An early morning departure saw us back on
the road and headed for the Eyre Peninsula, to the beautiful Streaky Bay where
we would celebrate Christmas day. Our
sense of adventure is always heightened, as we set off on the next leg of the
road trip, often we have heard stories, read blog posts and been offered tips along
the way, by those who have already gone before us, on the best there is ‘to see
and do’ in each place. As we left the rich, green vineyards of the
Fleurieu Peninsula, we could not have anticipated the vast and desolate
expanses of our nation.
Bypassing Adelaide
for now, we joined the Eyre Highway traveling upward alongside Spencer Gulf, towards Port Augusta. Port Augusta is a sea
port and railway junction city on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula, at the
head of Spencer Gulf. It is the seventh most populous city in South Australia
and although its industrial appearance does not endear you to stop for a
seaside stroll, it is a popular tourist base for those wanting to explore the
nearby Flinders Rangers. A friend had told us that there was really ‘not much’
worth seeing on the Eyre Highway between Port Augusta and where we were heading 391 kilometres away to Streaky Bay. At the
risk of offending anyone residing on this stretch of highway, I concur she was
in fact quite correct. The road just continued on and on for many kilometres of
‘the same’ landscape, large expanses of wheat fields, low shrubbery and dusty, barren plains, with the occasional
small town and fuel station in between.
We stopped at the town of Kimba for a late lunch,
at the only dining option on offer. This little town boasts being both an opal, jade and gemstones destination, as well as ‘the halfway across Australia’ point. We of course took a
photo, high fived and smiled at one another, in what seemed like quite a worthy
achievement for us, having driven half way across Australia.
We were blissfully
unaware that in reality we had crossed the easier half, as we headed east to
west. After stretching our legs and happily filling our bellies, we departed
Kimba and drove on, stopping next at Kyancutta to refuel. The sign painted on
the Kyancutta fuel stop, opened our eyes a little wider to the distance we had
already traveled, and even more so to the distances still to travel.
This sign was a
moment of both innocent surprise and nervous laughter for us ‘nation crossing rookies’, at discovering we had nearly the same
distance, we had already traveled, to
drive all over again, to cross over into the promised land of Western Australia. For those of you who are deep thinkers
and navigational strategists, this would of course have made sense, being we
were just recently informed at Kimba that we were halfway across. However, it was us seeing the
sign at Kyancutta, that made it really sink in we still had a long, long way to
drive! For now we chose to celebrate the part of the sign
that said 156 kilometres to Streaky Bay where we were heading and we set off again, cheery in the knowledge
we were only a couple of hours away from our next campsite.
Streaky Bay is the major service centre for
the surrounding rural district. Grain crops such as wheat and barley are supported
by beef, sheep, pigs and poultry farming. As we continued along the Eyre
Highway, each approaching town was pre-empted by a looming, tall, white grain
silo on the horizon. Towns of Pygery, Yaninee, Karcultaby, followed one
another, until finally we exited the Eyre Highway at Poochera and headed out
to the coastal town of Streaky Bay.
Our campsite was a little more barren than
we expected, especially by comparison with the grassy patches we had experienced
on our trip so far. We were thankful for the couple of trees nearby, that would
provide welcome shade in the very warm 38 deg C days that followed. Up went the
tent without incident, including simple Christmas decorations. We were definitely growing in confidence at our set up
routine.
Before we knew it we were sitting by the bay, as the sun sank low, eating pasta and watching the tide creep out and the birds do their final
business of the day.
The next day was Christmas eve and we were happy and content to be settled
at this campsite for the next four days. After a slow start the following morning
and a hearty cooked breakfast, we headed to the local boat ramp and put our
little boat in for a day on the water in the bay.
poached eggs with spinach, tomato & mushroom on sour dough toast
poached eggs with spinach, tomato & mushroom on sour dough toast
Without any local knowledge, we headed out into the middle of the bay and put in some lines for a fish.
However, after moving the boat to a couple of different spots, we were only
really successful in catching weed. The wind came up, the fishing didn’t
improve and after a rocky, picnic lunch on board, we surrendered and returned
to shore.
chicken & salad rolls
Our lack of fish caught on the water, the heat of the day, the prevailing
wind and a fellow camper walking by our campsite later in the day with a large
catch of crabs, sent Mr G into a discouraged state.
Whilst he cleaned down the boat and
reflected on the day’s frustrations, Jake and I went for a short drive, in
search of a spot to cool off with a swim. We discovered Back beach, only five
minutes drive away down a dusty, dirt road lined with wheat fields.
However,
swimming was a little more challenging than we expected, as the water’s edge was
covered with a sharp, rocky surface, preventing us from taking the plunge. Instead we
searched for a sandy spot between the rockery and lay down flat
in our best effort to get wet!
That evening after a feed of local Coorong
mullet and salads, Mr G who is not to be held down for long, headed
out at dark into the shallows of the bay, with his crab nets and
light in an attempt to redeem his day.
Pan fried Coorong mullet with potato salad
Jake and I elected to stay in the tent
to rest after our big day on the water, however this was short lived. Mr G running into the tent half an hour later, to show us his first crab catch, soon roused us from the comfort of our airbeds, to join him in the excitement. It
was indeed a fascinating experience to watch a crab swim sideways through the
shallows and Mr G’s joy of capturing them was certainly infectious. We had a
delightful time together and returned to shore about 10.30pm, with a net full
of blue swimmer crabs, eight in total and a much happier husband. He was now content
to sleep soundly with the knowledge his ‘hunter, gatherer’ status was restored
and a seriously good feed of crabs awaited him at daylight.
It was an unusual Christmas day, waking up
in a tent and having only one of our three kids present, to receive hugs and presents! After exchanging gifts and a simple breakfast, we headed to the camp kitchen to cook up our crabs. Noticing the severe
sunburn of the bald headed camper we met in the camp kitchen, I wished him a happy Christmas
and asked him how he had got so sunburnt. After telling us of his day out in
the sun the day before at Sceale Bay, a helpful conversation followed of where was the best place to fish in the area with a small boat. He kindly directed us to try
our hand at a certain spot he had found in Sceale Bay for King George whiting. It was at
this point that I reminded Mr G, just how fortunate he was to have me along on
this road trip, to open up such conversations, which inevitably led to new and
helpful fishing information for him.
It was far to hot to contemplate eating a
long Christmas lunch at the campsite, so we elected to pack a simple picnic and
go for a drive to Sceale Bay, where we swam and picnicked in near seclusion on Surfers beach.
We
then took a drive along the nearby Westall Way Coastal Scenic Loop, which
stretched for thirty one kilometres and was jam packed with scenic lookouts and gorgeous
swimming spots along the way.
If you do ever get to drive this scenic loop, make sure you stop and get out of the car at each of the sign posted spots, as what you'll discover as the following images will attempt to share, is so worthy of the moments spent.
Tractor
beach
Granites
Smooth
Pool
Yanerbie
beach
Returning to our tent late afternoon, we
were able to enjoy our Seafood Christmas feast, now in the shade of the trees.
Spencer
Gulf prawns, fresh caught Blue Swimmer crabs, calamari rings and salads with
some delicious McLaren Vale Apple Cider
It was the perfect end to what had been a very different and yet unforgettable Christmas day for us.
Boxing Day we were up and ready to go, boat attached behind us, we headed back down the dirt road to the beautiful Sceale Bay, in search of the promised King George Whiting.
It was a busy time at the filleting table for me that afternoon and I was joined by the local pelicans who were more than pleased and eager to wait for the scraps.
The next morning we arose to an extremely
hot day, I had planned to visit the site of Murphy’s Haystacks, a nearby rock
formation in a hay field about thirty minutes drive south of Streaky Bay. The
boys were thrilled (NOT!) to accompany me to view what they described as a ‘bunch of
rocks’ located inland, in the heat of the day. I thought they were worth
seeing, however the cool of the evening, possibly sunset, would have made for a
more enjoyable viewing.
Murphys Haystacks
Murphys Haystacks
That afternoon we had the uneviable task of
packing up camp in 38 deg C heat, in order to leave Streaky Bay and continue our
journey toward Western Australia. It was unknown to us at the time, that it we
was the beginning of the toughest twenty four hours of our journey so far. We
gradually packed up, pausing every fifteen minutes to wash our faces and feet
with cool water at the nearby tap and gulp down a cup of water to stay hydrated. We
were ever so relieved to finally hook up the boat, shut the car boot and
retreat to the comfort of the air conditioned car. We drove out of
Streaky Bay, heading further west, toward what lay ahead for us, our first crossing of the
Great Australian Bight, the Nullarbor Plain and the lengthy drive along the
Eyre Highway crossing the border into Western Australia.
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