CLARE VALLEY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

After another lovely night with Neil and Sue in Kadina we headed off to Clare to catch up with Gloria and Geoff. Along the way we were again amused by the road safety signs which we had seen all over South Australia. It took us a while to work out the “anchor” one and despite the apparent preoccupation with certain parts of the male anatomy, they certainly do grab your attention. What do you think?

 

Our route took us through Bute and Snowtown, where we pulled into the local camping reserve to empty our loo. The atmosphere in the town seemed rather sad and eerie but this might just be a preconception derived from what happened there. It is hard to imagine how such events might affect a town.

At Blyth we called in to take a look at Medika Gallery, an old church which has been transformed into a gallery and studio by artist, Ian Roberts. His specialty is birds and flowers and he has some lovely prints for sale, as well as prints, jewellery and artistic works by other artists. Blyth itself is a lovely old town with many fine examples of old architecture. The wildflowers etc in the area were also beautiful.

 

We decided to stay in Auburn when we arrived in the Valley itself, as there is a lovely caravan park at the local recreation reserve which we knew was dog friendly. It was also well placed to allow us to do a circular tour through all of the places we had been advised to visit. If you are into cycling, it is also a brilliant spot to access all of the fantastic cycle tracks which take you throughout the whole area. As in Victoria, the old railway lines have been utilised for this purpose and the tracks vary in length and difficulty. What a wonderful way to explore the hundreds of vineyards and keep fit at the same time.

First stop on our tour was Mintaro, a lovely little village where almost everything is made from slate. This is because there is a slate mine still operating there which produces the flattest slate available in Australia. In the days when slate was used on pool tables, all the tables produced in Aus. were topped with Mintaro slate.

Mintaro RSL

Slate has even been used instead of the usual rocks in the walls of the buildings.

One of the many large slabs of slate which are used as pavers all around town. Note the lovely rock wall in the background.

Next it was on to the old mining town of Burra where many of the original miners’ cottages are still being lived in. It is a bustling, picturesque little town with lots of interesting old architecture – and a pretty good bakery as well.

This imposing war memorial stands in the middle of Burra.

Rock fence and water pipeline between Burra and Clare.

We then drove back into Clare where we did a little grocery shopping before heading south again to Sevenhill. I particularly wanted to visit the vineyard here as we had been gifted some very nice wine from there many years ago while we were camped beside a little creek on the Mitchell Plateau. At that time the wine was made by the Jesuit monks who lived at the winery and I remembered it as being a very nice drop. Things have changed somewhat now and while the monks are still involved, there are also professional vintners employed. I must say the wines we tried were not that impressive but the museum and the old church were well worth the visit.



The original grape press used at Sevenhill.



Sevenhill grape press - Mark II

The underground storage cellar is lovely and cool.
Note the slate floor, no doubt from Mintaro.

 

We were thrilled to be able to go inside this beautiful church at Sevenhill.

 

The roof shingles can clearly be seen from inside the church.

Like the Barossa Valley, there are any number of vineyards to visit in the Clare Valley as well as an abundance of gourmet food establishments and places of historical interest. We also visited Taylors and a couple of smaller vineyards. It really has a vibrant atmosphere about it and again, you can’t help but wonder where the acres and acres of grapes go.

EYRE PENINSULA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

From Port Augusta we drove south along the east coast of Eyre Peninsula. There are plenty of campsites along this coast and we thought we might stop our first night at Port Gibbon. However, when we got there we discovered a very crowded and pretty ordinary campsite behind the dunes of a beach which was very uninteresting. It didn’t appeal at all as there wasn’t much room and there were lots of vans squashed in beside a small toilet block so we continued on and discovered a lovely little camp at Poverty Bay.

 

Some of these old air-raid shelters on the way into Poverty Bay
were being used by the farmer for storage.

We parked the van in an open area overlooking the beach and a rocky headland. Since the weather was good we stayed a couple of nights and really enjoyed walking along the beach and doing a spot of fishing. I only managed to catch a little puffer fish but it was very relaxing and the scenery was lovely, especially when we saw several dolphins cruising around in the bay.

 

The view from our camp at Poverty Bay.

Another lovely sunset.

There was also a colony of bees nesting under the cliff and poor Leo was having a hard time with them raiding his water bowl until I put out a plate of water for them which they emptied about three times while we were there. They must have to travel for miles to get water when it hasn’t rained for a while here.

Our grateful neighbours.

From Poverty Bay we continued south and had a look at several sites in the camps book, including Carrow Wells and Cape Hardy beach, all of which were OK but unless you like beach fishing there wasn’t much to do.

The beach at Carrow Wells.

At Lipson Cove we discovered a lovely little cove with an offshore island which was obviously a favourite breeding spot for sea birds. There must have been hundreds of cormorants, seagulls, terns, pacific gulls and pelicans and the camp area is very roomy. There are basic toilets and a good choice of camp-sites. John hopped in the water to see if he could walk over to the island but it was quite deep and he got a hell of a fright when a group of dolphins swam right past him.

The island rookery at high tide. You could almost walk out there at low tide.

One of the local egrets. There is no shortage of these along the SA coastline.

Wheat fields behind Lipson Cove.

Our camp at Lipson Cove.

The rocks vary here in both colour and composition.

This cairn was on the headland at Lipson Cove.
I wonder who "Wallaby Sam" was?

We took a drive into Tumby Bay on our way to Port Lincoln and it looked like a lovely little place. It had much more appeal to us than Arno Bay which looked a bit dry and uninviting. It was our intention to stay a night or two at Port Lincoln and we even thought we might look at doing the ‘dive with sharks’ thing. However, we discovered that they didn’t allow dogs at the caravan park right in town so we decided to stock up on groceries, fuel and water and empty the loo (there is a dump point on Windsor Avenue opposite the Wayback Football Club although it isn’t in the camps book) and then off we went to Farm Beach. We did look into going down south of Port Lincoln along what they call Whalers Way but it was $30 just to go down there and when we asked at the information centre about what was down there they mentioned things like spectacular coastline and koalas, both of which we have seen aplenty, so we gave it a miss.

Farm Beach, just past Coffin Bay is a great camp at only $5 a night for a good sized campsite. There are toilets there, a cold shower if you need it and a water tap with good quality water. It is a very popular spot and we would definitely spend more time there if we came back this way. It is easy to launch the boat off the beach if fishing is your thing. If not, there are plenty of interesting places to visit, including Coffin Bay and the national park and Mt Dutton Bay. We really enjoyed our drive around the inlet exploring the little fishing villages etc.

 

The marina at Coffin Bay.

Mt Dutton Bay looking across toward Coffin Bay.

Little Douglas, just beyond Farm Beach is also a lovely spot especially if you want to take a swim in sheltered waters.

 



The beach at Little Douglas.



Lagoon at Little Douglas.

The area seems really popular for yachts and other boaties who are looking for a sheltered mooring. Our first morning here was lovely as the rainy weather resulted in a heavy mist which hung over the area for several hours and created a very different atmosphere along the beach.

 

Boats moored at Farm Beach.

 

Another unusual feature of Farm Beach is the enclosure full of old tractors which are used by the locals to launch their boats at the beach. It would undoubtedly be of real interest to anyone who had an interest in old tractors.

This one was my favourite!

Another really nice thing about Farm Beach was the nightly gathering under the ‘Tree of Knowledge’ where many of the campers would meet for drinks, conversation and lots of laughs each afternoon. Many stories are told and when the local oyster guy arrives, you can also treat yourself to a dozen Coffin Bay oysters for $7. He will even shuck them for you if you get on his right side.

Since we were due in Venus Bay in a couple of days we left Farm Beach after 3 nights and continued north up the west coast of the Peninsula.

Coastline on the way into Point Drummond.

We decided to take the side track in and have a look at Point Drummond, where we pulled up at the carpark overlooking a beautiful white sandy beach to have lunch.

Leo desperately wanted to go down to the beach and play with the other dogs.

The beach here went for miles.

The contrasting landscapes here are quite spectacular and since the weather was perfect, we decided to stay the night up on the headland, overlooking the Point. We had views out to sea over the headland and lovely beaches to our left and right. The local abalone fishermen have built a ramp (road) down through the cliff to the beach where they can launch their boats and since it was a long weekend for the Adelaide Cup, by evening the beach was filled with camps and four-wheel drives. That afternoon, I counted 16 kids playing around in the rock pools below us. What a lovely sight!

Point Druummond.

 

The ramp down to the beach - Point Drummond.

This stairway led to the beach on the northern side of the Point.

John was very tempted to jump in the water and take a look for some abalone, but since we still had lots in the freezer, he didn’t bother. We’ll probably regret it later. From our vantage point up on the headland, we could clearly see dolphins frolicking around in the surf at the beach and next morning, they were even in the little rocky cove right in front of us. We stood for a good half hour just watching three of them feeding on something in the shallow water. This was really a beautiful spot but only in good weather. If the wind came up you would be blown away. There is a sheltered camp back from the beach but there are no facilities at all so come prepared.

From Point Drummond we followed the coastal road north again, calling into Leo Cummings Monument Lookout which gave us an excellent view of both the rugged sea cliffs and Lake Hamilton, a large salt lake to the east.

 

Lake Hamilton

 



Coastline at Leo Cummings Lookout.

 

Then it was on to Elliston where we filled our water tanks at the information centre and then parked down at the foreshore for lunch.

 

This lovely sculpture of a squid was on the foreshore at Elliston.

Just north of Elliston we discovered the bakery at Colton. It is just a little shelter beside the road but the bread, buns etc are all baked in a wood-fired oven and it is all fantastic and just $4 each.

 

Before we got to Venus Bay we took the side-track into Woolshed Cave and The Tub, which are quite spectacular rock features along the cliffs.

Stairway down to Woolshed Cave.

Woolshed Cave.



The Tub. At high tide the sea comes in through the gap centre-left.



The caravan park at Venus Bay is not exactly green and shady but the people who run it are excellent at their job. Nothing is too much trouble and it is obvious that they go out of their way to keep everybody happy. There is very little in Venus Bay in the way of shops etc. – just what is at the van park and a small café/general store. Most of the people at the park take the 70 klm trip into Streaky Bay to stock up on groceries. On our trip up there, we called in to take a look at Murphy’s Haystacks, a group of large rocks which have been eroded into very unusual shapes.

 

The inlet at Venus Bay is very sheltered and this is obviously why it is so popular with the oldies who still love to fish. The fishing itself isn’t exactly exciting. The whiting are plentiful but not really very big and catching them seems hit and miss, although some of the more seasoned locals seemed to be able to get a feed most days. We had more fun catching wrasse in the channel in front of the jetty. At the end of the day though everyone managed to get a feed of fish or squid and have some fun out in the boat exploring. You can fish off the jetty if you don’t have a tinny but we didn’t hear of anyone having much success. The jetty is used as a base for several scallop trawlers and I’d guess that you could get a feed of scallops there is you were inclined to ask.

Lookiing down across the little hamlet of Venus Bay toward Port Kenny.



The birds here were very well fed!



Their favourite spot was in front of the filletting hut.

John and Deb had a reasonable day with the whiting.

 

 

 

 

After a week at Venus Bay, we headed to Wudinna and then back east along the Eyre Highway with our friends Gloria and Geoff, who had come across the Nullarbor from WA to meet us. If you are ever over near this area, it is well worth going a little further west to Minnipa and spending a night at Pildappa Rock, which is a very large granite outcrop where you can camp. The rock itself can be climbed and the drainage system which was constructed in the early days to catch and store water can still be seen. It is a very pleasant and interesting place for a stopover.

The Eyre Highway has some very long straights.

A stop at Kimba for lunch also gave us a chance to see The Big Galah (what a fine looking specimen) at the roadhouse which claims to be “halfway” across Australia.

Then it was on past Iron Knob to Port Augusta. Next day we left Geoff and Gloria here to get some repairs done and drove down to Kadina via Port Germein to catch up with our friends Neil and Sue again.



The mine at Iron Knob.