18th – 22nd March 2017
Sunday 18th March
Today we’re heading for Whyalla. We took the opportunity of driving on the back country roads – so much more peaceful. The countryside was flat and the wheat had been harvested leaving brown stubble and occasional sheep grazing. Not the most exciting drive, but interesting for what it is nevertheless.
On the way is Mt Remarkable National Park. I must admit we both laughed when we saw the ‘mountain’ rising above the plains – these South Aussies have to get out more if they think that is remarkable! We drove up on the eastern side of the park to have a look around and do a bit of walking. It’s a steep, winding road up (no caravans or trailers allowed). Alligator Gorge is the predominant landform here. We joined a few walks together to make one decent one and had to admit that the gorge is quite remarkable after all. The red cliffs were stunning – reminiscent of Ormiston Gorge in the Northern Territory.
At Whyalla we drove up to The Hummock to get a view over town. The steel works was one side, a nice beach and foreshore on the other. We camped at the sports club ($10) – lovely friendly people. The next morning just before we left the caretaker lady came around on her bike and gave us a brown paper bag of home baked goodies. Wasn’t that lovely!
Monday & Tuesday 19th, 20th March
We followed the coastline down the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula on a good unsealed road. There are several free camps on the beach, most taken up with campers keen on fishing. However we did find a small one with no one else there so settled in comfortably to have a good break. (It’s the campsite north of Port Gibbon that doesn’t have a sign saying ‘beach access’ as the others do).
We’re here for two nights. Both days we went for a swim and walks on the beach, the second day to Port Gibbon and back, doing our HIIT training on the way back. The beach is beautifully white, while the crumbling cliffs that bound it are red conglomerate. Many of the holes in the cliff face have pairs of pink galahs sitting outside them – I guess they’re nesting/breeding in them.
Wednesday & Thursday 21st, 22nd March
The wind came up overnight, quashing our plans for an early morning swim before heading on to Port Lincoln. The salt bush one side of the road and salt flats the other soon gave way to wheat country. Three out of every four vehicles we saw were road trains carrying wheat to Port Lincoln. On the way we stopped at Tumby Bay for a cuppa and a look around. Lovely town – nice foreshore and park. We were very surprised to come across Steve and Leonie who were pulled up in their caravan not far from us – friends from just up the road back home. Small world. We both ended up in Port Lincoln caravan park for two nights.
Port Lincoln refers to itself as the Seafood Capital of Australia. Just my kind of place. There are tuna farms, oyster leases and a huge fishing fleet here. Lunch was calamari and King George whiting – yum.
Thursday was a work day – washing, shopping, cooking, motorhome maintenance. We’ve purchased our park passes from the Info Centre and will be heading in to Port Lincoln National Park tomorrow for at least a week, hence the need for supplies. A welcome relief was going out to the pub for dinner with Steve and Leonie.
To see photos of our trip to Port Lincoln CLICK HERE.