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