Friday, 24th May ~ Flinders Ranges, SA (part 1)

Hello from Wilpena Pound .. woof woof :)

where GLAMPING has well and truly hit top of the tree .. we arrived at 11.30am in a cool 11 degrees, with an awful wind from a glacier, so we tucked up with the heater on !  We're booked in for four nights, so we don't feel too bad about chillling out.

You can't stay cooped up in the van all day, so we stretched out our muscles for a 'cool' afternoon walk (just 7km !).

 

We woke to a very cool 6 degrees (inside the van, ie colder outside), and didn't waste too much time before setting off for the day with smoko and lunch packed. Thankfully little or no wind from the glacier today. The scenery is just breath taking ... no mistaking the view of Wilpena Pound from Stokes Hill lookout (the blue hills in the background).

Driving down Stokes Hill (Wilpena Pound in background)

 

We drove on to Winkawillina Gorge and walked (about 3km), to see more stunning scenery and rocks.  

The slope was quite steep on parts of the track, but it's ok, it's safe, there is a safety fence.

And here's a pic of the last goat who walked the track ... mmmm

More walking and scenery to come ...

Wednesday, 22nd May ~ Port Augusta, SA (again)

Here we are, back in Port Augusta after looping around the Yorke Peninsula and a smaller loop around the Eyre Peninsula. (sounding like a local now ...)

The weather turned quite bad during the afternoon of our stay in Kimba and on waking, it was only going to get worse with heavy cloud, gusty winds and showers (not heavy though). Lucky for us, our trip to Port Augusta was a short one and as the weather deteriorated further (very strong gusty winds), we were safely tucked up in the caravan park. Sadly, there were no en suite sites available, but happily, there was a spare site for us.

MENTAL NOTE: might be a good idea to think about booking ahead. The number of caravans on the road increases with every journey.

As we covered most of Port Augusta during our last visit, it was an ideal time to rest up, shop up, cook up and catch up in readiness for our Flinders Ranges sector. We've booked ahead at Wilpena Pound. Of course, I had to find out what the name means. Locals call it the Pound. Is it somewhere where we'll be 'locked up'? The name for the Pound, Wilpena, is reported to be Aboriginal, meaning "place of bent fingers"; this might either be a reference to the mountains resembling the shape of a gently cupped hand, or the freezing cold of the ranges in winter. The traditional owners, the Adnyamathanha, however, have no such word in their language. Their name for the Pound is Ikara which means "meeting place". Sounds like I need to find our more about Wilpena Pound the natural amphitheatre of mountains.

I've seen some beautiful photos of the scenery, hopefully the weather will be kind to us and enable the beauty to shine for us.

Monday, 20th May ~ Kimba, SA

Before moving on from Elliston, we had to stop in at the bakery.. of course.  Since we arrived in Elliston on Saturday afternoon to find the bakery closed, and not opening until Monday ! The temptation was too great for us. Plus, remember our added disappointment that the Coulton roadside bread stall was closed too. We see it as our duty to 'share' our cash inputs, so naturally, we made pigs of ourselves by buying not only bread but some smoko too !

On this trip, we’ve gone as far south as we can and as far west as we thought we’d go. Now, our trip takes a turn. While not technically turning our heads for home, we have turned around.

Today we drove on three highways to reach our destination of Kimba:

the Birdseye Highway (named after Sylvia Birdseye, a pioneer bus operator in SA - the first highway to be named after a woman);

the Tod Highway (named after the explorer Robert Tod);

and the Eyre Highway (named after explorer Edward John Eyre, who was the first to cross the Nullarbor by land).

 

As we're driving along, and a view like this pops up in front of you, I just can't imagine being in the shoes of the early explorers. Such vast distances they must have covered and under unimaginable conditions. The range you see in the far distance is called 'The Wedge'.

 

Naturally the landscape wouldn't have been quite so bald as this scene today !!! I suppose the early farmers were doing what they knew how to do .. rip everything out.

White's Knob lookout is the place to go to get a 360 degree view of Kimba and surrounds. You'll see these guys there too ...

Edward John Eyre and his Aboriginal Tracker

He liked to do big, long walks!

 

Kimba (pop around 650) boasts as being the mid way point between Sydney and Perth (as the crow flies that is).

 

And is also home to one of the biggest .. the biggest Galah..

 

We finished our audio book today ~ you know how it is, you want to know what happens, but you don't want it to end. Black Wattle Creek by Geoffrey McGeachin was a great crime, mystery story. There was no way you could predict which way you would be going next. He has a great turn of phrase and I found myself immersed in the characters and scenes. I highly recommend this book to you.

 

 

 

 

Sunday, 19th May ~ Elliston, SA

Happy 2nd Birthday to the little-ist man in our family, Alec xo xo
We hope you had a great day and really look forward to celebrating with you on our return.

It was such a beautiful day, no rain, no wind; and couldn't resist taking things slowly out of Coffin Bay, as our trip to Elliston wasn't too far. We left the van in the park until minutes before check-out time and took an early coffee to enjoy our last look at the beautiful bay.

We found a single pergola that overlooked the bay. Perfect. Even more perfect we realised that it was a grape vine, growing up and over the lattice. At our feet were some arty pavers covered with mosaics.

It was such a glorious day, all three cameras were working to capture the breathtaking scenery.  I'll let 'picture postcards' tell the story.

Cummings Monument Look out

See the little knob ? There's an Osprey's next on top.



See Ivor taking the pic of the Osprey's nest ...

Along the 'Great Ocean Drive' near Elliston, you can be thrilled by the rugged cliffs and enjoy the sculptures. The event 'Sculpture on the Cliffs' is held every second year and some sculptures remain on permanent exhibit.

 

Anyone for a picnic?

 

 

 

So lucky to have a perfect day.

We're staying in Elliston, and woke to a colourful sunrise.

Today (weather good, but not as perfect as yesterday) we took a drive to Venus Bay.

On the way is an 'honesty pay bakery' we had read about in the travel brochure. It's a roadside stall that sells sour dough loaves. That's something different. But it was closed today.

Talia Caves. We're not really into caves, but the steps down invited us in, and we had our warnings. 

 

 

Glad we went to see .. WOW!

It truly is a magnificent coastline.

Friday, 17th May ~ Coffin Bay, SA (Lincoln National Park)

Today we went to Lincoln National Park. The Port Lincoln Parrot welcomes you.

We've been lucky to see quite a few of these guys. But to photograph them is something else. They are so fast, or I'm so slow. This is the best pic of the Port Lincoln Parrot I've been able to snap.  A headless PLP ... hah !!

And when he did look up, he looked away .. thanks ! His mate was more co-operative, but I missed him !  Anyway .. you get those days.

I'm glad we went to the Coffin Bay NP before Lincoln NP; or maybe you should do one of the parks, not two.??  In other words, Coffin Bay NP was our 'stand out'. Was it the scenery? It was more spectacular.. those cliffs .. wow! I really can't put my finger on just one thing, maybe it's just the vibe.

Can't blame the bird count, it was similar: Coffin Bay (45); Lincoln (43).

At Lincoln NP, we had an added highlight of seeing dolphins (I did my best to get a pic, but it's trickey), if you've seen dolphins swimming by, you will remember that feeling of excitement and wow factor.

 

 

Another highlight was Emus wandering by as we lunched ...

At our unusual picnic table. Have you seen this type of design before? No crumbs here...

Here's a pic of our 'welcoming home' party ...  at least they were next door this time. As we drove in yesterday, they were just about in our van !

 

 

Moving on tomorrow ...

Thursday, 16th May ~ Coffin Bay, SA (Coffin Bay National Park)

After our previous short trip (Port Augusta-Whyalla), it was time to add a few km's to our journey.

Of course, enjoying a smoko stop (we saw a rest area and stopped, not quite smoko time, but hey, it was a rest area)

and admiring a few towns along the way. The drive into Port Lincoln, where the highway meets the sea is quite scenic.

We prefer to stay in the smaller towns, so headed through Port Lincoln and on to Coffin Bay (population 650).  You may wonder about the name, we did. Discovered by Matthew Flinders in 1802 and named in honour of his friend Sir Isaac Coffin.  It may look as if we have the caravan park to ourselves pht .. it's just that everyone else prefers the 'drive through' sites (it's like a sardine tin); and here we are by ourselves. 

Coffin Bay is famous for its oysters (not that we're oyster fans).

Here are the tractors ready for the oyster haul.

Coffin Bay ~ picture perfect

This little guy (Superb Fairy-wren) provided a giggle by dancing for us on the beach.

We really enjoyed our visit to Coffin Bay National Park and it was hard work to achieve our 45 bird count.

 

Such a spectacular coastline (Gallipoli was filmed here).

 

 

As you can see by the pics, we've had mixed weather, one minute raining, the next sunny, but cool to cold. And everywhere, there's a colourful rainbow (or two).