Yorke Peninsula icon October Park of the Month

With spring flowering at its peak, the Yorke’s Surfing Classic on the October Long Weekend, and a special program to celebrate Nature Play SA’s Park of the Month, Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Parkis the place to be in October.

Each month, Nature Play SA, a not-for-profit organisation committed to getting children back outdoors to play in nature, collaborates with the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources to promote a Park of the Month.

"We’ve got a double-bill for October with Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Parkand Southern Spencer Gulf Marine Park," says Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National ParkRanger-in-charge Mark Davison.

"We’ll be running a special program of activities during the upcoming school holidays and over the October Long Weekend.

"From guided walks along park trails, a reef ramble, close encounters with tammar wallabies, interpretation of the park’s cultural heritage – both Indigenous and early settler – to beach ecology, we reckon we’ve got something for everybody."

Most activities will run for forty-five to ninety minutes and have a limit of twenty children, so bookings will be essential. Once posted on the Nature Play SA website, visitors can register for activities by ringing the Natural Resource Centre at Stenhouse Bay on 08 8854 3202.

After the school holidays, visitors will be able to download a ’20 Things To Do’ list from the Nature Play SA website as a self-guided activity for the duration of October.

Although it won’t be part of the Park of the Month program, the Yorke’s Surfing Classic, in its thirtieth year, will also be a drawcard over the long weekend.

"Around one thousand spectators usually come to the park to watch some of Australia’s best surfers ride our big waves at the bottom of the peninsula," Mr Davison said.

"It’s all coming together beautifully this year, with such a brilliant spring flowering topping things off."

Anyone planning to visit Innes over the next few weeks should book ahead for camping, accommodation and entry permits using the online booking system.

"Booking online before you leave takes the uncertainty out of whether there’s going to be a site available when you arrive at the park," Mr Davison says. "And that’s a much better way to start your holiday."

"It’s as easy as visiting the parks homepage at www.parks.sa.gov.au".

For details about Park of the Month activities visit www.parks.sa.gov.au or www.naturplaysa.org.au websites. Information may not be available until the last week of September.