South Australias hidden gem
Cape Spencer Lighthouse
Everyone knows that Australia has the 12 Apostles and the great ocean road, and they are incredible sites, however very few people are aware of Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park in York Peninsula. This place is truly incredible as you can see from the picture above which is from Cape Spencer Lighthouse.
This National park is huge and the landscape is so interesting specially from a scale perspective, it is vast and open which means you need to be careful on what day you are going to the park making sure it is not windy or too sunny. I decided to go to this park to get some of the shots you will see in this blog and some exclusive prints which will be available in our print store shortly. I wanted to play with scale and there was no better place in South Australia than Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park and the Flinders Ranges, but it is too hot to go over there now with temperatures rising to almost above 40.
So I took this trip with a friend Hammad who always accompanies me for impromptu shoots and is a great photographer himself for a whole day to see what a bunch of photographer friends can get when there is only one purpose to get as many epic shots as we can get.
We started our journey at 2am from Adelaide to give us enough time to catch the sunrise at Cape Spencer, Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park is a 3.5 hour drive from Adelaide and it goes through some major towns in the Yorkes Peninsula, so its quite a beautiful drive, but we were on a mission and I had a shot in mind which needed me to be at Cape Spencer super early in the morning. We reached Cape Spencer just with enough time to get the shot I wanted, but. what we experienced after that was pure magic the sun lit the fluffy clouds behind the lighthouse and gave us one of the most epic sunrises we have experienced so far.
Clouds lit with amazing sunlight Cape Spencer
Iconic locations: Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park is home to some of the most iconic beaches and shipwrecks in South Australia some of my favorite ones are Ethel Beach, Cape Spencer, Pandalowie Bay, Royston head, Stenhouse Bay, West Cape Lighthouse.
Important things to remember: Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park is quite remote and the town of Marion Bay is not very big and does not have many amenities the only store is a general store and that can be a bit pricy, so make sure you are carrying everything you need for a stay, for food however the Marion Bay Tavern has some good quality food and they also have vegetarian and vegan options. I can personally vouch for the food specially their Pizza and Burgers.
Ethel Beach: Ethel Beach is one of my absolute favourite spots at Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park as it truly shows you the true might of Mother Nature with massive waves and cliffs surrounding the beach and you can see the Ethel Wreck right on the beach, believe me when I say there is nothing like Ethel Beach in South Australia and it is a must visit.
Ethel Beach from the cliffs
Stenhouse Bay: Stenhouse bay is the only location in the Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park which has a jetty and the beauty of it is its blue waters which have multiple layers of blue visible from the various vantage points around the jetty there is also a historic walking trail which takes you through some of the remnants of the old town. This place is truly stunning, however it can get really bright so if you plan to take photos make sure you go on a day with some cloud cover and visit during sunrise, or sunsets.
Stenhouse Bay on a very bright day
Pandalowie Bay: Pandalowie bay is one of the best beaches in Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park where you can drive your car on its pristine white sands, Pandalowie bay also features some of the bluest water you can see in the park it also has a beached fishing boat on its shores which can look pretty epic in the right conditions we experienced Pandalowie bay in the afternoon and then came back to it for the sunset where the skies were completely pink in colour which was suited very well to the beached fishing boat called O U DOG.
As you can see from the images Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park has some of the best scenic locations in South Australia and one of my personal favourite places, next time you plan your holiday do look into Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park for a stay and you won’t be disappointed.
