5 January - Port Augusta Arid Land Botanic Gardens

5 January 2017 – 204 423

Port Augusta Arid Land Botanic Gardens

This morning we packed up and drove to Port Augusta.  

https://www.portaugusta.sa.gov.au/attractions

We visited the Arid Land Botanic Gardens, these are quite extensive and well labelled and maintained.  We took several walks around the garden as well as visiting the lookouts.  

https://www.aalbg.org/

We also went to the Water Tower Lookout, which gave terrific views of the town and Spencer Gulf.  

https://southaustralia.com/products/flinders-ranges-and-outback/attraction/water-tower-lookout

And then, we drove to the Barossa.  We are staying at Barossa Tourist Park in a lovely shaded sight – the shade is most definitely appreciated as we got to 40 degrees today!  Tomorrow we will go wandering around the Barossa, one of our favourite places.

https://www.barossa.com/

https://barossatouristpark.com.au/

4 January - Whyalla Sights

4 January 2017 – 204 317

Whyalla Sights

At sunrise I took some photos from the campground out over the water, it was very pretty with lovely subtle bands of colours.  

https://www.whyalla.com/bush-camps-motorhomes

https://www.whyalla.com/

This morning we drove into Whyalla and had hot showers. Next up we went to the Whyalla Visitor Information Centre for a tour of OneSteel Steelworks.  

https://southaustralia.com/products/eyre-peninsula/information-services/whyalla-visitor-information-centre

https://www.whyalla.com/steelworkstour

This tour went all around the steelworks and the tour guide explained how various procedures were completed.  Unfortunately, we did not get to see any molten metal, however we did see red-hot “coke” coming out of the even.  Our second tour of the day was of HMAS Whyalla.  

https://southaustralia.com/products/eyre-peninsula/tour/hmas-whyalla-wwii-ship-tour-and-maritime-museum/hmas-whyalla-ship-tour

This ship is completely out of water and 2km from the sea.  It was originally constructed in Whyalla to serve as a mine-sweeper during WW2 and has been restored to this condition.  We then went to the Flinders and Freycinet Lookout, followed by a picnic lunch at Hummock Hill Lookout.  

https://southaustralia.com/products/eyre-peninsula/attraction/flinders-and-freycinet-lookout

https://southaustralia.com/products/eyre-peninsula/attraction/hummock-hill-lookout

In the afternoon, we visited Point Lowly and the lighthouse and coastline there, before returning to relax at Fitzgerald Bay.

https://lighthouses.org.au/sa/point-lowly-lighthouse/

3 January - Gawler Ranges National Park

3 January 2017 – 203 937

Gawler Ranges National Park

https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/gawler-ranges-national-park

Last night was beautiful, incredibly peaceful and the most amazing stars!  Our day started with the Waganny Campground Trail, this walked through open countryside for quite some time before climbing up to a rocky outcrop with terrific views.  We saw heaps of kangaroos on this walk.  We then drove to Old Paney Homestead, which is in excellent condition, and had a look around.  Next stop was the Organ Pipes, we saw a male emu with eight “teenage” chicks with him, running madly around the salt bush.  The last part of the 4WD track in was roughed up from the recent rain.  The Organ Pipes is a large rock amphitheatre with columns of rock in clumps, with the clumps on varying angles – quite unusual!  After lunch we packed down and drove to the Shearer’s Quarters, and then in the directions of Whyalla.  We went to Point Lowly, however it was too windy for comfortable camping, so we are staying at Fitzgerald Bay instead. 

https://www.whyalla.com/bush-camps-motorhomes

2 January - Eyre Peninsula East Coast

2 January 2017 - 203 489

Eyre Peninsula East Coast

This morning we packed down, topped up our water and headed north up the East Coast of the Eyre Peninsula.  We stopped at Tumby Bay for morning tea – it is a sandy, rather than rocky, beach but very windy and very cold.  We then drove on to Arno Bay, where we had a picnic lunch by the water.  Next we turned inland, driving through several small towns with massive stockpiles of wheat.  As Hayden said “That’s a lot of Weetbix!”.  We stopped off at Carappee Hill Conservation Reserve with the intention of walking to the top, however there was no marked trail and we did not have a topographical map or compass with us.  

https://southaustralia.com/destinations/eyre-peninsula

https://www.eyrepeninsula.com/destinations/tumby-bay

https://www.walkingsa.org.au/walk/find-a-place-to-walk/carappee-hill-hiking-trail/

We then drove on to Gawler Ranges National Park where we have camped at Waganny Campground – a really pretty and peaceful spot!  We had to retire Hayden’s hiking boots today (they were brand new when we left home) as the sole has worn through from all the bushwalking we have done.

https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/gawler-ranges-national-park

https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/gawler-ranges-national-park/booking/73106

1 January - Port Lincoln and Lincoln National Park

1 January 2017 – 203 308

Port Lincoln and Lincoln National Park

This morning we didn’t wake up until 8am, which is very late for us.  We eventually headed to Port Lincoln to enjoy the views from Winter Hill Lookout and the Old Mill.  

https://portlincoln.com.au/

https://southaustralia.com/products/eyre-peninsula/attraction/winter-hill-lookout

https://southaustralia.com/products/eyre-peninsula/attraction/port-lincolns-old-mill

We then drove to Lincoln National Park.  

https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/lincoln-national-park

Our first walk was the Stamford Hill Loop Walk, which gave great views over Boston Bay and towards Port Lincoln.  We also saw some remains of old wells from when the area was worked by woodcutters and graziers.  We then walked to Surfleet Cove and out to Surfleet Point.  This was very picturesque, with beautiful clear water over beds of seagrass.  

https://www.walkingsa.org.au/walk/find-a-place-to-walk/stamford-hill-loop-hike/

https://www.walkingsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Bushwalking-in-Lincoln-National-Park.pdf

Our next destination was Cape Donnington Lighthouse.  This is a popular fishing spot, and if the amount we saw caught in the time we were there is any indication, a very good one.  From here, we could see across the water to Donnington Island, where there were large numbers of sea birds, as well as sea lions basking on the rocks.  

https://lighthouses.org.au/sa/cape-donnington-lighthouse/

We then drove back to Port Lincoln and had a look at the trawlers in the marina – they are big boats, but not when I compare them with the Southern Ocean and all its power.