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.