Paddy & Jen Adventures

We left NZ and flew back to Adelaide to pick up the van and continue our adventures. We were exhausted from our busy NZ trip and it was good to pull up stumps for a few nights at a caravan park to reset. We headed to the Yorke Peninsula to Port Rickaby, a small town, right on the beach (Spencer Gulf Coast). Weather was hot & windy. We enjoyed getting back in the ocean for a swim -one early morning swim at a secluded part of the beach may have been without my bathers on!! (there are no photos of this!!!) If you haven’t done it, you must try it!!! Rest of the time Paddy caught up on some work and I just chilled.

From there we drove down to Marion Bay, at the entrance to the stunning Dilba-Guuanda-Innes National Park. We stayed at the caravan park for 6 nights so we had plenty of time at the National Park. Our first day was super windy so we changed plans and spent the afternoon driving along the east side of the Yorke Peninsula, checking out the towns of Yorketown, Stansbury and Edithburgh. I love the charm of the towns, all the old sandstone buildings and heritage on display. Most towns in SA are like this and I love how those buildings give character to the towns.

The rest of the 5 days at Marion Bay were incredibly beautiful and we got to see it in all its glory. This is a must visit, you can even camp in the National Park. I felt most of those sites were exposed to the elements and Marion Bay Caravan Park was a better choice for us.

Our photos don’t actually do Dilba Guuranda-Innes National Park justice. Big cliffs, stunning coastline, beautiful blue water, rock pools, walks and amazing sunsets. On one of the days in the Park at the Shell Beach rock pools Paddy had a fall on the rocks. He slipped in his thongs and cut his hands and feet. A few minutes later I lost both my thongs in the water, washed away out to sea! It was a long walk back to the car with him bleeding and me walking on hot sand barefoot. Not everything goes to plan.

We left there and headed to Moonta Bay on the Copper Coast, Yorke Peninsula, where we had a beachfront site. We watched the most amazing sunsets each night from our site. It’s moments like these that make you feel so grateful. We had a great bike ride to Port Hughes and I checked out the shops in Moonta, finding an absolute gem of an op shop (best I have ever been in). We also caught up with my cousin Sue and her hubby Tim, who arrived from Victoria. They travelled in their van for 5 years around Australia and returned home mid last year. They were full of great tips and tricks and places to go, which we really appreciated. We have not seen these two beautiful humans in so many years, yet we comfortably picked up where we left off. What bloody legends.

Overall we loved our visit to the Yorke Peninsula, although would only recommend Moonta Bay for a visit if you are travelling with young kids. There’s not much between towns except drought ridden land, plenty of dust and wind and I would say not much to keep them occupied (especially in the small caravan parks). But for anyone else I would say go for it. It was perfect for us.

From Moonta Bay we are now headed to the Eyre Peninsula for 2 weeks with our SA friends Carole and Craig, before heading home to celebrate Tom & Sarah’s engagement in early April with family and friends.