Committed Travellers

It was cold this morning but turned into a pleasant sunny day. We refuelled at Nundroo at an unexpectedly wet and muddy roadhouse, where the price was reasonable. The mechanic could have repaired our Anderson plug, but was busy fitting new tyres so we decided not to wait.

It is only 163kms from the Fowlers Bay caravan park to the Head of Bight Whale Centre. There is plenty of parking near the entrance, but the drop toilets are to be avoided. It costs $15 per adult concession. We saw a group of families balk at the $45 charge for a family of four, but the fees are reasonable considering the cost of staff, and establishing and maintaining the centre, the walkways, parking and other facilities.

As well as being able to see southern right whales, the scenery is spectacular with sand dunes to the east of the lookouts  and the magnificent Bunda Cliff to the west. The cliff extends 200kms to the Western Australian border. There are two whales lolling in the water in this photo.

Without a telephoto lens it is hard to get decent photos, but I found these pics on line. We saw about a dozen mother and calf pairs, but they were not breaching.

We are camped at a free site just outside the gates, with trucks on the highway visible in the distance. There are no facilities here other than a high fence, so vehicles are meant to be fully self contained. There is a warning not to leave dogs out overnight because of dingos. I saw a sandy coloured dingo on our drive in, initially thinking it was a deer because of it colouring. The sunset was impressive.

There was cloud over Ceduna when we packed up this morning, but no rain. Our first stop was the bakery for take away coffees, croissants, and other baked goods. The “croissants” were more like a white bread roll, and bore no resemblance to real croissants.

Our second stop was to have been Coles Express to top up diesel for the Bushtracker heater. There was a truck in the lane we needed so we gave up and spent our $8 at the OTR on the western outskirt of Ceduna. The tank was still over half full so we were just topping up.

We drove 70kms west along the Eyre Hwy to Penong, where we discovered the van’s Anderson plug had fallen out of its receiver on the Toyota, and is beyond repair. When properly connected this allows the batteries in the van to be charged when the engine is running. The batteries can also be charged via the four solar panels on the roof, or by connecting to 240 volt power.

The service station and General Store were both out of stock of Anderson plugs, so we will have to manage without this for a while. The store advertises it is the last shop for 1,000kms – not quite true as roadhouses are stocked like shops.

We made a brief stop at the Penong Windmill Museum which has 20+ windmills restored by a group of dedicated locals. Since opening in 2016 it has attracted about 100 visitors per day.

After another 47kms driving along the highway, we turned south onto the sealed section of Fowlers Bay Rd. The last 8kms of the road are gravel, mostly good quality  but with sections of corrugations.

There is one shop/cafe that doubles as the Fowlers Bay caravan park office. Whale watching tours are available in a small scary boat. A dozen whales were spotted this morning by the tour group. None were spotted by us landlubbers. Apparently early morning is the most likely time to spot the whales.

European settlement here dates back to the late 1800s, but the Dutch first navigated this coast 200 years earlier.

Large areas are designated as a conservation park, where dogs are not allowed. Blue had a good run on the dirt road and piles of seagrass. He would have liked to run up the sand dunes.

The resident Indian ring necked parrots were very busy when I walked over to take a photo.

Anita visited our friends at beer o’clock, causing Bluey to sulk behind my pillows. He loves visiting the luxurious motorhome but doesn’t like Lithium Leo trying to hump him. They had a squabble about this but are still good friends.

As the bakery was closed I walked 1.5kms to Mozzie’s Truckstop which serves good coffee. I found a website advising three gypsum trains a day run between the mine near Penong and Thevenard. A train leaves Thevenard at 10.30am each day and returns loaded at 4.30pm, so I walked back to our caravan park beside the rail line and the empty train passed me at 10.44am. Three engines haul the long train. The ground beside the track is white due to spilt gypsum.

I walked past the Ceduna School House Museum which is included in the National Trust. Unfortunately it is closed on Sundays, but I could see the small green building that was the 1902 Ceduna Post Office, and the red 1905 jail. There is a fairly large gum tree in front of the old school house.

Anita was spending time cooking fruit and vegetables so they can be taken into Western Australia. I took Bluey for a drive to Denial Bay 13kms away. From the late 1880s there was a small town at Denial Bay that was the hub of the district. After the rail line and water pipeline to Ceduna were constructed in 1946, the town facilities of Denial Bay all closed. Only a few houses and a couple of buildings associated with oyster farming remain. This mural is part of the half size basketball court. The only other public facilities are the jetty and a toilet block.

It rained during the afternoon but cleared in time for another wonderful sunset.

We had dinner at the hotel bistro, but the meals were disappointing. The menu described a special as roast pork with crackling, but the vegetables were undercooked, there was no crackling, and the plate was cold.

It was sunny this morning but a sea mist limited the view to the end of the jetty. The sun shone most of the day and there was no wind so it was the warmest day we have had for a long time.

After breakfast at the bakery we drove to the IGA at Thevenard to stock up on supplies before travelling to places with limited facilities. We topped up our fuel and headed to the truck wash where there is also a dog wash. Blue knew where we where and didn’t want to get out of the car.

We dried him with towels and the blower, and finished with the hairdryer back at our van. His fur has grown so much it is hard to manage. I trimmed him again with scissors but he needs a proper grooming.

I put the awning out to wash dust from the arms and mechanisms, then sprayed them with silicone lubricant. The van windows outside were next – we use VuPlex which was developed for the aviation industry and does a great job.

The weather has even confused some plants and animals. The plovers at Port Lincoln had laid their eggs in the coldest month. This fruit tree is already in bud in July.

I heard a train passing through Ceduna but at Thevenard only spotted these engines. There is about 70kms of rail track between Thevenard and Penong where gypsum is loaded. The mine is near Lake Macdonnell and trucks transport the gypsum from the mine to Penong, along Gypsum Mine Rd.

Tilly has been cranky lately, even hissing at Blue when I put him in their shared crate in the car. She looks content sleeping on my lap.

We watched the prolonged sunset from the bistro of the Ceduna Foreshore Hotel next to our caravan park. I took my first photo at 5.44pm and the second photo at 6.23pm, with an ever changing vista all through this time.

Our morning started with washing then we went to the Bakery for breakfast. It was cold on the footpath so we sat with Blue in an arcade between the bakery and butcher protected from the wind. Many of the shops have a second door protecting the entrances, keeping the warmth in and cold out.

We drove to the port town of Thevenard 3kms from Ceduna. This is the working deep sea port where wheat, gypsum, salt and zircon are loaded.

Pinky Point Lookout features this monument in the shape of a lighthouse. The monument was constructed to commemorate lives lost at sea. It is 4.3m tall and has tiles depicting various sea related images.

We visited Shelly Beach where long beaked birds were poking around in the shallow water, presumably eating the little creatures that live in said shells.

Driving around Thevenard we spotted some quirky sights. Two houses had interesting decorations in their gardens. Gray’s Transport advertises a “well maintained fleet”, but presumably not this truck.

It was sunny this morning, but cold. We had booked three nights at a Ceduna caravan park, so resumed driving in a north westerly direction along the Flinders Hwy. Our first opportunity for coffee was at Streaky Bay. We sat in the sun outside Bay Funktion while Blue enjoyed sips of coffee.

As we drove out of Streaky Bay I spotted this cluster of striking red plants.

Before going to our caravan park we drove to the Ceduna truck wash to clean the outside of our van. Our main focus was the windows which I will treat with special acrylic cleaner over the next couple of days.

We had to back onto a concrete slab with little wriggle room, but it is conveniently close to the amenities and swimming pool, not that we are likely to have a dip. We washed all of our upholstery covers and cleaned the rooftop fan. Jobs like this are easier to do when we are staying in a caravan park for a couple of days. 

Ceduna is the location of the South Australian quarantine check point, even though it is nearly 500kms from the border with Western Australia. This town is large enough to attract and retain quarantine officers, rather than have staff posted to remote areas with few facilities.

There is a large truck stop on the western edge of Ceduna, and across the road is the Oyster Barn. We drove there to buy our dinner – a seafood basket which was large enough for us to share and still give the critters tasty morsels. Behind the Barn there is low lying land, and the foreshore is behind sand dunes. The rocky shore is so different to Gold Coast beaches.

Blue is not allowed on the small areas of grass within our caravan park, so I carried him to the grass on the foreshore near the jetty. Several of the jetty support poles have rusted through and are broken, but it is still being used and is featured in many sunset photos.

Last night lots of kangaroos were eating the grass in our caravan park. Blue had the quickest ever wee before scurrying back into the caravan.

Today we drove away from the perpetual cloud over the southern Eyre Penninsular, and rediscovered sun when stopped at the 1850s Lake Hamilton Eating House. This was once a stop for horse drawn coaches.

The west coast of the Eyre Penninsular has few villages and a low population. At Ellistone we refuelled the Toyota, topped up the diesel for the heater, emptied our toilet cassette, and refuelled ourselves at the bakery. This whale tail sculpture is opposite the bakery.

Gravel roads connect the Flinders Hwy to remote beaches. With the van attached we are not keen taking these roads without knowing the condition of the road.

Our planned overnight destination is the $10 campsite at Murphy’s Haystacks. From a distance these prominent granite rocks were thought to be haystacks by a Mr Murphy, and the name stuck. Technically they are inselbergs –  hills that look like a rocky island rising sharply from the sea. Tilly walked all the way around the scattered inselbergs, but hinted she was tired by getting on one of the rocks. The last photo was taken just before the sun dropped below the horizon.

I unhooked the Bushtracker and drove 40kms along excellent gravel roads to Point Labbat to see the only mainland sea lion colony. The viewing platform was so high I could not take good photos of the seals without a telephoto lens, but the scenery was fantastic. There are about 10 seals in this photo.

I stopped on Calca Rd to see these old buildings. There are school bus stops along the road outside farm houses. This area is used for wheat and sheep farming.

While Anita was having a beer with our friends in their motorhome, I took Bluey in for a five minute visit. Leo is generally very energetic, but was tired this evening.

While there was no rain today, the cloud cover remained and it was cold all day. Tilly enjoyed a sleep-in but Blue was wide awake.

I took Blue for his morning “walk” which involved me carrying him to the cafe 100m from our van. At least he willingly walked home.

Three of us decided to go for a drive around the penninsula, taking Bluey and Leo. There was no wind so the bay was still. This is the view from our van and from the Esplanade.

We stopped at the boat ramp which had several extra large boat trailers for transporting boats like this one used in oyster farming. The sign stating the lefthand boat ramp is only for recreational vehicles was ignored. The rolls on the boat contain young oysters.

We stopped at a beach near the Coffin Bay National Park. The sand dunes in the background are in the National Park. Dogs were allowed off leash so Blue and Leo had their first run together. Blue runs in circles and Leo Little Legs had to run on the inside track to keep up with him. When Blue stopped for a breather Leo was quick to explore parts Blue was trying to keep private.

Back at our caravan park Tilly spotted an emu. After her initial shock at the sight of this huge creature, she was ready to stalk it.

For lunch we had warming seafood chowder at Oyster HQ. This bird kept appearing at the window. He/she may have been feeling cold, or was hoping to get a feed.

Today four of us visited Peter Teakle Wines just out of Port Lincoln. There is a fine dining restaurant on site, but we were having a platter to go with wine tastings (for three).

The buildings and gardens are striking with many architectural features. The rusty steel panels on the entrance wall have interesting laser cut designs.

I didn’t taste the wines, but the others bought a few bottles. Instead I spent time admiring the interesting barrel themed building.

The interior feels cosy with timber decorations complementing the barrel theme.

The outdoor area along the side of the building has curved glass. Tables were set with wine glasses which appeared to be half full. The curved glass may have caused this this image.

The rest of the afternoon we spent dodging rain squalls, drying clothes and packing ready to move tomorrow. Tilly climbed the tree and climbed into a no-go cupboard. The critters are happy to be together.