Corners like it's on whales ...

Image courtesy : Victor Harbor Times

From July to October, Victor Harbor attracts excited whale-watchers from all over the country. But visitors are getting as much of a thrill spotting the latest addition to the shores of Encounter Bay – the 'Whales on Wheels' car.

The new Mitsubishi Colt is used by City of Victor Harbor volunteers and staff to patrol the coastline between Victor and Goolwa, looking for the tell-tale blows and breaches of migrating southern right whales.

Only it seems the little Mitsubishi is something of a distraction, with its marine colouring and two splendid portraits of southern rights painted down the sides.

"It's true, we get lots of people laughing when they see us," says Tori Tonkin, SA Whale Centre & Tourism Product Development Coordinator. "They haven't seen anything quite like it..."

The ‘Whales on Wheels’ car was leased from Southern Motors in July and given the special paint job by local artist James Stewart. Within two months, it has clocked up over 900km - almost a migration distance in itself.

Some 30 local volunteers have access to the vehicle, seven days a week during the migration period. The whale sightings help update the Whale Information Hotline and add to the significant database kept by the City of Victor Harbor.

Image courtesy : Victor Harbor Times

And is it a pleasant job?

"Oh, it is!" says Tori. "We cover 50km of the most beautiful coastline, calling in to bays, beaches and bluffs. Of course we have our binoculars at the ready, but we've usually got cups of tea and whale-shaped doughnuts which we get from the local bakery..."

As well as taking stats on the migrating whales, the patrols also get to observe visitor behaviour. "We can take head counts of whale-watchers and see from number plates whether they're from out-of-state. We also observe whether visitors are putting pressure on a particular environment – perhaps a sand dune under revegetation – and work with coast care groups to help educate the public."


The 'Whales on Wheels' mobile is also useful in taking the message of conservation on the road.

"It allows us to do a terrific schools program in which we visit primary schools. We've got a life-sized whale calf painted onto a canvas that we roll out on the floor: the kids all sit around it and one of the volunteers -- dressed as a crazy scientist called Professor Blubber - helps them play games and do experiments, all explaining whale behaviour and physiology."

The mayor of Victor Harbor, Mary-Lou Corcoran, is delighted the car is proving to be such a success. "I often see the little car out on patrol. It’s a valuable service for our community and visitors, but it’s great that it also makes people smile…".

If you’d like to spend a morning on patrol with the “Whales on Wheels” team, call Tori Tonkin on 0401 711 662.
Whale-shaped doughnuts will, of course, be provided.

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Going against the herd to find sudden success ...

It’s a special cheese that beats competition from some of the nation’s finest dairy herds. But it’s an extra-special cheese that takes honours when the milk comes from … goats.

Hindmarsh Valley Dairy of Victor Harbor won the Champion Farmhouse Cheese category in the 2007 South Australian Dairy Awards for its blue cheese, Fleu de Bleu.

“It’s only the second year we’ve been in the competition,” says owner-operator Denise Riches. “In fact, we’ve only been making cheese for two and a half years!”

Their sudden success hasn’t been confined to South Australia. This year Hindmarsh Valley Dairy also won ‘Best exhibitor goat/sheep/buffalo’ in the Royal Sydney Show.

And in August, the prestigious David Jones Food Hall starts selling their products.

“The Sydney show really opened the interstate market for us,” says Denise. “They basically said, ‘Who’s this? And where can we get their cheese?’ We’re now selling in NSW, WA, ACT and Queensland.”

Remarkably, Denise and her husband James, though both having some knowledge of farming, decided to set up their own hobby-farm in 2000.

"We started on 100 acres with two alpacas, which we wanted to use for wool. Then we got 20 Angora goats for wool and meat…"

When they decided to try their hand at cheese-making using their goats’ milk, Denise turned to her parents for advice.

"My parents are Swiss," she says, "and they passed on Swiss-European recipes and techniques which have a long tradition. So we’ve ended up with a very hands-on process – in fact we say our cheeses are ‘fully handmade’.

"We use a mix of goat breeds, which gives us a broad range of milk and allows us to get a consistent quality. And because we produce on-farm, we make sure the milk goes into the vat still warm from the goat. It really makes a difference, but few people are doing it this way."

Customers clearly liked what they tasted.



"We started by making four 10-litre batches of cheese a week," says Denise. "We now average seven 160-litre batches."

And those original 20 goats?

"We’ll they’re now 600! We’re even having to build another dairy…"

If you’d like to know more about Hindmarsh Valley Dairy – or to arrange a press trip – call Tori Tonkin on 0401 711 662.

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Tori Tonkin
SA Whale Centre & Tourism Product Development Coordinator
Telephone: (08) 8551 0752 / Mobile: 0401 711 662
Email: ttonkin@victor.sa.gov.au
Web: Tourism Victor Habor
Web: South Australian Whale Centre