WE'RE HEADED TO THE EYRE PENINSULA

Firstly, apologies for the format of the last blog.  We were plagued with technical difficulties uploading the photos as the blogger format has changed and we’ve also got a new computer –a Toshiba - which wouldn’t let us load the photos.  It’s been a nightmare for Richard (the technical whizz) to sort out, with many frustrated attempts.  He’s now loaded Google Chrome which another blogger suggested and that seems to be working ok. 

Saturday 11^th April  -   We left Buronga and headed towards our next stop at Burra – about a 4 hour drive.   After about an hour’s drive, we came to the South Australian border and had the “fruit police border checkpoint inspection”.   We passed through Wakerie and wanted to stop off at the main park for lunch.  As it was school holidays there weren’t any spare parking spots as it’s a very small area.  Wakerie is a popular area for water sports on the river.   We drove to Cadell to get the ferry over the river into Morgan.  What a beautiful little spot – very popular with families for picnics and water sports.  There’s a lovely little caravan park on one end of the river.  It was a very picturesque spot.  We had a walk around the park and continued on our drive towards Burra an historic old Cornish mining township. At one time, the mines at Burra supplied 89% of South Australian and 5% of World supplies of copper for a period of 15 years. We stayed at Burra Caravan Park which was quite small but on the river with lots of ducks and geese wandering around.  The place was full of groups of grey nomads.  There were lots of ruins from the mining era around the place.  The miner’s cottages have been refurbished and are available for hire.  We could see the miners’ “dug outs” on the side of the river. You could go right down and look through them but they were locked up for the day by the time we got there. 

Sunday 12^th April  -  We left Burra  at 9am and headed towards our next destination of Port Augusta – a 3-4 hour drive.  We arrived at Port Augusta and stayed at The Foreshore Caravan Park.   Port Augusta is called “The Crossroads to The Outback” and is the beginning of The Eyre Peninsula.  It  was a 10 minute drive from the main town area to the caravan park.   What the brochures didn’t tell us was that Port Augusta is a “dry zone” as there are problems with the high population of indigenous people and alcohol.   Our caravan park had fencing all around (we discovered most of the other parks did the same thing).  The “compound” (which is the nickname we gave it as it felt just like a prison) was locked at 9pm and you had to arrange to get a key if you were going to be out later than that time.  We were advised not to go into town past that time.  After that piece of advice we had no intention of venturing out into town at night time.  The place was unlocked at 7am the following morning.

We had a waterfront spot – the view spoilt slightly by the wire fencing.  We could walk onto the beach area in front of the park and let Sally off the lead for a run.    The sand was mostly red mud but ok to walk on.  We had a magnificent background view of The Flinders Ranges which had spectacular colours of browns and reds right along the foreshore. 

Monday 13^th April  -  We went for a drive to see The Matthew Flinders  Lookout.  It was very spectacular and certainly worth the half hour drive to see it, with stunning views across the river of  The Flinders Ranges.   The variation in colours of reds, browns and greens was amazing.  The Lookout is a memorial Cairn dedicated to where Matthew Flinders stood in 1802 to name Mt. Brown, Mt. Arden, Point Lowly and Curlew Point in The Flinders Ranges.

We had noticed clumps of what we thought were horrible weeds everywhere.  We discovered these plants were called Chenopods and thrived in arid zones, where droughts can last for decades.  They have become specialists in collecting, storing and conserving water.  There is no overcrowding – each plant has its own space and hair-like roots that collect water so efficiently that nothing else can establish or thrive beside them.  We looked at them with new eyes and far more respect than we had at first.

When we left the Lookout, we drove back past town towards the airport and The Royal Flying Doctors Base  where we hoped to be able to do a tour.  One tour was just finishing and we were lucky enough to get our own private tour when that had finished.  They even let us take Sally inside with us (I had to hold her in my arms).  We saw a 15 minute video of the services they provide, with incredible patient stories of survival and were in total awe of just how much they actually do to educate the outback with regular dental clinics, women’s health clinics as well as emergency rescues, inter-hospital transfers and transportation of donor recipients.  They also offer a 24 hour telephone health consultation.  We learned how remote communities have a locked “medicine box” filled with antibiotics and basic medical supplies which are all numbered and can be accessed when necessary via a phone link-up with an on-line doctor.  Each plane on the base costs $6,000,000.  The Port Augusta Base currently have 11 planes and cover an area of 840,000 square kilometres. They are mainly financed through donations.  We saw inside one of the planes and spoke to one of the nurses on board restocking supplies for the next call out.  She had been a nurse for over 30 years and had worked in many outback hospitals and  clinics before joining the RFDS 2 years ago.  She was really informative and friendly and absolutely loved her job and was totally dedicated to what she was doing.   She told us that the doctors don’t always go out on a call with the nurse – only when necessary or when more than one patient is involved that a nurse thinks she may not be able to deal with. We were filled with so much admiration and respect for what they do. There are 50 RFDS bases throughout rural Australia.  What an absolutely amazing service they provide to the folks living in those communities and what peace of mind to know that medical help is available 24/7.  We should all dig deep into our pockets and donate to the RFDS – you just never know when you might need them.   The tour cost was a gold coin donation.

The red mud beach outside "the compound" - notice the chenopods too

View from Flinders View lookout

view looking out of the fencing in 'the compound"

Tuesday 14^th April   -  We left Port Augusta for our next destination Point Lowly, a 50 minute drive further along The Eyre Peninsula from Port Augusta.  We arrived at 10am and weren’t sure if there would be any free spots as it’s a very popular free camping area.  We passed four caravans going in the opposite direction and were hopeful that we could take one of those vacant spots.  Unfortunately we also passed lots of dead kangaroos which was very upsetting.  There were 3 areas available for setting up camp at Point Lowly – one right on the beach front, but it was full of large pebbles, so not ideal for walking on constantly.   Further up the hill by the toilets and bbq areas was quite full, so we drove further along to the next area which was flatter and tarmacked, so more ideal to set our van up.  We had a choice of a few spots thankfully and selected the one we preferred.  It didn’t take us long to get sorted out and go for a long walk around our new coastal surroundings.  It was an absolutely beautiful spot, with the ocean on our doorstep, a jetty for fishing, boat ramp, break wall and a tarmacked road for the coastal walk up to The Lighthouse.  On the road behind us there was a sandy flat beach to walk on and let Sally off the lead.  The water was a beautiful clear turquoise colour.  Our new neighbours told us about a local man that goes fishing in his boat  every day and sells his catch  either from his boat or his shed behind where our van was parked.  You are allowed to stay here for a maximum of 14 nights at one time.  There are toilets,  showers (cold), a dump point and tap to fill up water bottles – paradise – and all for free.  Most people we spoke to had been there for at least a week.  It wasn’t a hard choice to make!!    

Point Lowly  is one  of  four areas that the Giant Cuttlefish come to annually to spawn between May and August.  They are one of the largest species in the World and can reach 60cm in length and up to 5kg in weight.  You’re not allowed to catch squid or cuttlefish during this breeding season.  Divers from all over Australia and the World flock to Whyalla to watch these giant creatures spawning and laying their eggs on the rocky ledges.  

Wednesday 15^th April  -  We went for a drive to the main town of Whyalla  a 30 minute drive from Point Lowly.  Whyalla is where “The Outback Meets the Ocean” and is the third largest town in South Australia.  We were expecting it to be quite big.  The first thing we noticed was the red dust on the buildings and footpaths from the steelworks, which is the main industry in that area. The main shopping centre “Westland” -  advertised as “South Australia’s Largest Regional Shopping Centre” was so much smaller than we’d imagined.  It had the usual supermarkets Coles and Woolworths and a few speciality shops but was pretty disappointing.  The other one “Whyalla City Plaza” –“ Whyalla’s Largest and Most Prestigious Shopping Precinct” ( I thought hello at last I’ve got some “big” shops to wander around in)  turned out to be the local high street shops with no big stores or anything exciting to satisfy my “retail fix”.  Oh well, think of all the money I saved!!   Richard was suitably happy as he loathes, hates and detests shopping.  We “dash in and dash out” for whatever’s necessary.  He gets so bored when I want “to browse around”.  I’m always told “you can’t fit anything else in the van” and “you don’t need anything else” – totally hopeless!!!    

We went to Hummock Hill Lookout which was a gun battery and observation post to protect the shipyards during World War 11.  It had terrific panoramic views across Whyalla.  We went up Queen Elizabeth Drive to get to the top.   The Queen opened the monument during her Jubilee Visit in 1986.  The monument  was a gift from BHP to the city to commemorate it’s centenary year.  Hummock Hill was the site of the first settlement in 1901 and became a town in 1914.  The booming town was named a city in 1961.   BHP Steelworks started production in Whyalla in 1965.  The Whyalla Shipyards closed in 1978 after constructing  66 ships.  

our caravan is 4th from the left

View from the jetty looking across to the caravans

View from under our awning

sunset in paradise!!!

coastal walk to The Lighthouse

Thursday 18^th April  -  We went for a drive to Fitzgerald Bay – another free camping area, a 20 minute drive from Point Lowly, the last 2km being dirt road.  The track goes a further 15km to Point Douglas, but we didn’t want to go any further.  Coming down the hill into Fitzgerald Bay the view was absolutely stunning and we were so glad we hadn’t missed this spectacle.  Fitzgerald Bay is where Southern Star Aquaculture have their cages in the water to grow yellow tail kingfish.  They take 18 months to two years before they can be harvested and sold to markets in Australia, America, Europe and Japan.  These fish became world famous when they were served at The Royal Wedding of Princess Mary and Prince Frederick.

There were many caravans parked by the water and it was a fabulous spot, mainly mangroves up to the water’s edge and a dusty road behind.  We decided we liked the area and it was certainly worthwhile looking at what it had to offer but we preferred to stay put at Point Lowly.

We will be staying here until at least Tuesday of next week as Richard  ordered a new camera from Harvey Norman on Monday.  It is supposed to be into the store in 5 days.  Today is Friday and it hasn’t  arrived yet.  What a pity – we just have to stay put here in this beautiful spot until the camera arrives.     By the way, just in case you’re interested the camera is a Nikon DS200 with twin lens kit, 24mp and HD video (you’re probably like me – none the wiser).  I haven’t dared ask “how much”.  It’s a belated birthday present to himself and he’s had his heart set on a new camera for ages. You’ll hear all about it and hopefully see “improved” photos on the next edition of our blog.

Fitzgerald Bay

Next Week:  We will be continuing our journey further along The Eyre Peninsula to Cowell which is one of the best fishing destinations in South Australia, famous for oysters and jade products.  We will also be going to Arno Bay which I’m very much looking forward to.