

Heavily perfumed and delicately coloured Freesias are everywhere – especially in what were once the settled areas,

their beauty a compelling argument against getting rid of non-natives!

If you’re lucky enough to visit in spring, be warned! Wandering the tracks around Inneston can put you in quite serious danger of wildflower overload!

6.  The Beaches

Just how many miles of empty, unspoiled beach stretching off into the middle distance can you take? While access to some of the beaches may take a little effort with steep and treacherous tracks, who wouldn’t want to try to make it down to Browns Beach?  Where yes, there ARE two other people …

Or to explore the Ethel Wreck (see photo above)??

But I’ll leave it to you to decide if a bad weather day makes the West Cape beach more or less of an attraction!!

7.  The Walks

Exploring Innes National Park on foot is one of the best ways to experience everything.

Wander the 11 km round trip Gym Beach walk or the 4km return Royston Head hike for wildflowers, amazing coastal scenery and beaches. Do the 1 km loop West Cape Headland hike right past the lighthouse and that awesome view. Walk through Inneston and along the Thomson-Pfitzner Plaster trail for a taste of history, wildflowers and wildlife, and the short South Cape lighthouse walk for scenery.

And do the Stenhouse Bay Lookout walk for ALL of the above.

Yes, it’s SO sounding like you’re going to need to spend more than a day here, right? And given my total lack of photo manipulation skills, this really IS what it looks like. So if it seems as if the jewel-like Innes National Park with its bountiful natural attractions is just a little too good to be true, then my work is done.

But I don’t think I could prove electronic photo theft of my first shot given the omnipresence of ‘Entrance to Innes National Park’ shots on the web!

* Twitcher = Birdwatcher! Go figure!!

Want MORE?

• Walks of Innes National Park
• Innes National Park, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
• Inneston Heritage Accomodation, Innes National Park
• Yorke Peninsula in 7 Days – my Rocky Travel guest post
• More photos of Innes National Park and Yorke Peninsula on Flickr

The post The Jewel in the Toe – Innes National Park, South Australia appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

The ubiquitous Kangaroo is such an integral part of the landscape downunder that its iconic silhouette universally symbolises Australia.

Yet to many of us Aussies they’re so commonplace we no longer marvel at the amazingly intricate biological system within this unique and oddly shaped animal.

AND we roll our eyes at the tourists who gleefully pose for kangaroo souvenir shots.

SO … as is also commonplace downunder, we let the unusual attributes of this wonder of nature pass us by!

How to best describe this highly complex Aussie creature? An animal with a strange, balletic grace when in full flight and at full speed, yet with an awkward, shambling walk. And yes, flight IS the right word to describe how a bounding kangaroo appears to float across the landscape, through the shimmering heat waves and off into the distance far more quickly than appears possible.

That’s why the flying kangaroo symbolises quintessential Australiana. And a study of the facts about this bizarre wild animal shows the truth IS far stranger than fabrication!

So lets stick to the facts! And some photos …

1. The kangaroo (along with another Aussie native, the emu) is featured on the Australian Coat of Arms …
2. … reportedly because neither can walk backwards!

3. AND … Australians are possibly the only nation in the world to eat both animals on its Coat of Arms! Not sure if that’s something to be proud of …

   

4. … although Kangaroo meat is very lean, with around 2% fat.

5. 

   With kangaroo numbers estimated at around 23 million (in 1996), they’re perhaps the only creature to have actually thrived since European settlement, with land clearing, cropping and pasture forming new habitats to which they have readily adapted

6. And that’s despite an estimated 20,000 annual vehicle collisions with kangaroos!

7. Hitting a kangaroo can cause LOTS of damage! As I found early one morning heading to work in the predawn mist when a kangaroo leapt out of nowhere in front of my car. Although I wasn’t travelling very fast, the impact killed the kangaroo, permanently dented the bullbar AND destroyed the radiator. Luckily I was less than 1km from home …

   

8. Car manufacturer Holden has a kangaroo crash test dummy – dubbed Robo Roo! This 59 kg composite helps study car collisions with kangaroos to improve safety features. Pity my crash was in a Subaru …
9. The largest recorded kangaroo was around 3 metres (9′ 7”) tall
10. The Red Kangaroo is the largest living marsupial at up to 2.7 metres high (9 ft); and the Eastern Grey is the heaviest with males up to 95 kg (~200 lb)
11. Kangaroos have been clocked at speeds of 40 – 70 kph (24-42 mph) …
12. … Can cover up to 12 metres (~42 ft) in one leap …
13. … AND can jump as high as 3.5 metres (10½ feet)!
14. Kangaroos belong to the Macropodidae family, and are part of Australia’s claim to having the most marsupials in the world – around 150 species.
15. An adult male kangaroo is colloquially known as a boomer, buck or Old Man;
16. An adult female is a flying doe, or flier;

17. A Joey is an immature kangaroo, usually in the pouch.

    

18. Mob is the collective noun for a group of kangaroos!
19. And most Aussies refer to them as ‘roos!
20. An adult female kangaroo is almost continually pregnant and lactating.
21. ‘An heir and a spare’ is a saying almost custom made for the kangaroo – while still feeding her joey, a second egg can be fertilized – but embryo development is placed ‘on hold’ until the current joey is almost ready to leave the pouch.

22. The next joey is born when the first leaves the pouch, but the mother continues to feed both simultaneously – with different milk for the older and younger joeys!

    

23. Skippy the Bush Kangaroo was one of Australia’s most successful TV show exports although it was banned in Sweden because it was considered the show would make children believe in the animals’ unnatural powers!

24. The clicking sound Skippy makes is based on an actual sound made by kangaroos to communicate with each other.
25. Although the grunts and groans of copulating kangaroos can sound almost human … as Pilchard and I found one day on a walk through the scrub. Pilchard bravely went into the bush to investigate the odd grunting sound we heard on the off chance someone was hurt. Wrong! We left them to it … don’t want to mess with – or interrupt – a big boomer!!
26. Especially as successful copulation can last up to 50 minutes!
27. Kangaroos are found almost everywhere except above the snow line.

28. The strangest place we ever saw them was on a beach near Western Australia’s Exmouth, where they were digging holes in the sand and resting therein.

    

29. It’s illegal to have a dead kangaroo in your possession without a permit.  NO WAY!!
30. The Big Kangaroo is off the beaten track at Border Village, on the SA/WA border!

31. Boxing with kangaroos was – and still is – a popular sport at country fairs, although there are moves afoot to have it banned.

    

32. ‘Kangaroo’ is derived from ‘gangurru’, an indigenous word from the Guugu Yimithirr language of Far North Queensland
33. A ‘kangaroo court’ describes a mock court where no consideration is given to legal principles.
34. ‘A few ‘roos loose in the top paddock’ is a colloquial Aussie term for someone who’s a little bit mad!

35. Although we once had one in our garden for awhile, the most kangaroos I’ve EVER seen in one place was in Halls Gap, Grampians, Victoria!

The post Aussie ABC – K is for Kangaroo! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.