I have to start by saying that this coastline has blown us away. From Port Lincoln to the Head of The Bight, it has been an endless stream of epic cliff tops that overlook empty beaches. With a horizon of the seemingly endless Southern Ocean on one side & an infinite dry, baron landscape on the other; we have felt as though we’ve had the whole country to ourselves.
There have been no shortages of camping venues, with the majority being either in the dunes a golly rocket from the beach, or atop a cliff with panoramic views of the sea & a drop down that might give your Granny a coronary (or me when my fur baby gets too close!). Some camps have had toilets, but the majority have had diddily squat in terms of anything other than dirt & nature itself! Exactly our style. Everywhere we have stayed has been dog friendly & there has been no sign of 1080 poison on this coast – thanking the powers that be for that! Additionally, we have been loving not having to share the environment with too many other people, never feeling crowded & a lot of the time having places all to ourselves.
Coles Point provided a scenic camp on the cliffs above the beach. Along with hot, hot sand we had to high tail it down to get to the beach for a swim. The water is not warm in South Australia. I think it averages 18-21 degrees this time of year & that is the same if not a little cooler than home right now, (home being the east coast of Tasmania!). So every time we go for a dip, at least once a day, there are always the moans & groans that come with throwing ourselves into unpleasantly chilly waters. But that feeling ALWAYS goes away after you have dived under. It must be a law that you resurface after that first dive into the ocean feeling refreshed & quite simply, better. Especially when it’s cold in & warm out! If you have experienced this yourself, you know what I’m on about.
INSECTS TIP: There have been a few march flies around on this coast, some places more so than others, with the occasional sand fly & mozi thrown in the mix. And these march flies seriously have needles for stinging you with!! So don’t forget the insect repellent, especially if you are an insect magnet like me. They LOVE my flesh – anyone who tells you insects won’t go for olive skin is a LIAR. The only thing that works for me is ‘Bushman’s Insect Repellent’ (basically anything with loads of deet in it) or wearing clothes!
The tinny came off the top of Perry the Patrol a number of times along this section of coast. At Drummond Point we even got a sneaky hello from a couple of Bottlenose Dolphins playing at the bow. The Eyre Peninsula is a renowned home for the Bottlenose Dolphin. We have been graced with spotting them a fair number of times, from the tinny, the beach & also from our camp chairs just outside camp at Point Brown! Venus Bay came through with the goods, with us hooking some King Gorge Whiting in the shallow bay. Fred being the great man that he is had the fish cleaned, filleted & ready to eat for lunch within the hour! Using his simple but trusty mix of flour & oil – easy, delicious & ready to eat as soon as it leaves the pan. This fresh catch lunch was a regular favourite, whenever we caught it or whenever Fred speared it. Sustainable fishing at its finest – catching it yourself, & only bringing in what you can eat!!!
A mega highlight of this coast for me was watching & learning about the endangered Australian Sea Lion. We saw a number of colonies throughout our journey of the Eyre Peninsula. The coast of South Australia & southern Western Australia is the only place on earth these beautiful mischievous creatures live. After being nearly hunted to extinction in the 1800’s & early 1900’s they have not been able to recover. Together with their slow breeding habits, commercial fishing nets & the increasing amount of plastic in the ocean they are fighting an uphill battle. We were lucky enough to be able to swim with these guys in a shallow, sheltered bay off Port Lincoln. We went with one of the only tour companies that allow this – Calypso Star Charters. It was meant to be a swim with the Sea Lions & dive with The Great White Shark combination tour, but unfortunately there were no Great Whites around that day (cage diving with the sharks that is – we don’t have a death wish!). I was a bit reluctant to go on the tour, not wanting to burden or add to harming the animals or their natural environments. But after reading up on the company & finding out more about the research they help conduct, including Great White research & conservation, as well as the company being ‘Eco Certified’ & very educational, I was reassured. The tour guides were really knowledgeable in the field of Great Whites. It was fantastic to hear from the captain who had lived through the cruel (in my eyes) hunting era of Great Whites, to when the protection of The White Pointer was implemented in 1997 & how attitudes have changed. He was so passionate about educating people about this magnificent, highly misunderstood animal. This made it a really nice experience. Diving with the Sea Lions was incredible. They are SUCH playful creatures. Swimming up to us copying whatever we were doing. You did a summersault – they did a summersault, you waved your hand – they waved their flipper right back at you. They are so inquisitive. It was an experience we will never forget & will always cherish.
My mum joined us for a few days in Port Lincoln; shout out to her for taking the time to spend with us!! It’s always so nice having visitors along the way. An extra thank you for helping me stealthily organise Fred’s birthday dinner & cake! I have never sung solo, out loud to anyone in the history of the universe, & for you to have made it through my Happy Birthday ditty – well all I can say is well done, to the both of you!!
There has been a fair amount of surf along this coast, & when the wind is light or blowing off shore it gets really good. (This has been about 50% of the time). Though our biggest set back has been that a lot of these breaks are very far out from shore. Coupled with the fact there has been no one else around, & everyone we speak to about surfing always brings up the apparent increasing number of sharks – we get a little psyched out. (I should point out that during our whole time in SA we have only seen one shark, a Bronze Whaler & that was on a shark dive tour). Point Sinclair has definitely been the surfing highlight. With quite a gathering of other keen surfers camped in the dunes, it brought the ‘psych yourself out levels’ way down. Having others around to share the stoke, as well as riding some of the best waves in our lives, the thought of sharks totally disappeared. This was our last stop before crossing the Nullarbor Plain. And a lovely place to turn 26!! Thanking Fred, for nailing my favourite breakfast of banana pancakes, & excelling way beyond bush camping birthday expectations by delivering me a caramel white chocolate camp oven mud cake. And yes, it was ridiculously delicious in case you needed clarification on the matter!!!!
We are a little sad to be saying goodbye to South Australia. The past month here has been wonderful, even a bit surprising. We did not have many expectations, in that we didn’t really know what to expect. But we are leaving most certainly satisfied that we have experienced with juicy detail, a stunningly unique & beautiful part of this country.
TIP: For anyone travelling across the Nullarbor – At the quarantine border into WA, they WILL take the majority of your fresh fruit & vegetables. They took everything except our carrots & sweet potato (everything as in lettuce, spinach, ALL berries, onions, tomatoes, bananas, beans, peas, honey!). We couldn’t find an exact list on the government website, but basically they take the whole cake. The roadhouses along the way are SUPER expensive as you can imagine, so stock up on basic packaged food. And if you don’t like the idea of paying $1.70 for fuel, we’d advise filling up your sub-tank & / or as many jerry cans as you can carry at Ceduna!
Once again, thanks for reading. I hope you have enjoyed our tales so far. Now I think my hair is going to snap right off it is so salt crusted, Fred told me yesterday he worked out he had only taken 2 showers this whole past month!!!! LOL. So time to take the longest shower of our lives.
Western Australia we are coming in hot!! 😉
Some snaps below of our journey across the Eyre Peninsula. Enjoy Xo
Fred, Claire & Barney cut a lap 