Saturday 23 October 2010 Port Germein

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I think the oysters I ate upset my tummy a bit during the night so we ended up having a sleep in this morning.  It was still blowing and cloudy so we decided to go for a drive around the area.  We visited Port Pirie and washed the car at the car wash as it had a good layer of bugs on it by now.  We drove to Telowie Gorge and walked the 1.6 klm return track, then drove on up the Port Germein Gorge road and stopped in at Glenholme Vinyards at Blesing’s Garden.  The owner was very friendly and provided wine tastings and Devonshire teas.  We continued on towards Laura and came across an Olive Grove/Café and had a late lunch with some oil tasting.  Very nice meals and unfortunately we were then too full to have any of Laura’s famous ice creams.  There were a number of forestry trails and survey tracks through the hills but it was getting late in the day so we returned to the van to hide from the wind which had gotten stronger as the day went on.


Friday 22 October 2010 Port Germein

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The wind had blown in from the north boosting temperatures into the low 30’s.  Fuel consumption was noticeably heavier going into the wind and it was great once we passed through Port Augusta heading south, now with a tail wind.  We pulled into Port Germein CV Park and caught up on some washing etc.  The park owners are very friendly and explained how they hire crab pots and supply bait for park visitors who want to walk out on the 1.5 klm long jetty and catch some blue swimmer crabs.  We’ll try that if and when the wind drops. 

We went to the pub for dinner and for a town of about 200 or so people it was a pretty lively night.  When you looked around the bar you saw the wildest bunch of characters including the hairiest barman I’ve ever seen.  There was a fat lady and man singing and they were quite good, with plenty of bantering going on between them and the crowd.  We had a brain-fried druggy with coke bottle glasses and a western shirt jigging away beside us and his conversation made Ozzie Osborne sound intelligent.  But the surprising thing was everyone was having a great time and the mix of characters added to the atmosphere.

Thursday 21 October 2010

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We left Lincoln National Park and headed up the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula as we had a number of places recommended to us.  We visited Boston Bay Winery that had a great view of the harbour just north of Port Lincoln.  The wines weren’t too bad luckily, as we needed to restock supplies.  We checked out a number of spots including Tumby Bay, Lipson Cove (Beautiful little beach), Arno Bay and Cowell.  We bought some oysters at Cowell Roadhouse and headed for Point Lowley for the night.  It’s a free camp that’s virtually in the car park of the boat ramp about 300 metres from a lighthouse.  There’s a rock wall to fish off, but I only caught weeds and rocks as usual.  This spot is very popular and you need to get in early and the flies were prolific and very friendly.

Wednesday 20 October 2010 Lincoln National Park

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Another perfect day, sunny and warm.  I tried my hand at jagging squid but only managed to loose my lure on the weed and rocks.  The best part was seeing seals and dolphins swimming by and the birds sunning themselves on the rocks in the morning sun.  I did manage to upset a pair of Pacific Gulls who were nesting on the beach in front of us.  They swooped and sqarked at me, but didn’t get too close.  This is a beautiful location and again having a tinny would be an advantage as the weed around the rocks means I’m going to loose fishing gear.

Tuesday 19 October 2010 Streaky Bay to Port Lincoln

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Today we leave Streaky Bay quite reluctantly and promise ourselves to return to this very beautiful spot when possible.  We were heading for Farm Beach as recommended by some friends.  This turned out to be totally different from what we had imagined.  The campground looked a bit feral and the beach was out of sight about 300 metres away.  You could drive along the beach if you wanted but I wasn’t going to attempt it on our own.  It would be great here with a small group and even better if you had a tinny.

We continued on to Coffin Bay, which appeared very touristy and not what we were looking for.  So it was on to Port Lincoln, did some shopping and out to the Lincoln National Park at Fishermans Point.  This is a good 30-minute drive out of town on a good dirt road.  We wriggled into a camp spot amongst heath land scrub on a point with views of Port Lincoln on the other side of the bay.

Sunday 17 October 2010 Streaky Bay

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We woke to a beautiful day and headed off for the two loop drives.  The first is the Cape Bauer Loop, which takes you along some of the most scenic coast you’ll find anywhere.  The water seems extra clear down here and has this striking azure blue colour to it.  The fishermen on the rocks have got to be keen and I don’t know how they get the fish up if it’s anything over a couple of kilos.  There are blowholes that whistle and gush.  Unfortunately not gushing water when we were there but the air rushing in and out was quite loud.
The second loop is the Westall Way, which is further down the coast displaying more spectacular coastline and even a bunch of sea lions lounging on the rocks and playing in the water.  We also saw miles of pure white sand dunes but didn’t venture far out into them, as it’s pretty remote if you get stuck.
These drives took us most of the day so we treated ourselves to dinner at the caravan park restaurant.  A low-key affair, but fantastic value for money.  I had a dozen of the best oysters I’ve ever had for entrée then we had lamb shanks and vegies.  Desert was apple crumble, cream and ice cream, Yummy!!

Saturday 16 October 2010 Minnipa to Streaky Bay

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Thank God the wind has died down today.  Patchy showers but still fairly cool.  Only travelled about 130 klms today and booked into the Streaky Bay Foreshore CV Park for 3 nights.  We scored a waterfront site, set up and went for a bike ride around town.  We made a booking for dinner at the Mocean restaurant, which was recommended by the people camped beside us who are regular visitors here.  On the way back the wind blew in our faces and the rain came down, once again I was freezing cold.  We had some lunch and jumped under the covers for a nanna nap.  Tomorrow we’ll explore a couple of circuit drives around the area as suggested by the park owners.  We may even try another bike ride along the foreshore if the weather improves.

Friday 15 October 2010 Wilmington to Minnipa

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Eight degrees centigrade this morning with horizontal rain coming in at about 80 kph plus.  Not nice and we froze packing up and filling the tanks.  Heading west today to a little town called Minnipa and Pildappa Rock.  This is one of several granite wave rock formations around Australia.  We were heading into the wind all the way and the van has developed a small tail wobble, which I think is caused by the Coopers tyres.
We thought we would be out of the wind behind the rock, but it seemed to swirl around and get us just the same.  Deb climbed the rock after some persuasion but couldn’t wait to get down again.  We spent the rest of the day in the van out of the wind and rain.

13/14 October – Wilmington SA

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Wilmington’s a little town 40 klms east of Port Augusta.  Staying for 2 nights in the caravan park.  A bit feral, but ok.  Drove about 10 klm to Alligator Gorge and did the 2.5 klm 2 hour walk.  Nice but lots of rock hopping and very steep climb in and out.  We need the exercise though.  Then we drove to Hancock’s Lookout for spectacular views of the Spencer Gulf.  A beautiful day but cool and drizzling in the evening.

Eyre Peninsula South Australia Trip Oct 2010

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Left our friend’s place at Esk on Monday 11 October, spent night at Walgett NSW in free camp in town.  Then went through Bourke to Wilcannia via the dirt road (350 klms dirt) which was in good condition as we did 80 kph most of the way.  Spent Tuesday night at a rest area on a small hill in between Wilcannia and Broken Hill.  Drizzling rain but the desert country is green and the wild flowers are in bloom making the views quite spectacular.  Fields of purple, yellow, green, orange and flashes of red.  It even smells good!  Wednesday night we were at Wilmington near Port Augusta for a couple of nights.  There are a number of walks to do in the area and will post photos of them in the next post, so stay tuned.  The new cruiser is great and all is going well so far.  It’s a little overcast at present but should be perfect for walking.