Wild South Coast Way on the Heysen Trail

Victor Harbour to Cape Jervis, South Australia

The Fleurieu Peninsula is the Country of the Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri peoples

Spring 2022 and time for another bushwalking adventure. I’d been on a photography workshop in Ikara Flinders Ranges and was keen to see a bit more of South Australia. The Wild South Coast Way on the Heysen Trail sounded like a nice contrast to the arid outback, and there were also good transport options to get to and from the trail.

Accompanying me on this adventure were Mr 10 and also Mr 6, who has been itching to come on one of our adventures. Tentatively I asked a question on a Heysen Trail Facebook group as to whether this section would be doable for a 6 year old. Most responses said probably not (and I assume people were questioning my sanity for even considering it). However, after some more research, soul searching and training walks, I decided that I’d risk my sanity and agreed he could come. As always, I looked at options to exit the trail or turn back should it all prove too much, and was satisfied that if it all turned to crap, we had some exit options. Believe me, there was a lot of second guessing and a sense of foreboding on my part as the weeks drew closer. This was not helped when I sustained an injury a month out from the trip, limiting our training prep.

Thus was the lead up to our adventure. Two intrepid boys flew to meet me in Adelaide, decked out in hiking boots and ready to tackle 70km from Victor Harbour to Cape Jervis.

This is a run-down of our experience. I have included our actual walking times, which is from leaving camp to arriving at the next and includes stops (of which there were many). Most ‘typical’ hiking parties would move much faster.

Day 1 Kings Beach to Natunyuru Ngawanthi (Sand Dunes Campground)

12km – 6 hours (11 am – 5pm)

The big day was here. Our packs, sitting on the floor of the motel room, were heavy. I was feeling a bit apprehensive.

We caught a bus from Adelaide to Victor Harbour. The weather was grey and drizzly, and the closer we got to the coast, the heavier the rain fell. Faced with this foreboding and soggy start to the walk, we decided to take a taxi to Kings Beach, saving us around 5km of walking along Victor Harbour foreshore. That proved to be a wise decision given the slow pace that we would move during the day.

The taxi departed, and we stood before a windswept beach beneath a grey sky. Thankfully the rain eased as we saddled up our packs and set off Our spirits, though not packs, lightened slightly.

The first section of the walk was pleasant, with views of West Island and that glorious scent of salty, sea air. The sand was golden, and the beaches were dotted with granite boulders encrusted with orange lichen. The scenery gradually became more rugged, as we traipsed up and down from one headland to the next. Plenty of wildflowers were in bloom, and we frequently paused to take in the views of the cliffs dropping away into the swirling ocean below. The track was slippery and exposed, so we moved slowly along this stretch.

Later the walk passed through patches of forest, and it started to feel like we were walking through a garden or shady suburban park. We made numerous stops to rest tired legs, adjust packs, snack and take photos.

After a while, the trail turned inland, away from the sea cliff vistas. The trail was wide and sandy, tucked in behind the dunes. Mr 10 and I could have motored through this section pretty quickly, but Mr 6 was getting very tired. We moved like snails, had sore shoulders and were all finding it a bit tedious.

Finally we reached the campsite, secluded amongst grass trees and paperbark forest. We set up our tent on the site we had booked, then moved it closer to the shelter, since it seemed unlikely that there would be a rush of arrivals at this late hour. Drizzle began to fall again, but it didn’t dampen the boys’ enthusiasm as they made the most of the dying light to explore and play around the campsite without their burdensome packs.

We enjoyed our dinner of hiking burritos, which has become a first night tradition on multi-day hikes. The shelters in the hike-in campsites are terrific – plenty of room, with two long dining tables, a kitchen sink with tap and plenty of bench space, hooks, and even USB charging ports. It was a very pleasant place to sit and watch the light fade with a nice warm cuppa at the end of a long day.

Day 2 Natunyuru Ngawanthi to Kurri Ngawanthi (Creek Campground)

13km – 8 hours (9.30am – 5.30pm)

Lots of rain fell during the night, and I always find it very peaceful and calming listening to the sound of rain on a tent. Selfishly though, I was hoping it would cease well before morning to minimise having to pack up and carry a wet tent.

Day one had been tough, and we’d had a frank conversation the previous night about our options – whether we head back to Victor Harbour; continue on and try for an early exit at another point where we might be able to call a taxi; or to stick to our plans and continue on for the next five days. The way I was feeling at the end of day one, I admit that I had been pretty set on the former options. The prospect of heading back to Adelaide early and just hiring a car for some easy sightseeing sounded more fun than slowly trudging our way along to Cape Jervis. However, after a good night’s sleep, a cuppa and drinking in the fresh sea air, by morning I was feeling more optimistic and decided I wasn’t ready to throw the towel in just yet.

We breakfasted, packed up the damp tent, and headed off again with our heavy packs.

The walk continued along the sandy track behind the dunes. We passed the car camping area, then turned south towards Waitpinga Beach. We passed a fisherman, the only person we saw all that day.

Mid-way along the beach we came to our first creek crossing. There had been a fair bit of rain falling over the previous week, so the creeks all had a healthy flow. Boots off, I went in first to test the depth and began ferrying packs across so the kids could cross unencumbered. On the first attempt the water was up to my thighs, but after a bit of exploring we found a better spot where the water was only knee-deep, though we did have to watch out for quicksand. Mr 10 crossed like an expert, and I piggy-backed Mr 6 across as the safest and driest option for him.

Shoes stayed off as we walked along the beach beneath moody grey skies, sand in our toes and wind in our hair. Soon we were forced to don our boots again, and climb up and over a headland, where we were treated with some lovely views. The trail then dropped down again to Parsons Beach, then back up and along the cliffs. The wind was beginning to pick up and intermittent rain and drizzle were falling – the walk living up to its name (though still a fairly ‘mild’ form of wild).

We descended a steep hill, made a little slippery after the rain, and came to the fast flowing Coolawong Creek. Shoes off again for the crossing. The water was freezing. I made a few crossings with the packs. This time Mr 6 was adamant that he would cross by himself rather than be piggy-backed. Holding my hand, we gingerly stepped across the rocks together. A few steps across and he panicked as the water was colder and flowing faster than he had anticipated. I was carrying his pack and my camera, and as he tried to cling to me, we both lost balance and over we went! There was a bit of swearing, I deposited Mr 6 back on the original bank, made the crossing to deposit the bag and my camera, then one last crossing to ferry Mr 6 over (as we should have done in the first place). Thankfully, no one was injured, my camera case kept the water out, and the only casualty was dry clothes.

After we recovered and settled our emotions, put on thermals and shoes, we headed on once more. The track now turned inland, up and over rolling green hills, following the creek line. Sheep, grass trees and wattle were prevalent, and the odd kangaroo also paused from grazing on the lush pasture as we traipsed along.

We had a long uphill slog through green paddocks and many, many sheep (seriously, this place rivals New Zealand). The kids were getting fed up with the incessant ‘baaing’ – feeling like the sheep were telling them how ‘baad’ everything was at that moment.

Finally we reached a road and paused to check the map. Spirits lifted as we saw we were only about 500 metres from the campsite. The track markers pointed us into a paddock, so we climbed over the stile and headed cross country. There was a final creek crossing before the campsite, requiring a bit of a leap of faith. Unfortunately Mr 10’s legs didn’t quite make it across, leaving him with a soggy boots, socks and pants. Even more frustratingly, we could have followed the road and approached the campsite from the other side, avoiding the creek. But it was late, we were tired, and the shorter distance had seemed like a good idea at the time. Oh well.

The usual end of day routine – tent set up, dinner prepared and a soothing cup of tea. We had a companion at this campsite, being reunited with a solo bushwalker who had passed us on the first day. It was nice to have a bit of company after a long and mixed day.

Day 3 Kurri Ngawanthi to Yapari Ngawanthi (Cliffs campground)

17km – 10 hr (8am – 6pm)

We knew our third day would be a big day, so an early start was essential. The first part of the walk followed dirt roads through Fleurieu Peninsula farmland. Farmers were out and about, moving sheep and waving as they passed in their utes and on quad bikes. Wistfully we thought how nice it would be if someone were to offer to give us a lift down the road. No one did, so on we trudged. It was another day of grey skies and light drizzle, but not unpleasant conditions for walking.

After about an hour we reached the turn off from the road and were glad to be heading back towards the coastline. The track passed through lush green, but rather damp, grassy paddocks, and we had to clamber over stiles to cross the many fences. As we approached the ocean, we had to contend with a few steep slopes, where holding onto the wire fence helped to steady feet on the slippery wet grass.

We were expecting an even steeper drop to Tunkalilla beach via the famed ‘dead man’s drop’, but as we approached, our solo walking companion, who had passed us not long before, appeared on the crest of the hill and gave us a wave. We followed her, assuming she was on the trail, and instead of the almost sheer drop, we followed a track that took a much gentler descent. Once down, and after contending with another creek crossing, we realised that we had actually been following a farm track rather than the official Heysen Trail route. While I confess that this saved us some angst and was probably easier for the kids, this was trespassing, and it is really important that walkers don’t diverge from the official track – this has been negotiated with landowners, and going off the track disrespects the good will of these people and places the route in jeopardy for future walkers. I like to do the right thing when hiking, and I’m sorry to have inadvertently trespassed on this occasion.

Tunkalilla beach is a five kilometre stretch of golden sand beneath rolling green hills. This was probably the highlight of the walk for us, especially for Mr 6. With shoes off, his pace changed from a slow trudge to a lithe run as he skipped along the sand, dodging the waves (or not). We paused for lunch by a little rivulet, with the boys relishing a wade in the water and sliding down sand dunes. In the distance, we watched a hang glider floating in the grey sky. Flocks of grey gulls also enjoyed the coastal air currents, pulling into the beach, before being scattered back into the air as the boys chased them away. Simple pleasures of childhood.

After lunch we continued along the beach. Unlike the previous days, we passed many other walkers, including some big groups.

Donning our boots, the next section was exposed and slightly precarious, contouring around headlands with a steep drop to the ocean below. Mr 6 was getting tired and making me nervous. My urging him to be careful only made him get angry at me, which really wasn’t good. He wouldn’t accept help or listen to advice and was just getting more cranky and less careful. We reached a grassy slope that provided a break between the exposed ridges, dropped our packs and had hugs and chocolate to calm us all down. On the rocks below sat a large group of cormorants, drying their wings just out of reach of the waves.

After our break, we faced some more exposed walking before a creek crossing and somewhat precarious descent to Boat Harbour. It was a pretty little cove covered with round boulders. It had been a long day, and this would have been an OK spot to make camp for the night. However, the boys were both happy to keep going, convincing me that they’d rather push on and reach the official campsite. It was only 3.30pm and we still had time to make it to the campsite before dark (I hoped), so we continued on. I don’t mind roughing it, but when there is a campsite with shelter and a few other niceties, you have to admit, it’s worth the effort of a few more kilometres.

At the west side of Boat Harbour, there was yet another creek to contend with, but at least we could manage this crossing by balancing on rocks. I made the first trip and then came back to help Mr 6. Thankfully no disasters befell us this time.

A steep climb up the next headland revealed views of Kangaroo Island. A sign indicated we still had 4km until the campground. At our pace of around 2km per hour, this would mean we would arrive at around 6pm – oh, my poor tired shoulders.

The next stretch was through Deep Creek Conservation Park. It was beautiful – filled with wildflowers, grass trees and many gum trees with textured bark and personalities. Mr 6 occasionally ‘turbo boosted’, but mostly it was a slow and steady pace as we wound our way along and up the path. Finally Mr 10, who was a little ahead of us, called out to say he had reached a road. Oh, so much joy. This meant we only had another 1km to go. A quick chocolate boost and the final stretch.

That last 1km was so, so, so tedious. A long trudge down a dirt road, before finally coming to the marker for the campsite. We could see the car camping area only about 100m away (and very busy), but we found ourselves winding along an endless path to get to the hikers’ campsite. The path seemed to take an unnecessarily circuitous route and we started to wonder if we’d gone wrong. Finally, we spied a tent platform and were able to dump our packs and relieve our tired shoulders and feet at long last.

Our priorities were to get warm, set up the tent, eat dinner and head straight to bed. What a long day. The next day was our rest day, and I cannot tell you how glad I was to think that we could have a lie in and would not have to pack up the tent and haul packs in the morning.

Day 4 Rest day

Walk to Deep Creek Waterfall – 4km return (2.5 hrs)

Walk to Deep Creek Cove – 3.5km return (3 hrs)

A well-earned easy morning, with no rush to go anywhere too quickly. They boys enjoyed having a bit of time to play and explore around the campsite. There is a lookout platform at the campground, providing views over Kangaroo Island – or perhaps it is actually a spy base for imaginative kids.

We decided to walk to Deep Creek Waterfall, even though we would pass it on the following day. We figured it would be nice to have time to enjoy the falls without the pressure to keep trekking onwards. The walk was pleasant, and we saw kangaroos, a shingleback lizard, and numerous wildflowers along the way. At the waterfall the boys enjoyed skimming stones and soaking up some sunshine. There was a good flow over the falls after the recent rain, with bubbles of foam being blown by the breeze and swirling around to form patterns in the currents.

We returned towards the camp via the same path, pausing often to take in all the wildflowers. We reached the junction near Tapanappa Lookout at 3pm and decided to head on down to Deep Creek Cove rather than back to camp. It was a steep track, and the final descent involved a bit of rock scrambling. We had fun exploring around the rocks, throwing stones into the ocean and taking photographs. A lone seagull looked with curiosity at the boys as they crouched among the rocks, playing some imaginative game.

Around 5pm we decided it was time to head back to camp. Reaching the lookout just on sunset, we whipped out the tripod for a photo shoot – Mr 10 was keen, though Mr 6 was less impressed with this delay to dinner time. He sat hunched over a picnic table telling us at regular intervals that he was freezing, and threatening that he would throw our cameras away if we were any longer! We packed up, only to see the best light of the evening as we turned east towards the campsite.

Despite it being a rest day we had done a lot of walking. Once again we were arriving at camp at the very end of the day. Fellow campers had moved on, and we had the campground to ourselves. We ate dinner, drank hot chocolates and turned in for the night.

Day 5 Yapari Ngawanthi to Wuldi Krikin Ngawanthi (Eagle Waterhole campground)

13km – 8hr (8.45am – 5pm)

We retraced our steps from the previous day, and were once again at Deep Creek waterfall. The sun was out, and we enjoyed a peaceful rest by the falls for morning tea.

The track then took us steeply uphill towards Trig Campground. On a grassy hill overlooking the ocean, we had the luxury of a picnic table to sit at for our lunch stop. Our break was accompanied by the twitter of a blue wren flitting around.

After lunch we contoured around hills and through green pastures, before a very steep and rocky descent to Tent Rock Creek. We crossed the creek, took a short break, and then commenced the equally steep ascent up the other side. The vegetation changed, becoming drier with lots of grass trees. The area looked to have been fire affected – later we saw a sign indicating that it was due to prescribed burns rather than bushfires. Wattle dotted the hills and to our south the ocean glistened clear and blue.

At the top of the hill, again we had views across to Kangaroo Island. The vegetation become even more sparse. We followed fire trails, and eventually the track dropped down to the campground.

Eagle waterhole is a pretty campground, with tent platforms dotted around a hillside beside a small waterhole. Green grass, yellow wattle, the spiky tufts of grass trees and hundreds of white peace lilies growing at the base of the waterhole in the shade of some stately gum trees. There were a few other walkers camped here, making for pleasant company after our many quiet campsites.

We took a couple of sunset photos, chatted as we ate our dinner, and then headed off to our tent for our last night on the trail. We enjoyed listening to the chorus of frogs as we drifted off to sleep.

Day 6 Wuldi Krikin Ngawanthi to Cape Jervis

17km – 9 hrs (8.45am – 5.45pm)

A peaceful morning, frogs croaking, birds singing, lilies blossoming. The boys skimmed stones while I packed up for the final time.

Walking along by Aaron Creek we passed a few small cascades. Then the track climbed up towards Cobbler Hill junction. As we paused at the junction deciding whether to detour to the campground to stop for morning tea, we managed to stand in an ant nest. A few minutes later we realised our error and had to stop so I could strip off to get rid of the ants in my pants. Of course, just at that moment another walker came into view! We had a bit of a laugh, shook off the last of the ants and headed on.

The walk from Cobbler Hill down to the base of the headland was a delightful garden of wildflowers. We spotted a number of spider orchids, which was very cool. The track was quite steep as we approached the ocean. We had some false hope as we descended to what we expected would be the beach we were planning to stop at for lunch, only to find it was just a gully between two headlands. Finally, we reached the nice sandy beach. It was almost noon and time for lunch.

The sun was out and the water was so crystal clear and inviting. It was Saturday and the beach was filled with families playing footy, picnicking and enjoying the outdoors. However, we still had a 12km walk between us and the Cape Jervis tavern, so we had to drag ourselves away from this idyllic scene. We trudged up the headland and pressed on towards the rolling green hills of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

At one headland we stopped to chat to three guys, and as we talked some dolphins appeared in bay below. We watched as they swam along to the next cove, and out came my telephoto lens (justifying me having lugged it with me for 6 days). Fascinatingly, one dolphin was flipping over on its back and thrashing its tail, presumably to goad the fish towards the rest of the pod. Clever creatures!

More green hills and farmland. It was the warmest day we’d had on the trail, and this section was very exposed. We passed the UFO house tucked in beneath some Norfolk pines on private land, and then continued on to a beach where the submarine cable connects to Kangaroo Island.

The final stretch was through coastal scrub and we couldn’t see much beyond the scrubby bushes that surrounded us. This section seemed to drag on – we just wanted to see a sign to gauge how far we were from the finish line (and the pub). Finally, around a bend the Cape Jervis lighthouse came into view. The Kangaroo Island ferry was also making its way across the water towards the Cape. Onwards, and at last we reached our destination.

We snapped a few finish line photos and ate the last of our chocolate. We still had a little more walking along the road to our accommodation at Cape Jervis Holiday Cottages. We freshened up a little and headed over the road to the tavern. Beer and pub grub tastes so damn good after 6 days of hiking. Outside there was a gorgeous pink and orange sunset, but I couldn’t really care too much beyond just noting the beauty as we headed back to our little cottage to shower and fall onto our comfy mattresses.

With Kangaroo Island in our view all day, I know we’ll come back this way again to explore that little gem off Australia’s southern coastline. Cheers to another adventure in our amazing country, and here’s to many more to come. Mind you, it may be a while before Mr 6 accompanies us on a multi-day bushwalk, as he has declared that he is quitting hiking until he is 8. Oh well – to be honest, I’d be happy to walk a bit faster than 2km per hour next time.

For more information and to book campsites see Parks SA website: https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/wild-south-coast-way. The hike in campsites cost $28 per night.

Transport options

LinkSA has a public bus route between Adelaide and Victor Harbour (routes 1251 and 1252), $28 https://www.linksa.com.au/

Sealink ferry has a coach service between Adelaide and Cape Jervis, linking with the Kangaroo Island ferry terminal, $27 https://www.sealink.com.au/kangaroo-island/

Accommodation options

Cape Jervis Holiday Units are opposite the Cape Jervis tavern and general store, which is the only dining option in this small town. The sealink coach will pick up and drop off from opposite the tavern too, making it a very convenient location for hikers. The accommodation is comfortable and clearly furnished with love from the park owners. https://www.capejervisunits.com/

(Prices as at September 2022.)