It’s All About The Train
- Posted by Push Adventures
- On April 4, 2016
- 0 Comments
- beach, cockle train, fleurieu peninsula, goolwa, granite island, South australia, steam ranger, steam train, train, travel, victor harbor
The March long weekend saw us head down to Victor Harbor in search of sea air and the steam train.
Victor Harbor is on the Fleurieu Peninsula, just over an hour drive from Adelaide.
The car was packed to the brim as per normal, and I had even managed to bake an apple tea cake for the trip so with these sweet aromas filling the car we were off. A quick unpack at the shack and we headed into town to enjoy what ‘Victor’ as the locals call it, had to offer. The horse drawn tram across to Granite Island was in operation, as were the camel and pony rides and the food trucks were all a buzz.
Most importantly the Cockle train was in full steam.
The Steam ranger heritage railway is the pride and joy of the area and we had been talking about taking the steam train for over a year with our son, so the day finally arrived. Tickets were purchased, a ramp laid out and with a wave from the station master we were off. Toot toot!
The journey to Goolwa takes approximately 30 minutes along gorgeous coast line.
On arrival we needed some quick snacks before the train was heading back to Victor (time was very much of the essence with two young children) and headed up to the main street. Unfortunately the gravel footpath was not suitable for strollers and wheelchairs alike and we had to utilise the road, definitely not ideal as there was a lot of traffic due the popular nature of the region on long weekends, well any weekends really.
Back on the train safely and settled back into the leather bench seats we chugged along enjoying the scenery. The train conductor’s had not lost sight of the excitement one might feel on their first cockle train experience and indulged small and big children alike on any questions they had.
Before heading back for well earned naps we had one last stop at the turntable for the cockle train and its here you really can appreciate the shear magnitude of the engine and along with a crowd of others we watched as the train prepared to turn 180 degrees to go back on his next run.
We’ll definitely be back.
