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!
