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.