Advertisement
Church at nowhere
The farm land is just like the stony ground around church. Kind of reminds me of the Parable of the sower. Friday & Saturday 3rd & 4th May
Friday morning arrived and there was a mad dash foursome headed to the point to capture the sunrise before heading north west up the peninsular.
Once out of Port Lincoln there was a great grain growing area, superior to what we saw on the east coast, but after 100ks, the landscape changed to grazing land and then stone fruit. Not the kind you can eat, thousands of white stones sitting atop of a very thin layer (if any) of top soil. One person described this part of the coast as a land of emptiness. That would be a good description. There is evidence of long abandoned attempts to farm where old crumbling stone cottages only show the chimney and fireplace. Even a stone Church in the middle of emptiness.
However, take a side trip down to Coffin Bay and there is life. (that sounds like an oxymoron.) This huge harbour has crystal clear water supporting a great oyster farming industry as well as fishing and holiday making. The harbour is really enclosed, so recreational boating and fishing is really safe. We struck a cloudy morning, but imagine with clear skies this
Dawn at the point
Billy Lights Point, Port Lincoln would be a magic place. There are a couple of National Parks there as well for those who like to go walkabout.
A stop for a cuppa, and we were on our way north again to Elliston.
About half an hour after we got set up, out came the sun and temps rose to high 20s.
Elliston has its origin in the days where farmers brought their sacks of wheat down to the pier and then covered them with tarps until a coastal steamer came to pick them up. They stored 5,200 bags of wheat at the end of the jetty. They had a novel way of building the stack. Once the stack was a couple of meters high, they used a horse crane; that is the horse was tied to the pulley rope and walked down the jetty to lift the bags of wheat, and then backed up ready for the next load to be lifted.
Like many of these coastal towns, they carry a history of ship wreck and disaster. There are reefs at the entry to this bay which have claimed 4 ships, plus one that limped out to sea for assistance at
Venus bay, only a few years later to be totally wrecked at the bottom of the York Peninsular. These people have done it tough in the colonial days through to the development of good roads or rail.
Elliston is also a centre for abalone, though we didn't see any signs of shells of fish for sale. The bay is enclosed and very sheltered, so popular for fishing and boating. There are places here too for surfers, but we were not sure of the wisdom of climbing down these crumbling cliffs to get the best waves.
The coast line here is very crumbly limestone. The rocks are messy - some with fossilised shells, others rocky inclusions embedded in the lime stone. One of the photos shows how the sea has gnawed its way through the base rock ready for another major collapse.
Elliston runs a biannual sculpture competition called The Cliff Top Sculptures. Some are left/survive the two years, others are removed or just blow away. This is a windy coast line. Generally, the great Australian Bight starts around Coffin Bay or here, and the cliff line continues from here to West Australia virtually continuously.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.23s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 10; qc: 36; dbt: 0.1914s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mum & Dad
non-member comment
Another good effort
Some great sunrise and sunset photos and rocky shorelines again. Totally different from over here for sure. Perth is getting closer now.