Paddy & Jen Adventures

We left the Yorke Peninsula on 14th March and headed off for more new adventures on the Eyre Peninsula. We experienced our first gravel pit, a free camp site off the Lincoln Highway, not far out of Whyalla. It was a 40 degree day and we were buggered by the time we pulled up. Flies were really bad, until the sun went down. I even put the fly net over my head, but that made drinking my champers too difficult! We spent some time chatting to our boys & star gazing. They were incredible.

The following morning we took off early and explored the towns between Cowell and Port Lincoln. It was 43 degrees & extremely windy, which meant we were not out of the car for long. Difficult driving conditions for Paddy with the wind throwing us around a bit (even with a stabiliser fitted!). We made it to Port Lincoln safely, where we met up with Carole & Craig. They had invited us to camp out at her cousin’s place in Port Lincoln. They were there with Carole’s sister Dianne and brother in law Danny (from Queensland). We were all made to feel so welcome by their cousin Steve and his wife Cheryl. Had a few fun nights with them, camping in their backyard. Steve had taken his cousins out in the boat prior to us arriving and they all caught razor fish, although Craig accidentally stood on one and cut his foot, which required a dash to the Port Lincoln hospital for 8 stitches. That aside, we were spoilt with fresh seafood for dinner, which was an absolute treat.

Our next stop was Coffin Bay, only half an hour down the road. We booked in for 5 nights at the Caravan Park and spent the following days exploring the area. It is a very popular spot with tourists for fishing and eating oysters! Not a fan so I did not try them. We checked out the Coffin Bay National Park, spending a great afternoon four-wheel driving out to Seven Mile Beach. Tried to go for a swim at Almonta Beach but it was far too rough. An incredibly beautiful part of the National Park and well worth a visit.

Each night we caught up for dinner in the camp kitchen with Carole & Dianne’s Uncle Barry joining us. He is a Coffin Bay local, a retired professional fisherman. He knew all the good spots to fish and came with us out to Farm Beach for a bit of fishing. I went for a swim and whilst I was swimming he told Carole that he had seen a great white shark once in the waters at Farm Beach. Lucky it was about 500m further out from where I was swimming and that I did not know any of this until I got out!

Carole & Dianne have relatives everywhere and our next stop was Elliston to stay with their cousin Nathan, his wife Jess and their kids, Beau and Zara. Again we were welcomed by all the family and provided with seafood that Nathan had caught for us all. There was plenty of crab to devour. Unfortunately I don’t like crab, but Nathan also had some fresh tuna to try and yummy squid for me to cook up. We took a drive along the Clifftop trail and took in the incredible coastline. Huge waves crashing against big cliffs. I love staring out in to the big blue ocean, there is something really peaceful in doing this. Loved Talia Caves, another must visit. The sunsets in Elliston were incredible.

From there we travelled to Streaky Bay, a lovely little coastal town. Tourists love this spot too and we couldn’t get in to the caravan park, which is right on the foreshore. We pulled up at the council RV park and paid $15 to stay there. The wind was howling and the park was an absolute dustbowl. It was hot and we couldn’t open our van windows due to the dust. We were next to the local footy ground so we took a few drinks over to the grandstand area and watched the locals train, whilst we planned where to travel to next.

We found a much better campsite about 10 mins out of Streaky Bay called Tractor Beach. Not much shelter from the wind (have I mentioned that SA is so bloody windy!!), but no dust. We booked 3 nights and spent the days checking out some brilliant coastline. A highlight was Perlubie Beach, where you can camp on the beach. We couldn’t get a booking but checked it out anyway. We will definitely be back to this beach/campsite on the water. It was so spectacular.

Carole & Craig love their card games and we have enjoyed nights playing with them. A great way to unwind at the end of the day. We took in another sunset, this time from Granites Beach. You will see when we upload Paddy’s video that he has been using his drone to get some amazing footage of the Eyre Peninsula.

From there we headed inland to check out the Gawler Ranges. So much drought in SA, and the Ranges were no different. It was so sad to see so many dead animals who couldn’t survive without water. We stayed at the Wudinna Showgrounds (powered $20 a night!) and were lucky to join the locals in the sports club for a community dinner. Country folk are awesome. Had a great meal and chat to a few of them. I loved it, people of all ages getting together to keep connected.

We finished our tour of the Eyre Peninsula there and headed through Port Augusta to our next stop…..the southern part of the Flinders Rangers.