Having learnt from past experience, this morning we did a hike with two cars so that we only had to walk one way! We met up with Cathy and Steve at Halletts Cove and left their car in the car park. Bernie then drove the four of us up to Marino Rocks so that we could walk the Hallett Cove Boardwalk (Marion Coastal Trail) back to Halletts Cove.
Hmmn, a boardwalk sounds like some lovely gentle exercise doesnt it? Until yesterday I thought this to be the case. However, reading a bit more about the trail yesterday, I became aware that it was going to involve stairs that would help us negotiate our way past all of the gullies that run down to the sea!!
The trail could perhaps be more accurately titled The Great Marion Staircase!!! There were LOTS of stairs involved. And every time we clambered down a staircase we had to climb back up again. Thank goodness the weather was much cooler today than it was yesterday. In fact it was quite overcast and threatening to rain so that was good for our strenuous exercise. Unfortunately though, we couldnt take glorious blue sky photos of the
We had heard that a section of the trail was currently closed, but Cathy and Steves friends told them that they walked it a couple of weeks ago and they just climbed over the barrier and carried on! When we reached the section that was officially closed we found that the closure was not well signposted and there was zero advice regarding an alternate route to navigate around the closed section! We dithered a bit deciding what to do and then some locals came through from the other end so we decided to give it a go. The hardest and most dangerous bit was climbing over the fence!! Once we were on the closed section of the boardwalk we found it to be quite sound and not at all dangerous.
This section of coastline is rocky and rugged with an interesting and unique geological history. However, the highlight of the walk had to be seeing a Nankeen (Australian) Kestrel flying overhead. We saw the Kestrel a number of times hovering over the scrub hoping to spot a meal.
of the trail where we enjoyed lunch at the Hallett Cove Cafe. There were so many people at the caf that it was hard to believe it was a working day. We decided that we were very wise to have walked the trail today rather than on Saturday as we think we would have struggled to get a meal at the caf over the weekend.
After lunch Cathy and Steve drove us back to our car before they headed back to Glenelg and we returned to the city to catch up with our other Adelaide friends, Graham and Robyn. After drinks at the Kings Head Hotel around the corner from Merediths we ate locally at La Trattoria Restaurant & Bar.
