A local chap was surprised to see a Tasmanian, "Not too
many people go out of their way to come down here" apparently, "Its neither here nor there." Yorke Peninsula - about 250Km by 50Km, is a
flat, limestone over basalt extension shaped like a leg extending into the gulf
between the Adelaide side and the Eire Peninsula. It is mainly a grain growing area and they
boast there is a bit of the Yorke Peninsula in most Australian beers. The coastline has excellent views, good fishing
(supposedly), with blue crabs a specialty and being 2-3 hours from Adelaide, the
Barossa etc. it is a regularly holiday spot for them. Many have shacks along the coast and from the number of newer houses one would guess an
increasing permanent population, as it would be a great place to retire. Many of the original buildings are of a coral
coloured limestone and are beautiful, tho many are derelect as the story I was told is that there are few stonemasons available to repair them.
On arrival, I stopped at Kadina , a fully serviced town with
an excellent Information Centre where they helped plan my stay. There are a number of camping areas along the
coast, managed by the Council and permission is needed to camp on them: Most require a fee but there are a few free
camps as well. For the first week I
stayed at Council campsites, having purchased a weekly pass. The gravel roads - especially the last leg to
the coast - tended to be very corrugated and the camps basic but they were on
the coast and the views great. Weather
has been iffy at best but with the winds creating a lot of waves I took some of
the best seascape photos ever, as there is a shelf out into the water so
breakers start at its edge and form a series into the shore. Swincer Rocks proved best, and even then,
after a couple of hours the winds died down and seas less dramatic.
Let me digress here and go back nearly 50 years, when I
chanced upon an artist painting seascapes, which really caught my eye. In the course of conversation I mentioned they
were very beautiful but I could never afford one. Well, from out of nowhere came his partner, stating
in no uncertain terms the fellow had spent years perfecting his techniques and
they were in fact good value! I agreed
the value was there and I'd buy one if I could but I just couldn't afford
one. When I took up photography I
thought I could get similar seascapes but found it difficult indeed and am
happy to have finally achieved that goal.
I only spent one night at Swincer Rocks, moving from there
to Barker Rocks on the recommendation of another Grey Nomad, similar in outlook
but the wind had died down - until around midnite of the second night! I woke up as the van was shaking violently
and pulled the pop top down as it was taking a beating. I then heard people outside in the adjacent
van and went out to see if they needed help; they certainly did. Their awning had blown over the top of their
van and they were trying to stop it from wrecking anything on top of the van,
or along the side the wind had blown it, as the metal leading edge was flapping
against the far side of the van rather violently. Eventually the owner decided the only way to
prevent more damage was to cut it free:
It was pretty well ruined by this stage anyway. So standing on a couple of white buckets I
reached up and cut it free, we secured it to a couple of posts and went off to
get what sleep we could in the wild conditions.
In the morning we screwed the main rail back onto their van which had
been nearly ripped free, so they could drive off to a repair place and then we had
a coffee. It was then they told me that
he had a bad shoulder as the result of a recent broken arm and they wouldn't
have been able to secure it on their own.
From here, as per my plan, I went to Innes National Park,
which is at the southern tip of the Peninsula and it was great! The rugged coastline, near and far islands,
vast beaches - comparable to the Great Ocean Road! Surprisingly few other tourists, perhaps as a
long weekend had just passed and Easter was only a few days away. The scuddy weather tended to kept me close to
the van at times but with plenty of time I eventually got to the best spots -
some of which I missed the first time through.
E.g. they highlight the unique Stainless Steel Lighthouse, which in my view is rather plain and thus just
another lighthouse. But after seeing
most everything else I thought I'd check it out and discovered one of the most
scenic views in the Park!
For Easter I'd booked a site at Corny Point Caravan Park -
Corny Point was named by Matthew Flinders, who thought it looked like a corn on
a foot. It is a popular fishing area but
the shallow shelf requires driving over it to deeper water to launch a boat and
for this they use tractors! Here I met
up with another Grey Nomad staying at Turton Point so we explored a bit,
including trying out the seafood basket at the Marion Bay Pub, which was
excellent! Not a snipped bag of frozen
bits poured into the deep fryer this, but proper fresh seafood and
delicious! Over Easter many families filled the park for
the holidays and thus very active! Kids,
dogs, late night socialising - a welcome change from the quiet few weeks
previous! Being Monday today, they are
busy packing to leave, children gathering in groups to say goodby to newfound
friends and parents preparing for the 2-3 hour drive home, confined with
children who'd been running free for the last few days. I will be leaving tomorrow as the roads will
be quiet again by then. So Goodby, Yorke
Peninsula, and Thank You to all those friendly people there! I probably won't get back but glad not to
have missed it.
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