Eyre Peninsula

Port Augusta was my first stop after leaving the Flinders Range NP.  Port Augusta is a clean modern town on the Eyre Peninsula at the top end of Spencer Gulf.  With competing supermarkets and two kilograms of coffee to prove it!  Seafood restaurants are also popular, so seafood for lunch was a treat.  They have a terrific desert botanical garden, with sections representing various ecotypes in the SA desert - quite fascinating!  There are  very complex ecosystems in what looks like an unvarying vast desert. 

The next stop was an unremarkable freecamp at a roadside rest area, which had a most remarkable sunset.  Then on to Whyalla and the steel mills around which it is based.  It claims to be the largest town on the Eyre Peninsula, again with competing shops but my poor van was overstocked from Port Augusta.  My next camp was just north of Whyalla at Point Lowly, a super freecamp with waterfront spots (for the quick) and a coldwater shower as well!  At point Lowly is a major cuttlefish breeding reserve, but the camp is just out of the reserve area so fishing is allowed.  I tried for squid, the closest I got was the guy next to me caught two (I'm sure he was cheating but I couldn't see how).   A lovely spot and a lovely stay, but there are others on the Peninsula so my next stop was at Lipson Cove for a night - very similar in that the campsite was next to a beach and very scenic.

Port Lincoln was the next port of call, another lovely town but as I was keen to camp that night in the Lincoln NP so after doing laundry, filling with petrol and a few supplies it was off to yet another waterfront campsite in the NP!   A very pretty spot, but no walks or fishing - a shallow shelf ran out from the shore so you couldn't get out to deeper water very easily.  The view mitigated these deficiencies though, it really was superb, as the photos prove.

Coffin Bay NP, on the Great Australian Bight side of the Peninsula was my next campsite, a short way back from the water's edge:  This area is pretty flat, shallow and swampy in places and the bay is large with many waterways and low landforms.   There were some walks that both climbed to lookouts and followed the shore.  The 'wildlife' is anything but, with various birds gleaning crumbs from the doorstep and a couple of 'roo who nearly stepped on my foot as they passed.   There are other campsites along a 4WD Recommended track so I went to check that out and nearly got bogged - and I was on foot!  Perhaps the low lying beach bits are best traversed at low tide.  There must be plenty of 'roo in the area from the sign as they crossed the track but they kept out of sight. 

Heading north along the western side of Eyre Peninsula was mainly inland; the towns along the coast were similar to ones already visited so I continued to Ceduna.  The exception was a slight detour to visit The Haystacks, a unique rock formation technically known as Inselbergs:  They are granite formations standing above the surrounding flat, eroded land.  Rain was forecast and I was due for a stop at a caravan park so I pulled in to the first one I came to on arrival at Ceduna.  It started raining not long after and rained steadily all night, with showers thru the next day.  Being connected to 240VAC I had all my battery chargers plugged in to charge up my AA & AAA batteries, computer battery, printer battery and the house batteries.  It looked like holiday decorations with LED's everywhere!  Ceduna is a pleasant town with a variety of shops so a good place to stock up before crossing the Nullarbor.  WA quarantine restrictions are quite severe, so any fresh fruit & veg must be eaten before then, as well as other restricted items, honey being one of the surprising one, but if there is a threat to WA, then my honey will be tossed - if there is any left.  So, having duly prepared now for crossing the Nullarbor, a seafood lunch finished off the list!  A stop at Cactus Beach near Penong tomorrow, and then its the Nullarbor!

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