Eyre Peninsula 22/3/12 - 6/4/12

EYRE PENINSULA

The Eyre Peninsula is a fisherman's paradise and all the coastal towns have facilities for launching boats and are geared for the fishing enthusiast. Sea food is the big industry in these parts.

Driving into the Eyre Peninsula we stopped at Port Augusta located right at the top of the Spencer Gulf which divides the Eyre Peninsula from the Yorke Peninsula. This is known as the 'Crossroads of Australia' as this is a major thoroughfare for travellers going to the west, the east, northwest to Alice Springs, northeast to Flinders Ranges and south to the Eyre Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula. There were caravans going everywhere. Our impression was that it was an "ordinary" town so we were glad we didn't plan to stay there.

Point Lowly

We continued down to a  camp site at Point Lowly which is 26kms off the main highway out on the east coast of the Peninsula. This is quite a popular spot for free camping as there were about 30 caravans parked there. This area is mainly used for launching boats so the car park became a caravan park. The weather was not the best here, quite cool and windy at times. We stayed 2 nights as it was too windy to travel. This was the first time we had felt the van being blown about by strong winds and heavy rain. We did, however, go for a bike ride when the rain cleared along a coastal dirt road being blown along with thousands of flies. This was not very pleasant so we were quite happy to cycle against the wind on the return journey which then eliminated the flies. Thank goodness.
On leaving Point Lowly the day was wet and gloomy but when we got away from the coast we were in brillant sunshine. Such a surprise. We stopped in at Whyalla (pop. 22,500) which is the north eastern gateway to the Eyre Peninsula and is a popular tourist spot. We thought this town had a different atmosphere to Port Augusta and Carol enjoyed seeing a decent shopping centre as it has been quite sometime since being in one. Whyalla is home to the HMAS Whyalla. The first modern warship built in Australia in 1941, which stands on dry land 2 kms from the sea. It is now a maritime museum.

We had thoughts of staying at a caravan park at Cowell on the coast (111kms sth of Whyalla), but after finding out that both parks there were full and seeing them packed in like sardines we headed inland to a great little free camp spot near the farming town of Cleve. Only two other vans and a camper trailer were in this lovely setting. We had new flushing toilets and mains water. Much better!! We were beginning to shy away from caravan parks which are generally overpriced and seem to squash everyone together. We decided to use them as little as possible. It's true, the best things in life are free.

LIPSON COVE

Someone had told us about a good camp spot further down the east coast called Lipson Cove, but it was 8kms down a dirt road. Not having a 4WD we are cautious about using unsealed roads unless they are well graded.

We decided to risk it hoping it was going to be worth it, and it was. This was a lovely secluded bay with only 6 other caravans and motorhomes scattered around in well formed parking bays.

We stayed here 2 nights and the weather was beautiful, warm enough to spend time on the beach and go swimming. The sea was crystal clear which made a change from the Murray River. The only unpleasant part was an odour coming from a small island offshore (depending on the wind direction) which housed a bird colony. While here, Carol met a lady from Streaky Bay over on the west coast, and she gave us her address to stay at if we couldn't get into the caravan park there. Another blessing.

We reluctantly left Lipson Cove and drove down south along the coast. 

We called into a number of the little seaside towns and found the beaches covered in a thick deposit of rotting sea grass. The beaches would have been really nice and we thought it spoiled the beauty of the bays. We are not sure if it is always like this.

Port Lincoln

Port Lincoln (pop. 15,000) is a major seaside city at the southern end of the Peninsula. It is the seafood and aquaculture capital of Australia. It is home to a multi-million dollar marina, a lot of money tied up here in boats and property.

Having said we were avoiding caravan parks, we booked into the caravan park here for 1 night. While it is good to have a 240v electricity for jugs, toasters and TV, plus a laundry to do washing, once again we were slotted in so close to other caravans while there was oodles of space in other areas of the park. Another advantage of having mains power is that Carol is able to do some baking, the favourites being fruit cake, or orange cake and banana bran muffins. Some lovely baking smells waft out of the van when this is happening.

A minor repair had to be done on the caravan, a welding job on a fairly critical point on the drawbar. Nigel had noticed it a few days before so it was good being in a place which had facilities to carry out the repair. Now there was no chance of the caravan and car separating. We think it may have happened on the very uneven roads on the Yorke Peninsula. In contrast, the main roads on the Eyre Peninsula are superb, very well made and smooth.

Coffin Bay
Coffin Bay on the opposite side of the peninsula was a beautiful spot, not as big and busy as we had imagined. In fact it was very quiet. There was only 2 general stores. This is a very popular holiday spot. (Pop. 500, but swells to over 3,000 every summer). Renowned for it's world famous oysters and is a very popular fishing location. We did plan to stay in the caravan park but found a delightful spot to park the caravan for a couple of nights right beside the sea facing west and in full view of the Coffin Bay National Park.  

Sunset looking through our window

Giant sand dunes make up most of the National Park and as they were just up the beach we had lots of fun on them and some spectacular views. The township of Coffin Bay is located on the shores of a protected inlet which was nice and calm for us to paddle the kayak around. It was very peaceful.

In between Coffin Bay and Sheringa Beach we stopped to look at the view of some spectacular cliffs. We were amazed to see surfers way down below riding the big swells coming through. The only way they can get down to the sea is climbing down the edge of the cliffs.

Sheringa Beach

Travelling north to Sheringa Beach was our next stopover, which again involved a 7km unsealed road to access the beach. Again huge sand hills rose up from the beach stretching for kilometers. The other end of the beach rose into high sheer cliffs. The sea was quite treacherous here so we didn't venture out far for our swim.

On our way north we called into Locks Well where there is a great view over the sea from a platform. From there down to the beach are 283 steps. We used the steps for our exercise to get the heart pumping.

Locks Well

Venus Bay

We stopped in Elliston for lunch, another attractive seaside town, then on to Venus Bay to view the scenery from the magnificent cliff tops and the big sea swells coming in from the Australian Bight.

Streaky Bay

This was one of many bays named by Matthew Flinders on his circumnavigation of Australia in 1802. Streaky Bay was the place where we had been invited to stay with the couple we met in Lipson Cove (Kaye and Darryl).

They are retired farmers who live on an 8 acre property overlooking this beautiful bay. As the caravan park was full we were grateful for the offer.We were able to park our caravan, alongside their caravan, in their huge shed which had bathroom and laundry facilities attached.

We had an uninvited guest visit us while we were here. We were not sure what type of snake it was or whether is was poisionous or not, but it was only a young one and was quite colourful. However, to be on the safe side, Darryl disposed of it rather smartly.

We spent a lovely 3 days here relaxing, swimming (we were the only ones in the sea) cycling (accompanied by heaps of flies again) and kayaking around the bay, which was made extra special by the kind hospitality of this lovely couple.

We came across a little fishing boat, now on dry land on the foreshore, built in 1958 and wrecked in 1985. The boat's name is "Carol J", so Nigel wanted to get the two Carol's together (the old wreck is at the rear of the photo!). Nigel's sense of humour.

Heading 70kms north, getting nearer to the top west side of the peninsula we called in to see Smoky Bay, which was another beautiful seaside town 40km south of Ceduna. While we were walking out along the pier we noticed a swimming enclosure attached to the pier. We remembered seeing one in Streaky Bay but didn't realise what it was.

These are to protect people from stray sharks. We then realised that this could be the reason why we were the only ones swimming in the sea. Nigel said he wouldn't have minded staying in this lovely spot for a few days but we needed to get moving as Easter was upon us which meant limited accomodation in Ceduna.

Ceduna is the gateway to the Nullarbor which will be our next blog.

Flinders Ranges National Park 18/3/12 - 21/3/12

FLINDERS RANGES NATIONAL PARK

These photos are taken from postcards.

We had been anticipating visiting the Flinders Ranges for some time. From the Yorke Peninsula it wasn't long before the Southern Flinders Ranges came into view. On our way through these Ranges, which were a lot further south than we thought, we stopped overnight at a small town, Murray Town, where we had all the facilities for a donation. Wonderful! The weather forecast looked good for the next few days which was what we wanted in order to see the area at its best. The mountains became more impressive as we drove further into the Flinders. The towns we drove through, such as, Quorn and Hawker were typical Australian towns with their quaint old buildings.

We stopped to look at an old historic homestead ruin at Kanyaka which was a sheep station back in the mid-late 1800's out in the middle of nowhere.




Our destination was Wilpena resort, where there is a great camp ground right in the heart of the Flinders Ranges National Park.  Again, we had plenty of sites to choose from as it was the off season with few people camping. Wilpena is in a beautiful natural setting with kangaroos hopping by every now and then. One even came up to our caravan door as we were sitting outside. We weren't quick enough with the camera.  The facilities were very good.





In the caravan park

This place is great for hiking in the mountains, 4WD tours, scenic flights and mountain biking, so there is plenty to do. We chose to do one of the walks which took us to the highest peak , St Mary's Peak, in the Flinders Ranges.

The day we did the walk was a beautiful sunny day with light cloud cover, ideal for walking. This was a challenging 21 km walk to the summit.  The first 10-12 kms was quite easy walking within the Wilpena Pound, which is like an amphitheatre of flat ground surrounded by mountains. It looks like an ancient volcano but it is actually land which has lifted up. The Kangaroos here are very tame.




St Mary's Peak from Tanderra Saddle

Carol "I'm tired and hungry. Can we stop and eat now?". Nigel "No not yet, we'll stop at 1 o'clock".

We were planning on not going any further than the Tanderra Saddle but as there was only 1.6 kms to the summit we decided to challenge ourselves and make it to the top.




Looking up to St Mary's Peak

"How are we ever going to get up there".




Looking up to the peak we wondered how we were going to get up the sheer cliffs. It involved rock scrambling and steep ascents and took us about 1 hr to trek the 1.6kms. It was quite tedious and very tiring.











Almost there



Lunch break, a welcome relief (before 1 pm!).



When we arrived at the summit the views were spectacular and it was worth the extra effort. The weather was perfect, sunny and no wind. There was a plaque up the top giving the height at the summit. 1171m.
Carol was scared to go near the edge as it was a sheer drop.




We stayed at the top for about 1/2 hour, just taking in the views after which we started to make our way down. We found the descent was just as difficult as the ascent.


On our way down we met a group of 3 people going up. One of them was a young guy, Bruce, walking bare feet. He had walked all the way with no shoes over the rough rocks and stones. Amazing!!  We asked him why he walked like this and his reply was that he walks bare feet most of the time and he wanted to walk this trail the same way the aboriginies did. Nice young man. Carol told him he reminded her of her son, Michael, as he looked a lot like him.

Barefoot Bruce

 It took about another hour to walk the 1.6kms back down to the saddle from the summit. From there we took a different route down which was on the outside of the Pound area. Only 6 kms back to Wilpena Pound but much more difficult than the route up. More scrambling down boulders and rocks for the next 2 kms until it levelled out and the walking became much easier.

Two very tired, exhausted people trudged their way back to Wilpena with very sore feet (Carol had blisters as she wore new walking boots). Carol did very well especially as we had not done any prior preparation for a walk such as this. It took us 7 1/2 hours to do the walk. We were glad we did it as it gave us a good feel for the Flinders and its rugged mountains.

The evening meal was a struggle to prepare as we were feeling very lethargic. Early into bed that night. The energy returned the next morning ready to begin our next adventure which was cycling down a trail taking in the views of the mountains and other points of interest.



Looking toward St Mary's Peak (centre right)

A swim in the resort swimming finished off another great day here in Wilpena Pound.

Sadly we had to move on and leave this lovely place. We would like to go back there sometime in the future and explore more walks and things to do.

On our way out we stopped to view some ancient aborigial rock paintings at Arkaroo Rock.

These paintings on the rock are thousands of years old and are of historical significance.

After leaving Flinders Ranges we travelled to the Eyre Peninsula. This will be our next blog.