Iron Knob to Whyalla and Lowly Point

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April 27th & 28th

Another bright morning and we set off to Whyalla down a largely straight road through salt bush plains to the coastal industrial town.

We saw the iron ore trains testing the line to Iron Knob, and later loaded trains of ore arriving at Whyalla. Some ore is exported while One Steel uses the ore to create steel products for Australia.

One thing we noted in the older part of Whyalla was how iron oxide had impregnated many buildings and particularly rooves.

The small city has the steel industry plus, just a little out of town, Santos has an LPG processing site at Lowly Point, the place where we were going to camp for the weekend.

But life here was really tough. Read the inscriptions quoting the words of a new bride arriving in Whyalla in 1913. These people lived in tough circumstances.

Whyalla is dominated by a couple of hills, one of which has a great 360 degree lookout. The road up was steep, but the motorhome went up easy enough.

When we saw the harbour and colours of the Spencer Gulf, we were enchanted. Blues and greens in a royal display after the barrenness of the saltbush environment we had driven through.

After a little shopping and sightseeing around town, we headed out to Point Lowly to see the free camp we had read about.

The park is designed for about 10 or 15 RVs, but there were 40 or more. The boat ramp storage area, road edges - anywhere there was a flat spot, there was a caravan or motorhome perched with sea views across the Spencer to the Lower Flinders Ranges, probably a little north of Port Pirie.

Pink Jellyfish - no, not as a result of too much fire water. There are in the Gulf, pink jellyfish, and clear ones too. At the jetty and boat ramp, they were spawning and we saw hundreds of little ones, not yet pumping like their parents, just floating translucent flakes a little bigger than a thumb nail.

This place is so popular with the locals and visitors alike with excellent fishing in the deep channel less than a kilometre from the boat ramp.

Many try their hand at fishing from the jetty, but we joined a group of unsuccessful fisher people blaming wrong bate, not on the chew, too sunny, too windy and a dozen other reasons for the poor performance. At least I did not loose any hooks, lines or sinkers as some did. (Rocky foreshore)

This place also boasts about 300 days a year with bright sunny weather, and in turn, interesting sunrise and sunset opportunities. We also had a play with moon rises as well.

While campers can stay here for 14 days for free, there are no shops or businesses of any kind. But the location is both historic and beautiful. Adjacent to the lighthouse, the original lighthouse keeps homes (1860s) can be rented as holiday accommodation. A real step back in history.

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Photos

Whyalla art
A tough place to start married life.

This lighthouse glows
Since 1990, not an official lighthouse, but kept operational at a low level as part of Whyalla's history.

Comments

[Mum & Dad]

Another good blog
A great choice of photos from pink jellyfish to rock bound shores and moon shots. You will need a new camera by the time you get back home!

[D MJ Binkley]

Enjoyed it
We didn't see this part of Australia. Looks lovely.

[Peg]

variety
What a lovely variety of pics - such contrasts - in subject and size. So now you're going around teh Eyre Peninsula ?