Port Hughes

Port Hughes, on the western side of the Yorke Peninsula, has turned out to be a lovely choice when we decided not to travel to the western side of the Eyre Peninsula.

It was also a fluke that we came to Port Hughes Camping Ground, as we thought that we had booked into the port a few kilometres north, called Moonta Bay.     We tend to get the two places mixed up for some reason, both have jetties but that is the only similarity.    So pleased that we made a mistake as Moonta Bay Camping Ground has very little space, few trees and the top level now has cabins that block the view of the bay.   There is also very little beach there.

The view of Port Hughes beach, taken from the wooden walkway over the sand dunes.   So beautiful, white sand and perfectly clear water.    The algal bloom has not reached the western side of the peninsula, so it is pristine.    

The view north towards the jetty.   Piper is loving the beach here, after not being near our beaches since May.   And for people who are not aware, the algal bloom, which started in March, at the bottom of the Fleurieu Peninsula has now spread into the St Vincent Gulf.    Our beaches are littered with seaweed and dead fish.   Quite distressing to see.    

We went for a walk on the very long jetty.    The place was full of boats, as there was a fishing competition on, to see who could catch the largest whiting.   

Port Hughes tavern and store/cafe at the front.    On the Saturday, we drank our coffee here, while sitting on the deck in the sun.   Perfect.    However, a different experience on the Sunday.   it was overcast so we sat inside, no atmosphere,  and the owner was quite negative.   That has put as off the place rather.   A pity.

The camping ground as an enclosed dog park, which Piper loves.   It includes plenty of rabbits too, although they disappear very quickly when they see us.   Luckily it is fenced off otherwise Piper would be away into the sand dunes.

The beautiful swimming pool, with the recreation room behind it.   A perfect setting, but a bit cold at the moment.

Our caravan sitting out in the open space.   We chose this spot as it was the sunniest place, and with a view of the dunes, swimming pool, and plenty of grass.   However, the downside is that we get the full force of the wind, I thought we were going to take off last night.      

The camping ground is quite empty of people at the moment, a few caravans plus about five people in their permanent caravans.    

The permanent caravans.   And lots of them in this park.    They are enclosed around the bottom of the caravan, with an annex built on the side.  Some have a toilet/shower installed in the annex.   There is a similar arrangement as in the static caravan parks in the UK, where people buy a static van (like a mobile home) pay a large fee for the year, and then can use their van for a set number of months per year.        

 We had a mad moment before I retired that we would sell our house and buy a static caravan in the UK and a permanent caravan with an annex in Aldinga Beach.   We then aimed to spend six months in each place.

Thankfully we realised this was not a sound Investment, as the vans would depreciate in value, and we needed a solid house to live in, in our old age.  But it was a lovely dream for a couple of months.  

We saw the most amazing sunset a few nights ago.   It rained the next day.

This part of the Yorke Peninsula is known as the Copper Coast, due to its historic copper mining history.   There was a significant copper boom in the 19th century that brought about rapid regional development and a large influx of Cornish miners.

Moonta which is a short distance from Port Hughes, is the most well known of the towns.   It has plenty of atmosphere, and great shops.   There is a museum and a little train that travels around the site. We did this a few years ago, although Piper was not impressed with the train as it rattled and shook.  

Moonta has plenty of beautiful old buildings.    

The town hall.

There is a very large antique/second hand store there, with a hardware and camping store at the back.   An interesting shop to visit but I thought the antiques/second hand goods were a bit pricey.   I bought a hot water bottle cover and Walter bought a book.     So we contributed a little money to the economy.

The coffee at this cafe was excellent.   Now that I have started drinking decaf coffee it is even more important to find the perfect cafe.

The next town we visited was Wallaroo, a few kilometres north of Port Hughes.   Wallaroo is also part of the Copper Coast, although now it has huge silos with two jetties which can accommodate large ships that collect the grain.

Wallaroo also has had a major makeover, and is now quite a tourist hotspot. 

The very low verandahs on the main street.    Most people were across the road in the new supermarket complex.   Typical.

   

Another beautiful town hall.

The mural painted onto the edge of the old railway platform.  The railway station is now the library.

We stayed in Wallaroo three years ago, for Walter's 80th birthday.    All our Adelaide family stayed in this old church building, over the Easter break.    We had the most fantastic time.

When we stayed there the church had a fence, palms and shrubs at the front.   Now it looks very bare, but I guess there are plans to do something else with the front.   

And of course it is no longer a church.

Poor Piper visited the vets in Wallaroo, due to developing diarrhoea, from whatever cause we do not know.   A lovely vet and helpful staff, not that Piper thought so.   She thought we were entering a house, until she sussed out that the place had a familiar smell.   The hated vet smell.    She got some medicine and is on the road to recovery.

I must include a photograph (with the shadow of me in it, and Piper too) of one of the bike tracks.   There is a huge network of them here, including one between Moonta Bay and Wallaroo.    A pity I do not have my bike here.

The area around Port Hughes and Moonta Bay is undergoing a massive redevelopment, well more to the point, the land around here is being used for redevelopment, mainly luxury holiday houses, with some permanent residents.    There are a couple of areas set aside for over 50's lifestyle villages.   Who can retiree at 50 these days!

I can remember visiting the Gold Coast, Queensland, in 2011, and being astounded at all the luxury holiday houses there.

Now these type of houses are being built in South Australia now, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, and here as well.    They are huge!

What happened to the shacks!    There must be some money around.

A view of Moonta Bay, just as the clouds are about to let go of the rain. 

Walter looking very happy.  Today we had lunch at the Moonta Bay Cafe.    I had fried noodles with prawns, and Walter had calamari and chips plus salad.    The Seniors' menu, priced at $18 per meal.   And the meals were delicious.    The place was packed with retirees!

A great week.   So happy we came to Port Hughes.

A very long story!

We decided that two weeks away in the caravan would be perfect, now that the days were longer, and winter was nearly over.

I know we live by the beach, however visiting another beach is always refreshing.   We thought the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula would be the perfect place.   A little further north, and better weather.   Also the current algae problem which has hit our south coast has not moved so far west.     

So Streaky Bay here we come.   Or so we thought!   But more about that later.

The first stop.   Port Augusta, not the most popular place to stop in, but an important town as two main highways go through it.    The road that runs from Adelaide to Darwin, and the road that runs west to Perth.   There are three major roads that run east to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane although not directly from Port Augusta.   The railway lines also runs through Port Augusta as well.

Sadly people only stay overnight in Port Augusta and consequently there are plenty of hotels, motels and two camping grounds.   

Port Augusta has many problems, a bit run down, a bit rough, plus a lot of crime, I think.   When the camping grounds have high fences around them, plus locked gates at night, you take notice and make sure you are careful.  

Altogether, we stayed there for five nights, and found people to be very friendly, helpful and open.   It was such a pleasant surprise.

The main street, with plenty of trees.    I can remember visiting the town in the 1980s, and being impressed with the beautiful paving and landscaping work.   Those same pavers could do with a massive cleanup now, and sadly many shops were closed, probably due to the Woolworths supermarket and Big W store at the end of the street.

We visited the Arid Lands Botanical Gardens, and were fortunate to see many of the trees and plants in flower.   The photo was taken just before a huge downpour.   In fact it rained most of the time we were there.   Arid lands and rain do not usually go together.

Matthew Flinders Red Cliff Lookout.    The view towards the Flinders Ranges, with the Spencer Gulf and the railway bridge in the foreground.   The view that Matthew Flinders saw in 1802 would have been minus the bridge and speedboat of course.

We visited the amazing Wadlata"s 'Tunnel of Time' which was part of the Visitor Information Centre.   The journey through tunnels and exhibitions tell the creation of the Flinders Ranges and Outback, with displays of fossils, Aboriginal Dreaming stories, the Mound Springs, explanations of the underground water, and the development of European settlement.    

The following photographs are not in order!

Walter viewing the early explorers' diorama.  

The bush fire!

The huge snake!

The entrance, through the giant jaws of Max, the prehistoric Ripper Lizard.

Our initial two nights in Port Augusta, with intention of visiting the Arid Lands Botanical Gardens, was extended into five nights, with three nights spent in a very nice motel complex called Standpipe Golf Motor Inn.  The reception area and restaurant was in an old stone building built in 1883.  And next door was a very green and luxurious gold club.   Definitely not in keeping with the rest of Port Augusta, but then it was on the northern outskirts of the town.

They had pet friendly accommodation, thank goodness, but of course it was in an older room, not in the flash part of the motel complex.   Next to us were three young workmen who drank beer well into the early hours of the morning.   They also threw their beer bottles into the bushes and left their takeaway cartons lying around on the ground.    The joys!

The reason for the extended stay can be seen in the next photograph.   We managed to travel about 100 km west on the Eyre Highway when I noticed the caravan was leaning quite a bit, and nothing to do with the road either.    Luckily we pulled into a rest area straight away.    And yes there was a definite lean, and on closer inspection we saw the spring hanging down.   Not good.   

Luckily, a man, plus three little dogs, pulled up behind us, and he offered assistance.   So badly needed. He told us the Ubolt was broken.   Now the Ubolt holds the spring in place behind the wheel.   An easy fix if you have another Ubolt with you.   We of course did not have one.   I had never heard of a Ubolt until then.

We unhitched the caravan, and the lovely man let his three little dogs out to run around, and looked after our van while we drove back a distance in order to get a telephone signal.    Now for people who do not live in Australia it does not take long to lose a signal once you leave towns or settlements.

The man had no intention of stealing our van as he had his own, very new caravan.   And our caravan was by this time leaning very badly. 

We rang the RAA.   Luckily we have the top cover so no problem getting assistance so far from Port Augusta.   We had to wait three long hours though. 

The van was still leaning to one side as it was pulled onto the back of the truck.   

It was a gloriously sunny day which was some consolation.

Now the caravan repair firm in Port Augusta would not take the caravan, due to not making a prior arrangement to have it fixed there.   Now, how do they expect us to do this, in the middle of nowhere, with no telephone signal.  

Anyway the little company that has the RAA contract said they would carry out the repair themselves as they have a mobile mechanic.    A simple job, once they locate another Ubolt.    And it was an easy and quick job, but had to be completed between RAA call outs.   And the call outs were often a hundred or more kilometres away.   

So we stayed in the motel for three nights.  The repair costs were very reasonable at $160.

The caravan sat amongst thousands of wrecked cars for three days.   I have never seen so many wrecked cars.  Apparently their crusher no longer works.  

All fixed and ready to go.     

The manicured golf course beside the motel.   Lots of walks for Piper between the green parts.

And so we decided to not drive across the Eyre Peninsula to Streaky Bay, but head back down towards Adelaide, and stay in Port Hughes.   And it is beautiful here, but more about that later. 

Now we are considering purchasing a Starlink Mini just in case we break down again.   Even though it goes against our principles to support Elon Musk in any way.