Exploring Starfish Hill Wind Farm

Starfish Hill Wind Farm is one of the unusual sights to see in the Fleurieu Peninsula. I’ve only seen wind turbines in one other place in Australia. Located between Cape Jervis and Second Valley, 20+ wind turbines on Salt Creek Hill and Starfish Hill make up the wind farm. Each turbine has three blades and is 100 metres tall. I’m a big fan of alternative energy sources and it’s great to see South Australia utilising their natural resources so well. Starfish Hill Wind Farm is one of the must see locations in my guide to the best photography spots on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

The proximity of this region to the Southern Ocean means that there are strong winds year-round. Starfish Hill Wind Farm produces enough energy for about 18,000 households in the Fleurieu Peninsula region. This services about 2 percent of the state of South Australia. It’s very windy here – which is a very bad thing for flying drones! I don’t recommend flying a drone anywhere near wind turbines..

How to get to the Starfish Hill Wind Farm

To get here go along Main South Road between Second Valley and Cape Jervis, then take the Sappers Road turnoff. There is a ‘Starfish Hill Wind Farm’ sign. Sappers road is all gravel. It’s fine for 2wds, however don’t drive too fast – there are many corners and it’s relatively narrow. I saw a commercial truck coming out of the windfarm carrying maintenance supplies and I had to pull over to let it past – there wasn’t enough space on the road. The drive itself is quite scenic, with some beautiful South Australian farms. As you can see in the photos below, the trees are all windswept up on these hills and lean to one side.

Unfortunately I don’t think you’re allowed to walk amongst the turbines in the wind farm, however you can get pretty close to them by the fence. I did see some walking tracks in the grass along the turbines though, so perhaps some people go anyway. I’m not exactly sure of the rules! I was able to take all my photos from the carpark near this entrance.

Taking photos from Main South Road

It’s also possible to get some shots of the turbines from Main South Road. It’s harder to find a place to pull over though, and this road is relatively busy so please be careful. Even though I left a good 1.5 metres between my car and the roadside, someone beeped at me while I was taking a photo. I took these two photos from Main South Road, using some flowers as a foreground.

Yoho Road

I think it may be possible to get to the wind farm by going along Yoho Road too, however I didn’t know this at the time. If you do try out Yoho Road let me know if there’s access to the wind farm! From what I can see from google maps it looks like you can drive between the turbines.

What else can you visit nearby?

There are some MUST SEE locations near Starfish Hill Wind Farm. Check out my post about the best photography spots in the Fleurieu Peninsula. Alternatively check out my guide about the best things to do in Rapid Bay.

Map

Here is the location of where I took photos of the Starfish Hill Wind Farm. There is also space for parking here.