Cape Jaffa Anchorage

When the workaday world bears down heavily upon us, who hasn’t dreamed of a sea change? Long lazy walks on pristine sandy beaches. Evening cocktails as the sun slowly sinks over a deep blue ocean. Dangling a line from the stern of your safely berthed craft in the marina. Well, there’s a coastal area of South Australia where that dream’s rapidly becoming a reality. The region is the Upper South East and the place is the Cape Jaffa Anchorage.

Situated roughly in the middle of the Adelaide/Melbourne touring route, the Cape Jaffa Anchorage has the best of both worlds with the Limestone Coast to the south abounding in rugged beauty and a plentiful bounty from the sea, while Lacepede Bay to the north has sandy beaches and protected waters that are perfect for a relaxing holiday.

Fish-Rich Waters
Located between the coastal towns of Robe and Kingston, the Anchorage is a fast growing, sophisticated residential and marina development and working harbour for a commercial-fishing fleet. The fish-rich waters off the cape offer a plethora of species for the recreational fisher and compared with the waters off the major metropolitan regions are virtually untouched.

King George whiting, salmon, Tommy ruff, mulloway, trevally, garfish, flathead and bream are among the popular scale species found in the region, while abalone is there for the divers along with the ultimate underwater delicacy, the world-renowned Aussie rock lobster, formerly known as crayfish. And to paraphrase old Billy Shakespeare, “a crayfish by any other name, would taste as sweet.”

And sweet living is what is on offer at the Anchorage in fresh, clean, unpolluted air and the ambience is one of relaxation and enjoyment of what the natural world has to offer. Bird fanciers can have a field day here spotting the various avian species including pelicans, oyster catchers, gannets, cormorants, swallows, seagulls, Pacific gulls, owls, musk ducks and eider ducks.

Dolphins frequent the waters off the marina and are sometimes visitors within its precincts, as are penguins and the resident seal “Sammy”. Various fish have also made the marina waters their home and when a lazy day is on order, anglers can try their luck from the pontoons.

WoRld-Class Marina
According to their website (at Cape Jaffa Anchorage.com.au): “The Cape Jaffa Anchorage is coming alive and the exciting transformation into a world-class marina is redefining the word “lifestyle”. The Cape Jaffa Anchorage Design and Review Committee have approved a number of plans and the much awaited construction of homes is underway.

“The development guidelines put in place a high standard of living with coastal urban designs. The homes reflect a relaxed beach-side lifestyle. Their character is derived from a combination of the beach, the water and existing natural vegetation. But careful consideration has been put into these guidelines benefitting you, your neighbour and the whole Anchorage community,” the website states.

Now fine living requires fine dining and a key to that’s fine wine. The Limestone Coast, adjacent to Cape Jaffa, excels in just that, boasting a swag of top shelf, award-winning wineries in easy reach, ranging from exquisite boutique establishments to larger establishments.

However, Captain Matthew Flinders wrongly identified it on the chart and called it Cape Jaffa after an ancient town near Jerusalem known in the Old Testament as Joppa. Nevertheless, by 1850 the appellation Cape Jaffa was officially recognised.

The Cape for many years had its own lighthouse, which was established in 1872, on Margaret Brock Reef. Originally a multi-wick oil burner, this was replaced by a pressurised kerosene burner in 1909, which was not turned off until 1973, and it is believed to have been the last of its type to operate in Australia. All the parts for this lighthouse were manufactured and pre-assembled in England, then dismantled and shipped to Australia where the construction took three years.

But on April 1, 1973, a new lighthouse at Robe was switched on and the Cape Jaffa light was extinguished. The National Trust of South Australia (Kingston Branch) then successfully lobbied for the lighthouse to be re-erected at Kingston where it is preserved as a museum to show what life was like on the platform.

Naracoorte Caves
The picturesque region of the Limestone Coast is home to two of South Australia’s premier attractions; the underground wonders of the World Heritage-listed Naracoorte Caves, renowned for the ancient fossils of Australian megafauna, and the spectacular coastal scenery of the Coorong, an internationally significant wetland attracting prolific migratory waders and waterbirds.

Diving enthusiasts can harvest culinary treasures such as crayfish and abalone in the offshore waters, or experience the wonder of snorkelling, or diving in the gin-clear waters of Piccaninnie and Ewens Ponds, while observing aquatic life such as the rare Ewens pygmy perch, galaxias and other native fish hovering near the surface. The latter consists of three large freshwater springs around 10m deep and connected by a series of shallow channels, offering a safe and fun swimming experience.

Seafood and wine enthusiasts should mark down January 11, 2009, in their calendars because this is the date for the Cape Jaffa Seafood and Wine Festival located at King Drive, Cape Jaffa. The mouth watering menu for the day includes local crayfish, prawns, oysters, lobster pate and barbecued shark and to accompany the regions fine reds, succulent trim lamb and prime barbecued beef is also on offer.

Complementing this gourmet feast will be the finest of Limestone Coast’s local wines, including Cape Jaffa Wines, Frog Island, Ralph Fowler, Norfolk Rise, Cape Thomas, Wangolina Station and Wehl’s Mount Benson. And to round out the fine food and wine available on the day and the casual relaxed atmosphere is the live entertainment by Lincoln Sharp and Elijah Maddern. And while down that way why not consider a trek along the Limestone Coast Wine and Food Trail and discover the various delicacies and savour the flavours of this exciting gastronomically rich region.

If any or all of this appeals, you should know that land is currently available in the the Islandview and Saltaire Releases in Stage II of the Cape Jaffa Anchorage development, as well as marina berths in Marina East, Release I and The Cape Beach House packages.

For information on a lifestyle investment at the Cape Jaffa Anchorage you can email your enquiry to info@capejaffaanchorage.com.au, or contact them by phoning 0439 189 396.