Eyre Peninsula

18/3/2018. Sunday.  Well, it definitely was! The night was extremely windy which made the camper rock but, more than that, the canvas flapped heavily much of the night. Disturbed, R & R woke about 2:00am and went to the toilet. Then they slept, and slept in, to about 7:30am as they were in no hurry. That morning RL heard some fellow campers commenting on the unusual strength of the wind which had broken a yacht from its moorings. R & R packed down, showered and were away by 9:45 heading for Wirrilla, away from Ceduna and its smells of sea and fishing. Out here, originally the country would have been mallee but now, mostly cleared, it seemed much like the mallee country at Kendenup which RA’s family had cleared in the 60s and 70s. Wirrilla, as with all of the townships in this area, has many large round concrete grain silos. Talking round and concrete, in SA some of the toilet and shower blocks and many of the rubbish bins are round and concrete and large.  Concrete must last longer here as the telephone poles are large concrete structures. R & R stopped and took photos of the free camping space in Wirrilla. Today, at 21*C, it was a far cry from the time they had stopped there mid-afternoon in the January of 2013 when the temperature was 40*C and exhausting.  Wirrilla had created its own jetty, as it was jested that the only difference between a coastal town and one inland, is a jetty. Wool and grain was shipped from jetties in this area until the 1950s. Back on the Eyre Hwy, the rail and pipeline run parallel with the road much like they do near Salmon Gums and the woodlands are similar with the exception of a conifer which grows in pockets. Just before Minnipa, one sign read Welcome to Granite Country, shortly followed by another which read “Be our guest Take a rest”. R & R ate lunch and chatted with a local for about an hour between noon and 1:00pm. Pildappa Rock was only 15 kms out. The rock is a wave formation, covered with many large deep holes and little ravines which would have looked awesome in the wet. The Hum drove on to the Gawler Ranges hoping to look at the formation called the Organ Pipes and sleep over in one of the designated areas.  There was no opportunity to pay the park fees as the brochure had indicated, so they just drove through the Old Paney Scenic Drive, more than a little anxious that they were there without a pass.  It was very similar to driving Red Gum Pass at the Stirlings. They did see a couple of emus, a few kangaroos and some ring necked parrots which are smaller and emerald green in colour.  RL drove up to the ranger station and the ranger was able to smooth them over and use RL’s credit card to pay online for them. They chatted a while about his work there before driving off to Wudinna. The road out was much better than the one going in, made unique by about 8 kilometres where there were so many crests it was like being on a roller coaster.  Soon R & R were back in farming land with a flock of pink and grey galahs.  On the way RL chose to drive in to Pygery Rocks. It was a short but windy track that became more rutted the further he drove. Suddenly, the Ute was facing the top of the rock and nowhere to go; no way of backing down. Naturally, RA was anxious but RL felt confident to give it a go. He had no choice! The Hum put it in 4WD low and RA acted as spotter while he inched forward over the rock and then backed up over rocks and ruts into a small but open space for the camper, before pulling it round again and out. At 6:00pm they drove through Wudinna which is a really big centre for the wheat farming area and boasts the large statue of the Australian Farmer monument. Not long after, they stopped and set up at Polkdinney Park, a free camp at Kyancutta. RL chatted with his brother, J, before sitting for dinner at 7:15pm ... it certainly had been an interesting day which might have gone horribly wrong.

19/3/2018. Monday.  It was certainly a much cooler night as RL had to get up to put a blanket on but then they slept soundly. Because of the cloud cover it was still quite dark when they got out at 7:00am. An hour and a half later they were on the Tod (unlike Todd, in NT) Highway heading right down the middle of the Peninsula to Port Lincoln driving into the wind. Much of the journey was like that near Salmon Gums with the road running to the right of the rail and pipe line. They had heard somewhere that Port Lincoln waters most of the Peninsula in the same way that Mundaring Weir supplies the goldfields in WA. On both sides there was open farming land, mostly dry with a few places where some green would have been weed growth. Some farms looked more or less more profitable, though the whole way down there are sidings where the concrete Viterra grain silos operate. They saw little stock until much closer to the coast. R & R stopped in Cummins for a most enjoyable half hour popping into the Five Loaves Bakery for information. It was bustling and smelled divinely of roasted coffee with a coffee and cake of the day special. Cummins is the geographically, commercially, socially and artistically the hub/centre of the lower half of the Peninsula and is thriving with big machinery sales yards, railway where trains shunt before your eyes and a double story school which houses the school and community library in one. Naturally, RL and RA took a photo of the Wheat Lumper Statue but the highlight was the mosaic murals on the toilet block in the park. It even had some blue willow china in the mural, as well as a penny and original brass name and quantity tags from cream cans (as dairying was also carried out there). As they headed towards Port Lincoln, the Approach Rd comes into the city, down a long steep descent, from the bottom end. Early on this road there is a Big Swamp to the south and then Little Swamp to the north.  At noon R & R were fortunate to be able to park easily near Main Street and went straight to the information centre for brochures and for an op shop list. They walked to the end of the jetty and noted the statues of Matthew Flinders and Mackybie Diva before scooting around the op shops quickly.  Late lunch was welcome and they refuelled before leaving at 2:30pm. The drive out of Port Lincoln and up the coast is scenic as it follows closely to the coast for a few kilometres before veering away after the airport and opening up into undulating farming country. RA chatted with their daughter, S, on speaker so that RL could hear while driving to Tumby Bay, a delightful seaside town. They walked its jetty and chatted to their other daughter, H, as they sat under Norfolk Island pines viewing Tumby Island and the bright blue sea in the mid afternoon. They had chosen to stay at Yallunda Flat Showgrounds, nestled in trees along the winding Tod River creek line, about 18 kilometres away, back, in the direction of Cummins. About 5kms in, the road rose dramatically and wound through the coastal range rising to an elevation of 300’ above sea level and then down again into Yallunda Flat at 200’. Picturesque. Alarmed to see and smell smoke in the air, they wondered at the wisdom of staying. Fortunately, a young mum was picking her children up from the bus stop and said there was no cause for alarm. She’d tell her husband who is a volunteer fire fighter that R & R were staying at the grounds if an emergency arose. Shortly after 4:30pm, R & R set up the camper and went for a walk all round the sheds and oval. Last October they had 4,500 people attend their Show, the young mum had told RA. They crushed a nut mixture for sprinkling on their breakfast, made dinner and read/wrote a while ... glad, once again, of the kindness shown to them by strangers.

20/3/2018. Tuesday. R & R woke to the sound of light rain on the canvas which gave everything a fresh eucalyptus and pine perfume. Fortunately, most of the dampness had dried by the time they packed up and they were on the road again about 8:30am. RL headed back out the way they had come in, over the hilly farming lands and down towards the coast at Tumby Bay before heading north to Port Neill (39kms) which is surrounded by lovely open undulating farming country. Port Neill is a small town with a really neatly kept foreshore and jetty. R & R walked the jetty and admired the anchor from the Lady Kinnaird which sank in Dutton Bay in 1880. Miraculously, no one drowned. As RL drove the 32 kilometres to Arno Bay they chatted with their son, Z, who was currently working in Brisbane for a few days. Once again Arno Bay is another lovely little seaside town. It too had a jetty for them to walk out on. RL noticed pink granite (unakite) in one of the car parks.  Uniquely, Arno Bay has mud flats and mangrove swamp along the banks of the winding Salt Creek. Over this they have built walkways to the mouth of the creek and around the swamp so that visitors can view the mangroves, samphire grass and the little crabs scuttling down their holes without disturbing the environment. So it was 11:30am before R & R left for Cleve which is only 22kms away over 12 Mile Plain before becoming hilly again. They ducked 5kms east of Cleve on the Birdseye Hwy to take a look at Yeldulknie Weir and were back in Cleve by 12:30pm. They opted for a late lunch after a walk up and down the two main streets. Cleve is another really big, well presented inland hub for servicing the farming operations around it. They did actually buy a couple of things at a pop up op shop raising funds for a hospital where the lady insisted they take some fresh peaches without cost. There are big sheep yards on the edge of the township and the trucking company Quinn (RL had seen so many Quinn trucks in the area) is based here. Five kilometres west out of Cleve on the Birdseye Hwy is a monument about the Goyder Line. He was a surveyor who, in 1865, drew a line on the map indicating where, below the line, he felt that farming was safe. At Ruddall, RL turned onto Darke Peak Road which runs parallels north-south with a railway. Three kilometres out, the Hum took a windy track through a couple of gates up a very steep drive to the top of Federation Hill (270 feet above sea level) and they walked up to the lookout above the tank. Thank goodness there was enough room to turn around but RA would not recommend the drive up for less than 4WD. Darke’s grave rests below Darke Peak at the north western end of the small but attractive Darke Range about 12kms north. At 3:00pm, they stopped there to read how Darke, a surveyor, in 1844, died here after being speared by a previously friendly native. Here was a really tight , albeit flat, spot for the Hum to turn in.  It was only a few kilometres around the top end of the range and back onto bitumen for the 30 ms back up to Eyre Hwy. Waddikkee is about 5kms off this bitumen road but is noteworthy in that it is, like Koonalda, on a section of the Old Eyre Hwy. Along the way, they were surprised by one paddock of green maize/corn and some cattle. The Navigator showed that the Old Eyre Hwy runs about 50 metres south of the current Eyre Hwy with the rail line in between for part of the 16kms into Kimba. R & R set up the camper at 4:00pm at the free camp facility at the Kimba showgrounds ... agreeing that it would be good to stay a second night ... and not even move the car for the day!

21/3/2018. Wednesday. After a calm night R & R got out of bed about 7:00am to a pleasant 12*C. Ideal for their planned Roora Walking Trail jaunt ,through the Roora Nature Reserve and to the summit of White’s Hill where there are a couple of caves and sculptures of Eyre and Wylie. The trail begins just over the road from the camping area. R & R enjoyed the animal sculptures and noted trees like quongdong, the native apricots, rosemary and pines. Along the way they also walked the Bird Trail (though they did not see an echidna except for the sculptured one) and the Axe Tree Trail, a total of 7.8 kilometres in 2 hours, back for coffee and showers ($1 for 2 minutes) by 10:30am with the temperature being up 5*.  They sat and wrote/read for a while before lunching and then having a cat nap. RA set up a gmail account and then they rode the bikes downtown with a map and took in most of the sites listed on it. R & R were gone a couple of hours on a pleasant sunny afternoon, taking photos of the big galah, the Half Way Across Australia signs and the newly completed silo art which took, the artist, Cam Scale, 26 days and 200 litres of paint to create. Awesome. Beautiful. Not sure which of those two descriptive words should be used first, but definitely both. RL looked at the maps with a mind to tomorrow while RA wrote and deleted some photos.  Both agreed that for this trip Tasmania was off the agenda since they had left their run a bit late and joked that it gave them an excuse to come back again. After dinner RL spoke with his sister, K, and then read, while RA tried to get her head around the matter of starting a blog ... in the long run ... too tired to try anymore.

22/3/2018. Thursday. RA had woken with a cold nose during the night so it was no surprise that it was cool and dark when they woke at 7:00am but it was not damp so they were able to breakfast and be packed and leaving by 8:45am heading east for Port Augusta. For much of the way between Kimba and Iron Knob there is a Nature Reserve where the vegetation is mallee and much like that at Yalata and very pretty. Then it opens into farming or station country. Signs indicate that the road is subject to flooding but it is hard to believe at this time of the year when everything looks so dry. As they neared Iron Knob, shortly before 10:00am, pink dust rising from BGC mining operations at Iron Princess could be seen, lit by the still climbing mid-morning sun.  It was an impressive sight against the massive walls of mine tailings in varying colours of reds and browns.  RL drove into Iron Knob and they visited the museum there. It has a wonderful display of information and artefacts and as well as gifts and gems. R & R watched a 6 minute presentation on the history of mining in the area. Before BGC, BHP, the father of the iron ore industry in Australia, ran operations here for 100 years between the turns of the 20th and 21st centuries in conjunction with the production of metal from ore at Whyalla using the rail link between them. They spent an hour there before spotting emus down town on the way out. From Iron Knob to Port Augusta the landscape becomes more undulating. To the north there is farming land but to the south of the road there were restricted signs warning people to keep out - not to be confused with the army training camp that is much closer to Port Augusta.  We crossed a big bridge over Myall Creek. At noon they refuelled at Port Augusta, parking on the foreshore and heading down town to take in some of the notable sights, op shops and pick up some supplies.  R & R enjoyed lunch on the grass under the trees and were away again in just under 2 hours. Port Germein was about an hour’s drive south along the coast where there was a well-kept farm which was irrigating for cattle. Another jetty - what should we do?  We had no choice to walk it, especially considering that it is the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, approximately 1.5 kms long. It took an hour to walk out and photograph on the way back in. They chatted with their son, Z, as it was his birthday and showered in the free showers near the jetty. By 4:30pm R & R had stopped and were setting up for a free camp just 3 kms south of the Port Germein turnoff. They read and wrote for a while before dinner ... the day had just got hotter and it looked like it would be a warm night.