The Eyre Peninsular looks remarkably like the continent of India; lays claim to fame as the seafood capital of Australia (as the brochures tell us), with an abundance of cold water fish, oysters, abalone, scallops, mussels, prawns, blue swimmer crabs, and rock lobster, etc. What a great place to visit!
The Foreshore Tourist Park located on the shore of Streaky Bay and the Great Australian Bight was a good base for us to explore this northern part of the Peninsular. This charming village has beautiful old stone buildings from the pioneering days and its history dates back to 1802 when Matthew Flinders named the bay for the bands of colour in the water from the seaweed oils. By the 1880's the area became an important port for the shipment of wheat and wool which remains as the major industry today.
The Foreshore Tourist Park located on the shore of Streaky Bay and the Great Australian Bight was a good base for us to explore this northern part of the Peninsular. This charming village has beautiful old stone buildings from the pioneering days and its history dates back to 1802 when Matthew Flinders named the bay for the bands of colour in the water from the seaweed oils. By the 1880's the area became an important port for the shipment of wheat and wool which remains as the major industry today.
Mommas and Poppas of Point LabattWe all know how Adrian loves driving on corrugated dirt roads, but as he wanted to see the Sea-lion colony 51 kilometres south it didn't seem to be such a major concern this time! Point Labatt Conservation Park is home to the only permanent breeding Sea-lion Colony in Australia. We watched these puppy dogs from the sea riding the ocean waves and the youngsters frolicking about in the rock pools from the cliff top lookout 50 metres above the sandy cove. Most of the big mommas and poppas were 'hanging around' sunbathing on the rocks no doubt after a few days of fishing! Point Labatt is also a resting place for New Zealand Fur Seals. The bird life we spotted amongst the Sea Lions were Pied Cormorants and Crested Terns.
Point Labatt
The Westall Way Loop Drive and the Cape Bauer Loop Drive close to Streaky Bay provided another contrast of spectacular scenery with granite cliffs, white sandy beaches, huge sand dunes, and blowholes. Here Southern Osprey, White Bellied Sea Eagles and Peregrine Falcons inhabit the area and it is also a breeding ground for these feathered creatures.
Oyster Beds Coffin Bay
Our next stop for a couple of nights was further south at Coffin Bay where some of the finest oysters in the world are harvested. The bays, inlets and waterways provide ideal conditions for fishing and water sports as well. This was a good base to enable us to travel to Port Lincoln on the eastern side of the southern Eyre Peninsular. I should mention that views from the Winter Hill Lookout of the rolling green hills down to the blue waters of the natural harbour of Boston Bay are quite spectacular. Port Lincoln first settled in 1839, is a thriving modern community with a population of 15,000 supported mainly by the aquaculture industry and in particular Blue Fin Tuna. Southern Rock Lobsters, Western King prawns, oysters and King George Whiting are also on the menu - hard to take! One of the tourist opportunities we saw advertised is swimming (in a cage) with 'the exciting predators of the sea', Great White Sharks - shark bait, no thanks, it didn't really appeal to my sense of adventure.
A little more my speed was the Alex Stenross Maritime Museum on the site of the boat building workshop on Boston Bay. Alex Stenross, the descendent of two generations of Finnish boat builders, was born in 1895 and first went to sea at the age of 12. He came to Australia from Finland in 1927 as a ship's carpenter and set up his business in 1928 repairing and building boats and continued until a few days before his death in 1980. The museum has his original boat building tools and maintains the slipway for todays small craft.
Alex Stenross Museum
After our stay at Coffin Bay, we headed north on the Lincoln Highway on the eastern side with Spencer Gulf separating us from the York Peninsular. Quick side trips into the small seaside villages of Tumby and Arno Bays, Port Neill and Cowell before stopping for a couple of nights on the Whyalla foreshore. I should say the 'windy' Whyalla foreshore - Ade had to hold the door open so I could get in and out of the van and the poor little woofs almost turned inside out! The only bonus was the spectacular views of wind surfers rising way up out of the water and travelling at incredible speed. Whyalla is another one of those rusty red towns thanks to the iron ore industry. The ore from Iron Knob in the Middleback Ranges is railed to the site at the Whyalla Port 54 kilometres west where it is transformed into 90 different grades of steel before shipment.
Our next stop for a couple of nights was further south at Coffin Bay where some of the finest oysters in the world are harvested. The bays, inlets and waterways provide ideal conditions for fishing and water sports as well. This was a good base to enable us to travel to Port Lincoln on the eastern side of the southern Eyre Peninsular. I should mention that views from the Winter Hill Lookout of the rolling green hills down to the blue waters of the natural harbour of Boston Bay are quite spectacular. Port Lincoln first settled in 1839, is a thriving modern community with a population of 15,000 supported mainly by the aquaculture industry and in particular Blue Fin Tuna. Southern Rock Lobsters, Western King prawns, oysters and King George Whiting are also on the menu - hard to take! One of the tourist opportunities we saw advertised is swimming (in a cage) with 'the exciting predators of the sea', Great White Sharks - shark bait, no thanks, it didn't really appeal to my sense of adventure.
Port Lincoln
A little more my speed was the Alex Stenross Maritime Museum on the site of the boat building workshop on Boston Bay. Alex Stenross, the descendent of two generations of Finnish boat builders, was born in 1895 and first went to sea at the age of 12. He came to Australia from Finland in 1927 as a ship's carpenter and set up his business in 1928 repairing and building boats and continued until a few days before his death in 1980. The museum has his original boat building tools and maintains the slipway for todays small craft.
Alex Stenross MuseumAfter our stay at Coffin Bay, we headed north on the Lincoln Highway on the eastern side with Spencer Gulf separating us from the York Peninsular. Quick side trips into the small seaside villages of Tumby and Arno Bays, Port Neill and Cowell before stopping for a couple of nights on the Whyalla foreshore. I should say the 'windy' Whyalla foreshore - Ade had to hold the door open so I could get in and out of the van and the poor little woofs almost turned inside out! The only bonus was the spectacular views of wind surfers rising way up out of the water and travelling at incredible speed. Whyalla is another one of those rusty red towns thanks to the iron ore industry. The ore from Iron Knob in the Middleback Ranges is railed to the site at the Whyalla Port 54 kilometres west where it is transformed into 90 different grades of steel before shipment.
Whyalla Wind Surfer
As those of you who are regular readers will know, I'm over red dirt in a big way so I was very happy to move on to what I hoped would be greener and less windy pastures!
Rusty Red Whyalla
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