Streaky Bay to Port Augusta

We have been working fairly consistently for the last few weeks so our blogs have been slow.  We have got the store to where they can run automatic re-orders of their stock.  This included a stocktake of 14,500 products in the Retail side of the store, training of all staff and a compiling a 60+ page instruction manual.  It has been satisfying and was good to see that some of our grey matter is still doing its thing. We all had a bit of fun including having our vehicles front doors shrink wrapped while we were parked out front of the shop on our way out of town.  It’s nice to know we will be missed.  The weather has been beautiful for the last few weeks with cool nights and warm days and the water on the bay has been like glass.  We will miss rolling over at day break and cracking the blinds to watch the sunrise over the water a few metres away.   And we will miss paddling the kayaks in the evenings and the sunset jetty walks.

Sunset jetty walks were great with colours like this

Our side yard for Feb-Apr

Cute Sea Lions

Sunning them selves

Spectacular limestone coast

Returning from an afternoon paddle

Another beautiful sunset from our van.

Apart from all that, we are glad to be back on the road again.  We are heading east from Streaky Bay and decided to make our first stop a short distance away at Pildappa Rock.  This is South Australia’s Wave Rock. Very similar to the photos of the WA one that we have seen.  The sunset was very pretty and there are several camp sites around the rock and we had one to ourselves under the shadow of the rock.  The serenity is amazing once we turned the generator off. We are 15kms off the highway towards the Gawler Ranges and the rock is a large lump of pink granite (that is actually dark red) rising out of the limestone wheat plains.  It is several hundred metres long and 30 odd metres high with a big wave formation on the northern and southern sides.  The proper term for it is an inselberg – an area of bedrock remaining after all of the surrounding land has been eroded away.  Next stop is further east to Port Augusta where we turn north toward the Northern Territory.  On the way across we had smoko in Wadinna which is a rural town and has the largest bulk grain handling facility on the peninsula.  It also has the largest galah.  The bird, not the tourist!!!

 

Pildappa Rock just before sunset

Good lookout

Waterholes trapped on top of the rock - Gawler Ranges in the distance.

Wave formation on the south side beside our camp

Rock wall drains added in the 1800's to catch rain runoff

Big things are good out here too..

Port Augusta is at the northern tip of the Flinders Gulf and is a reasonably large town with Coles & Woolies.  The bank beside the shops and the water has been grassed nicely and there are numerous old piers and boats moored in the city.  Our van park is a bit out of the city away from the highway and is advertised as ‘Lakeside’ with waterfront sites and cabins.  Technically they are available but there is about 200+ metres of desert sand between the 8ft high chain wire park boundary fence and the water’s edge. The Gulf at this point is narrower than the Fitzroy and the far bank is lined with iron ore and goods trains.  It is still very pleasant and water views are welcome given where we are headed for the next couple of weeks.  Our larder is full again after a spend up at the grocery store and we are looking forward to heading into new parts tomorrow.  As long as the locals don’t get the cruiser over / through the perimeter fence during the night.  There is enough signs about theft around to make you paranoid.  Not like Streaky Bay where it takes forever to even find a key for most doors.  Last time we had a few days away we locked some gear in the units where are parked and I had to find my own key to lock the door.  I eventually found one for the door to unit 4 on a shelf in unit 2.  Ah the security of small country towns!!

Eyre Peninsula

The coastline near Streaky Bay is quite spectacular in good weather and we enjoyed a drive south through seaside villages, beaches and rugged cliff coastline.  The sea lion colony near Sceale Bay was impressive with dozens of New Zealand Fur Seals resting on the rocks or playing in the water near rocks on a headland.  Some of the seals are huge looking like several hundred kilo’s and of course there was one very cute baby wandering around the beach and rocks squarking for its mother.  She politely ignored it and slept on. 

There are several nice smaller beaches in the bays and one large beach near Sceale Bay aptly named Surf Beach, which yielded zero fish despite a brief attempt over lunch.  From the top of the dunes overlooking Surf Beach the waves appear so regular and endlessly long. Each wave breaks in a single line 2-3 kms south to the Sceale Bay end of the beach and for kilometres to the north as far as you can see.  It is the single longest breaking wave that I have seen. Sadly the waves were a gentle half metre high that day.  The scenery is pretty but we have to say that the roads desperately need a grader over them. 

The harem

Mother and baby 

the Boss

chilling out and catching some rays

the squarking youngster

This haystack has been hollowed out a bit

More Haystacks

Wild bee hive hanging from a "haystack"

On the way home we called in to see some rock formations called Murphy’s Haystacks. They are large pink granite columns rising out of the dusty limestone countryside and have been weathered over thousands of years to resemble large haystacks on a hilltop.  An Irishman travelling in a coach many years ago commented on the rocks shapes resembling haystacks and hence the name. On one of the columns we found a wild bee hive hanging from the rock tended by dozens of honey bees.  I have seen native bees and hives before but not a wild big bee hive.

We also called in to see Eyre’s Waterhole which is a small water soak in the plain near Streaky Bay.  Eyre ‘discovered’ it during his trek from Adelaide to Albany WA in the early 1800’s and spent time here watering his men and horses before setting off across the Nullabor.  The waterhole is only about a metre in diameter and 1 ½ metres deep but it has fresh water running into it. When Eyre found it there was 5 to 7 inches of water in it and replenished itself “as fast as a man could bail it out”.  Nowadays the water is less than an inch deep but you could easily get a drink of fresh water if needed.

Back home our new boss dropped a couple of kayaks off for us to use seeing we are on the waterfront.  Garry has been going for a paddle most afternoons and his loop is getting further each day paddling around the bay towards the hospital and then in a lop back around the pier and the moored boats.  It is good exercise and so easy compared to the canoe we paddled on the Murchison River in WA.

After another week of stocktaking we took a long weekend and headed down to Port Lincoln on Friday.  On the way down we stopped at the Coulton Bakery which an old fashioned wood fired bakery situated in the middle of farming country, miles from any town, and is in a century old limestone block farmhouse.  The baker bakes different breads and buns each day and places them in a tiny roadside store with an honesty system.  We bought half a dozen sticky buns and a loaf of Polish Rye bread.  The buns were beautifully fresh and fluffy.  The rye bread we enjoyed for lunch on Saturday. Port Lincoln has a pretty foreshore and plenty of pubs along the esplanade.  We opted for fish and chips in the park but only got half way through them and had to finish them at home to warm up.  The sea breeze was freezing but it was the first day of autumn so what did we expect.  P.S. the fish and chips were good.

Coulton Bakery roadside store

Faithful companion watching his master surf from the cliff top

There were good waves on the way to Port Lincoln. There is a surfer in this barrel. The wind was strong!!!

Locks Well Beach

Makybe Diva Statue on Port Lincoln foreshore park

We decided to spend Saturday exploring the Lincoln National Park down to the bottom of the peninsula as we had been told about all the good places to see by a workmate in Streaky Bay.  It was a very pleasant day with a bitumen road running about 20 kms down the peninsula. The side road into the National Park however has been left as a rough and rocky bush track to discourage tourists.  The highlight of the park is Memory Cove which has a beautiful white sandy beach in a small bay with high rocky headlands either side.  It has about 6 camp sites right on the beach but the track ensures it is a tent or camper trailer campsite only.  A sunny day made a huge difference to the colour of the water which looked very blue and pretty when the bays are ringed by dark granite and crashing waves generate pure white breaks onto the rocks and cliffs.  There are several side tracks along the way offering great views of the cliffs, beaches, bays and offshore rocks and islands including Jussieu Bay, West Point and Cape Catastrophe.  We stopped at all of these except one whose track in was not only rough like the rest but very narrow and as the trees were scratching the car we turned back.  After we came back out of the Memory Bay area we called in to the Sleaford Dunes.  These are an area of huge golden sand dunes where many a young 4WD’er can hone his sand racing and hill climbing skills.  Despite the signs about sticking to the marked trails, the wheel tracks up and down the face of the largest dune showed that it had been recently conquered.  It looked at least 30m high and would have been fun in someone else’s 4WD.

Southern Ocean coastline looking north

looking south. Note the rocky ground and poor vegetation

Trawler setting out to sea in front of Williams Island lighthouse and beach

Carol checking out the sandy cliffs

One of many bays and beaches in Lincoln Nat Park

Markings on the rock indicating a Mailbox for passing sailing boats

Memory Cove

Rugged coastline

Southern tip of Memory Cove

Memory Cove Beach. The campgrounds are only 10m into the trees

Picnic Lunch in the campground

Sleaford Dunes

Boaties moored on opposite side of Boston Bay from Port Lincoln

After we returned from several hours of 30 kph rocky tracks, we headed further NW to the tip of Cape Donnington which is the southern entrance to Boston Bay on which Port Lincoln is situated.  There is a very modern (ugly) lighthouse on the point and several very nice beaches in the bayside.  There are also a few places where vans can be parked right near the beach on points and at the top of small cliffs that provide great outlooks across the bay while being protected from the winds off the Southern Ocean.  A few nice boats from Lincoln also moor off the beaches for the weekend.

 The marina at Lincoln back near town is mostly a commercial fishing boat base with dozens of very large trawlers and cray boats moored.  It must be off season as it seemed every marina berth had a fishing trawler moored in it although we saw one boat heading out to sea off the southern tip of the peninsula this morning.  There are some flash units and a few nice homes on the canals but there are very few pleasure craft about.  We were hoping to find a restaurant at the marina but the only places to eat are at a café at a service station, at the pub and at a motel restaurant so we elected to eat in town. We tried local seafood and wine and the wine won hands down.

Part of the largest commercial  fishing fleet in the southern hemisphere in Port Lincoln Marina/

Sunday sees us doing a big grocery shop in Port Lincoln before heading home via Coffin Bay where they produce some pretty good oysters.

Streaky Bay

Streaky Bay

We have settled in to our work routine in Streaky Bay and are quite comfortable.  The weather is very comfortable and predictable – whatever Perth gets we get 2 days later.  Our site is great with beautiful views across the bay every morning from bed and the sea is different each day.  The lady next door feeds a few dozen will ducks and it is cute to see them paddling past in the sea each morning and evening.  The work is easy and still interesting with a full stocktake required in a store larger than ours was. There is a lot of tidying up to be done and the staff have been receptive to new ideas so that makes it easier.  It was very different seeing a deposit on our bank statement for a change.

Last weekend we took a drive out along the coast on the west side of the Eyre Peninsula.  The views of the cliffs were good.  One area we went to was called The Granites.  The Nullabor Plain and most of the Eyre Peninsula is limestone and it was interesting to see a cove around a large intrusion of hard grey speckled granite with interesting bands of black stone running through it.  The tidal rock pools in the granite were very pretty with different sea plants, fish, and crabs in them.  We only caught one fish and gave a bit of tackle to the rocks and it was hot with no shade but still a fun afternoon.

 We look forward to another weekend exploring the peninsula.

Our new homesite from the jetty

pretty sunsets....this one included a dolphin feeding around the jetty

Limestone cliffs outside the bay

One of the many beaches

the Granites

there is still quite a lot of seaweed washing in at this time of year.

Streaky Bay / Mudgee / Brisbane

We filled up on blue swimmer crabs at Ceduna, Garry finished his last two holes of the Nullabor Links and got the Certificate to prove it, and we moved over to Streaky Bay.  We enjoyed morning tea at Smoky Bay on the way over which has a large oyster farming industry going on.  The locals all told us that the Smoky Bay oysters were as good or better than Coffin Bay ones but we have yet to confirm that. The van park at Streaky Bay is right on the shore of the bay and we got a good site with shade and the small high tides coming to within 10m of the van. There are plenty of pelicans and seagulls to keep us company as well as galahs, cockatoos, and willy wagtails hopping around the annex.  We seem to be the only ones in the park without a tinny but the tinny owners all seem to spend 10 times as long working on the boats as being in them fishing.  We watched one guy spend about 10 hours over 3 days just unloading his, assembling the trailer and loading the boat, then putting a cover on it and still never got it wet.  All of this effort was no more than 20m from the water!! The tide goes out a long way even though it only rises less than a metre and there are whiting and salmon to be caught we have been told.

Blue Swimmer Crabs from Ceduna pier

Limestone Cliffs on the southern coast near Streaky Bay

great southern ocean pounding in...

We met the owner of the Mitre 10 and Garry spent a bit of time getting to know the store and the staff ready to start work mid Feb.  Carol will also get to spend some time back in a Hardware store doing a stocktake by the looks.  The new boss is Paul and he is very friendly and easy to talk to.  We invited the kids over to the west while we were there and Brendan and Michelle came over with the boys.  As we are going to work for several weeks in Streaky Bay we decided to take a trip east to catch up with the other two families and drove across the Eyre Peninsular to Port Lincoln and flew from there to Sydney to visit Fabian, Emily, Elliot and Violet for a few days. Mudgee has had some rain and the place is beautiful and green and looks so good compared to SA and WA which are in the middle of their dry season.  After seeing Elliot’s new school, Violets new Kindy, and enjoying some great food at a winery and at home, we flew up to Brisbane for a few days to catch up with Kirsty and Ben and their family.  We got to see Isobel’s new school and Madelaine’s new Kindy and managed to build Grace a monkey shaped walker/trolley.  Isobel and Elliot started Grade 1 this year and both seemed to go ok.  Violet and Madelaine started ‘big girl’ Kindy and neither of them had trouble setting off on their next adventure following their older brother/sister.

We enjoyed seeing the rest of the kids and grandkids and are now ready to settle into a few weeks of work back at Streaky Bay.

We were a bit sad that we missed the Tamworth Country Music Festival this year.  It finished last week and we were a bit jealous of Russ and Jane when they headed off again.  We hope they enjoyed it and will have to be a bit closer than South Australia next year. 

Port Lincoln is quite a pretty town with all the shops/services/marinas you could want.  The bay and foreshore is clean and well kept.  All of the Eyre Peninsula is wheat growing country and there are big grain depots, silos, and ports in every town. January is however the middle of the dry season and the countryside looks very dry, dead, and dusty.  It must look pretty during/after the winter rains.  Streaky Bay only averages 12 inches of rain per year and has been getting less than that lately so water is precious in town.  It’s tough not being able to wash the dust off the car and van.  While we are over east we booked the car in to have the timing belt changed as it is due at 150,000km and we just passed that on the Nullabor.  After more than 2 years of perfect reliability it decided to not start on the morning we were heading across to Port Lincoln.  A jump start got it going and we got over there but it was not what we needed on the day we wanted to move the van from the van park into a M10 yard for storage and drive 350km to the garage.