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).

Monday, 13th May ~ Whyalla, SA

Just a quickie update because I don't want to get behind.

We did a quickie trip from Port Augusta to Whyalla.

We're moving from the Yorke Peninsula to the Eyre Peninsula ('where the outback meets the sea').

It's funny how you think a place will be. I thought Port Augusta sounded a lovely place, but it's dry and dusty and very 'central Australia' looking (you know, lots of red dirt). I thought Whyalla was an 'industry town' so there wouldn't be too much to see. But not so. Take a look for yourself ...

Sure there's industry ...

But there's a nice and friendly feel to the town as well. They seem to be a creative community too. Here's the info centre and Maritime Museum. The Whyalla is on land.

 

and arty too...

'The Loaded Dog'

Designed and constructed in Scotland;

he's based on the dog from Henry Lawson's bush tale 'The Loaded Dog'.

He sits outside the Whyalla Vet Clinic.

 

Flinders & Freycinet lookout

Memorial to Matthew Flinders and Louis-Claude de Freycinet.

 

Here's what they look out to...

 

 

And seem to be thinking about their environment and community by creating Whyalla Wetlands.

 



 

 

'Build it and they will come' 

 

                                                               

 

We really came in search of the Thick-billed Grasswren at the Whyalla Conservation Park. Tick. But, he's such a shy little guy that we couldn't get a photo. But I did get a pic of these 'show offs' (Mulga Parrots) just waiting to have their photo taken (he is, she's being a bit coy).

 



Did I mention that we were having some unseasonally hot days at 30 degrees. Well, we knew that wouldn't last too much longer. I managed to finish knitting my slippers last night, just in time to keep my toes toasty warm when the weather resumed its coldness.