Eyre Peninsula Trip Part 2

 18th May

Today started with a plan to cover a few K's and head to Streaky Bay with some sight seeing on the way.

It turned into a day of rocks.  Not what we were expecting. 

We turned off the Eyre highway onto the Wundinna tourist route. The first stop was Polda rock, a granite outcrop that has a stone wall around the perimeter to direct any rainwater into a small catchment.  At the very top, there is a rock pool with hundreds of tadpoles in it.

The next stop was Mt Wundinna the second largest granite monolith in the Southern Hemisphere.  We climbed all the way to the top and around it. After lunch we continued along the dirt roads back to the Eyre Highway and on to Minnipa to see Pildappa rock which has scalloped edges, it was a lot more interesting than we expected.  Once again we climbed all over it and around it.

By this time it was starting to get late so we decided to look at one more rocky outcrop called Tcharkulda which has a free camp.  It was a lovely sunset over the red granite rocks.

Polda Rock (Wudinna)

Polda Rock (Wudinna) Granite Quarry

Polda Rock (Wudinna)

Polda Rock (Wudinna) Rock pool with tadpoles.

Mt Wudinna Weeds

Mt Wudinna

Mt Wudinna

Pildappa Rock (Minnipa) 

Pildappa Rock (Minnipa) I can see my house from here

Pildappa Rock (Minnipa) 

Pildappa Rock (Minnipa) with Linda for scale

Pildappa Rock (Minnipa) 

Tcharkuldu Rock Campground(Minnipa)

Tcharkuldu Rock (Minnipa)

Tcharkuldu Rock (Minnipa)

I name this one Robo Rock  (Minnipa)

Polder Rock

Mount Wudinna

19th May

Today was a relaxing morning, after lunch, we went for a drive to the Organ Pipes in the Gawler Ranges National Park.

The rock in the area is very red and some are nearly maroon in colour. 

Tcharkuldu Rock (Minnipa) I call this one Helmet rock.

Camp, Tcharkuldu Rock (Minnipa)

Organ Pipes (Gawler Ranges NP)

Organ Pipes (Gawler Ranges NP)

Organ Pipes (Gawler Ranges NP)

Web? (Gawler Ranges NP)

Organ Pipes (Gawler Ranges NP)

Organ Pipes (Gawler Ranges NP)

20th May -21 May

We've left the rocks behind and are back on the coast.  Spending a couple of days in Streaky Bay.  After arriving today we did the history walk around town which included a visit to the museum.  Well worth the entry fee.  They have a great collection from the local area.  It has a wonderful collection of period clothing along with a few old cars and plenty of machinery.  We also walked along the pier and spotted a lone seal having a play.

Today we took the tourist drives around Streaky bay stopping at all the scenic sites.

Our first drive was the Cape Bauer loop where blow holes and whistling rocks were the feature, but it was a lovely calm day so they didn't perform.  Still worth the look as the coastline is spectacular.  At Cape Bauer we saw a pod of dolphins swimming.

The second loop Westall Way which had different features.  Our first stop was the Yanerbie Sandhills, which are pure white sand dunes. Next was Speeds point, then Granite Beach and Smooth Pool. We finished off at High Cliffs then back to Streaky Bay.

Streaky Bay Jetty

Streaky Bay Jetty

Streaky Bay Hotel

Local Jockey Monument he is taller than me.

Streaky Bay Museum

Streaky Bay Museum

Welcome Swallow

22 May

We left Streaky Bay this morning and headed to Elliston.  On the way, we stopped off at Murphy's Haystacks which are huge granite outcrops that do resemble haystacks. Some of them even look like loaves of bread.  

The next stop was Camel Beach another picturesque spot on the coast with Granite outcrops on the beach.  Our final stop was Talia Caves.  There was only one cave Woolshed cave and another rocky feature called the Tub.  

At Woolshed cave a young girl made a leap of faith across a gap to another isolated rocky outcrop and then she couldn't get back as she was too scared to leap back across.  So she stripped off and climbed down the rock into the water and then up the other side. Laugh.

It took us all day to travel from Streaky Bay to Eilliston, we thought we would be there by lunchtime but there were so many things to see on the way so 1.5 hours took all day.  We are finally camped up in Elliston. As it's Sunday not much is open.  We did a lap of town and the surrounding cliffs before heading to the Golf Club.  What a gem, cheap drinks, and a lovely meal as long as you were happy to have fish and chips and salad.  All the salads are made by the local ladies and it's a bit of a competition on who can provide the best salad.  They were all delicious.

Camel Beach

Murphy's Haystacks

Murphy's Haystacks

Murphy's Haystacks

Woolshed Cave - Leap of Faith

Red Road

Woolshed Cave

Pelican - Venus Bay

Sunset frim Elliston Golf Club

23rd May

A short trip today from Elliston to Lock.  Lock was recommended to us along with a few other places by the guys we ran into at the Snowtown pub.  When we arrived we couldn't work out why they recommended it as there is nothing here to see.  Until we went to the pub and got chatting with the locals.  It turns out one of the guys actually owns a fair bit of property in the area and the pub is where they hang out when they're out this way. 

Eyre Peninsula Trip Part 1

9th May - 11th May

On the first day, we drove to Koroit, a small town halfway between Warrnambool and Port Fairy. We had planned to stay two nights but in the end, we stopped for three and were given the third night free at the caravan park.

A lot of business were closed as they had the Irish Festival the week before and most of the town had tested positive for COVID. 

On the first day, we went to Warrnambool. At the Thunder Point lookout, we got chatting to some whale watchers (we didn't see any whales) who recommended Hopkins Falls as a local place to visit.  So after our walk around Thunder Point, we headed out to the falls. At the falls we got talking to some more locals who recommended the Trestle Bridge on the Timboon - Camperdown rail trail and the Timboon Ice cream shop.  Both were top tips.

The next day we headed to Port Fairy and explored the historic town, we walked along the wharf, then the beach, and had a drink at the local pub where we met a conspiracy theorist.

From Port Fairy, we went back to Koroit via Tower Hill Reserve which is an extinct volcano. There we met the local emus.

Hopkins Falls

Timboon Tressle Bridge

Port Fairy Wharf

Warrnambool main Street

12th May

Before going into South Australia we headed northwest to Kaniva to see the painted Silo's which is part of the Silo Art Trail.  On the way, we stopped off in a pretty little town in a valley called Harrow.

We had a free night at the Kaniva caravan park as it's being renovated and a great meal at the commercial hotel, which was on the black list but now has a new owner.  We had a good chat with one of the locals.

13th May

It was a long drive today as we decided to cover some ground, and made it to the infamous Snowtown. On the way there we stopped off in Balaklava and had the best meat pie we have ever had.  On the drive we came across an abandoned church in the middle of no where, we checked the door and to our surprise it was open.

Snowtown has a good camping area in the recreation reserve, the only downside was the train line that runs behind the camping area.  Goods trains were running through in the middle of the night.  We did see the Ghan come through in the morning.

We walked around the township admiring some of the old buildings and being horrified at the condition of some of the others.  In the evening we dropped in for a drink at the pub and had a great chat with a couple of the local fellas who gave us some good tips for our travels.

Coonalpyn Silo

Goyda Abandoned Church

Goyda Abandoned Church

Harrow

Kaniva Silo

Snowtown

Snowtown Water tank

14th May - 15th May

We are heading for Iron Knob today and have decided to take it a bit slower so on the way we took a detour into Port Pirie.  It was an interesting town and the museum (which is in the old railway station) is well worth a visit.

We made it to Iron Knob in the late afternoon. Iron Knob is an old mining town and is the birthplace of Australian iron ore mining commencing in 1899. The ore mined was of high quality. The mine closed in 1999 and the population of Iron Knob drastically reduced so all the shops and many of the main buildings have gone.  There is still a small population as the houses are cheap to purchase.  The community has rallied together to save the town by purchasing the franchise for the post office. The Post Office, Bowling Club, Information centre, and museum are run by volunteers from the Iron Knob Progress Association.

After setting up we walked a lap of the town.  Another camper told us the bowling club was open for a happy hour in the evening so we dropped in and caught up with some of the townspeople.  We were surprised that some of the people still living there were actually born in the town. One old fellow there, in particular, had lived there his whole life and had worked in the mine for over forty years.

The next day we went into Whyalla. The town of Whyalla only exists because of Iron Knob, the iron ore was transported by tramway to the Whyalla steelworks and port.  It's another interesting town but strange, we struggled to find the main street.  The old main street is fairly deserted and new shops and businesses are scattered around the town.  It has a new pier and look out, we did a walk along the beach and then came back through the caravan park and the streets.  There are some lovely art deco homes.

Iron Knob

Port Pirie Fish and Chippy

Port Pirie Museum

Whyalla

The Whyalla

Whyalla Steel works

16th May - 17th  May

After leaving Iron Knob we headed about an hour down the highway to the wheat and sheep town of Kimba.  The free camping at the recreation reserve is amazing, it has all the facilities that you could want and is a short walk to the town centre.

Our first day was spent walking around the town and visiting the silos before heading back to camp to cook tea.

The next day we did the local nature walk (Roora Walking Trail), the different environments that we walked through were quite interesting, it changes from low Mallee scrub and salt bush to tall eucalypts and grassland. There are steel sculptures at different points along the track.

Kimba Silo

Roora Walking Trail

                              Sculpture of Edward John Eyre and Willie

Roora Walking Trail