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Thursday 25th May 2023 Sitting here in the van we feel we made the right decision not to stay in Melrose. The rain has really set in.
Yesterday we also felt like this as we drove down the steep winding road from the top of the Flinders Ranges west towards Port Augusta. We commented then that the roads would have been even more unpleasant if they were wet and the wind gusty. As it was, the caravan park is pleasant enough with wide access roads and roomy sites. Security here is just a tall fence separating us from the nearby railway line and a football oval. In town the fences are also tall but topped with barbed wire, and the gates are locked at night. We are about 5kms out of the centre, just far enough to be away from any undesirables.
We only intended to be here for one night, just to restock the van and continue on, but we have now extended this for at least one night to give us a chance to revisit some of the sights and to discover others.
After visiting the Information Centre and doing our shopping we did as
Arid Lands Botanic Garden
Where Matthew Flinders landedwe intended. Next to the shopping centre stands the old wharf. It was from here that wheat, copper and wool were first loaded onto barges and then taken out to deeper water and transferred to the ships for export. Plaques alongside the wharf explained how it was done as well as explaining how camels were imported to use as transport on the land. Now, we have more camels in Australia than anywhere else in the world, unfortunately ours are now considered vermin. Most of the wharf was fenced off for safety's sake but it is intended that it will be restored. The gardens, lawn and trees planted here are impressive, now all it needs is for some services such as cafes etc are put in to make it a feature for the area for locals and visitors alike.
On our drive around the area we found a small hotel in the back area of town. Hannahville Hotel only had a few people in it but it was clean and the only barstaff was friendly. Just he and the cook seemed to be the only staff but the service and the food (schnitzel and roast spuds) made it worth us
breaking our (non existent!) diet just a little bit!!
From here we crossed the river to the Westside Water Tower where we climbed four flights of steps to the top, from where we had 360 degree views over the town. By now the weather was starting to come in, the wind whistling through the top of the tower. We left and drove to the Matthew Flinders/ Redbank lookout. Here, it is alleged that Flinders first landed during his circumnavigation of Australia. The name Redbank, came from the colour of the cliffs lining the mangroves way below. Judy wanted to walk off her lunch so we both followed the edge until we reached the railway line.
The weather was looking rather threatening now, with the wind picking up, so we returned to the car and drove back to camp. Here, the heavens opened just as we got back. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the van with Judy marking university assignments (have to pay for the diesel we use somehow!! 😉 and Rags catching up with the blog.
Tomorrow our plan is to go to Whyalla and set up camp there. This depends on the weather
not being too windy to safely tow the van. This plan is as usual, very flexible and could be altered several times before breakfast, as we are want to do.
Friday 26th May 2023 An overcast day with occasional showers greeted us this morning but as there was no wind the decision to follow yesterday's plans was made. We departed at 1000 hours and after a uneventful trip along the amazingly smooth and straight Lincoln Highway we arrived at Whyalla. Why come this way? Our first visit here was over 5 years ago and all we did was stop for fuel, a quick drive around part of the town and a view of the steelworks and harbour on our way out. Since then we learned that the "town" was founded in 1901, became a city in 1970, is the 4th largest in S.A. exports of iron ore and steel and had the largest shipyards in Australia until their operations ceased in 1978.
Tourism has also become an important industry as we found when we went to the helpful Visitors Centre. After speaking to a very helpful lady we left with a handful of maps and pamphlets, plus
bookings for a giant cuttlefish tour, tours of the Whyalla Maritime Museum and Whyalla Steelworks, plus information for a tour of the Elvis Presley Museum.
Shopping followed; this may be the last opportunity to shop at Aldi before we get home. ;-)
We may have to extend our two night booking at the caravan park for at least another night!
Saturday 29th May 2023 Stony Point, about 40kms north of Whyalla was our destination this morning to go on the Giant Cuttlefish Tour. Every year, between May and August, thousands of these cuttlefish, Sepia epama, migrate to the waters of the Upper Spencer Gulf to spawn. The only other place this occurs in in the Gulf pf Mexico. They come in their thousands to mate and reproduce.
We joined the Cutty's Giant Cuttlefish Tour here and went out with a group of people in their glass-bottomed boat to observe them. Almost immediately, in about a metre of water through to about 10 metres, we saw these squid. They range in size from small up to about 60cms in length and 5kgs in weight, some swimming, some hiding amongst the seaweed. There were hundreds of them,
in various colours depending on whether or not they were looking for mates or not. Those not looking for mates were experts in camouflage, changing their colour, shape and texture as they moved along the seabed.
In the past, these creatures were caught by fishermen, in one year 30 boats caught 270 tonnes in 3 weeks! Since that time they have been spared, the season closed between August and March. We saw these from the comfort of a dry boat, other hardy souls donned wetsuits and swam amongst them in waters with a temperature of between 12-15 degrees C.
On our return to town and after lunch we made our way to the Elvis Presley Museum. This was a lifetime collection of thousands of pieces of memorabilia which the owner, Peter, has collected over the years, housed in his home and filling every room plus the garage and backyard. Totally unbelievable to see. Every room filled with displays, music, pictures, clothing, right up to a gold- painted Cadillac in the garage. Peter has scoured the world for these items, still buying them on ebay and attending sales and exhibitions all over the world.
The brochure warns you
that an hour is needed to view this collection, we took longer than that and had the personal attention of Peter during this time.
From here, we drove down to the beach to view the Whyalla Circular Jetty. The unique design was chosen by the community and has a circle feature which attracts all. Completed in 2020 it is designed with 6 sliding shelves on the handrails to allow accessibility to children and people with disabilities to fish from. We didn't see any of the dozen or so fishers catch anything whilst we were there, but the black ink stains on the structure showed that squid were prevalent.
Once again our late afternoon was spent in the van with computers, either working, playing, and in Rags' case writing this blog twice and now remembering to
save regularly!
Sunday 28th May 2023 A leisurely day today; bacon and eggs for breakfast and then to the local Information Office which is set up just out of town in conjunction with their maritime museum which is home to the first ship to be built in the Whyalla Shipyards in 1941.
We joined the tour of the ship, the
corvette HMAS Whyalla, hearing about its history, discussing what life would be like in a crowded ship notorious for listing 40 degrees each way in a moderate swell. After WW2 it was sold and used as a commercial ship until being sold to the Whyalla township for $5000. Transporting it to Whyalla and setting it up was going to cost another $500K but the Federal Government gave them a grant which covered that cost and the cost of setting up the museum.
The museum contains the BHP Shipbuilding Gallery reflecting Whyalla's shipbuilding era, whilst the Natural History Gallery features the Gulf's diverse marine environment. There was also a display of the railway lines between the mines and the steelworks, this one of the largest HO gauge railways in Australia with over 500 metres of track.
From here we visited the Flinders and Freycinet Lookout with views extending over Spencer Gulf, the flinders and the Middleback Ranges. very impressive, but by this time we had both seen enough and were happy to return to the van for a late lunch before a quiet afternoon.
Monday 29th May 2023 We set off much too early, as usual, all
packed up, vacating our site to arrive at the Information centre well before 0910 for our tour of the Whyalla Steelworks. Eventually we boarded the bus with about 15 other people with the tour leader both the driver and the guide. Due to health and safety regulations we weren't allowed to leave the bus, all sightseeing done from the safety of the bus.
The steelworks is one of only two places in Australia which produce steel, the Whyalla works unique in that it gets its iron base direct from the mines nearby. Between the mines and the steelworks nearly 3000 people are employed.
Steel made here is made to special order, all of Australian rails are made here and between 1941 – 1978, 66 ships were built here.
The guide went to great pains to tell us that the steelworks generates 40% of its own energy through the reuse of waste gases, water usage is minimized through recycling/reusing/desalinating where possible.
An interesting couple of hours were spent here.
We left directly from the Information office afterwards and headed south for just over 100kms to the town of Cowell. (pronounced Cowl by the locals).
This appears to be mainly a fishing village as well as a ferry port between there and Wallaroo on the Yorke Peninsula. From research Rags had done this would have been a much quicker way of travelling here but with the cost being dependent on the length of your unit, was prohibitive for us as well as we would have missed many sights. It is also closed at this time of the year!
We did however ensure that we bought some oysters there, leaving with 3 dozen plus a knife and instructions on how to open them. Rags did fairly well for our entree in the evening, only a little bit of grit!
Our campsite for the night was in Cleve, a small town about 25kms west of Cowell. Before getting there we deviated along a short track to the Yeldulknie Weir. The bitumen ended just near the dam wall but continued down a steep incline and a sharp turn to the picnic area. Rags was driving very slowly but as he turned near the bottom the adverse camber of the road, and the slippery mud under the surface caused the van to slide, pulling the
car around with Rags managing to keep on the road and bringing us to a halt. He thought it was funny, Judy not so much so. All ended well, no damage, just a lot of mud sticking to the wheels.
We stayed at the town oval where we had power and water for a very reasonable $15/night. Some time was spent removing mud from the car and van before a walk around town. This was made more interesting by a sculpture of a horse and plough made entirely from old pieces of metal and discarded tools. Some people are so imaginative and clever.
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