The Eyre Peninsula

Thurs 13 Sept – We shopped and walked around the CBD of Whyalla. This is the third biggest city in South Australia and very industrial, centred around a steel works which borders the main street. There was also a harbour and a water front area. We followed the road S/W inland and re-joined the coast at Cowell, a small tourist town and stopped in a RV camping area just out of town. The town is on the Franklin Harbour in a large semi enclosed bay. The buildings, particularly the pubs were beautiful.

Fri 14 Sept – A strong N/W wind got up in the night and the temperatures were very mild. A southerly change tomorrow! There was a cross wind for the 115kms to our next stop at Tumby Bay. We called into a couple of other tourist towns on the way. Tumby Bay was beautiful with a white sandy beach and clear turquoise water. You would think you were in a pacific island. We have stopped at a tiny camp run by the CWA. We are right on the beach with magnificent views of the water. We went for a walk around the town and the beach with its long jetty. It was 26C and we sat on the beach enjoying the views and read. The forecast for tomorrow is not great so we might just stay here another night. Fish and chips from the shop along the road for dinner!

Sat 15 Sept – The forecast weather arrived in the night with strong cold winds and rain. We paid for another night and went for a bike ride along the waterfront to the far end of the of Tumby Bay where we found canals and posh houses. Back just before another shower. The wind is bitterly cold and the temp is around 10C. Hard to remember it was 26C yesterday! After lunch we ventured out again for a walk along the beach. Even in this weather this place is beautiful.

Sun 16 Sept – It was only a short drive to Port Lincoln. This is the biggest town in this area right at the bottom of the Eyre Peninsula. We booked into a camp which is a series of tiered sites giving everyone a view of Boston Bay. It was cold and overcast but we rode a great cycleway back into the main beach and shopping area passing huge grain silos and wharves.

Mon 17 Sept – Another short drive across the bottom of the peninsula to the west side and Coffin Bay. The weather was much warmer, and we walked the “Oyster Walk” for 5kms along the foreshore passing the lovely holiday homes and then around the coast to Long Beach. A few kangaroos came to investigate us at sunset.

Tues 18 Sept – Back on the road and now we are driving up the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula. The west coast is much more rugged with towering cliffs overlooking the Southern Ocean which was pounding in driven by a cool strong S/W wind. The landscape reminded us of the west coast of Ireland with windswept paddocks and drystone walls. At Elliston we stopped for lunch overlooking the wild ocean and continued on to a small camping area at Walkers Rocks. We were sheltered from the winds by sandhills. The ocean views again were great.

Wed 19 Sept – Back on the road driving N/W thru Venus Bay, more cliffs and huge seas, Port Kenny, not much there, and on to Murphy’s Haystacks. This was an area of very strange rocky outcrops in a farmer’s paddock on a hill.

Our overnight stop was at Streaky Bay. This was a small holiday/fishing village. We camped in an RV Park (another cheap area in a grassy paddock) and rode our bikes along the waterfront and into the town.

Thurs 20 Sept – Near the end of our journey around the Eyre Peninsula. We went to a Perlubie Beach but decided to carry on to Haslam Beach and another cheap RV Park. There was not much there but we walked along the jetty and along the beach. They launch the oyster barges off the beach here and we caught one of them being recovered. A bit like Ward Beach in Marlborough.

Fri 21 Sept – We completed our loop of the Eyre Peninsula at Ceduna. It was a lovely town on a beach with the now usual long jetty. Tomorrow we will start the long trip across the Nullarbor Plains. We stayed in a nice camping ground overlooking the ocean and spent the day organising ourselves for this trip. We booked flights back to NZ (arriving home on 7 Nov) and researching storage for “Andy” in Perth. Once we leave here we have to very carefully watch our fuel and water as everything is very limited. We have phoned to Janine, Don’s niece, and we will visit Janine, Louie & Tyler before flying home.