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Published: March 23rd 2022
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It was a bit grey this morning so we drove up to Streaky Bay to do the Historic Walk around town hoping that the day would improve later on for some sightseeing. We parked near the Town Jetty, so we started the walk in the middle at No. 20 Streaky Bay’s Community Hotel. We completed a circuit along Bay Road, Montgomerie Terrace, Mudge Terrace and Alfred Terrace viewing the old Masonic Temple (now Tourist Information Centre), the RSL Hall and WWI Cenotaph, three churches and the District Council of Streaky Bay Main Office and Institute.
With the sun starting to make an appearance we visited the bakery to buy some sandwiches and rolls to take with us on the Cape Bauer Loop Coastal Scenic Drive. Our first stop was at Hallys Beach where there was a lone fisherman fishing in the surf and a few dog walkers. We continued to Whistling Rocks and the Blowholes which were spectacular! It was quite mesmerising watching the surf and waiting to hear the whistling/moaning through the holes in the rocks and wondering if it would be the wave that produced a spout of water out of the blowholes.
We stopped at Cape
Bauer and broke out the salad rolls and sandwiches before we looped back towards town past the mangroves which, according to the tourist brochure, form part of a ‘very important’ wetland. We guessed we had travelled far enough north for there to be mangroves again. We read somewhere that they don’t grow further south than Tumby Bay on the east coast and a check of our map confirms we are now further north than that on the west coast.
Back into Streaky Bay for the conveniences and then we were off to do the Westall Way Loop Coastal Scenic Drive. Completely different from the other loop, but also spectacular. Our first stop was at the end of the road at Speeds Point before turning back and checking out Yanerbie Beach. From here we could see miles and miles of sand dunes and realised that perhaps we should have called in at the Yanerbie Dunes stop. It wasn’t far to return there and we were glad that we did … and glad too that we made the effort to climb the dunes to see just how far they stretched. Bernie felt like Lawrence of Arabia!!
We continued to Smooth
Pool which is a rocky beach with dozens of rock pools and hundreds of red rocks. The surf was very closely spaced surf and pounding in to the shore. If the weather had been a bit warmer we definitely could have spent some time paddling in the rock pools. Along the road a bit further to Point Westall, sighted and named by Matthew Flinders on the 5th of February 1802 after a landscape painter who was one of his crew on board the Investigator.
Our final stop was at the surf beach Granites. There were about half a dozen surfers in the water and they seemed to be catching some great waves. For anyone who is not a surfer this beach also boasts a very large rock pool for swimming in. Once again tempting … if the day had been just a little warmer! From this stop we could also see the stunning Highcliffs, situated between Granites and the camping ground at Tractor Beach. The orange/red cliffs are so different from the white sand dunes over the other side of the Westall Way route and the stacks looming out of the Southern Ocean were very picturesque.
There are
no photos, but we spotted some birds of prey today. Tracey spotted a couple of Nankeen Kestrels sitting on fence posts and Bernie saw a Wedge-tailed Eagle fly away from the roadside on the drive back towards Sceale Bay. Tracey may have had her eyes closed at the time and only saw the road kill that the eagle had been feeding on.
We only have a couple more days on the coast. It might be just as well as we are starting to call it the ABC Tour - as in, not Another Bloody Cliff! Only joking. How can you ever get bored with stunning coastal scenery?
Steps for the day: 13,741 (9.2km)
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