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Published: January 20th 2014
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Ardrossan
The view from our picnic table whilst having lunch on our way to Edithburgh Leaving Murray Bridge we headed for Edithburgh on the York peninsular a pleasant and easy trip.We stopped for lunch at Ardrossan,no we haven't changed country's, we are not on the west coast of Scotland we are still in Australia.This area has numerous towns named after Scottish towns or regions as well as Irish names such as Bute,Dublin and others. Ardrossan is famous for it's blue swimmer crabs which by all accounts are plentiful during the warmer months and are easily caught in nets off the jetty, barley is also grown here and has the reputation as being the worlds finest.The town sits on top of some towering red cliffs the color being derived from the ochre running through them.Sitting on top of the cliffs having lunch we decide that perhaps next time we will spend more time here.
We arrive in Edithburgh mid afternoon and soon settled into the only caravan park in the town,right next to the water with beautiful views. The town has always been known as a landmark town of the York peninsular,established in 1869 in its heyday was the third busiest port in South Australia shipping both salt and grain,although high quality grain is still grown
Edithburgh
Views of the coastline here it is no longer shipped from here,salt is no longer harvested here although numerous salt lakes are still visible from the road. Home now to a huge wind farm just outside the town it is visible from the town but not intrusive. The weather is calm and warm the sea flat,the town offers two pubs a few small shops a service station,boat launching facilities with two floating pontoons from which to launch, jetty,a concrete tidal swimming pool on the edge of the water,is this paradise found again?
The town is small and unhurried with the main recreational activity being fishing whether using the boat ramp to launch the boats or fishing from the jetty. The caravan park and the town has an abundance of boats in all sizes and shapes, late afternoon sees many of the boats returning from their trips out to sea and the fish cleaning shed becomes a hive of activity as the catch is cleaned and the waiting seabirds including pelicans wait to be fed the scraps.I was not one of the people cleaning fish as yet again my fishing exploits from the jetty were fruitless.
Over the next few days the temperature
soared to peak at 44deg cen that's close to 112deg fh with a late wind that felt like a hot hairdryer blowing in your face.We took advantage of the tidal pool to cool off and also tried out our snorkel gear just outside the pool in the shallows.One of the local pubs with it's air conditioning and cold beer also became a place to visit.
A short drive outside of town leads to a gravel road that hugs the shoreline for some 30ks passing by towering cliffs and secluded sandy beaches some only accessible by climbing down steep rocks,we found a sandy beach with steps leading down to a crescent shaped beach,on our first visit we were alone for almost 45min before other people arrived on our private beach.The shoreline also provides opportunity for beach and rock fishing and Salmon are on the bite being pushed inshore by dolphins and bronze whaler sharks.Our neighbours on the camp were keen fishermen and gifted us a fresh caught salmon which we cooked that night Nice.At the end of our shoreline drive was a small village and seclude beach called McEachens beach a name not dissimilar from that of an aunt of
Jackies. It was at this beach we came across a man walking from his sun shade to the water carrying his small dog,when he realized we were watching he rushed back to put some toggs on.
Mid way through the week the local bowls club put on a bare foot bowls evening with a sausage sizzle,Jackie and I had never played bowls before so decided to give it a go,a great night was had by all with an opportunity to meet the locals and also have some fun.By the way our team consisting of Jackie and me plus two local bowlers beat our opposition.
The wind continued to grow in strength which saw boat fishing come to a temporary halt and it was hard work trying to fish of the jetty also. I tried but once again no luck.The beaches were exposed also to the wind and made swimming and sunbathing difficult,walking the local tracks was not an option in the heat.So a visit to a local town some 16ks away seemed a good idea.Yorktown is a moderate size town servicing the local district with all the usual amenities and a rich history which the local historic society
amassing a hugh collection of photographs and maps depicting the life in the district available for viewing on Friday in the old courthouse.On our way back we stopped off at a village pub for a drink,apart from the bar person and one other person we were the only people there but the pub was full of character and old world charm.We also passed a huge grain silo and loading dock where the grain harvested locally is shipped out.
Today we leave Edithburgh with a late checkout from the site,we are waiting for the local post to arrive and be sorted hopefully our post will arrive today,posted from Brisbane eight days ago by our friend Marion.We are headed further down the coast to Marion bay
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Marian O'Keeffe
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great blog Bill feels like I was there and sounds like you both realy enjoyed