Out Latest Travels - Port Augusta to Streaky Bay

Back to our recent trip…..

Now that the Flinders Ranges section of our trip was completed, we started to head further west.  The next destination on our travels was the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. We had ridden the sidecar around the coastline on our way west back in 2010, but on that trip we were on a mission to get going and the weather was really windy, so we didn’t actually see very much.

We had travelled this road last year, so there wasn’t a need to play the tourist all that much.  

Having said that, for the first time, we turned off the highway to have look at Iron Knob.  As the sign says, it is the birthplace of Australia’s Steel Industry.

The town was rather run down.  Admittedly, it was a Sunday morning, but we did not see a single sole the whole time we were driving around.  Apparently, it had a population of about 3,000 when the mine was at its most productive.

As we headed further west you could see the mine.  It closed in 1998, but is now working again at a much reduced level.

We always love the way that the landscape changes.  As we drove along it changed from saltbush and very low scrub to mallee and crops.  A couple of times I even spotted the red of a quondong tree.

Our destination for the day was Kimba, located exactly half way across Australia.  Like last year, we camped a the community free camp located at the recreation ground.

There is a nice mural on one of the buildings.

Last year we didn’t get much of a look around, so this time we played the tourist, as much as you can on a Sunday afternoon, when everything is closed.

 The first port of call was the painted silos.  It was painted in 2017 by Cam Scale.

Yes, another photo with the ute in front of the silo.

The town is nice and tidy and has a few art items, including a nice mosaic of native animals and birds.

This was made up of lots of teeny weeny photos.

This is so cute and a great play on words.

As we were walking around, we saw a quondong tree in a front yard.  Most houses had nice tidy gardens, considering it is a relatively arid climate.  Quondongs are a native plant and is used in jams, pies and other yummy things.

The next morning, before we left town, we went and found the sign for halfway across Australia.

Proof we were there.

This gives you an idea of where we will be travelling.

Kimba is also home to the Big Galah.  Originally, built in 1993, it was looking rather sad until a couple of years ago when it had a refresh.  The artwork on it is stunning.

After Kimba we continued on our way west.  The scenery was beautiful.

We travelled west as far as Poochera before turning south to Streaky Bay.  We had initially thought we would go as far west as Ceduna, the main town before the Nullarbor Plains, but we had a decent look around there last year, so decided to concentrate on places we hadn’t seen.

Streaky Bay would be our home for the next three nights.  It is pretty little town located on a nice calm bay.  This is a very popular holiday destination, particularly for keen fisher folk.  The caravan park was right beside the water and we had a wonderful site. 

The view from our van.  It was a lovely warm calm day.  You couldn’t get nicer.

It was a very gentle slope into the water.

Mick took the opportunity to take the kayak out for a little while.  He had no luck catching a fish, but that didn’t bother him.  

While Mick was in the kayak, I started working on a tension swatch for my next pair of socks.  I haven’t progressed any further with them as yet, but at least I know which needles to use.

Whenever someone took some fish to the cleaning table there was an immediate visit from the local pelicans.

We hopped in the ute and drove around to the boat ramp and breakwater where the boats were launched.

 The water was so clear and we saw a jelly fish floating along.

We finished off our day by going to the famous Streaky Bay Hotel for dinner.  They even run a courtesy bus from the caravan park, which is a great service.  It is located opposite the town jetty.

Before we went in for dinner, we had a wander along the jetty to watch the sunset.

Beside the jetty there is a fenced off swimming pool and some brave souls were having a swim.

The sunset was beautiful.

A highlight was spotting a dolphin.

Back opposite the pub was a new statue of local very successful jockey Kevin McEvoy, who rode Melbourne Cup winners.

Our dinner at the pub was delicious and we were introduced to the unique measures that beer is measured in throughout South Australia.  The bar staff had a quirky tee shirt explaining it.  (They don’t know them as Papa, Mama and Baby, but Pint, Schooner and Butcher) Somewhere else we saw signs saying that they know that a “Pint” isn’t a pint.  For comparison, we call their “Pint” a schooner, their “Schooner” a midi and we don’t have anything smaller.

The day was a lovely introduction to the Eyre Peninsula.  We were looking forward to a couple of days of day tripping.

More soon.