BigRedBusTouringCo.com: Eyre Peninsula

BigRedBusTouringCo.com: Eyre Peninsula: Eyre Peninsula As most know we have been house sitting, on the Eyre Peninsula at a small place called Cowell. We were very lucky gettin...

Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula

As most know we have been house sitting, on the Eyre Peninsula at a small place called Cowell.  We were very lucky getting our first house sitting job, since joining Aussie House sitters, and it just seemed to fall into our laps, when these lovely people contacted us asking us if we would like to house sit their lovely 100 year old property, along with 2 dogs, 5 chooks, with the bonus of 4 camels on the 8,000 acres property.

Old Middlecamp Homestead

'Jess'

One Of The Four Camels Living In Retirement At Middlecamp

The Eyre Peninsula is a jewel in the crown of South Australian Tourism, however we have found that tourism in this area of South Australia, is way behind so many other areas of Australia.  The roads are dreadful and make it very hard taking the bus anywhere, and travel is slow, not that we are in a hurry to get anywhere much these days.  Total lack of sign posting makes it difficult for us to find the type of things we like to visit. 

Have got on my soap box this morning and written to SA Tourism and had our say – nothing will get fixed, unless people let them know, so will be interesting to see what the have to say in response.

The Eyre Peninsula,  is serviced by three major centres, Port Lincoln, Whyalla, and Port Augusta.  We didn’t have much time to stop in Port Augusta, and as we had both been there a number of times before, we needed to head onto Cowell.  We stayed overnight in one beautiful free camp – Point Lowly.  Everything there we could possible want, and a photographers dream at sunrise.

Just behind the camp site is the huge Santos refinery, which processes, both oil and gas, from the Moomba gas fields much further north.

It was a wonderful overnight camp, and so many others there and some of the way to the rally in Kalgoolie, as we are.  Will certainly be marking this one on our map for stays in the future.

Onto Cowell and our first house sitting job and meeting with the owners, Jo and Ian Sampson and their lovely dogs, Jess and Ruby.  We have had a ball looking after this beautiful property, and have soaked in its history, with the original homestead ruins still standing along with the old shearing shed.

The shearing shed on the main property is leased out, but offered some great photo opportunities.

Old Shearing Shed

The Days Work Is Done

Up the back of the property are 4 camels, the remains of an old local fellow who used the camels for camel rides at local events, but now they are retired and live out their live here on the property.

The wild life is amazing with so many native quarrion around, along with Port Lincoln Parrots, honeyeaters, and the like.  Incredible rock formations line the valleys on the property and you can almost imagine dinosaurs roaming around in days gone by.

Port Lincoln Parrot

 Cowell has a motorhome reserve, where they ask you pay, for a bit of grass to camp on, but you are required to be self sufficient, as there are no toilets or showers provided.  Down the road here a bit at Cleve, the recreation grounds provide powered sites, showers and toilets for the princely sum of $a10 pn.  Good on you Cleve and interesting to note, that there were 4 vans there the day we were there, but in the 10 days we have been in Cowell, have seen no one at the motorhome reserve. 

Cowell is home to what use to be Jade mining, but it has now been reduced to just selling souvenirs (at fairly expensive prices) and it is interesting to see black jade, in comparison to the normal green jade.

Jade was discovered here in 1856 and the ‘nephrite jade’ is recognised as one of the oldest and largest deposits in the world.

Big Lump Of Jade

The whole of the Peninsula is home to some of the best fishing in Australia, and blue fin tuna and the likes are commercially farmed in many areas, including Arno Bay, where there is quite and aquaculture industry.  Oysters are plentiful and are to be tasted to be believed.

Along the road to Cleve is a memorial to May Gibbs, famous for her Gumnut Babies.  Believed to be the area in which gave her the inspiration to write her famous stories and drawings, was where she is believed to have spent her early child hood years.

May Gibbs Memorial

Old Crossville School

Cleve is mainly an agricultural town, with a wide variety of crops, including, wheat, barley, canola and pea crops.  It was established in the 1850’s when the McKechnie brothers established Wangaraleednie (meaning ‘hill of the west wind’) – why don’t I find that heard to believe!!!!

Welcome To Cleve Sign

 Yeldulknie Weir is located 5 kilometers east of Cleve and here we discovered another free camp spot.  A bit of dirt road in, but certainly not difficult.  The old wheel house is heritage listed and the wall was completed in 1912, to supply water to the Arno Bay and Cowell area. 

Yeldulknie Weir Pumphouse

In the abundant array of tourism brochures, we saw the Wharminda Soaks listed as an area of interest. 

I quote “Approximately 125 kms long, this interesting drive showcases extensive panoramic views of agricultural landscapes and the Wharminda Soaks over the blue range that rises to 170 metres above sea level”.  Have yet to find out how these soaks came about, other than to be fortunate enough to find a little sign that states that travelling stockmen used the soaks as a watering hole.  The various Soaks in Tasmania, are interesting for their geological formation, and how they actually came about – but we drew a blank here???

The Information Board About The Soaks???

Barry Soaking It All Up!

The Soaks Picnic Area

Arno Bay

All along the coastline are pristine white beaches, and Arno Bay is no exception,  With a population of just 270, I was once a major port, with grin being shipped out and super phosphate being shipped in.  Now home to a huge kingfish and aquaculture industry.

Fishing Fleet At Arno Bay

Old Fence Line On A Tidal Bay At Arno Bay

Port Neil

A stop over for lunch at Port Neil at the one and only local pub, this little town is in peak season a hive of activity.  Hard to believe on the day we were there with the weather just atrocious.

The perfect holiday destination, from all reports.

Port Neil Jetty

Carrow Wells

The Old Well At Carrow Wells

Windmill at Carrow Wells

 Carrow Wells was really worth seeing. Seems strange to see a windmill so close to the beach.  A waterhole used by the aboriginals in days past, and then the new settlers discovered them and they came for miles around, to carry water back to their farms - some the journey taking days at a time.

Hard to believe, that none of the local galleries and craft shops, were not open on a weekend – we otherwise might have been that little bit poorer.

Home to The Australian Eucalypt Collection, I would have loved to have seen their selection of jewellery and giftware.

Port Gibbon

Off the main highway we diverted off down a dirt road to Port Gibbon – not hard to miss the sign!!!

This is where we have been taking the dogs for a swim, but is also home to the Milford Crouch, a ketch which sank here in 1959.  A friend, whose father was one of the ones that lost his life, had asked us to visit the plaque and give it a polish, but guess who forgot the polishing gear???

Plaque - Commemorating the Sinking Of The Ketch

The Red Cliffs Of Port Gibbon

 Continuing along the back road towards Cowell, we found one of the most amazing sites we have seen on this part of the trip.

Towards the end of the second world war, these Bomb Shelters were built, along with two towers.  Then peace was declared, and the shelters no longer needed and the towers were sold off at the princely sum of $10.  A small sign, gives a little information about the site, but such a shame SA Tourism hasn’t done more with it, or the Department of defence who now owns them.

Old Bomb Shelters

The day had been freezing with frequent showers passing overhead and when I took this photo a rainbow could only just be seen in the background.

Well tomorrow our home owners return and our time here at Cowell has come to an end, and we have really enjoyed it.  House sitting is to be recommended, and we just hope that this wonderful place has not spoiled us for any future ones.

And so we will begin our trek across the Nullabor, and hope this wind does not follow us, as it is just the worst driving in this bus with strong wind – can be quite frightening at times!!!

We aim to be in Kalgoolie on or around the 7^th October ready for the rally, and looking forward to catching up with David McGeoch.

Lots of other Highway Wanderers already making the trek across and looking forward to meeting them all when we get there.

Cheers for now everyone. Hope you enjoy the read.

BigRedBusTouringCo.com: Housitting At Middlecamp - Cowell ~ South Austra...

BigRedBusTouringCo.com:
Housitting At Middlecamp - Cowell ~ South Austra...: Housitting At Middlecamp - Cowell ~ South Australia We are here in the small township of Cowell, experienceing our first house s...

 Housitting At Middlecamp - Cowell ~ South Australia

We are here in the small township of Cowell, experienceing our first house sitting job.  How lucky were we to fall into this wonderful place.

The name of the property is 'Middlecamp'.  It is heritage listed and extends to 8,000 acres, most of which is scrub land, and remainder leased out and under cropping.

The house is just immaculate and something like out of Home Beautiful, an dates back to about 1889.  The original homestead is some 5 kilometers up the road and will over the next couple of days get up there to take some photos of the original old homestead and old shearing shed, which are ruins now, but amazing that anything still remains after all these years.

Our main duties are to take care of two lovely kelpies - Jess and Ruby.  There are also 6 chookies, who between them give us a couple of eggs a day and just a bit of general watering of the garden.  Gardening life is hard and and it amazing anything survives, but sheer determination of its devoted owner, keeps it alive somehow.

The dogs just love going to the beach and its a daily tour down to the beach in the old Range Rover, that is called the "mobile kennel" and is really just used to ferry the dogs around the farm and down to the beach - roadworthy??? well that's debatable....

Middlecamp Homestead

 

The Mobile Kennel - Ready for Our Trip To The Beach

 After finding the Rangie low on fuel we swapped over to the little suzuki.  Barry was in his element being back in a suzi again.

Jess - Enjoying her Ride To The Beach

Chasing Their Shadows

At The Beach At Last

Something You Won't Often See lol

BigRedBusTouringCo.com: A Tour Of Yorke Peninsula

BigRedBusTouringCo.com: A Tour Of Yorke Peninsula: Yep - This is South Australia - Years Behind The Rest Of The States (Will Qualify that statement at a later ti...

A Tour Of Yorke Peninsula

Yep - This is South Australia - Years Behind The Rest Of The States

 (Will Qualify that statement at a later time lol)

Get ready and strap yourself in, ready for a whistle stop tour of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.  Known as the 'Boot' of Australia, this is one of the pristine areas of Australia.

Just over an hour or so drive from Adelaide and boasting 700 kilometers of coastline, the choice of beaches or that quiet, tranquil bay is yours.

From the Hummock Ranges in the east, across to Port Broughton in the north, Yorke Peninsula is the traditional home of the Adjahdura people. You can still find artefacts in various townships, including Tiddy Widdy Beach, Moonta Bay, Point Pearce and Point Yorke. Take the Aboriginal Cultural Tour if you would like to know more about the area's indigenous inhabitants.

Yorke Peninsula is full of surprises. In 1919, World War One pilot and aviation pioneer, Captain Harry Butler, made the first airmail flight from Adelaide to the Yorke Peninsula. He was the first man to fly across St Vincent Gulf and the first to fly over water in the southern hemisphere. Captain Butler's Red Devil Bristol monoplane rests in a display hangar in Minlaton. It is believed to be the only genuine one of its kind left in the world.

Over the centuries, many a ship met it's demise along this rugged coastline and now lie at rest at the bottom of the sea, and offer many dive spots around the coast.

Our time being a bit limited, we thought it wouldn't take us too long to investigate all that the area has on offer.  Typical for us, we just sauntered along, taking the back roads and by roads, with any sign of a dirt road, enticing us down, just to see what may lie at the end of the road.

We left Maitland, where we are camped and headed south toward Minlaton,known as the Barley Capital of The World and home to Harry Butler, a World War I flying ace. His Bristol M1C Monoplane has been restored and is preserved in pride of place in a building the centre of the town. When he flew an air mail run from Adelaide across Gulf St Vincent to Minlaton in 1919, it was the first over-water flight in the Southern Hemisphere.

Harry Butler's "Red Devil"

Field Upon Fields Of Barley

Heading further down the road towards Warooka we decided to take the turn before w got into town and headed out towards the coast to Point Turton.  This magnificent place over looks Hardwicke Bay and is very popular for the fishing and boating enthusiast.  This part of the coast is characterised by white sandy beaches, backed by sand dunes and areas of scrub, which are at the moment covered in wildflowers, and make a wonderful sight.

The day had started out as fairly overcast and and when we got to Point Turton it appeared that we had reached the end of the earth.

Reflections

It just seemed that you couldn't see where the sky and the horizon met.  I was in my element of course and spent ages taking heaps of photos.

Further down towards the point we reached Corny Point.  The history of Corny Point goes back to 1870, when because of the threat to shipping, a light house was built, and at the base of the lighthouse is the most amazing rock platform that one could wish to see.

Rocky Foreshore

Fire Rocks

The Rugged Coastline That Is The Yorke Peninsula

The weather started to improve and the sun started to show itself and it was turning into a pearler of a day.

Turning the corner out of Corny Point, the road forward led us to Innes National park, which is a place you could well spend a week on its own.  We payed our $8.00 vehicle entry fee (concession these days) and stopped off at Rhino's and got ourselves a steak sandwich and took it down to Stenhouse Bay where we sat with the ocean views to enjoy it.

Barry Found his Dream Home

One Of The Natives

One of the Many Wildflowers Out In The Park

Old Gypsum Works At Stenson Bay

Having an Afternoon Nap

Our Lunchtime View Over Stenson Bay Jetty

Wild Stocks Grow Over The Cliffs

Barry Strolling The Boardwalk

Albatross

The Boardwalk

A Walk In The Park

Following lunch we continued on down towards Marion Bay passing Annie's point Lighthouse which over look some strange shaped little islands, including this one called Chinaman's Hat.  Further along is the Haystacks, but it is interesting to see the unusual shape of the light house.

Chinaman's Cap Island

Annie's Point Lighthouse

First time we have seen a square lighthouse.  it over looks these other islands and the two light houses face off against each other.

So many little side tracks along the way, so many little coves with their white sandy beaches and crystal clear water, no wonder so many find it such a wonderful place to visit.  Would be easy to spend many days just sauntering along the byways of Yorke Peninsula, but time was getting on and we needed to get back to the bus.

Before returning to Maitland we called in to Ardrossan, another grain handling town with its huge silo's over shadowing the town, as most Yorke Peninsula towns are.  Also known for its mining of copper and worth a stop over at the town lookout, put there by BHP.  Still a vibrant little town, which, like many of these towns have maintained so much of their heritage in the form of the  wonderful architecture and stone work of the wonderful old homes.

The Rugged Ochre Cliffs of Ardrossan

Ardrossan Silos contrast Against The Cliffs

Moonta

Copper was first discovered in the 1860's and the mine soon became the richest copper mine in Australia.  An influx or Cornish miners, affectionately known as 'Cousin Jacks'  invaded the town and have long since left their mark on the town, and bi annually they celebrate their heritage in the form of the Kernewek Lowender.  

Barry And His Cornish Pastie

Barry was very keen to try their famous Cornish Pasties and have to say neither of us was disappointed.

Who could believe that we would arrive in this lovely little town, only to find that the world Championships of Lawn Bowls was on, between Australia and South Africa - Australia was winning by the time we left.....

Always amazed by the wonderful architecture, whilst in Moonta we found this wonderful Uniting Church.

Uniting Church- Moonta

Old Railway Shed - Moonta

Walleroo

Walleroo is obviously the place to be here on the Peninsula - the number of new housing developments is something like I have never seen before - unbelievable.

The ocean is still that wonderful crystal blue, and the town hosts yet another of these long, long jetties, which cater for the grain ships pulled up along side, filling their bellies with grain.

Walleroo never captured my imagination like some of the other towns we have seen, just seems like it is over developed, and just hate to think what it is going to be like in a few years time.  Seems sad to see the old stone architecture being over shadowed by huge multi storey houses all struggling to get that little inch of water views, and Kadina, the major town of the Peninsula is not a lot different, and almost seems like they have forgotten their history.

Sea Baths At Walleroo

So that my friends is our whistle stop tour of Yorke Peninsula.  It has been a wonderful year for the farmers down here, and the crops just look amazing, between the barley and the canola, but I have to say, that I am starting to see green, and am looking forward to heading further west and seeing some of those wonderful outback colors.

Grain Conveyer At Walleroo

Canola Growing On The Peninsula

One of the other sights you will see is salt mining, an there are still considerable amounts of salt mined in the area.

Salt Mining

Huge Piles Of Salt That End Up On Your Dinner Table

So until next time, when we will join you from the Eyre Peninsula, where we have been offered our first house sitting job.  Looking after an historic station of 8,000 acres - Middlecamp Station - all heritage listed and from all reports a photographers paradise.  Just have to look after two spoilt kelpies - one of which has only three legs.  We have a old land rover at our disposal to explore the property to our hearts content.  We leave here tomorrow and headed for Port Augusta, where we will over night it, before heading onto Cowell and seeing what it has in store for us.  We are looking forward to a new experience.

This has been more a photographic blog, more so than informative, but hope you have enjoyed it.

This part of South Australia has so much to offer the tourism market, but in so many ways is so far behind even just other areas of the state that we have already visited, but they don't seem to know how to capitalise on it.  In so many ways there is so much lacking, in just the simple things ie signage is very, very poor, and the tourist informations centres, which are usually our first stop in any town, have been less than helpful.  We pulled into a rest stop today, and I suddenly realised that this was the first rest stop we had seen in the last three days.  A beautiful rest stop, but no toilets, no rubbish bins...and rubbish just blowing around everywhere.  The roads are in a dreadful state, after us saying how good South Australian roads were, but here...no.  They have a long way to go, hence my comment at the beginning of the blog, which follows on from an article in the local paper than ran along a similar vein, so it is obvious to some, not just us

THE END