Second Valley - ancient landscape #SecondValley

I taught my daughter to swim on this small but perfectly formed beach at Second Valley.  (It was in the days before jet-skis).

It is an ancient part of the world, with the rugged rock formations occurring 500 million years ago, at the end of the Geosyncline period.

The area is popular for fishing, diving, snorkelling, kayaking and just plain swimming.

I still miss the rusty old boat sheds that used to grace these rocks.

While it is a great place to dive, especially since they sunk the HMAS Hobart off shore, reports of a 7 metre white pointer shark being sighted at various points along the Adelaide and south coasts, put me off going out too far.  One fisherman who spotted the great white up close said its girth was the size of a small car!

The rugged rocks are also great for climbing but beware the steeper inclines.  Only a couple of weeks ago three young women had to be rescued via helicopter after attempting to climb a steep section.

Roll on the lazy days of summer....

Golf and sunsets at Lady Bay #LinksLadyBay #Golf #Sunsets #LadyBay

Our view of a spectacular sunset at Lady Bay

A magic part of South Australia is the Fleurieu Peninsula and in particular the beaches at Normanville, Carrickalinga, Second Valley and Lady Bay.  Every year we try to spend the week between Christmas and New Year at Links Lady Bay, golfing, swimming, barbecuing and sipping great South Australian wine. Indeed there are a few good wineries in the area, expanding the reach beyond the McLaren Vale winery region just up the road.  In a future post I'll show you around Allusion Winery.  They make a great shiraz.

Wide sandy beaches, parts of which you are permitted to drive your car on, park and camp out on the beach to fish, swim, snorkel, scuber-dive or canoe... without having to cart everything from a car park.  How good is that?

The golf course is a traditional links course designed by Jack Newton, Graeme Grant and John Spence and loosely modelled on St Andrews in Scotland.  According to the Links Lady Bay golf website it is currently ranked 52 in the top 100 golf courses in Australia.  It is easily the best regional course in South Australia.

The driving range overlooks farm land and ocean.

Between some of the fairways are large tracks of land, home-base to many dozens of kangaroos.

Just over a year ago the golf course was bought by Chinese businessman Feng Di, Chairman of Golden Horse Nine Dragon Lake Holdings, the owners of Links Hope Island and Noosa Springs Golf Courses in Queensland and 54 hole Dragon Lake Golf Resort in Guangzhou, China.

The course has improved dramatically under Chinese ownership.  The company has already spent over $1 million upgrading the course, especially its irrigation systems and water regime.  This part of the Fleurieu Peninsula has enormous potential but it is significantly under-developed and in desperate need of investment.  I hope they buy the resort, hotel and land - it would be great for the local economy, employment and the amenities in the area.  Let's hope! (no pun intended)

The fairways have never looked better.

And of course the sunsets in this part of the world are always magnificent.

The sky changes every few minutes and no two nights are the same.

How lucky are we to have this magnificent strip of coast on our doorstep.