Warwicks Wander Our Great South Land: 2019

Even though it is only 470 km, or 5 hours, from Ceduna to Port Augusta, we took three weeks to get from one to the other because we kept to the coastline, staying in various interesting places as we did so. If Banjo Patterson were to write a poem about our travels over the Eyre Peninsula perhaps he might start with something like: “On a road never crossed, ‘Cept by folks that are lost”, except we were not lost even as we criss-crossed areas around where we were based for a day or two or three. I’m sure that we drove along roads that very few tourists take on their trips but we thoroughly enjoyed these detours along gravel roads, where one even became a two-wheeled track before it joined the highway. So we have travelled on roads with names like: Lutheran Church Road, East Dog Fence Road, Cemetery Hill Road and Pub Corner Road. We have called in to places with names that could have been lifted from the pages of a children’s fairy story book: Buckleboo, Pinkawillinie and Cockabidnie Corner.

In Ceduna we had the opportunity to catch up again with the Swag Family—Andrew and Nicola who, with their two young children, were cycling around Australia. We had first seen them on the road before Penong and met them in the caravan park when we both stopped for the night. There are people who are very critical of them for taking two young children on such an incredible journey. However, Andrew is an Outdoor Ed Teacher who has had to make risk assessments in his work and this is what they had done, and continue to do as they make their way on their trek. We didn’t see them the following morning as they had taken an old road beside the railway line, which would keep them off the Eyre Highway, so we missed seeing them peddling madly away. From that time on we followed their progress, but didn’t really expect to see much more of them. When we arrived at Ceduna we were quickly processed by a quarantine officer and then made our way to the Ceduna Foreshore Caravan Park where we had stayed back in July. We were very fortunate in that we were told that there was only one site left and that we should check it out first to ensure that it was large enough for our van. We were able to get the van in but the car didn’t fit so easily. However, we were happy to stay. After lunch we did some shopping and then I went for a late afternoon run and improved my time on a couple of the Strava segments that were on offer. After dinner, when there was a fabulous sunset, we went for a walk on the jetty and enjoyed the picturesque nature of the dark skies, black clouds and glow on the horizon.

We were in Ceduna for a Saturday, which means parkrun but there is no parkrun here in Ceduna. So sad! So we packed ourselves a picnic lunch, after seeing Andrew and Nicola and the children set off from Ceduna and headed south.

Andrew leaving Ceduna

Nicola leaving Ceduna

Andrew and Nicola leaving Ceduna

We firstly drove into Decres Bay, where we saw their bikes off the track, to have a look at the beautiful scenery.

Decres Bay

There were cormorants sitting on the rocks along with Pacific Gulls and Silver Gulls.

Cormorant

We watched a couple of the Pacific Gulls eating a fish that one of them had pulled from the sea.

Fish but no chips.

Little bluish butterflies fluttered around some of the bushes.

Butterfly

Then it was on to Laura Bay, where we opted to drive up the headland and have our lunch in the carpark overlooking the vast expanses of water and great coastlines.

Picnic at Laura Bay

Following this we drove around to Sandy Cove, crossing Fox Creek, which is a tidal flat with mangroves. Here there was a single private residence and a large stone water tank constructed in 1914 to collect, via cement channels, run-off for local farmers in times of drought.

Water collecting channel.

Stone water tank.

Sandy Cove.

After walking along the seaweed strewn beach to the far end and back we continued our drive and soon passed Andrew and Nicola again. We drove a little passed them and stopped to take some photos of them riding over the crest of a hill and then offered them a cuppa, which they happily accepted, while the children helped themselves to chips and blueberries.

Andrew and Nicola on the road again.

Nicola on the road again.

Andrew on the road again.

That’s the last we saw of them as we turned left at the main road to head back to Ceduna while they turned right to head to Smoky Bay. Back in Ceduna I decided to have my normal Saturday run after our cuppa so did a warm up run to take me down to the Sailing Club and then started at the beginning of the pathway where it had a yellow line painted across it. My plan was to run out for 2.5k and then turn around and run back. After a while I noticed yellow marks on the path every 100 metres and distances recorded every kilometre. When I reached halfway there was the 2.5 km mark, which exactly coincided with my watch. Now that I had the wind basically to my back I thought that I should pick up the pace which I was able to do so that my pace was progressively faster over the run, which I entitled “Ceduna non parkrun”.

On the Sunday we decided to attend the little Lutheran Church at Denial Bay that Val had checked up the website. It was down for 10:00 am, so we knew that we would have plenty of time to get there as we aimed to leave the van at 9:30 am. We were a bit later in getting away than we had planned but made it just in time, only to find out that their monthly service was 9:00 am so the preacher could get into Ceduna for the 10:30 am service. They were a very welcoming group and invited us to stay for a cuppa, but we decided not to so we could get into Ceduna for their service. Again we were made to feel welcome and appreciated the service with the emphasis being upon grace and the continued need to become more like Christ in our daily lives as we lived the message of grace towards other people. We enjoyed a cuppa after the service and time talking with a few of the people there before heading back out to Denial Bay for our picnic lunch. Unlike yesterday at Laura Bay headland, it was windy so we had a quick lunch and then went for a drive out to Nadia Landing before returning to Ceduna.

Crested Tern, Nadia Landing.

Pigface, Nadia Landing.

There were crops but they weren’t that good looking, being sparse as well.

Poorer crops.

One of the fellows at church said that they would get, on average, two good crops every five years. There were bare paddocks, old paddocks that seemed to be covered in a salt bush type of plant and some crops. My heart went out to the farmers who must be struggling in this area, even though the Eyre Peninsula is reported to be good for crops. Maybe it is because this area if too far on the western edge of the Peninsula to be as productive as other parts of it. Back in Ceduna we stopped at Bill’s Fish & Seafood for a coffee—and a slice for me. Every Sunday night we enjoy our video Messenger chat with Alex, Jardi and Oscar and after tonight’s we went to the local Bistro for a meal—a meal that was a three course roast. But what a roast it turned out to be for I had three thick slices of both lamb and pork that were generously cut. I could have had the same for the beef but I’m glad I opted not to have that. We had more to eat than we needed and all for $25. As the night progressed the wind arose yet again and we both began to feel a bit cold. When we had washed the sheets and aired the doona yesterday we opted to pack the doona under the bed and instead use the throwover.

Upon leaving Ceduna we called into Smoky Bay, where we walked along the beach under the jetty and then over it before going back towards the town itself. Needing toilet, I found one and went inside, only to find out that it was the ladies’ toilet for I had missed the sign on the other side of the barrier. Fortunately Val was with me and no one else tried to enter it. We passed the little Community Church, where weekly services, apart from when there is a fifth Sunday, are taken by the Uniting, Lutheran, Pentecostal and Anglican churches. We continued along the streets until we came to the little shop that was also the fuel station and post office that served the Smoky Bay community and went inside for a coffee. It was really good coffee, too. Continuing on towards Perlubie Beach we turned in. The camping area here was on the beach but we decided not to stay, though we did have our lunch in the day parking area. After consulting the available sites we opted to make our way to Murphy’s Haystacks and stay the night there. The crops we passed along the way were far better looking than the ones we had seen around Penong and Ceduna. Reaching the turnoff we pulled into the carpark at Murphy’s Haystacks and went to pay our money. The owner of the property was there—his sons doing the work these days—and we had a long talk with him. It’s sad that less than 30% of people visiting this site pay the $2 entry fee per person. He even had a counter installed to check on the number flow but that was “borrowed” and still hasn’t been returned yet. After putting our money for the $10 camping fee and the $2 entry fee into the Honesty Box we set up our site for the night. The camping area is in the midst of the fields so they have lost a lot of valuable land by opting to open up these remarkable rocks to visitors to enjoy. Before they did open it up people would stop on the roadside and traipse through the crops, damaging them in the process. He told us that they had had a good year, with rains coming for them during the growing season.

A good harvest, Murphy's Haystacks

Great for them, but in other parts of the state they have missed out and are lucky to get the seed they need for next year. Their harvest was in full swing and we saw their harvester moving from one paddock to the next. I went for my long run, scheduled for 70 minutes and did 10 loops of the rocks from the caravan parking area in just over the time I was due to run. I chose to run it “slowly” and not try and push myself. I was able to have an outside wash as no one else was in the caravan area, though another van pulled up shortly after I had finished getting dressed. As it was getting towards sunset we walked up to the Haystacks for some evening photos with the light changing the colours of the rocks.

Murphy's Haystacks.

Camping area, Murphy's Haystacks.

Toilet, Murphy's Haystacks.

Weed, Murphy's Haystacks.

Murphy's Haystacks.

The wind was certainly blowing as we went to bed.

We had planned to get up early for sunrise photos of Murphy’s Haystacks but I didn’t get up until 8:00 am to make our cuppa. It was after 9:00 am before Val was out of bed and 11:00 am before we set off for the day’s drive. We took the road into Port Kenny, expecting to get ourselves a coffee but there was nothing there as all the shops in town had closed down. It wasn’t till we were back on the highway that we saw the Mogas servo and saw that they were also the general store and post office, but we had driven passed it and didn’t want to turn back. Thus we ended up going into Venus Bay, which was about 6k off the road. We parked right beside the Coffs Harbour couple who were with us at Murphy’s Haystacks the previous night and, after a walk along the jetty, and dropping off my recycling materials into the appropriate bin, we went to the local cafe, which was also the grocery shop and liquor store, and ordered our coffee. We went outside to the verandah and sat with the couple for quite some time before going our separate ways—them directly to Port Lincoln and us to Sheringa Beach campground. Before departing, however, we walked up to the scenic lookout over the ocean with majestic cliff views in both directions. A memorial was being built to a 16-year-old who had fallen to his deaths from the cliffs. We walked along the cliffs until we came to the start of the South Head Walking Trail and decided to follow that. The rough track had been marked with stones to show us where it went. We passed cliffs that were disintegrating into the ocean below; unstable caves that were dangerous to enter—but I don’t know how you would get into most of them because they were under the surface ledges; pigface in flower; and lots of broken crab shells, some of which looked rather fresh. The trail turned from rock into sand and the stone edging had ended so we had to follow footprints and indentations. It was fascinating to watch the crashing waves and resultant spray from the rocks; the secluded beaches which appear unreachable except by boat; and then the Pacific Gulls having picked up what looked like a crab and flying away with it to a place where it could be dropped onto the rocks and broken for eating. Val also saw another one eating what appeared to be a prawn. We only passed one other parson on that walk, but it is a walk that deserves to be done for those who call into Venus Bay. Arriving back at the van we made ourselves a quick lunch as it was already after 2:00 pm and then continued our drive towards Sheringa Beach Campground. The wind was partially behind us upon leaving Venus Bay but the gentle rolling hills became steeper and at times we had a cross wind which became a little tricky. We found the turnoff and made our way to the fee payment station to pay for one night. We should have made it for 2 nights but we didn’t know what it was like or if there were sites available. We needn’t have worried as we easily found a spot and backed in and unhooked. After setting up we walked to the top of a sand dune to ring Lachie for his 12^th birthday. After our cuppas we went for an easy beach walk.

Sooty Oystercatcher, Sheringa Beach

Sanderling, Sheringa Beach

Beach Beauty, Sheringa Beach

White-faced Heron, Sheringa Beach

Pacific Gull, Sheringa Beach

Red-capped Plover (male), Sheringa Beach

Camping area, Sheringa Beach

Sheringa Beach

Sheringa Beach Campground, run by the Elliston District Council, is such a wonderful spot that we decided to stay for another two nights. That will be good because Val had a terrible night last night, probably having ingested some gluten which could have come from either the cappuccino or the milkshake she had at Venus Bay. We’ll never know for sure, but it certainly wasn’t a good night for either of us—especially for Val who had a fever yet felt cold. After breakfast I walked to, collecting a handful of rubbish as I did so, the fee paying station on Sheringa Beach Road near the lake, where there is a another camping spot, though that one doesn’t have toilets. I had a bit of a walk around the area beside the lake and up a sand dune and knew that I wanted to take Val up here to see it. Birds flittered around the area though I couldn’t tell what they were. I collected another handful of rubbish to put in the bin at the fee paying station where there are both rubbish and recycling bins. Val walked a little bit of the way up the road to meet me on my way back. Apart from that and making meals she spent most of the day resting to try and overcome her tiredness and gluten-induced pain. Thus we sat around most of the day, doing our Sudoku puzzles and working on photos. Later in the afternoon I ran the hill part of Sheringa Beach Road for “The Need for Hills” and immediately followed that up with RunClub @ Sheringa back out towards the Flinders Highway. Following this we both had a shower and I took a bit longer than normal because we will be in a caravan park in a couple of nights and can top up our water tanks again.

We both had a really good night’s sleep that night and Val was so much better in the morning, but she still has a way to go and we have to be careful that it doesn’t become an asthma attack. It was still very windy at around 40 kph but gusting even higher. The clouds sometimes look ominous but nothing was predicted until that night, even though we have had some light passing showers. We took it easy that day and so I took Val for a drive along Sheringa Beach Road to North Sheringa Campground, which is just a flat area under the protection of sand dunes. There is nothing there so we are glad that we are at the main area and not here.

North Sheringa Campground

We climbed the dunes to the beach, which wasn’t much of a beach with the wild waves pounding onto it. A flock of Red-capped Plovers was busily scouring the sand for things to eat. We then pulled into the lake I saw yesterday and had a bit of a walk around.

Round Lake, Sheringa Beach

Dunes, Round Lake, Sheringa Beach

Then it was into Sheringa itself—just a rundown roadhouse and a few scattered houses, though there are old signs up for a new subdivision and a few caravans are on sites and some building work has taken place. I have no idea what people here would do for a living. The two churches definitely look like they are private houses now and one of them is for sale. We did find the historic cemetery, where some fellows were lopping dangerous trees, but the high wind was proving to be a problem for them with the cherry picker. There were some very interesting inscriptions on the headstones.

Historic Cemetery, Sheringa

I'd like to know the story behind this inscription, Historic Cemetery, Sheringa

The high cost of war, Historic Cemetery, Sheringa

Historic Cemetery, Sheringa

We opted not to have a coffee at the roadhouse and instead returned to the van for lunch and a quiet afternoon and a walk along the beach.

Crested Tern, Sheringa Beach

Crested Terns, Sheringa Beach

Sheringa Beach

Flora, Sheringa Beach

I did, however, empty the last jerry can of fuel into the car so that will get us to Port Lincoln tomorrow where it is so much cheaper. I also decided not to have a run today—perhaps I should do this more often and not push myself so much to get around Australia with RDU.

The wind continued all that night and was quiet strong. And there were a couple of periods of rain and our ceiling leaked. When we opened the hatch above the bed enough for me to look out while Val held it against the wind I could see some sticks caught in the aircon and some in one of the solar panels. Perhaps they have caused some damage to the sealant that was used on the joins. Until I can get up and have a look I won’t know for sure. It was moving day but the strong wind didn’t stop us getting ready to drive out. On the distant sand dunes we could see clouds of sand being blown along the tops of the ridges. At times the wind was behind us and at other times it became a headwind, all of which kept our speed down to 75-80 kph.

Lake Hamilton

We took the detour into Coffin Bay, not sure if we would stay there the night. Our minds were made up at the pharmacy as he only had one of Val’s medications on hand. Thus we drove onto Port Lincoln and booked into the Port Lincoln Tourist Park for two nights. Val wasn’t able to get a doctor’s appointment so we will have to try in another place. After setting up we went down to the parkrun course and did a Freedom walk to familiarise ourselves with the course. We met a fellow parkrunner who is from South Australia and is working towards his Statesman Club. Val wasn’t the best as her temperature was up and down as she continued to battle the cold she has. What made it worse for her was the strong, cold wind that blew the whole time. After our walk we did some shopping at Coles and then headed back to the van to get the washing off the line, have dinner and get ready for bed.

The alarm, for the first time in weeks, went off at 6.00 am so I could get up to make our morning cuppas in preparation for parkrun. We arrived there with sufficient time to have a reasonable warm up in preparation for today’s main event. Having looked at last week’s results I was hoping that I might squeeze into the top 20. I could hardly hear the final countdown but we were off and running. I settled into a steady pace, not knowing how fast or otherwise I was running but still nervous about running too fast as memories of Champion Lakes kept coming back to haunt me and my hamstrings and left hip were sore from driving. Anyway, I just kept on and slowly overtook a number of people until about the 3k mark and from then I maintained my position even though I had a couple of people in my sight. Tackling the “hill” for the last time I knew someone was rapidly gaining on me but, once we hit the top, I was able to stride away and I thought that I had been able to keep him at bay. However, on the final incline he caught me and strode away and I just couldn’t catch him. I picked up my pace for the final stretch but just failed to catch the person in front of me by 2 seconds and finished in a time of 24:24, which equalled my time at Claisbrooke Cove. So I was really pleased with how I had run. Then it was time to pick up Val and bring her home. Following our run we had breakfast at Cafe Del Giorno. I found that Port Lincoln wasn’t as friendly a parkrun as ones that are more rural—but then I don’t go out of my way to talk to many people when we are at foreign parkruns. After our showers and putting through a load of washing we drove out to Lincoln NP. We tried to go online and pay our entry fee but all that came up was a page for paying camping fees, so we gave up trying and drove in anyway. We stopped at the parking area, having watched a snake slither across the carpark when I didn’t have my 150-600 lens. The carpark was at the bottom of Stamford Hill, which Matthew Flinders climbed in an attempt to locate water. We then walked the beach and set off for the next stop, which was Surfleet Cove. Here we walked along the Investigator Trail for a short distance until Val had had enough so we returned to the car and drove into McDonalds for a drink and a nibble before returning to the van for the night.

On Sunday we chose to attend Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. We left without a cuppa so Val could get back to the van for her medication, having gone onto her nebuliser yesterday to try and deal with her asthma. I went up to the park office and booked for another night as the weather forecast had the following day’s temperature as high, the winds at 50 kph and higher with the fire danger rated as extreme. We sat around for a while and then went for a slow walk from the caravan park along Parnkalla Trail up to Slipway Road and then back to Shelly Beach and home again. After a cuppa I did tomorrow’s long run—I was planning on 90 minutes when I started—but my legs were still leaden from parkrun where my time of 24:24 was my equal second fastest for the year so I cut it down to just three loops from Shelly Beach to the top of Slipway Road with the jetty thrown in for good measure.

Even though nex morning the wind was building in intensity people started leaving early. The people next to us were ready to go but had the Port Lincoln Caravan Centre fellow doing some work on their door latch. As he had dropped an advertising brochure under our mat I returned them to him, saying that we were going to come around today anyway. I asked him about our leaking ceiling and he said to bring it around tomorrow morning on our way out. After doing a shopping trip, which included a coffee and a visit to the Information Centre to pay for Saturday’s visit to Lincoln NP and make it into a two month visitors pass, we came back to the van for lunch. Following this we headed out to Billy Lights Lookout, but took a detour to the marina and were just in time to watch a fishing boat unloading its cargo and had a good talk with the engineer of another boat who was there at the time.

Sorting the catch.

Time for a break.

The fishing trawler.

Unloding crates of fish.

We continued our drive to the lookout and it was here that we noticed black smoke beginning to rise above the hills behind the city.

Smoke beginning to rise behind Port Lincoln.

The closer we drove back towards the city centre the more smoke there was but we continued on towards North Shields where we went for a walk along the beach, all the while the smoke became blacker and thicker.

Smoke from behind Port Lincoln.

North Shields Beach.

Rex coming into Port Lincoln.

Smoke from behind Port Lincoln.

North Shields jetty.

Smoke fro behing Port Lincoln.

A lot of vehicles had pulled up at the Bushfire Last Resort Refuge area as we returned to the caravan park and because of road closures a lot of vehicles were heading north along this road, most with lights on. We were able to listen to the emergency broadcasts: the fire had started in stubble and even though the temperature had dropped dramatically the wind had risen even further; the electricity to all of Port Lincoln and areas to the south was being turned off; and police, emergency service personal and volunteers were directing traffic because the traffic lights were out. Some parts of Port Lincoln were relatively free from smoke but in others it was thick and had a negative effect upon Val’s breathing. After a while even I began to develop a cough because of it so there would be no run tonight. It became much cooler to sit outside in the smoke than it was to stay in the van without the smoke—but we needed the door and some windows open for the air. Val went outside with a handkerchief over her mouth to try and help her breathing. At least we had power in the van because of our batteries but without mains power she cannot use her Nebuliser which she needs at the moment. Fortunately, the power came back on much earlier than had been predicted. So, today has been a different one for us. We have family and friends struggling with the fires in NSW and Queensland and here we have a similar, though not as deadly, situation here in Port Lincoln.

On Tuesday we were up around 6:00 am for our cuppa but still didn’t get away until around 9:30 am. At least Val could use her nebuliser again this morning, which is helping to keep her asthma under some sort of control. We called into the Caravan Centre to have our roof examined but he couldn’t find any damage to the roof or the seals. So we will just have to wait and see what happens next time it rains. We pulled into the Mogas station at North Shields to top up the tank and then continued on uneventfully to Tumby Bay. Along the way there were a number of farm paddocks being harvested, some of which had other vehicles ready to take the grain away. Judging by the large number of trucks arriving at the grain terminal in Port Lincoln, this area must have had a good harvest. That’s great for them, but there are still so many other parts of our nation where the farmers are really struggling. We stopped at the Self-Contained RV site just north of Tumby Bay and immediately set up our spot. It is only $7.50 per night or $15 for four nights. We are planning on staying for three nights so put $20 into the honesty box, which was the smallest we had in change. After setting up we drove into Tumby Bay for a walk, noticing where some of the murals were before having a coffee and a treat. The Tumby Bay Bakery is great with its array of slices and for the fact that there was a choice of four gluten free ones for Val to choose from, though I ordered one for her this time. We plan to be back there again. Back to the van for lunch and, following Val using her nebuliser with the inverter, it was then back into Tumby Bay to get some tourist brochures. This time we had a longer walk as we took photos and had a hot chocolate at another cafe, though I don’t think that it was a patch on the Bakery.

Tumby Bay jetty.

Tumby Bay.

Uniting Church, Tumby Bay.

Silo Art, Tumby Bay.

Tumby Bay.

Mural, Tumby Bay.

Jetty, Tumby Bay.

Tumby Bay.

Mural, Tumby Bay.

Mural, Tumby Bay - not sure how appropriate this is for a bank Loan sharks?

Mural, Tumby Bay.

Inomplete Mural, Tumby Bay.

Mural, Tumby Bay.

When we returned to the van I went for a run into town and down to the end of the Bicycle Track, returning almost the same way.

What a day we had on Wednesday. While I was pottering around the van and doing the banking Val went for a walk along the track into town. Thus we were ready to get away late in the morning as we began our drive out to Cummins, which is highly regarded by the Grey Nomad community for its friendly welcoming attitude; for its community caravan park; and for its great cafe in Five Loaves Bakery. We soon began to hit the hilly section on the Eyre Peninsula as we drove through farming land that was basically under crops. We had lunch in the bakery cafe, which included for me an old fashioned vanilla slice. Then it was on to the Railway Triangle Park where there was an incredible mosaic toilet, which won an award in the 2018 International Toilet Tourism Awards. The award for was the Best Economic Contributor and was recognised for the work done by the community to turn a simple red brick toilet into a “public loo with personality”.

Public Loo with personality.

Railway Triangle Park tribute to grain industry.

Mirror inside Ladies.

Mirror inside Mens.

Old photo inside Mens.

Refelcted from Mirror.

Then it was time to continue our drive, firstly through the township but then out onto country back roads with names like Cemetery Hill Road, East Dog Fence Road (there was also a West Dog Fence Road, but we didn’t take that one); Lutheran Church Road, which, after finding that the church was now a residence, turned into more of a goat track than a road; and Pub Corner Road.

nteresting names.

We drove through places like Pub Corner, Yallunda Flat, where there was a lovely old farmhouse that was now in a state of disrepair; Cockaleechie (Australia’s tennis champion, John Fitzgerald hailed from here and there is a Fitzgerald Road); and Ungarra. We marvelled at the mosaic of patterns on the farms that were at various stages for harvesting—some were yet to be harvested; some had been harvested; some had rows of crops that were being harvested. There were heaps of chaff in some paddocks. We watched mammoth machines easily devouring the crops, separating the grain from the stalks with the grain heading up a conveyor belt and the chaff being spat out in a sea of dust.

Harvesting.

Sheep grazing on stubble.

Tree in a paddock.

Patterns of harvest time.

A good looking crop.

A sea of grain.

They’ve had a good harvest in this area, as is evidenced by the large number of road trains pulling up at the grain terminal in Cummins, just as we saw in Port Lincoln while we were there. As we continued eastwards towards the coast we noticed the deterioration in the size and quality of the crops. We pulled into Lipson Cove and wandered along the beach where, in places the sand was black and there were incredible erosion patterns in it.

Cormorants.

Red-capped Plover (male).

It was then time to head back to Tumby Bay where we got ourselves ready for RunClub @ Tumby Bay. We had a quick cuppa and, because of the lateness of the hour drove into town and ran or walked from near the cenotaph. We didn’t eat until around 8:30 pm and each had three delicious pork ribs that had been marinated in garlic, chilli and ginger. We had bought these from the butcher at Cummins, where there was a lady butcher and I asked if she was called a Butcherette!

We went driving again on Thursday, but it was so different. We headed just south of Tumby Bay to Second Creek where we walked along the soft beach watching Red-capped Plovers scurry over the sand as we approached too close to them; a Sooty Oystercatcher letting us know in no uncertain terms that we were invading its territory; Cormorants on the other side of the creek just ignoring us; and, of course, the ever present Silver and Pacific Gulls. There was also a small section of Mangroves growing here.

Sanderlings.

Crested Tern.

Sooty Oystercatcher.

Pacific Gull.

Shell.

Mangroves.

Shell.

Then it was on towards Red Cliffs where we saw a large number of Cape Barron Geese in paddocks.

Cape Barron Geese.

We walked along washed up seaweed into which our feet sank and saw vast mounds of it around the next corner. What great patterns were in the cracked rock faces of the cliffs! Little shore birds scurried away as we walked too close to them. As the tide was coming in we made our way back so we didn’t get caught between the sea and the cliffs.

Beach Babe, Red Cliffs walk.

Red Cliffs walk.

Razor Fish, Red Cliffs walk.

Beach Beauty, Red Cliffs walk.

Red Cliffs.

We pulled into a camping spot where three vans had set themselves up overlooking the beaches, the cliffs and the ocean. What a magnificent spot it would be, though somewhat more exposed than where we are. Back in Tumby Bay we had fish and chips for lunch at the Ritz Cafe, though mine was in the form of a seafood basket. We drove around to the marina where the rich live and then along the gravel foreshore walk.

Marina, Tumby Bay.

Ahoy there!

Climbing down the lookout, Tumby Bay.

Beach, Tumby Bay.

Our only disappointment came at the Mangrove boardwalk which had been closed, but there was no notification anywhere about that. We drove to the Tumby Bay Yacht Club to photograph their murals of Aboriginal people and then to the silo so Val could get another photo, this time in the sunshine.

Mural, Tumby Bay Yacht Club.

Back at the van I got ready to go for a run but my Garmin wouldn’t turn on—it was frozen! I had a shortened run tonight going out along the trail from the RV Park to the edge of town and back twice. Later on, after we had eaten, I searched online and found out how to get it going again. Thus I won’t need to get a new one.

By now it was Friday and we had another great day exploring as we made our way to Cleve, where we planned to spend three nights. We drove into, around and out of Port Neil before landing in Arno Bay. We found a spot to park and called into the Jetty Cafe for a coffee and a delicious home-made vanilla slice. Then it was down to the amazing Mangrove Trail boardwalk. Here we could wander through the mangrove swamp, an essential breeding place for so many creatures. We saw beautiful crabs scurrying away from us when we came into sight. In the midst of this swamp was The Pines, a sandy hill. How incongruous it appeared to be, but it was there to wander around as well. Just when we thought we had come to the end of the trail there was another boardwalk heading out along the creek to the ocean. We took this trail as well, watching the out-going tide and thinking how wonderful it would be to be able to get photos of the area at both high tide and low tide. But, alas, we didn’t have the time to spare over six hours to be able to see the great contrast. We did watch birds flying around us—including a Kestrel, White-browed Babblers, honeyeaters, swallows and the usual shore birds.

Crab, Mangrove Trail, Arno Bay

Pigface, Mangrove Trail, Arno Bay

Crab, Mangrove Trail, Arno Bay

White-faced Heron, Mangrove Trail, Arno Bay

Pacific Gull, Mangrove Trail, Arno Bay

Singing Honeyeater, Mangrove Trail, Arno Bay

, Mangrove Trail, Arno Bay

Mangrove Trail, Arno Bay

Dragging ourselves away we drove on to Cowell, for Val had heard about two things that we just had to see. We walked into the toilets, which were famous for their display of Crap Art, which a local artist had hanging inside both toilets and were for sale How easy it would be for someone to steal them. It relied upon an honesty system.

Crap Art, Cowell

Reflected Crap Art, Cowell

Crap Art, Cowell

On the door of the Mens Toilet, Crap Art, Cowell

Crap Art, Cowell

We decided to have lunch there and found that Nel’s Cafe had gluten free options. Val opted for the potato and I went for the salt and pepper squid. Following a great meal that was very filling Val picked up a children’s book “Alexander’s Outing” and commented favourably about it to the lady serving us, who had put it there.

Beautiful architecture, Cowell

Then it was on to the silo to view their new art work.

Silo Art, Cowell

Our next stop was Cleve. We pulled into the showgrounds and set up camp for $10/night plus $2 for a 5-minute shower. I went for a Freedom run; we had tea; and then went to bed in preparation for parkrun tomorrow.

How good it was to be able to be involved in parkrun again today, this time at Cleve for the Yeldulknie Weir Trail parkrun. We were up at our normal 6:00 am for our morning cuppas even though we were both only volunteering—Val as Tailwalker and myself as photographer. We walked down to the start where I found that if I completed the whole course, even as photographer, then I could also record a time. That’s something that doesn’t happen in other places! I made sure that I not only took photos but walked/jogged the entire course. This meant getting photos in a wide variety of places. The first fellow home hadn’t listened properly to the pre-run instructions and turned way too early—thus he failed to get a time recorded. I trust that he learned his lesson because he had come a long way to be here today. At the end of parkrun we were both given a voucher for a free small coffee. We walked back to the Pink Door for breakfast—not that Val could have anything—and ordered our drinks and my Panini plus some nibbles for Val. The Panini came quickly but it was a long wait for the coffees, but when they came they were large mugs. That was appreciated. Back at the van we had a quick lunch and then went for a drive out along the Scenic Drive and were amazed at the vista of a patchwork of paddocks that stretched before us from atop High Way Lookout. In the other direction was the wind farm.

Wind farm, Cleve.

Cleve farmland.

We completed our drive observing just one harvester in action but the crops were poorer here because of the continued years of drought. We enjoyed today’s drive and made our way back to the van, where I walked around the Showground Track for six laps.

We had found out that Sunday’s service at St Paul’s Lutheran Church was at 11.00 am and not the earlier time it had been last time we were here. It’s a good thing we checked their notice board and didn’t rely upon the Lutheran website because, as in the case of Denial Bay, it gave the wrong time. Thus we walked down to the Pink Door for an early morning coffee. While waiting for it to be delivered I popped net door into Foodlands for some bread and salami. But there was only one loaf left—and it was white so I definitely wasn’t going to buy another one of those. Thus I bought myself some Turkish Bread instead. We took it back to the van and I turned the car fridge on and put in some water. Then it was a quick walk to the Lutheran Church which had a great service—the sermon and children’s talk certainly were. I could appreciate the responsive readings and prayers because it allowed the congregation to have a greater participation in the service. There was a couple there who had a farm towards Kimba and they were saying that they have had a reasonably good year—this is in contrast to those who were more local, as Tina said at breakfast yesterday, who had had another bad year. After making our sandwiches we drove out through the golf course to visit Clyde S. Dale and his little mate Fluffy—a remarkable stature put together by one of the locals when he had time on his hands because of the weather.

Fluffy, Cleve

Clyde S. Dale, Cleve

Clyde S. Dale, Cleve.

Then it was on towards Darke Peak so we could do the circuit. Sadly, the road to Federation Lookout was through a closed farm gate and we were hesitant about going through it. Thus we missed what would have been a great view. As we headed towards Darke’s Grave we marvelled at the mountain peaks rising up out of nowhere. The crops where growing right to the base of these peaks.

Peaks and crops, Darke Peak

The road, which often changed in colour, wound its way between mallee gums and a stand of casuarinas. We stopped at the grave site—John Charles Darke, a surveyor, had been speared by previously friendly native and had died the following day. The nearby peak was named after him and some sixty-six years later the government erected a monument over his grave in honour of his achievements.

Grave of John Peake

The crops along here looked much sparser than in other areas, but some harvesting still took place while we drove. In the town of Darke Peak we stopped at a picnic table over the road from Darke Peak Hotel and beside the Hell Bent Hotel. This later pub was a rough structure put up by locals overnight but it featured an Honour Board of locals who had been successful in different way in sport and inventions. Such a now-little community has produced some inspiring people.

Darke Peak Hotel, Darke Peak

Hellbent Hotel, Darke Peak

Roll of Honour, Hellbent Hotel, Darke Peak

Menu, Hellbent Hotel, Darke Peak

Old vehicle, Darke Peak

Erica the Emu, Darke Peak

Mural, Darke Peak

Golf anyone?, Darke Peak

Here we had our cuppas from our thermos and then had a little drive around town, finding the old school building. South Australia has some remarkable buildings in the country areas.

Old school building, Darke Peak

School Classroom, Darke Peak

We drove out to Carappee Hill Conservation Park and walked a little way up the hill—it is a 5km walk with the recommended time being 2 hours. We didn’t have that much time to be back for our weekly video Messenger session with Oscar and family so it had to be short, but we had marvellous views of the chequered landscape of paddocks; of lines of trees; and of salt pan areas as well. We could trace the progress of grain trucks making their way to a farm by the dust they raised on the dirt roads.

Climbing Carappee Hill

Farmland from Carappee Hill

Val part way up Carappee Hill

Flower, Carappee Hill

Lizard, Carappee Hill

On the way back home we paused at the old school site of Cockabidnie Corner.

Cactus flower, Cockabidnie Corner

Cockabidnie Corner

We did, however, detour to the area called Yadnaknie where there was the beautiful St John’s Lutheran Church—locked and apparently deserted—and a cemetery with a dozen or so graves in it. Though the shade from pine trees covered the graves the old church building was glowing in the light, showing the shadow of death on one hand with the glorious light of the gospel on the other.

St John's Lutheran Church, Yadnaknie

St John's Lutheran Church Cemetery, Yadnaknie

St John's Lutheran Church and Cemetery, Yadnaknie

St John's Lutheran Church Cemetery, Yadnaknie

Old toilets, St John's Lutheran Church, Yadnaknie

New toilet, St John's Lutheran Church, Yadnaknie

Back home we had a cuppa and our video call and then dinner—an upside-down blackberry cake with cream, after which we had a little walk around the Showground Track before settling in for the night. What another amazing day we have had.

After Val had seen the local doctor at Cleve on Monday morning and we had had a coffee we drove northwards towards Kimba, where we planned to stay in the RV park. Along the way we noticed sand dunes and crops growing in sandy soil. What a surprise we received when we arrived in Kimba and saw the great improvement that the District Council of Kimba had made to this free RV area. In the afternoon we went for a drive and along back country roads. We drove up White Knob to the lookout where there was a statue of Edward John Eyre and his faithful guide Wyllie.

Kimba

Eyre and Wyllie

We next stopped at Bascombe Rocks Lookout where we could see over the surrounding farmlands and bush. Some ninety years ago they had tennis courts here, but now there is nothing but the surrounding farms. The rocks did have a wall system to collect rainfall. I thought that this was just a thing that was done in WA, but here it was again.

Bascombe Rocks

Then it was on to Buckleboo where all that existed now were the silos. On the other side of the unused railway line were the footings of old houses that were long ago removed though two buildings remained. One had old machinery in it and the other was basically vacant. The old tiles from a laundry/bathroom were still obvious on one concrete slab.

Recreation Grounod, Buckleboo

Silos, Buckleboo

Railway line to silos, Buckleboo

Old Shed, Buckleboo

Ruins, Buckleboo

Old shed, Buckleboo

Deserted building, Buckleboo

On the way home we stopped at the Pinkawillinie school site.

Pinkawillinie School site

Shelte Shed, Pinkawillinie School site

School gate, Pinkawillinie School site

Silo Art, Kimba

Detail of Silo Art, Kimba

Mural, Kimba

Mural, Kmba

Even though it was fairly hot I went for a run around the Recreation Reserve, following what I believe was the old trotting track. I cut my run down from the scheduled 90 minutes to 30 minutes as it was a bit tough running.

We didn’t get away from Kimba till late afternoon, having returned to Eileen’s for a coffee.

Kimba

About halfway along the road to Port Augusta we began to see fences with mallee gums and then salt bush behind them, with very few trees in some areas. It was so like the Nullarbor in many ways. We turned into Iron Knob, once the site of the best quality iron ore mineral deposit but it has now closed down, though two nearby mines have reopened. The town looked so rundown. The Anglican/UCA church building looks like it hasn’t been used in quite a while and there was red dust on the pews. The Catholic Church had all it details on the notice board painted out. It looked like the Baptist Church was still operating and providing a ministry to truckies. We stopped at the picnic/camping area behind the Community PO for our lunch. Even here there were a number of murals on the buildings. Knobbies Park had a War Memorial and so many men and women from Iron Knob and the surrounding district had enlisted during the two major conflicts.

Abandoned building, Iron Knob

UCA/Anglican Church, Iron Knob

St Patrick's Catholic Church, Iron Knob

Mural, Iron Knob

Honour Roll, Iron Knob

War Memorial, Iron Knob

We drove to Port Augusta and pulled into the Discovery Caravan Park where we set up the van, did two loads of washing and did very little else because of the heat with which Val was struggling. I went for a Freedom Run and a long cool down.

On Wednesday, after putting all the bedding through the washing machine (getting it dry in hot and windy conditions was quite easy) we headed into town to find a shopping centre for the air-conditioning. A thick, dirty dust haze hung everywhere and while it didn’t affect me much Val was struggling to breathe in the hot, dry conditions. It was in the low 40’s with the wind getting into the low 60’s. What a catastrophic day it is. It will mean no run today. We had lunch in the Wadlata Outback Centre, which was also the Information Centre. It was air-conditioned in a far better way than was the small shopping centre. We did a quick shop at Coles and then returned to the van, where the temperature had risen to 41^o.

The next day we discovered that there was an enormous build-up of ice underneath the freezer—so much in fact that we couldn’t slide out the water collecting tray. We spent several hours defrosting it and at around 1:30 pm we headed ourselves out to the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden. Yes, we have been here before but this time we had lunch prior to going for a short wander around the Eremophila section—and I had no idea that there were so many different types of Eremophila.

Sturts Desert Pea, Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden

Sturts Desert Rose, Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden

Butterfly Bush, Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden

Dragon, Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden

Following that interesting wander we had a cold drink and then went on the Red Cliff Walk, basically around the outskirts of the Garden and along the cliffs that overlook the upper reaches of Spencer Gulf.

Red Cliffs

Pimpin Mallee

White-winged Fairy-wr

It was just after 5:00 pm when we finished so we headed back to the van for a cold drink and then went to the beginning of Port Augusta parkrun so we could do a Freedom Walk. Being a much cooler day Val was able to successfully get back to some walking.

Warwicks Wander Our Great South Land

Thursday, 28 November 2019

Part 10—Eyre Peninsula by Steve