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.

Rest time in Orroroo

We had intended to spend the last few days in Quorn, as we were interested in completing one of the history walks.   However, when we rang the campsite, they had a party of school children staying there, and were unable to accommodate campers.   

After a quick look at the map we decided on Orroroo, a name made up of the letters o and r, which was further east,  and on a road called R.M. Williams Way.   This road runs between the Flinders Ranges Way and Clare, with the starting point just below Hawker.   

Off we went, past the campsite at Woomera, where we stayed on the way back from Coober Pedy.   The place that closed the barbeque area, due to Covid-19, but kept the bar open, and where we got into trouble for driving over the barriers that separated sites.   

After lunch at Pimba, we drove down the Stuart Highway, past Port Augusta, over the range of hills towards Wilmington, and finally took the road east to Orroroo.

And at Orroroo we found a delightful caravan park, privately owned, and therefore not part of a chain.   The place was friendly, with lovely facilities, some of which were shared with the local golf course.

The people in the small prosperous town were even friendlier, and we drank coffee at both cafes, and dinner at one of the pubs.   Plus spent quite a bit of money in the local butchers shop, where I bought normal meat, no sustainable or feral platters for me.   

We were tempted, for a couple of minutes, to buy a four bedroomed cottage, with stables, for $90,000.   We of course do not have $90,000 to spare, for one thing, nor do we, or our family, want to come up to Orroroo to spend every vacation.    We saw reason very quickly.   But the houses in the town were old, well maintained, and cheap.   Unfortunately I did not take any photographs of the delightful old houses, mostly built of sandstone.

There was a creek running through the valley below the town, with aboriginal carvings on a face rock.   The rock had a cage around it so it was impossible to take photographs.   A delightful walk.

As it was early spring, there was green grass everywhere, and Piper loved running around in it.    And I took her down to the golf course every morning for her early morning walk and ball play.   I could see that once summer arrived the grass would turn brown, the greens on the course were made of a soft bitumen.   No watering needed there.

The main street of Orroroo, which in fact had vehicles parked during the day.   I must have caught the town at a very quiet time.

The local town hall.   Very imposing.

Coffee time.   The buildings that lined the well kept street of shops, with buildings dating back to the 1870s.

                                                    

A photograph below of the pub where we did not have dinner.   It was difficult to choose which pub to go to,  so we went to the one where the owners also cooked and served the meals, as against the other one which was run by a manager.   However, there was a long wait for dinner.   And I cannot remember what I ordered either, so must have been acceptable.

                                        

We drove to Peterborough, not to be confused with Peterborough in the UK.  Our Peterborough was established in 1875, and was called Petersburg initially, but there was a name change in 1917 due to the perceived connection with Germany.  It became the intersection for the trains running south to Adelaide, west to Broken Hill, east to Port Pirie, and north to Quorn and then Alice Springs.   It is still possible to see the three railway gauges here: broad, standard and narrow.   T

There were also very large railway workshops situated here, and currently these are used as a museum.   

All rail services stopped in the 1980s, although tourist trains continued until 2002.     The signpost and part of the long platform at Peterborough.

The town had received funding to renovate buildings and verandahs, and it all looks very smart, but sadly due to the lack of overseas and interstate tourists, there were few people on the streets.

The owner of the caravan park at Orroroo informed us that there was a huge drug problem in Peterborough, namely crystal meth (methamphetamine).   Or its common name of Ice.   Unexpected, or perhaps not, as it is a problem drug in South Australia.  

Finally a photograph of Walter, standing in front of a giant gum tree.   No point trying to hug this tree.

We packed up reluctantly, drank our last coffee, and left to drive home to Aldinga Beach, 324 km away.

Now this should be the end of the tale, except Walter left his bag at the cafe, and we did not realise until we reached Clare, 138 km from Orroroo.   

I cannot point my finger at Walter for being careless, as I once left my handbag, which included my two passports, telephone, money, cards, in fact my whole life, in a taxi which we had stepped out of,  at Changi Airport.   And we were about to fly to Australia.   Now that was scary.  I got my handbag back luckily, due to Walter ringing my telephone, which alerted the taxi driver.   But we spent fifteen minutes in sheer panic initially.   So Walter leaving his bag at the cafe was nothing compared to my handbag incident.   

We retraced our steps (driving of course) and arrived back at the cafe in time for lunch.   Now I know we thought Orroroo was very special and I had had my eye on the pies at this particular cafe when we left at 10 o'clock.  But it was a long journey just to enjoy the pies that we could not have at coffee time.   They were delicious!    There is always a silver lining in every mistake.

Altogether a fantastic eleven day journey through outback Australia.

Red dust, and more red dust.

Red dust, and more red dust.   I think a more general term is 'Bull Dust'.   The dust is a fine red aeolian dust which is formed from minute dry particles and when it is disturbed it forms into a choking dust.  It gets inside cars, caravans and buildings and it fills the holes in roads.   We were told to watch out for the deep potholes on tracks which are filled with dust, as they can ruin tyres and suspension if they are particularly deep or have sharp sides.   

On the Sunday we tried to drive to the hot springs at Clayton, about 40 km along the Birdsville Track.  There was a camping ground there, plus a huge hot tub.    As the temperature was 30 degrees, with a hot dry desert wind, we were not tempted to try the hot tub, but thought a trip there would be interesting.   After 10 kms of travelling on a terrible corrugated road, we turned back towards Marree.   If we had deflated the tyres a bit it would have been less jarring.   

Walter enquired at the store and was assured that we would be okay travelling on the Oodnadatta Track, before turning left onto the Borefield Road towards Roxby Downs.   So we dispensed with the plan to return back along the main road to Quorn, and decided that north west would be the way to go.   An extra 191 km onto the 780 km that we had already travelled.   

The 191 km was going to be a slow bumpy drive!

After purchasing fly spray, for the pesky flies in the caravan, and some more expensive spring water., we drove to the pub.   The bore water in Marree was terrible, even the filter in the caravan did not remove the metallic taste.  There was no way we were going to fill our drinking water containers with that rubbish.   

We realised that we did not have a shovel, or a good tyre pressure gauge or indeed a good tyre pump, the one we had was purchased in Halfords in the UK, and took ages to pump up tyres.   But we had plenty of water, most important.   We thought there would be enough traffic on the road should we experience any great difficulties. 

The short trip to the pub was for our morning coffee, being a little early in the day for alcohol.  And it was certainly very good coffee too.   After admiring the dead plants with their little stick markers in the front garden of the pub, we sort forth.   Someone must have been inspired to brighten up the front of the pub, but I guess the bore water killed the plants.

A wrecked car in the photograph below, as a reminder to take care.    I think it had been dumped there as it was only a few kilometres out of Marree, and was covered in graffiti.   A desolate place.

One of the many water tanks along the road, was a reminder of the Old Ghan railway which ran alongside the Oodnadatta Track.    The steam engines had to stop at different points in order to fill up with water.   The reason why the railway was built alongside the track was due to the many springs that lined this way north.    Water was crucial. 

After we travelled about 20 kms we passed two cyclists heading towards Marree.   And we were worried about driving on the road!   Luckily they had the strong desert wind behind them.    I wonder how many tyres and tubes they used on their journey.

Just before we turned onto the Borefield Road, we saw the iconic sculptures at Mutonia Sculpture Park.   The park is a bit of a misnomer really as it is a piece of scrub, but the sculptures are pretty spectacular.   We did not see the turn off into the park so pulled up quickly on the road in order to take a few photos. 

The most remarkable sculpture is off two small planes standing on their tail pieces, seen in the photograph below.

Finally the Borefield Road turnoff appeared in front of us, and we were very careful to not get our tyres caught in the bull dust holes in the road.   We had been warned.   The corrugation was pretty bad at this stage so travelling slowly was necessary.

Once on the Borefield Road, the road smoothed out a bit, due to it being maintained by BHP who have a gas line running along the side of the road.   However, every crest we came to the corrugation was jarring to say the least.

Thank goodness for airconditioning though.   It was hot outside.

After a few kilometres of jarring crescents Walter noticed that two of the side windows in the caravan were flapping, so we stopped to have a look.   The corrugation had loosened the catches.   And what a sight greeted us inside the caravan.   My bed, luckily covered with the pop up toilet tent was a thick layer of red dust, as were the curtains.   In fact the white net curtains were now red!   There was thick dust on the floor and over the bench top at the back of the caravan.

What could one do at that point but lock the windows and keeping driving on.

We thought it was also a good photo opportunity.    It was very hot and dry.   I forgot to mention it was not a good idea to drive off the road, as the sides were soft.   We did not fancy getting stuck, especially as we did not have a shovel.

Finally we made it to Olympic Dam, the mining site, with its township of Roxby Downs.   There must be plenty of water underground here, as we saw trees and green grass.   An oasis in the desert.

Unfortunately we could not stay overnight, as BHP had booked the cabins and motel units for its workers, and they were not allowing anyone else into the park.   Not even to camp.    This was very disappointing as we were looking forward to resting on green grass, and washing the dust off ourselves, not to mention the inside of the caravan.   

But it was not to be, so after a brief stop to have lunch in the town centre we headed off to Andamooka, an opal mining place 30 kilometres from Roxby Downs.

When one looks at the map, Andamooka is not far from the edge of Lake Torrens National Park, and the park is coloured a bright green.   And I can assure you there is nothing remotely bright green there, and most of the time the lake is a salt lake.   No water.    

Andamooka is as dry as the surrounding countryside, and as dusty.

But there was a caravan park, and it was cheap, $3 per night, per person.   Money was left in a sealed tin near the entrance to the site.   It had a few powered sites, all occupied, and it had a fantastic ablution block, each cabin contained a shower, toilet with a wash basin built into the cistern.   Such a water saving invention.  There was also a disabled toilet, plus an excellent playground and skateboard park.

The caravan park contains the only water point for the town of Andamooka, so a water tanker spends each day ferrying water between the water point and the tanks in the houses in the town.   Basically there is no water supply via pipes anywhere in the town, and as it rarely rains the tanks run dry very quickly.

When I went to have a shower in the evening I only managed to get a dribble of water from the shower head, due to the fact that the tanker was filling up its tank from the water point.   I had been warned but did not believe the source of information.   I paid $2 just to get a few drops of water.   All it did was etch lines through the dust.   Walter had a fantastic shower.   He checked that the tanker was not at the water point.

Walter resting in the shade.

I cleaned  up the dust inside the caravan as there was not enough room for two of us in there.   I threw the white net curtains into a plastic bag, shook the other curtains out, remade the beds and swept the floor.  I spent some time shaking items outside the door, watched by the occupants in the cluster of caravans. I think they watched in sympathy!  There was no point using any water, otherwise I would have had mud to contend with rather than dust.

We have learnt the hard way.  It is imperative to cover all vents, especially the door vents, before driving on dirt roads.   And to secure the window latches.   And tighten anything else that can come loose.    I don't think we are the first people to end up with a caravan full of dirt.  We have since received plenty of sympathy.  

Our view of the small collection of caravans and vehicles clustered around the power points and ablution block.   Most of the people here stayed for the winter, and spent their time opal mining.   One of the men talked to us about opal mining, and showed us a collection of his finds.   Fascinating.

Our view of the local opal mining hills.

Luckily we had solar power units on the roof of our caravan, and of course we still had plenty of water, so we spent a very comfortable night at the caravan park.   Due to the extravagant use of fly spray in Marree we spent the night without bush flies.

Late in the afternoon we visited Andamooka, which was an interesting place.   A pity we were not planning to stay longer but we had had enough of dust and were keen to move on the next day.

So we did not see the pub, museum or information centre.  But we had a look at the old miners' cottages.

Opals were discovered by two stockmen in 1930 and as it was in the middle of the depression miners travelled from afar to mine here.    It was amazing to see the cottages they built as building materials were scarce.

The cottages certainly looked ramshackle from the outside,

but the accommodation, although basic, looked quite comfortable.

After the last dusty few days we intended to find some green grass.