Finally, Port Lincoln

We arrived in Port Lincoln just as the wind was picking up, and the sky was clouding over.   Extremes of weather at the moment, typical October/November.   I managed to get a couple of loads of washing done, and on the line before the rain.   Then I spent the next half an hour untangling sheets and towels from a whirling clothesline.   I should have spent $8 and dried the clothes in the drier.   It would have been easier for sure.

We relaxed in the caravan for  the rest of the afternoon, not much else to do when the weather was stormy.

An exhausted Piper asleep on Walter's bed.   Her favourite spot.    She has a busy life when on tour with ball games, lots of walks, new smells, and interesting cafe stops.   Plus lots of attention from people.   A lucky dog.   And she has been trying to chase rabbits, without any luck, plenty of those on the west coast.

                                         

We hit the town the next day, in time for coffee.   Now people from Port Lincoln may agree with me, or not, but I have never encountered such a poorly laid out shopping area.   I think the town planners gave permission to retail chains to set up shop wherever there was a space.   So there was a K Mart in one place, Coles somewhere else, Target away round a corner and so it went on.   There were two pedestrian crossings, one with lights, and you took your chances crossing the streets everywhere else.    The shopping area was given over to vehicles, huge ones, which seemed to drive from one shop to the next.   I was not a happy shopper.   However I still managed to buy a really lovely blouse and jumper.  

On a positive note the street running along the foreshore had fantastic cafes and restaurants on it, even though there was no view, due to parking on both sides of the street, plus a carpark by the beach.   But the coffee was great, as was the food, and people were extremely friendly.   And dogs were welcomed, so Piper received heaps of attention.   A dog loving town.

A view of the street by the beach, aside from the vehicles there were London plane trees coming into leaf.   Very mediterranean.  

                                         

We drove about 45 kms north west, to Coffin Bay, home of the Coffin Bay oysters.   Sadly we could not drive into the National Park as we had Piper with us, no dogs allowed in most National Parks.    But we enjoyed our time wandering around the Coffin Bay foreshore.

A view of one of the oyster farms, with a group of people enjoying a feast of oysters.   They were sitting on a pontoon which floated around the oyster beds, I presumed.   Unless they swam out to the pontoon!  Swim for your feed of oysters.  They did look marooned out there.   

Coffin Bay.    The water was very shallow here in the bay.   

There was a lovely board walk along the edge of the water.   

Mr or Mrs Pelican, was waiting hopefully for some pieces of fish from a local fisherman.

 We decided against oysters for lunch, not sure why as we missed our chance there, and elected for fresh squid, coated with lemon and crumbs, and deep fried, with chips of course.   I think the cold weather was a deciding factor.   It was delicious.

As we still had half a day to fill in we thought we would take a diversion back to Port Lincoln.   So we drove north through the centre of the peninsula to the farming town of Cummins, and then across to Tumby Bay.   Aside from the usual number of silos, and the railway line that ran up the centre, the most interesting part were the dealers who sold the farm machinery.    This was the machine mecca for enthusiasts.   All types of tractors, harvesters, seed throwers and others I did not recognise, and they were all giant vehicles.    The tyres alone must cost a fortune.

More machines.    We were reluctant to leave, even we were spell bound by them.

But ever onwards.   Tumby Bay.    And brilliant sunshine.   It was a beautiful beach, and town.   Why had we never visited it when we lived here, but going west, in the heat of the summer holidays, with four kids, was not an option we relished at all, especially as we lived beside a lovely beach.

Silo art at Tumby Bay.   I am not sure how the painting was achieved on such a high building, but it was certainly impressive.

Another view of Tumby Bay, with a New Zealand Christmas tree (pohutukawa) just coming out in flower.   There were quite a few of them here.   Most impressive.

We felt like dessert when we arrived in Tumby Bay, and luckily there was an ice cream shop on the foreshore.   Perfect.  We sat on the street side of the shop to eat our ice cream cones, due to the chilly wind blowing in from the sea.   Nothing like having the first course in one place and second course about 90 kms away.

One of the pubs in Tumby Bay.   

Back to the caravan park.   It was a very large one, with three ablution blocks, but there were gaps between caravans so it did not feel too crowded.  And the tent area was huge with only a couple of tents on it.  Certainly people were on the move, as it was busy.

The park was on the edge of the water, so not far to go for a paddle.   Too shallow for swimming and I did not fancy going out past the jetty, too many sharks down that way.

Our little pop top with plenty of room to move in front of the van.   I must mention about facilities on each site here, which is something that European and UK campsites are only just beginning to put in place.   No filling up water barrels, or tanks, or carrying away grey waste.   Each site has its own tap, and grey waste disposal point (sometimes this is the grass or tree) so it is a matter of connecting the water hose to the caravan and the black house to the waste pipe.   It is fantastic to never have to worry about running out of water or have the waste container overflowing.   We even have a filter fitted to the drinking water tap in the caravan.    There is a tank under the caravan should we decide to free camp somewhere.   

The view from our caravan.  

The huge silos in Port Lincoln.   Most of the grain in the peninsula leaves from here.

The jetty with its swimming enclosure.   The smartest one we have seen so far.

We noticed warning signs for Razorfish in Coffin Bay and in Port Lincoln, so we are now a bit paranoid when walking on the edge of the water.   I have just looked them up on the internet and apparently they are clams which are half buried in the sand.   They are found in amongst the seagrass.    They are very sharp and often cuts on the feet have  to be stitched.   As they are clams there is a limit on how many can be caught.   Apparently they are found in  Europe as well.

On the last day we drove around the Port Lincoln Marina, which was fairly new by the look of the buildings and harbour.   A fascinating place.   My first impression was south of France.    Super yachts!    Luxury!   But no, this was a fishing harbour, with the largest fleet in South Australia, plus one ferry launch and some tour boats.    

It takes a few minutes to realise the boats have serious fishing attachments on them,

and one or two have high look outs as well.  You need a head for heights to climb to the look out in these boats, especially if the sea was rough.

There was one fishing boat unloading tuna, and boxes were quickly filled up with the fish, destined no doubt to overseas markets.

A net full of tuna.    

Another popular activity, with tourists, is swimming with sharks, sea lions, giant cuttle fish, (Whyalla) tuna or anything that moves in the water really.    A loss to the local tourist industry no doubt, as there were no overseas visitors, although the interstate visitors have started to pick up again.

Bush fire season again.    The smoke is from burning off scrub before summer.   Quite impressive clouds.

And as I write this blog, from our last destination, Whyalla, it is with some sadness.   It has been a lovely trip, full of new experiences.   One more blog to go, when I return home.  

The wind is whistling around our caravan.   Going to be a rough night.   We have had two days of temperatures in the high 30s and now we have the strong cold winds again.  Spring!

Driving further south - Elliston - beautiful coast

We drove further south, for another 126 kms, and stopped at a small town called Elliston.   Interestingly even though there were mainly holiday homes on the foreshore in Elliston there was still a thriving permanent community with a grain silo, pub, grocery store, bakery, police station, school, post office, large sports centre and a small hospital.   I love the way these areas keep their post offices and hospitals.

The Eyre Peninsula is all about fish and fishing, and it is a pity we are not keen on fishing as we could have been in our element.   The peninsula has the largest commercial fishing fleet in the southern hemisphere, and there is an abundance of abalone, oysters, prawns, mussels, kingfish, tuna, rock lobster, crabs plus other fish that I cannot remember.   Hopefully there is no overfishing here, I have read articles about overfishing but I think they were based on rumours, nothing really definite.  We are in such a privileged position to have an abundance of fish in the southern waters.

Grain is also grown in abundance on the peninsula, with silos in every small town, and it is certainly a positive addition to the local economy.   I read an article while in Elliston about the salinity problem due to the removal of native scrub,    I did wonder about this as we drove through kilometres of cleared land.  In time the salt will rise as there is no native bush to filter the salty water rising from deep underground.   Australia has very sensitive vegetation and land, not to mention the animals that are also affected by the clearing of natural scrub.   We hope that those people in charge get it all right. 

But Elliston were right onto the problem with the sand dunes.  Elliston was in danger of being swamped by sand moving from the dunes, so there was a massive replanting of native bushes and grasses on the dunes, and hey presto the problem was solved.   Good news there.

The bays on the west coast of the peninsula look very benign but in the past there have been a number of shipwrecks around Elliston.   

A view of the sun setting over the sea.   It was not hot enough for a red sunset on this evening.

                                         

An early morning view of the bay in Elliston.   The water in the bays are very shallow, which suit Piper as she is not keen on deep water.

A view of the bay at Elliston, from the opposite side.

In between the lovely shallow bays there were cliffs and jagged rocks, so no wonder ships came to grief during storms.

                                        
We drove on a circular tour to see the Sculptures on the Cliffs, which was done by a local artist, John Turpie.   The day was perfect for viewing the sculptures, blue skies, sunshine and no wind.

This sculpture was not part of the sculpture tour, but it was very cute.

 We also drove 40 kilometres to see the Talia Caves, which were very dramatic.   We only saw the one in the photograph below, and then it was from a distance, as there was deep water below the entrance.   The bottom layer is granite, and the top is limestone which is layered and much softer.

The cave below no longer has a roof, as it caved in at some point in time.   It was possible to see how the waves wore away the limestone.   The floor was granite.   I guess at high tide the water would still gush through the entrance to the cave/hole.   Interestingly there were no fences around the huge hole.   Just a warning sign.   Caution was definitely needed when taking photographs.

It was a perfect day to appreciate the colours of the white sandy beaches and the aqua coloured water.

The caravan park was interesting, a trifle run down and certainly not up to the standard of our previous two parks, but homely all the same.   Caravans and people were crowded in together, with fine gravel to park the caravan and a small slab of concrete to sit on.  There were large caravans on either side of us, with our little pop top sandwiched in between.  It was all very close.   But the positive side to it was that you talked to people.  It was much friendlier than being spread out.   

Unfortunately I think I did so much talking to people there that I did not take any photographs!

Driving south - A short stop in Streaky Bay

We drove a short distance south of Ceduna, about 110 kms, in order to visit a place that I had heard much about, namely Streaky Bay.   

And where did Streaky Bay get its name from?   Captain Matthew Flinders. in 1802, named the bay Streaky Bay, when examining the coast in his ship The Investigator.   He named it because of the streaks, caused by the reflection of light and seaweed, in the water across the bay.   And so the name stuck. 

Walter checked out the caravan parks the night before, just in case they were booked out, and found a fantastic place, 6 kms north of Streaky Bay, called Islands Caravan Park.  This was a resort built by a couple from Perth, who were determined to build a perfect caravan park, and they most certainly achieved their aim.   And what was more they charged the same price per night as every other caravan park, but you certainly got value for money there.  The park was also only three years old.  But more about the caravan park later.

We visited the town of Streaky Bay twice, once for coffee at the bakery and a walk around the foreshore, and the second time for coffee at the cafe, where we sat outside and talked to the people sitting having coffee and those walking past.  Piper was a great ice breaker.   

It would appear that Streaky Bay is a very popular holiday destination as well as a retirement place for us older people.   There is certainly a building boom going on there.

There was plenty to see in the town, but not everything was open on the Sunday and Monday, so no photographs of the renowned giant shark jaws.   Not sure if I really wanted to see them anyway.   Too scary.

I really liked the well maintained cycle/walking tracks which ran for quite a distance on each side of the town, and wished that we still carried bicycles with us.   One of the downsides of owning a small caravan.

The view from the gardens on the foreshore.  My apologies as I could not find any information about the poles in the foreground of the photograph.  They look very effective.    

                                         

A shark proof swimming enclosure which abuts the jetty.    These enclosures appear to be popular in the towns on both York and Eyre Peninsulas.    And difficult to see in the photograph below, but there were pelicans sitting on the fence.   

The lovely old pub on the corner.

We went on a couple of scenic drives,. Westall Way Loop had dramatic rock formations.   We spent time time walking on the flat granite boulders, and looking at the tiny fish in the deep pools of water.  The surf was pounding against the rocks further out, but the rocks protected us and a large smooth pool where it was possible to swim safely.   A popular spot to snorkel apparently. We were not tempted as it was a little chilly.   Luckily we had left our bathing suits at home. 

 

The area is very popular with surfers, as there are big waves out there.  

Walter and Piper posing on the smooth granite rocks.

The Bauer Loop contained spectacular views of the rugged coastline.   We stopped at Whistling Rocks and the Blowholes.   After walking down very easy steps and across a walkway over what appeared to be a desolate volcanic floor, we arrived at the focal point of the walk.

This was a very noisy spot, luckily we were well fenced in otherwise it would have been even scarier.   And it was low tide, and no strong wind.   The noise of the surf crashing onto the shelf was scary enough, without the whistling sound as it moved through the cavern.   

We walked along another walkway where we saw the magnificent coastline.

The white limestone roads were in very good condition.

And back to the Islands Caravan Park.    There were two tiny islands which I guess is why the caravan park was named Islands.   It was possible at low tide to walk to one of the islands, which I did but the sand was very soft and difficult to walk on.

Piper loved being on the two beaches, especially when the ball was thrown along the beach.   The sand on the second beach, photograph below, was considerably harder and easier to walk on.  The water was very shallow, and great for dogs, and for people paddling.

Piper waiting for me to pick up the ball.

The  caravan park had a desalination plant for their water supply and a bank of solar panels, so were very eco friendly.

The ablution blocks contained individual bathrooms, which I have only seen once before, at a Caravan Club site in Cornwall.   

The swimming pool was a little on the tiny side, more a plunge pool really, but then the sea was just a few minutes away.

The sites were all large, with shrubs and trees bordering each site.   There were brick paved walkways between shrubs with access roads running throughout the site.   The landscaping was superb.

The road in the photograph below, ran between the office and the amenities room and laundry.   The amenities room contained comfortable couches and chairs and rugs on the floor.   Very comfortable.   This was where we could access the wifi.

And I forgot to say about the barbeque areas, and the camp kitchens.   All top quality.   We opted to have our own ensuite, which only cost a few dollars more.   A little bit of luxury and made a change from the portaloo at night.

My only complaint about the area was the lack of a telephone signal for us, as Aldi sim card users.   Now Aldi use Telstra, and we normally do not have a problem getting a connection.   But in Streaky Bay Telstra was not going to allow other providers to use their mast, which was very high and right in the middle of the town.   There was also another very high mast, which we presumed belonged to Optus.   So those of us on cheaper packages went without a telephone connection.  Ah well, it does not always pay to go for a cheaper option.

A road trip around the Eyre Peninsula - Eyre Highway

Finally a road trip around the Eyre Peninsula, two weeks after we planned to leave due to the caravan spending four weeks at the caravan service centre at the local caravan dealers.  Too busy, they said!

Finally we left last Wednesday, after packing up quickly, making sure that we had our new shovel, tyre compressor and tyre gauge.   However we left behind my sunglasses, Walter's best sunhat, our bathing suits, my rain jacket and Walter's shorts, plus extra food.

Luckily we had frozen meals for two nights, and were especially surprised when the first meal turned out to be left over stew.  I always freeze two meals for the next caravan trip, but forget to put labels on the containers.

Our caravan freezer was full of Piper's cooked meals.   The dog always comes first.

We had our route plan for our trip.

Then changed our minds.   This was due to panicking, as we were told people were on the move again, and it would probably be difficult to book into caravan sites.  Now that we have been on the road for a few days we realise that it was pleasantly busy, and plenty of places everywhere, both in camping grounds and in free camping sites.   This area, like most of Australia, caters for large numbers of people on the move, pre Covid of course.

Before we left Walter rang a few caravan sites in Port Augusta and could not get through to them.   Eventually he managed to find a sheep station that had a camping ground, forty kilometres west of Port Augusta.   And they had plenty of sites available. 

We immediately changed our proposed route, and decided to travel around the peninsula in a west, south, north direction rather than the south, north, east direction that we had originally planned.

 We arrived at Nuttbush Retreat Caravan Park on Pandurra Station, after travelling through fairly desert type scenery from Port Augusta.    The temperature was about 32 degrees.   It felt very hot.

We found the campsite to be a refuge in the desert.  However Piper was not keen on the place, too hot, too many flies and no green grass to do her business on.   Piper is definitely not an outback dog, even though she is part cattle dog.

Walter and Piper relaxing amongst the flies.

Nuttbush Retreat, Pandurra Station, contained a conference centre, camping ground, backpackers accommodation, cabins and a restaurant.   Only the camping ground and cabins were being used due to Covid-19.   

Restrictions were tight here, with signs everywhere, hand gel outside ablution blocks and a camping site left between each camper.    A lovely pool too, but closed due to Covid-19.   Not that we could go swimming due to leaving bathing suits at home.

The next morning we travelled 100 kilometres and arrived in Kimba in time for coffee.   Kimba was a beautiful town, very well kept and prosperous.   All buildings had been painted.   And the people were friendly.  We loved the town and nearly stayed there for the night, but as we had only travelled a short distance we decided that we needed to drive on 

There are plans to develop a nuclear waste storage area a short distance out of town.   Prior to visiting we read about the plans and thought the worst, but in fact they intend to store nuclear waste from hospitals and Lucas Heights in Sydney.   It was not as we thought, nuclear waste from around the world.   Most people in the town are for the project as it will bring money into the town.    

The wheat silo art was most impressive.

Piper was very happy to see green again, and to have the comfort of a doggie parking spot.   Such a good idea.   

We drove another 300 kilometres or more, through huge grain fields, and some natural bush.   This was certainly the grain bowl of South Australia.   Apparently grain growing is now high tech, with central computers in the farm buildings keeping track of soil conditions and fertilisers.   No longer a hit and miss affair, with land being depleted of nutrients after a few years.   i am not sure how they manage during times of drought, although this year the land around was very green.   Lots of rain.

Ceduna was 778 kms from Adelaide, and a considerable distance north so we were expecting hot weather.   Definitely not so.   It rained most of the way to Ceduna and when we arrived the sky became darker, with flashes of lightening.   At first it was quite sticky and hot.   Humidity no doubt.

We chose to stay at the Foreshore Camping Ground, updated only a few years ago and with fantastic facilities.   Each standing was a concrete slab, surrounded by gravel.   The swimming pool was pristine, and surrounded by lovely green grass.    The ablution block was amazing with modern hand basins,  hand dryers, showers, and toilets.   All magnificently set in tiled surroundings.

And this was the first time in South Australia we were in a camping ground that had a squeegee in the shower area.   Why do camping grounds here, and in the UK, insist on using mops and buckets, which just spread water, often foul, around the shower.    Squeegees are used throughout the Netherlands, Germany and France.   Nice clean dry showers cubicles.   And it was so too in Ceduna.

Back to the weather, and our campsite.   The view of the setting sun behind the black clouds was pretty impressive.

It poured with rain from 4 am and this was our view in the morning.   Of course Piper needed to go out, and as dogs were not allowed to be on the grass in the campsite, the only alternative was to take her across to the grassed area in front of the camping ground.    And no coat!    I came back soaked, and cold, as the temperature had plummeted, to around 15 degrees.   It has hovered between 14 degrees and 19 degrees ever since.   Not quite the hot weather we expected to see.

Anyway we enjoyed looking around Ceduna, which was a pleasant surprise.   We always believed it to be a dry dusty town on the edge of the Nullabor Desert.   Although it claimed to be the last major town before crossing the Nullabor but dry, dusty and run down it was not.      

Sadly the beach could do with a major clean up, lots of plastic bits and pieces lying on the sand, also the beautiful green grass fringing the beach had hundreds of bottle tops embedded in the grass, plus plastic pieces of cutlery and a few chicken bones lying around.    

The hotel and updated caravan park opposite the beach looked fairly new, and there were landscaped gardens opposite the jetty.    It all looked very smart, as did the main street, which looked busy.

We only saw about ten of the local indigenous people hanging around outside the hotel, and only a small number appeared drunk or drugged.     The rest of the very large indigenous people appeared to go about their lives without the need of drugs or alcohol.   We were also surprised at the number of community halls, youth groups, sports clubs, health centres that were set up for indigenous people.   Plus there was a legal rights office to help settle land issues.  

The hotel bar had non alcohol beer on tap, not seen very much here in South Australia.   Usually bar staff look at Walter blankly when he asks if they have non alcoholic beer.   Top marks for the Ceduna Hotel.   Walter had to show identification at the bottle store when he bought some wine for me, and they told him that they did not sell fortified wines.   There was also no alcohol allowed to be drunk in parks or in the street, but that was often the case here in towns and seaside areas in South Australia. 

Now I know these were our impressions and underneath the surface of the town there could be many problems.    And I guess the fact that the motels and camping grounds have high fences around them and strong gates which were kept locked at night indicated problems with theft.    There was a very strong police presence in the town.

Our view from the window of the restaurant in the hotel, where we ate a pleasant dinner of King George Whiting.    The staff very kindly allowed us to sit by the window so that we could keep an eye on Piper who was in the back seat of the car.   It was too cold to sit outside on the balcony.

Our view to the left, across the bay to the grain silos in Thevenard.   There is a deep sea port there, and grain, sald, mineral sands and gypsum is loaded onto ships.   There are oyster farms not far away, and some commercial fishing, so Thevenard also has two fish processing firms.   A busy place.

Finally the sun came out, only briefly though, but I was able to take a few photographs.   We travelled west for another 70 kilometres, in order to visit Penong, the home of a windmill museum.   

The road to Penong was straight, not many corners on this road.    

,Once in Penong we  turned south onto a gravel road, direction Point Sinclair.   The land on both sides of the road is a privately owned Conservation Park, and the owner permits camping at the beach end.   He also provides toilets, showers and bore water, which is fairly generous as he charges a nominal fee for the privilege of camping there.

On the way to Point Sinclair the causeway runs through two stretches of water, one blue and one pink. with the pink one called Lake McDonnell.    The pink colour is caused by the mixing of algae and salt, I think.   It is pretty impressive.

Point Sinclair, with a jetty running out into the water, and a netted area for swimming.   In the mid 1970s a boy was sadly mauled and killed by a shark, and I think this raised awareness of the need to keep swimmers safe.    A very beautiful area, with a carpark, shelter and toilets.    The water is crystal clear.

The camping area, to the left of the photograph, had a number of caravans.   Having had one experience of camping in dunes such as these I have no desire to try it again.   This type of bush comes with march flies, sticky flies and very large huntsman spiders at night.       

Finally we made a tour of Penong's famous windmill museum, organised by a dedicated group of people who located the large windmills from elsewhere.    Penong has always been known for its windmills as they were used to access the artesian water.  

And back to Ceduna, where I managed to walk halfway along the jetty, whilst battling the wind, in order to take some photographs of the foreshore of Ceduna.   

Plus a view of the foreshore caravan park.

Bathing suits were not needed, nor Walter's shorts, but I had to buy a rain jacket, lightweight, which I wore everyday, mostly as a protection from the cold wind.

We enjoyed visiting Ceduna, which came as a surprise as we did not have high expectations of the town.