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Published: October 22nd 2011
Frank's Friend
A stumpy tail blue tongue Frank picked up from the road.We are spending a few days exploring the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, a region of the state we have never visited before. The Eyre Peninsula produces wheat and the majority of the States seafood. Port Lincoln, on the southern point, is well known for tuna and kingfish, while Coffin Bay has a thriving oyster growing industry.
Our first two days were spent at Venus Bay, a location we fell in love with. Chris and Linda, the owner/managers of Venus Bay Caravan Park were very friendly and welcoming, making our stay a very memorable one.
The weather wasn’t conducive to fishing, so we did a bit of sight seeing. We saw lots of Stumpy Tail Blue Tongue lizards, both dead and alive. They are big, slow things, not fast enough to get out of the way of cars, which accounts for their high fatality rate. Frank had to put one down, because it had been hit by a car, but was still alive. As they are so slow, they can easily be avoided by motorists.
We went for a drive to Murphys Haystacks. These large granite formations were thought to be haystacks by a visiting Irish agriculturist, observing them from a
distance. They are located on land, which at the time was owned by the Murphy family, hence the name. Further on, in the same area, we went to the sea lion observatory. From the lookout, we were able to watch a few groups of sea lions, and what we think were seals as well. There were several bull sea lions, very big boys, with their harem of cows. Most of them were having a siesta, but a few were swimming, and climbing up on the rock ledge where they rest. They were very interesting to watch, and entertaining.
Our next stay was two nights at Coffin Bay, another lovely coastal hamlet in a natural harbour. On the way, we took the cliff sculpture route, near Elliston. While we and some other people were stopped to view a sculpture, a black snake slithered through the carpark, amidst a few screams. We did not scream, but were very mindful of its presence. It is amazing how fast snakes can move.
Coffin Bay is famous for Pacific Oyster growing, and being quite fond of oysters, we visited the oyster sheds and purchased four dozen unshucked oysters directly from the farmers. They were kind
Venus Bay
Pelicans hping for a feed from a fisherman enough to teach us how to shuck oysters, and we have been putting our new found skill to good use. Port Lincoln, on the southern tip if the Eyre Peninsula is fifty kilometres from Coffin Bay and a pleasant drive. Port Lincoln is home to a large fishing fleet with specialties in tuna, kingfish, crayfish and prawns. At the marina, we were able to watch the unloading the kingfish catch from of one of the fishing boats. Thousands of kingfish, weighing about eight kilograms each, and selling at the fishmongers at thirty-five dollars a kilo, made it a very valuable haul. After unloading, the boat went straight back out to sea for more. We purchased some freshly cooked king prawns to take back to coffin back with us. Delicious.
While at Coffin Bay Caravan Park, we did a bit of socializing with the neighbours. There are a lot of Victorians touring South Australia, and there was no shortage of them at Coffin Bay. What was really surprising, was on our second night, we had one of three custom/home built fifth-wheelers staying at the park. The other two were both from Victoria as well.
The caravan park is located closed to
Murphys Haystacks
Granite formations mistakenly thought to be haystacks. a national park, and is therefore visited by some of the wildlife. Emus with their chicks and kangaroos are regular visitors, and graze in the park, leaving little mementos behind for the campers. Some of the kangaroos in the mob had blond colouring on their faces. One in particular had a lot of markings, almost geometrical, and looked like it had cooroboree face paint.
We are currently in Cowell, yet another small coastal village, but bigger than the other two. This town has two pubs, and a substantial jetty. The world’s largest deposit of jade is found and mined in Cowell. Rare black jade is found in this deposit. A couple of carved pieces will be going home with us. We were told that the sea wall, near the jetty, is built with jade overburden, and good specimens can be found in it. I don’t know if the townsfolk would appreciate visitors pulling the wall apart while fossicking for jade. Probably not. Blue swimmer crabs can be caught here, and we caught eight. No fish, no squid. At least we tried.
The Eyre Peninsula is a paradise for seafood lovers. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here and will most
Rock Art
Natural pattern in the 'haystacks' likely be back in the future. It is only two days from home.
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