Marion Bay

MONDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER   -   We left Port Vincent for our next destination Marion Bay, 120 kilometres further south along the Peninsula.   We went through Minlaton (and couldn’t help stopping off at the bakery for morning tea), Hardwicke Bay and Warooka, where we passed a sign telling us we were at “The Gateway to the Bottom End”.  We also passed an enlightening sign over the butcher shop “Quality Killed Meats” (what else would you expect???). 

We arrived at Marion Bay Caravan Park 2 hours later.  Gary the Manager offered us their just finished winter special of 7 nights for $130.  Too good an offer to refuse.  The park was beside the beach, the view hidden by high bushes, and a 5 minute walk to the jetty and Marion Bay Tavern.  There was a big, modern fully enclosed camp kitchen.  The sites were fairly big.  We had one of the drive through sites for bigger vans. The park was fairly empty, with vans coming and going daily.

Marion Bay is a small coastal town on the southern tip of the Yorke Peninsula with a population of 280.  It’s known as the “Gateway to Innes National Park”.  The jetty is a popular fishing spot for squid, whiting and in autumn the mullet run.

There were some lovely coastal walks around Marion Bay, walking along the calmer sheltered bay by the caravan park across to the lookout on the other side of the bay down to the crashing waves of the surf beach.  

WEDNESDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER   -    We went for a drive to Innes National Park, 15 minutes away.  We stopped off at Stenhouse Bay and walked up the path overlooking the jetty that was built for ships to berth and load bags of gypsum and plaster for export in the heyday of the mining boom.

Innes Park covers 9,415 hectares of natural coastal vegetation, with 333 native plants – 115 of which have conservation significance.  It is a popular area for camping, bush walking, fishing, surfing and scuba diving.

It is a well known area for the 40 shipwrecks that happened along the Spencer Gulf and Gulf of St Vincent, due to the unpredictable storms that frequently hit the area.  It is called The Investigator Strait Shipwreck Trail.  The most famous shipwreck was The Ethel, a 3 masted 711 tonne ship that came aground in 1904, the remains can still be seen on Ethel Beach.    The Marion was wrecked in 1851 and Marion Bay was named after this shipwreck.

We saw the grave of Dao Thahn a buddhist Vietnamese sailor buried on the hillside.  He was killed at sea on 25^th March 1940 when a bag of coal hit him.  He couldn’t be buried at sea because of his religion, so a local carpenter made his coffin and his friends performed the last rites.  Crewmen carried his coffin to the burial site at Stenhouse Bay.  His family later made the decorative beaded bouquet and arranged for it to be delivered to his gravesite.

Innes National Park is named after William Innes who discovered commercial quantities of gypsum there in the early 1900’s.  He set up the mining township of Inneston where gypsum was produced up to 1930 when the Great Depression hit.  In the early days the gypsum was hauled to the port by horse and cart.  In 1914 a tramway was built connecting Inneston to Stenhouse Bay until it closed in 1914.  After it closed, the locals would travel along the line to get to Inneston as the bush tracks were much too rough. 

We drove on to the historic town of Inneston and walked through the ruins of what was once a very isolated, but self-sufficient boom town, with its own school, bakery, general store and post office.  The post office has been lovingly restored by the Friends of Innes National Park.  Some of the houses have been rebuilt and can be rented out for holidays.  We learnt how the school mistress had the task of testing if the chalks were of an adequate standard to use -  not too soft or too crumbly.  Chalk is a by-product from gypsum. 

From there, we drove around to Ethel Beach to see the wreck of The Ethel and on to the surf beach at Pondalowie Bay.  

CHINAMAN'S HAT ISLAND

We saw so many emus wandering around the park with their chicks.  At one stage, we had to stop to let a gang of them cross the road in front of our car.  The adults looked so scruffy and gangly and scrambled around like road runners.  They were so funny and really made us chuckle.

SUNDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER   -  Father’s Day.  I hope you all had a very nice and relaxing day with your family.

We went to the Marion Bay Tavern for lunch.  We had a window seat overlooking the ocean.  It was a sunny but really windy day.  We had a beautiful lunch.  I had an unusual shredded chicken Vietnamese salad with mint, coriander, cucumber and carrot with a spicy chilli/peanut dressing.  Richard had succulent (and oh so fresh) salt and pepper squid (I know cos I pinched a few). 

We have certainly enjoyed our stay at Marion Bay.  We’ve had mixed weather and it’s been sunny but quite cold and windy most days.  Richard tried his luck fishing off the jetty and even got good tips from some of the locals.  Unfortunately he got too cold after an hour standing there each time he went, and catching nothing, he gave up.  He’s hoping for better luck further around the Peninsula.

CHEEKY SALLY ON OUR CHAIRS ( SHE KNOWS SHE'S NOT ALLOWED)

NEXT WEEK:  We will be continuing our trip around the other side of the Yorke Peninsula to stay 7 nights at Wallaroo, known as the “Apex of The Copper Triangle”, home to the Spencer Gulf prawn fleet and where the   Sea SA Car and Passsenger Ferry goes across to the Eyre Peninsula.