SOUTH AUSTRALIA

We followed the Mallee Highway to Lameroo and ten turned north through Kulkami to Bowhill and on to Purnong where we caught the ferry across the Murray River to a beautiful camping spot right beside the river called Caurnamont. 

It was such a lovely spot that we decided to stay a couple of days. We enjoyed swimming and taking a drive into Mannum, following the road on the western side of the river. 

The sight of the river paddle boats moving through was lovely especially at night but it was sad to see so few people on them at this their peak season.

An original take on guest accommodation.

Leaving Caurnamont, we drove back through Mannum then turned  north to Sedan. It was lovely to see the amazing stone fences again. If there’s one thing in plentiful supply in South Australia it’s rocks. 

We continued on to Nuriootpa  and Freeling then headed north-west to Balaklava. Along this road we saw the sad evidence of the recent bushfires that had raged through this area. It is surprising when you realise that most of the fires were fed by the matured grain crops, with most of the bush consisting of roadside verges. Unfortunately, recent rains meant that the farmers had ploughed their fields so the really strong winds that were blowing were just picking up all the soil and carting it away, piling much of it up against fencelines.

At Balaclava we turned west to Port Wakefield and then it was a short run through to Kadina where we spent the next couple of days with great our great friends and fellow Bushie owners, Neil and Sue. Kadina is the biggest town on the York Peninsula and is a great place to restock. There is also some great crabbing to be done on the coast just to the west and we were treated to several feeds of sand crab over the next few days.

KANGAROO ISLAND

We booked our accommodation on the island through the ferry company because that gave us a small discount. The selection was limited through them but we decided that since you don’t really know much unless you’ve been there before it was worth a punt. So that we wouldn’t be rushing too much, we left a day early since we had to drop our dog, Leo, at the kennels on the way. It was nice to take a leisurely drive through Adelaide and down to the Fleurieu Peninsula. On the way we stopped at a fantastic spot called Port Wilunga where we had a delicious lunch at a restaurant called Star of Greece. Thanks Neil! 

The view as we ate lunch at Star of Greece restaurant.

The beaches along this coast are truy beautiful and the sand so hard that everyone just drives down onto the beach.

After coffee in Port Elliot and some investigations we decided to stay at the Anchorage Hotel on the seafront in Victor Harbour. The rates were OK and everything was clean and tidy. They have a nice bar and restaurant although the evening meals aren’t really what we were looking for so we just walked up the road to another pub. 

The view from the balcony outside our room was lovely and we enjoyed a leisurely stroll around town after checking in. Unfortunately not many of the stores were open as it was after 5 pm. We were a bit surprised that there was no late night opening since this is supposed to be their peak season.

Next morning it was off to Cape Jervis to catch the ferry, with Neil worrying that we didn’t get seasick if it was too rough. He needn’t have worried as the crossing was pretty easy despite the big swells coming through Backstairs Passage. The cost of getting a van across to the island is prohibitive so we all came down in the one vehicle. A normal car under 5 metres costs around $97 and passengers about $50 each one way. 

Approaching the ferry terminal at Penneshaw.

We arrived at Penneshaw just before lunchtime and decided to head straight to a great little spot on the north coast called Stokes Bay. It was great to be doing the trip with Neil and Sue as they had been here before. A little bit of local knowledge goes a long way to making the trip easier. After a walk through the rocks to a beautiful beach we had another delicious seafood lunch beside the ocean at a little restaurant.

This beautiful beach lies at the end of the path through
the rocks from Stokes Bay carpark.

After lunch we continued along the northern coast, exploring more beautiful beaches as far as Western River Cove. 

Black boys this size abound on the island.

Looking back to Western River from the west.

Then we headed south to the Playford Highway with runs through the middle of the island. Kangaroo Island is surprisingly large with about a third taken up by National Parks and Conservation Parks. With only about 4600 residents it is certainly not crowded and the countryside is a mixture of bushy scrub and farmland. Most of the minor roads are dirt but easy driving without a 4WD.

There are several large salt lakes throughout the island.

Our accommodation was just outside the main town of Kingscote at a little winery at Bay of Shoals. We were really happy with our choice. The 3 bedroom house was not flash but clean, comfortable and tastefully decorated. The large deck overlooking the vineyards and the bay beyond was fantastic. 

We spent many hours just sitting there enjoying the view and the antics of the wonderful variety of birds that came in to take a drink or bath in the birdbath. The blue wrens were very friendly and were not afraid to come right onto the table chasing tidbits that we tempted them with. We also had lots of red-browed finches, new holland honeyeaters and silvereyes among others. 

At around $160 a night we thought it was great value. There is a wide selection of accommodation scattered all over the island and while some is way out there on the luxury end, most houses range from $150 to $200 a night. We thought Emu Bay just north of us would be a great spot for families. There are lots of houses for rent and you can just drive down onto the beach which is sheltered from most winds.

The beach at Emu Bay.

The guys went on a fishing charter next morning and managed to bring back a good lot of King George whiting which of course we enjoyed for dinner. There was even enough to freeze some for later. 

There was no shortage of pelicans on the island and they always appeared wherever boats were returning from fishing.

The rest of our time we spent sightseeing around the island. Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks at Flinders Chase National Park, were quite spectacular. 

Cape du Couedic Lighthouse above and the view to the south-west over Admirals Arch to the Casuarina Islets below.

There are plenty of New Zealand fur seals to be seen on the rocks all around the Cape.

Admiral's Arch

Weirs Cove where supplies for the lighthouse were offloaded at the bottom of the cliff and lifted up to the storehouse.

Remarkable Rocks certainly live up to their name.

Once again we had great lunch – fish burgers this time – at a little store at Vivonne Bay before heading out for a look at the jetty there.

It was then back to the house and a leisurely afternoon out on the deck. I would recommend Kangaroo Island to anyone. It has a wide range of things to do and see and there is something to suit most budgets. 

On our way to catch the ferry home we made a quick stop at the boat ramp below the vineyard to feed our fish scraps to the pelicans. John almost lost his hand down ones throat.

We also called in to Pennington Bay before enjoying a lovely coffee back at Penneshaw.

Pennington Bay

The lovely beach at Penneshaw beside the ferry terminal.

YORKE PENINSULA

Of course Leo was very happy to see us when we picked him up on the Monday. Next day was catching up with washing etc then it was off down to Gleeson’s Landing, our favourite spot on Yorke Peninsula. This is a wonderful bay which reminds us very much of Wooroora Station at Ningaloo in Western Australia. As the wind wasn't too strong, we made our camp on the headland at the south end of the beach. The views were spectacular.

We put the tinny in one day but didn’t catch anything. Not that we minded. It was nice just to get out on the water. Being fair weather fishermen, we decided it was too choppy for the rest of our stay but it was so relaxing just sitting out watching the birds and the ocean that we were happy to stay for several days. We didn’t see anything of the ranger so didn’t get to pay the $35 a week fee that you’re supposed to pay. Apparently you can pick up a permit etc at Minlatin on the way down. There are lots of other camping spots and caravan parks on the Peninsula and Innes National Park right at the tip has some lovely beaches as well. The surf here at Gleeson’s is pretty good too. 

We saw several guys on surf boards, boogie boards and even a “why bother” board out at the point catching a wave.

Because we were camped on the headland we didn’t get the sunsets over the ocean but they were still pretty spectacular. We will definitely be coming back again.

EYRE PENINSULA

Our trip to Eyre Peninsula didn’t start too well as we got a flat on the van just out of Port Augusta. While trying to help John I managed to put my back out of whack again after having it fixed the day before. I was lucky however as I got a chiropractor’s appointment in Whyalla for the following morning. Fortunately, the Bridgestone people in Port Augusta looked after us and we were off again pretty quickly to Port Lowly Point just north of Whyalla. 

The sheltered little harbour at Lowly Point

Light House complex - Lowly Point

We were hoping to spend some time here to do some snapper fishing but the weather didn’t look too good for the next few days and other campers said they hadn’t been catching much so we just spent the one night then headed in to Whyalla and the chiro before continuing down the eastern side of the peninsula looking for another nice camp. 

Just avoided running over this blue-tongue along the road.

We thought we might stay at a new spot this time but after checking lots of them out we ended up going all the way down to Lipson Cove, a spot where we camped on our last trip. It is still a lovely spot and the cormorants, gulls and rock pigeons were still prolific on the little island just off the beach. The beach itself is lovely.

Lipson Cove

It wasn’t far to Port Lincoln next morning and after catching up on washing, groceries, water etc we managed to get to Farm Beach reasonably early on Friday afternoon. It turned out that we got there just before a large group of regulars so we were lucky to get a nice camp site in a sheltered area beside the fence. This gave us some protection from the winds and made it easier for us to keep Leo the dog away from the other campers.

The 'caravan park' here is run by the Lower Eyre Shire Council based in Cummins and has a toilet and cold shower only. It is now $10 a night per site which isn't too bad. Our first two days proved good for whiting fishing with us getting 7 keepers each day, although we did catch probably twice as many which were just under the 30 cm size limit. We also managed to jag a couple of squid thanks to some timely advice from our friendly neighbours. 

Full moon rising over the hills behind the camp site.

And so we filled our days for the next two weeks fishing, squidding and socialising with the great group of people who were there. Each afternoon saw a large gathering for happy hour and on Thursdays and Saturday’s you can get a nice meal in Wangary at the football club. We also joined in the men’s cooking night which was fun.

Men's cook night.

Port Lincoln is only 60 kilometres away when you need to restock, wash etc. You can get groceries in Cummins but other services are limited. Likewise for Coffin Bay which has even fewer shops but it does have a dump point. Oysters can be bought straight from the farms just a couple of kilometres down the road at Little Douglas, where several large farms operate.

The beach where you launch the tinny is hard enough to drive on without problems although there are occasional soft spots in which you can get bogged down . Cars can be seen parked at left.

Getting ready to go out chasing nannagai.

One of the many cliffs along the coast, one of which was
used in the filming of the Gallipoli movie.

A cave John had to explore.

There were dolphins aplenty that day. We even had a large
pod surfing our bow wave at one stage. Magic! 

Our catch of nannagai.

Almost everyone at Farm Beach was friendly and helpful, with information re how and where to fish being shared freely, as well as the catches themselves. We spent our last couple of days chasing squid with some success.

One squid managed to get some revenge!

It was a lovely environment and we found it hard to leave. We hope we will be able to return regularly. Consequently we were a bit sad to head off. We decided to go as far as Whyalla where we stayed at Stuart Park, a local sporting ground for $10 a night. It was quite a good spot for an overnighter and we actually managed to get some useful information from the local Centrelink office when we paid a visit. Whyalla itself, like Port Lincoln, is quite a large place though Lincoln seems more prosperous and will probably be even more so if the steel works in Whyalla don’t continue to operate.

Next day we pulled in at Port Augusta so we could replace the rest of the tyres on the van, since they were all getting past their use by date. John dropped me at the Australian Native Botanic Gardens just north of town while he took the rig in to get the tyres. I was really stoked to get three new birds here so it was a worthwhile trek. We also picked up our mail from a local post office and John managed to complete his postal vote. Unfortunately the staff at the electoral commission couldn’t figure out that we wanted both our vote kits sent there so I will have to hope mine gets to Rockhampton via our mate Steve in time for me to vote too.

We managed to get away from Port Augusta just on lunch time, heading east in the next and final part of this trip.