Sun, silos and strange stopovers

 After leaving Coffin Bay NP and eating some underwhelming oysters (oops! Sorry Coffin Bay) I headed to Lincoln NP where I met up with Phill and Liz again. It was a beautiful park with some lovely walks, beautiful views and beaches, and a wide range of bird life. After enjoying the serenity, we left there to explore the east coast of the Eyre peninsula.

At Tumby Bay, I stayed at the CWA which was a bit of a hoot. I did have my own bathroom but it was a bit like camping in someone’s driveway. There were 2 other people there and then a car turned up, full of people in black suits covered in a strange logo, who promptly backed into the veranda post, knocking it over. I found out later that they were members of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes!

I left Tumby Bay and had the worst trip so far - gale force winds that blew Van Morrison all over the road. It was a very slow trip and I had to keep stopping when it became too dangerous. Eventually, with lots of stops, I reached Whyalla for an overnight stop before heading to Mt Remarkable NP. And here Van Morrison had to prove himself again! The road into Alligator Gorge was STEEP! Very steep! Very, very steep! Get the picture? At one stage I had to drop to first gear to get up a rise! But Van Morrison rose to the challenge and delivered me (slowly) to a great 9km walk along the gorge. Huge red cliffs and towering red gums - probably my last true glimpse of the Flinders Ranges (do you know that they go all the way to Kangaroo Island?).

So now I’m travelling in more rural and pastoral areas before getting to the Coorong. There’s silo art and rolling hills, all green with crops. Last night was hoot! I’d gone to see the silo at Farrel Flat and ended up going to the pub there (as you do ... especially when it’s the only thing open) and staying in the backyard for free (as long as you buy a meal).

Well the pub is amazing - it is full of collectibles, motorbikes, strange posters and bobble heads. What it isn’t full of is people. Chef cooked me a meal, offered me a job (“I want to have a holiday”), then invited me into his lounge room to watch a movie - with his mate Doug, 3 long haired chihuahuas, one jack Russell, a blue heeler and a scruffy little dog that kept licking my shoes.  It was all a bit bizarre. So if you’re ever in the area, stay at the Farrel Flat Hotel - Chef even has his own wine that he’ll sell you at a premium! It was a very expensive ‘free’ camp!

Rocks, more rocks and lots of pelicans

 I’m sitting in the campground at Yangie Bay, Coffin Bay NP, struggling to get my fire to take (damp and green wood) and deciding which photos to share with you. Not there’s a big choice after the Great Laptop Disaster of 2021, but I do seem to have a lot of pictures of rocks and pelicans - the rocks might need some background information but the pelicans are self explanatory. I will give a plug for the Streaky Bay Cabernet which is a bit of a project for the years 7,8 and 9s from the local secondary college. We tried a bottle and it was okay - perhaps even quite good. I bought some more but I don’t think they’ll make it home. You’ll just have to do with the photo!

After leaving Ceduna (great craft shop there as well as scrummy oysters) I meandered my way along the coast, stopping at every hamlet and turn-off. And it was lucky I did since I was lucky to talk to an oyster-growing local at Smokey Bay and she told me to visit the jetty and see the seals. There were about 10 of them sleeping on the steps going down to the ‘swimming pool’ and they took no notice of me as I snapped away. 

So let’s talk rocks on the Eyre Peninsula. There were whistling rocks, rocks with holes in them, rocks that stuck up out of nowhere, rocks that weathered smoothly and ones that were jagged and white. Let’s take Murphy’s haystacks for example ... these appeared out of nowhere, just plonked on the top of a hill. They

actually have the impressive names of ‘Inselbergs’!

My next stop was Venus Bay, home to a lot of very tame pelicans who hang around for fishy scraps from the fishermen. It is quite amazing getting up close and personal with these huge birds. I was most taken with their colours - on their beaks and around their eyes. They didn’t think much of me ... no fish!

South of Venus Bay were a couple more impressive rock formations, then the beautiful cliffs around Elliston ... which were adorned with sculptures... not that they needed help to be interesting or gorgeous from us humans. 

And now I’ve reached Coffin Bay. The national park is very well organised (I love how you book individual campsites online) and the scenery is stunning. And it’s even sunny, if cold. I pulled into my site and realised I’m sharing it with two kangaroos - Mum has a tiny Joey in her pouch. 

Goodbye Flinders Ranges :-(

 I’ll start with an apology and some sad news ... my laptop has blown up so I’m pecking this out on my iPad, one finger style. It means that I can’t share the photos on my camera so unfortunately you’ll just have to wait until I’m home so see some of the stunning photos of rocks, birds and the views from the flight Liz and I took over Wilpena Pound and the park. 

We have stayed in the park for a week - having a substantial time camping in the pound and then the last two nights at Trezona campsite ... an absolute delight. We have walked the walks and driven the gorgeous gorges and had fires to warm the soul (and the feet and hands and ...).  It has been a delightful time. 

Much of the time we didn’t have much (if any) signal so it’s a bit of a shock to learn that things have deteriorated on the COVID front. How lucky are we to be in South Australia!

Heading to the Flinders Ranges

 Those South Australians might have passed on a COVID case to us Sicktorians, but they are very efficient at testing.  It only took 30 hours and "ping" went all our phones, telling us that we were COVID-less and free to exit our cabin.  Yay!  So we decided to spend another day at Renmark ... which is a lovely place!  Our camp is on the bank of the Murray and is the site of a pelican display every morning.  Possibly hundreds of pelicans arrive before the sun rises and start catching little silver fish, who occasionally jump out of the water, see all the pelicans and say "oh shit!" or something similar in fishese.  I have got up early most mornings, so have about 400 photos of pelicans.  I'll try and be restrained and only post a few.

Between Renmark and Berri is a National Trust property called Wilabalangaloo where there is a lovely nature trail that showcases the local flora and has fantastic views of the river.  I walked along the different trails, Mallee and River, with a constant chorus of birds coming from the bush.  

Olivegrove was another National Trust property, home to the Chaffey brothers in 1887 who were Canadian by birth and must have been totally gobsmacked by their new country.  They were invited here to set up the first irrigation scheme in Australia.  The house is quite lovely, surrounded by 130 year old olive groves and a palm lined driveway.  

But let's move on!  OK, there's heaps of history, really cute birds, gorgeous scenery and great walks.  But there is also a fantastic distillery, great brewery and lots of wineries.  Time to get my priorities right! The 23rd Street Distillery was a delight - great lunch and some quite stunning spirits.  OK, I might have bought a few bottles ... but perhaps they are going to be gifts!  Then we went out to the Woolshed Brewery where again I was impressed by the local ales.  It was turning into a very mellow day.

Tasting a few gins, vodkas, whiskeys before lunch.

Now for some real ales ...

A last pelican photo ... I have more if you're interested!

But it was time to leave the area and head north ... we were only a week or two late but the Flinders Ranges was now within reach. 

Hills!  No more flat horizons!

Morgan's main street

Our first stop was Burra.  Now here is a place that is a total delight - every house was gorgeous, made out of stone and with a cottage charm and simplicity.  And a very attractive price as well!  I was amazed that I could buy a two bedroom house, on half an acre close to the centre of town for a measly $150K!  And it wasn't even a 'renovators delight'!  Thanks to some excellent advice from Camila and Anthony (my wonderful housesitters) we got a key to the city and went around the sights, including the Monster Mine, railway station, miners' cottages etc.  And everywhere we went, I had the ghost of a memory of doing the same things but back in the 70s, on a South Australian family holiday.  I'll have to check my photos when I get home ... 

But perhaps the most important photo from the Burra region is this ...

Yes! It's the house/ruin from the album cover of Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil.

So it's now off to the Flinders Ranges.  I'm so excited!

In Lockdown ... Where We Want To Be

 Hmmm.  Who would have known that I'd be keen to have a stick shoved up my nose?  Actually, that's not very fair to the very gentle girl who gave me a COVID test yesterday in Berri.  Yes!  Berri!  South Australia!  We're here!  Thank goodness!  Much as I enjoyed tripping around in NSW, the Flinders Ranges kept calling me.  Every second traveller we met had been there, walked a magnificent track or three, taken a brilliant flight over Wilpena Pound, camped in the most amazing spot.  And all I could do was grimace politely and feel overwhelmingly jealous.  But now ... now I can do all those things too ... once my test result comes back negative.  The stick wielder said it could be 24 to 72 hours before the results come through and I joked with Phill and Liz (Carter) this morning that I'll be the 72 since they probably do it alphabetically.

We left Barham and travelled back to Mildura, ready for a dash across the border on Friday.  We had our COVID tests booked and had arranged a cabin in Renmark to use for the 24-72 hour self-isolation ... so organised!  With a few stops along the way (some serious shopping at Manangatang and a great burger at Hattah) we arrived in Mildura, or should that be 'back in Mildura'.  We have now done a Murray River, Victoria and NSW loop ... marking time in a way before we could enter SA.

Identification required of these two

Border crossing ... tick!  COVID test ... tick!  We're now in a cabin on the banks of the Murray, surrounded by birdlife, great places to walk, distilleries, wineries and breweries, historic homesteads and various other tourist attractions that we can't go to.  However, we have Scrabble, Rummy, Chinese Checkers, playing cards, over 40 books and a decent amount of coffee.  We'll survive.

Our cabin - strangely none of us slept in it last night.  I guess we are used to our beds in our campers.