We were looking to continue our stay in the Fleurieu Peninsula while CC waited for medical appointments to happen –  but the place that we were currently staying in Aldinga Beach was already booked. A quick search for alternatives came up with a large holiday home in Normanville – with a 60% discount for a long stay in the off-season.

So we ended up spending five weeks in Normanville – or you could call it the ‘Yankalilla-Normanville-Carrickalinga’ metropolitan area. But not really, as it’s in the countryside and only I call it that. The three towns do all join together though – with a total population of around 2000 – 3000 people (plus a lot of tourists).

We stayed in a very large house in the suburbs on the border of Normanville and Carrickalinga. It had four bedrooms, but one of them was locked and for the owner’s use only. However we still had an ‘office’ each and also a main bedroom to sleep in. The house also had a large beautiful back garden and it was a very comfortable place to stay. The only downside was that we ended up having to park the car in front of the house – because after only three days in the driveway there was so much bird poo on the car you could barely see through the windscreen (small exaggeration only).

The house was part of a small housing estate called ‘Carrickalinga Sands’, and there was a path from the estate directly to the beach – less than five minutes walk away. So for work-break walks we could easily visit the beach and go along it in both directions. Unfortunately the South Australian Algal Bloom was still occurring and on some days there were a lot of dead fish washed up on the beach.

There was a footpath along the road to the shops in Normanville, and it was also possible to walk to Normanville along the beach. As the Normanville Bakery was only a twenty minute walk away we managed to develop a habit of going there every weekend and having a Vanilla Slice (also known in Australia as a ‘snot block’) and a bottle of orange juice. CC also managed to find a place in Normanville to continue with Pilates classes.

We went many times to neighbouring Carrickalinga to do coastal walks, and we also visited the nearby Forktree Brewery. Our day trips further afield were to Waitpinga Cliffs, Cape Jervis, and Myponga Reservoir Reserve.