Back in July, in the depths of the South Australian winter, I traveled down to the foot of Yorke Peninsula for a fishing trip with my eldest son and one of his school mates.
First point of call was the small township of Marion Bay. Yorke Peninsula is shaped a lot like Italy and forms a distinct foot shape. Marion Bay is located on the base of the peninsula’s ‘big toe’ and looks out onto Kangaroo Island and the Southern Ocean beyond.
The area had received a lot of rain over the preceding few days and heavy rain-bearing cumulus clouds were still passing through when we arrived. Unusually though for Marion Bay, it was calm and windless. At ground level anyway – there was must have been some wind a few thousand feet up that was pushing the rain clouds through. We arrived mid-afternoon and were soon down on the beach, and later the town jetty, to wet the lines.
I left this first session of fishing to the boys and instead took the camera. The light was soft and rather special. I hope you enjoy the following images. The first batch of shots were taken using some ‘old’ Pentax glass, a M series 135mm F3.5 telephoto lens that dates from around 1980. The more I use this lens, the more I like the way it renders.
One of the small headlands protecting Marion Bay from the Southern Ocean swell. Calm in the bay, but the horizon on the left is rather lumpy. The low line on the horizon is Kangaroo Island. On the other side of the headland lies one of the many shipwrecks in the area. Two ships named Marion were shipwrecked along this section of coast. The second was the SS Marion which was wrecked in 1862 just west of Marion Bay. By the way, the ‘spots’ in the sky are not a load of dust on my sensor, rather a flock of pigeons that resides in the limestone cliffs.
Rugged up and baiting up. Note the lurking seagull in the background. A lightly populated area, there’s always a hungry gull to keep fishermen company – and ready to hoe into any unattended bait.
Reely good bokeh
In amongst the washed up sea grass, an intensely coloured seaweed. The coastal waters offshore from lower Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island have some of the richest diversity of seaweeds anywhere in the world, with over 800 identified species. The leafy sea dragon lives in these waters, superbly camouflaged to blend in with the underwater flora.
There was nothing but “weedy whiting” (seaweed) to be caught at the beach, so we moved around to the jetty before the light completely faded away.
Moody blues…
One squid wasn’t going to provide dinner for three, so at this stage it was off to the local tavern. Other than the tavern, the next place to eat was over 50 kilometres away, so we were keen to be there at a reasonable hour and avoid the dreaded words “Kitchen’s shut”. All three of us ate and recommend the schnitzels.
Heavy rain was still passing through the area the next morning as we set off for a day of fishing the surf beaches in Innes National Park.
Camera Gear
Pentax K-x with a Pentax M 135mm F3.5 for the first few shots, then back to my usual walkabout lens, a Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 for the jetty images.
To Learn More
Marion Bay is 280 kilometres (175 miles) from Adelaide at the base of Yorke Peninsula. It is the last township before entering the Innes National Park.
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