ON OUR WAY TO SHERINGA BEACH, ELISTON AND STREAKY BAY

 

Monday 6^th May - We left Port Lincoln for our next stop at Sheringa Beach. It took us less than 2 hours to get there. We stopped off at The Sheringa Roadhouse to buy our permit and met a very laid back woman running the store. She sat on a seat out the front sorting through her bills and mail and was in no hurry to see what we wanted (country time). Her red cattle dog lazily soaked up the sun besides her, but got up and wandered over to us for a scratch. It was a very quirky place, with a cane bar out the front, trying to give a (dated) Bali effect , complete with ornamental birds stuck on the rooftop. They also cooked food there (it’s THE only place in town) and sell all manner of things, petrol, ice, fishing equipment (grossly overpriced). The town before Sheringa is Called Mount Hope and consisted of literally 3 houses and the next town Elliston is under an hour away from Sheringa, so I suppose Sheringa Roadhouse is your one-stop-shop.

We were quite excited and looking forward to spending 3 nights there. It was a beautiful sunny day and there was only one other caravan parked when we arrived. We found a suitable spot behind the sand dunes with bushes around it – a perfectly sheltered and protected area. It didn’t take us long to set up and wander over the hill towards the superb soft, white sand that stretched for a long way. It’s a very popular local fishing spot but was deserted when we got there. By 5pm that evening there were only 3 other caravans parked in the area besides us. We got talking to our neighbour Peter and he invited us all over for a drink and to share his camp fire which was real toasty and very inviting as the temperature had dropped considerably. We spent a lovely couple of hours chatting and warming ourselves around the camp fire. Peter and his wife Sue had been at Sheringa for 3 nights and were moving on the next day. We ended up calling him“gadget man” as he had so many gizmos that he kept bringing out to show us. One item was “clip on tables” to fit on the side of any camp chair. I actually really liked them and thought they were a fantastic idea and as they just happened to fit on my chair, I wanted 2 for myself. Another was the “rain saver bucket” – a hose pipe you put on the awning, connected to a bucket to catch rainwater (for bush camping where water is not available). We thought that was another excellent idea. Peter told us they’re fairly cheap. Richard has since found both on the RV Warehouse website in Melbourne and is in the process of ordering them. He told us about another good free camping spot called Walker’s Rock that they were headed to the following day.

OUR CAMPING SPOT AT SHERINGA

SALLY AT SHERINGA BEACH

OUR CAMP FIRE

A FUNNY SIGN WE SAW AT SHERINGA BEACH 

Tuesday 7^th May- Another beautiful day at Sheringa Beach. We said goodbye to Peter and Sue and hoped to meet them again somewhere. The only drawback was we didn’t have any phone, internet or tv reception. We could receive messages, but not send any back. This was the first time we’d had any reception problems. We went for a walk up the hills by the coastline and found the popular surfing spot where a fairly new wooden platform had been built with steps leading down the hillside to the ocean. There were lots of surfers out there catching waves and it was a pretty busy spot. We could also get limited coverage on the mobile. Daniel had started a new job at BP in the South of Perth and we were anxious to know how it was going for him. Also, Hayley was due back from a 2 week trip to Las Vegas, Cancun and Los Angeles, so we were also anxious to know she was safely home. It was a lovely spot and you could camp anywhere from where we’d parked to right along the hills and onto the sand but there weren’t any toilets available further up. In the afternoon, Richard and Ross another camper that we’d met yesterday went down to the lake with Ross’s chainsaw to collect wood for another campfire later that night. Richard went fishing off the beach a few times whilst we were there, but only caught small herrings or undersize whiting, nothing to cook for dinner (luckily I’d brought enough provisions). We had another pleasant evening around our campfire with Ross and Marie on 4 weeks holiday from Perth.

Wednesday 8^th May - Ross and Marie left to continue their trip down to Whyalla and back to Perth by 20th May. We were the sole caravan in the camp and it was very quiet. Richard went down to the beach fishing once again and I read my book. Suddenly a woman appeared asking for help as their 4WD had got stuck on the very far end of the beach. I went back to the beach to see what if anything Richard could do. We didn’t have sand tyres and the sand at Sheringa was very soft, so he didn’t want to risk getting our car bogged also. Luckily, the Ranger was fishing half way along the beach and took his car back to The Roadhouse to get another car to come back and help them off the sand. The whole operation took well over 1 ½ hours and everyone was glad to see them safely off the sand. We had a campfire for 2 that night and watched the stars for ages with our wines. Not a bad life really!!! Very simplistic but very enjoyable. We’re really getting into this “bush camping” thing and preferring it to the rules and regulations of many caravan parks.

Thursday 9th May - We left Sheringa Beach and were sorry to be leaving such a beautiful spot. We decided to stay overnight at Walker’s Rocks another $10 a night camp 10 minutes along a dirt road off the main road. It’s about 45 minutes from Elliston. We missed the turning for Walker’s Rock and ended up at Coltonwhich was a fortunate mistake as we came to the “Colton Bakery” a tiny self-serve stall off the road that make the most delicious wood fired breads, rolls and buns in a very small house behind the roadside stall.

Sue and Peter had told us to look out for it and not to miss it if we could. Everything was wrapped up and was $4 – in an honesty box for whatever you chose. We selected 4 sticky buns and a crunchy white loaf. Walker’s Rock is part of the Lake Newland Conservation Park and is one of the longest beaches on the West Coast. It was a very windy day so we drove steadily as the van was blowing about a lot. Thankfully, we didn’t have far to drive that day. The camping area was on a dirt track 10 minutes off the main road. We left the van hooked up as we intended to leave early the next morning. There were 2 other motorhomes parked at the camp. We went for a very blustery walk along the beach and came back for a cuppa and our fresh Colton sticky buns for morning tea. They were delicious. The wind gradually eased and we went for a longer walk along the 2 beautiful beaches around the camp area. We sat outside and watched the stars again. It was really quiet and dark there.

Friday 10^th May - We left Walker’s Rock early and drove for 45 minutes to the lovely coastal town of Elliston. We stopped at the showground and visited the Tourist Information Centre. It was a very small town with large colourful murals on many of the buildings. We drove along “The Ocean Road” scenic drive. It was a 12 kilometre very scenic drive along the cliff tops between Waterloo Bay and Anxious Bay, with pull off bays to admire the cliff top sculptures. Every two years, they host an event “Sculpture on the Cliffs”. It was a really beautiful drive.






From there, we drove to Murphy’s Haystacks, massive inselberg rock formations of pink granite approximately 1500 million years old on the private land of the original owner, Dennis Murphy from Co. Limerick in Ireland. A passing traveller in a coach saw them in the distance and asked how a farmer could produce so much hay. From then on, they’ve been known as Murphy’s Haystacks. 





We arrived at Streaky Bay Foreshore Tourist Park with beach access. It was a big park and pretty full as there was a Bowling Carnival on for the whole week. We quickly set up and went for a walk around. We noticed the park kiosk had a licenced restaurant called Pelican Resort Family Restaurant and made a booking for dinner there that evening. When we got to the restaurant, it was full of bowling nomads laughing and carrying on – they sure have a great social life. The food was average, but so convenient to wander back to our van. We’d ordered a shared entrée of salt and pepper squid. When it turned up the waitress said “we didn’t have enough squid so we bunged a few extra calamari on as well”. Actually the calamari were the best part of the entire meal – really succulent and melt-in-the mouth. The wine was good too. Can’t win them all!!

Streaky Bay was named by Mathew Flinders in 1802 because of the streaks he saw in the water across the bay caused by the reflection of light on the seaweed.

Granite from outside of Streaky Bay was used in The Parliament Houses in Canberra and Adelaide.

Streaky Bay was a location in the 1970’s Australian movie “Blue Fin”.

Richard visited the Powerhouse Museum in town – The Restored Engine Centre – which he was keen to see. They have over 400 restored engines all fully working inside. The place is manned by volunteers and enthusiasts and he happily “talked mechanics and machines” to the old boys inside. I carried on reading another Lee Childs book.

 

Saturday 11^th May - We walked into town and I finally found a surf shop to buy myself a new pair of Havianas (surf brand thongs) as I pretty much live in them and my current pair are threadbare and almost worn out. There wasn’t a surf shop in any of the other towns we’ve been to and I thought I’d have to wait until we reached Perth for a new pair. The weather changed quickly and was really wet and windy, so we postponed the trip we wanted to do to Point Labatt to see the sea lions until the following day.

Sunday 12^thMay - Mother’s Day – hope you all had a great Mother’s Day. We awoke to a beautiful day and decided to go and see the sealions. It was a 61km drive from Streaky Bay to Point Labatt, along one of three spectacular coastal drives, most of which was on unsealed gravel roads (some of them smoother than others) to the Conservation Park where the sealion colony live. Thankfully the roads had dried out from all the rain the previous day. We were the only people at the wooden viewing platform 50 metres above where you view the sealions. The wind was blowing a gale by the time we got there. Unfortunately all the sealions were huddled together in groups and sound asleep. It was hard to spot them at first and we had to use binoculars as it was quite a way down to where they are. Apparently, in summer, they frolic around, particularly the young ones and there can be up to 50 sealions down there. Nevertheless, it was well worth coming out to see them, but it would have been even better had they moved around a bit. The scenery on the drive there was amazing –really rough brown cliffs, red dust and shrubbery and mangroves all around and undulating sand dunes of various sizes. Quite stunning and remote. From there we drove further along to Sceale Bay a very small coastal town. We found a covered shelter to sit and have our cuppa by the beach but the weather had changed dramatically again and we decided to head back to the van and continue touring around the area the next day. We went to the Streaky Bay Hotel Motel (a community hotel) for dinner. It was delicious. We had the $15 roast consisting of 5 huge slices of roast pork and superb crunchy crackling. There was a self-serve vegetable and salad bar which was all fresh home- made and you could go back as many times as you wanted. We washed it down with a bottle of the house sav which was also very nice. A very enjoyable night.

SLEEPING SEALIONS  (WAKEY WAKEY!!!)

Monday 13^thMay - It was another sunny day and we drove along the second coastal drive called the Westall Way Loop that stretches along 31km of the coastline. We stopped off to explore Tractor Beach, High Cliff, Point Westall, The Granites, Smooth Pool and Speed Point and were in awe of just how rugged and remote they all were. It really brought it home to us how much land and sea surrounds Australia and just how big this country is, so vast and remote. We carried on to the third scenic drive called the Cape Bauer Loop. We passed by Cape Bauer and stopped off to view Whistling Rocks and Blowholes. This was superb and we walked along the new 360 metre boardwalk down to the viewing platform to hear the whistling rocks. The foaming ocean crashed against the rocks with a vengeance and really did sound like it was whistling. We got covered in the sea spray and walked over to the Blowhole viewing platform. It was a low tide so didn’t gush as much as it would at high tide. It was still very impressive. We’ve been to The Blowhole at Kiama (Southern, NSW) many times and that really gushes up high when it’s windy. We followed the loop through to Hallys Beach and Back Beach and came back into Streaky Bay. We’d really enjoyed the drive and were so glad we’d managed to fit it all in.

Total of free/cheap camping nights - 21 (steadily rising).

Next Week: We’re going to Ceduna, at the end of The Eyre Peninsula, Penong and Fowlers Bay