Towards a New Year
Boxing Day continued
Had a lovely meal with a lovely couple. Leo and Diann, not forgetting Graeme and Val, have helped to make this a very special Christmas.
SATURDAY 27 DECEMBER
Left Ceduna and heading down the west side of the Eyre Peninsular. Stopped to have a look at Streaky Bay. The campsite here looked rather nice, but we understood that it was fully booked for Christmas, so it’s just as well we stopped up the road. We found the Streaky Bay Craft Shop and spent some time in there. The lady running the shop was very interested in our rope and pyrography stuff and said that it was a pit we weren’t staying round there – we’d have a ready market for our goodies. We bought a few bits and pieces and went on our merry way.
A few Ks down the road we came across a sign for ‘Murphy’s Haystacks’. I’d read about them and thought they might be rather interesting. And so they were. Huge blocks of granite(?) sitting on a grassy hillside, looking just like haystacks. Apparently in the late 1800s some know-it-all Irishman called Murphy on seeing these rocks on the hillside mistook them for haystacks and pontificated on how well the farmers were doing in this area to produce such huge amounts of hay.
We carried on down to Elliston and booked in at the Caravan Park after having a drive to some spectacular clifftop views. Jeff even found a small cave overlooking the sea in which somebody had installed a table, chairs and even a wine bottle (empty, of course). That evening we strolled up to the local pub and had a couple of beers.
SUNDAY 28 DECEMBER
Carried on down the Eyre Peninsular – more lovely scenery all the way down to Port Lincoln. Had a bit of a look round before finding our campsite – seems to be a nice town with some super waterside homes.
I telephoned Tony and Heather – the people we had met all those weeks ago at Kynuna in Queensland who had so kindly invited us to spend Christmas with them. Due to our prolonged stays in Denham and Perth we hadn’t been able to make it, so they had insisted that we look them up when we finally got to Adelaide. I said that I thought we would be there by the 1st which fitted beautifully into their schedule – they would be at their son’s place for New Year and ready for visitors the following day.
MONDAY 29 DECEMBER
Tried to visit an Aboriginal Craft Centre, but it was closed until the 4th and we weren’t sticking around that long.
Pointed Betty northwards for the first time since driving up the Sturt Highway to Darwin. Called in for a very good fish and chips lunch by the water’s edge in Tumby Bay – a nice little town where Jeff was able to get a much-needed haircut. On up the coast, still more great scenery, to Whyalla.
Some months ago when visiting my GP, Dr Haq, I saw his locum, Dr Balla. I mentioned to him that we were soon off to Australia and he said that he was due to join a practice in South Australia, in Whyalla and said that I should contact him if we found ourselves passing through that town. Well here we were, “passing through” – actually staying overnight! So I phoned him. He was delighted that I had remembered to contact him and invited me to visit him at his surgery when he stopped for lunch. He seems to be thoroughly enjoying his stay in Australia. I mentioned that I was a bit concerned about getting further supplies of my medications and he was kind enough to write out a prescription for me. He even checked my BP – all OK there. As I was leaving he got his receptionist to take a photo of us together – hopefully he’ll send a copy to Dr Haq just to show him how fit I am now.
We booked into the Whyalla Caravan Park – lovely location right on the beach, but on the whole a bit disappointing.
A few days ago I had managed to contact Cuppa and Mrs T, another ‘Big Trip’ couple from Victoria who have been on the road since May. I had been in touch with them for some time before we arrived in Oz, but didn’t expect to meet up with them as they were way ahead of us and going to a lot of inland places, whereas we’ve been more-or-less sticking to the coast. They also have a blog, on Cuppa’s site (www.cuppa500.com) Anyway, I’d been checking his blog now and again and spotted, a bit belatedly that their plans had changed and that they would be in South Australia at about the same time as us. I contacted them by email and got their mobile number. When I finally spoke to them they said that they would be travelling around the Eyre Peninsular and then returning briefly to Port Augusta. This was great – we just might meet up.
TUESDAY 30 DECEMBER
On our way out of town we visited the town’s Information Centre and its big attraction (and I mean ‘BIG’) the WW2 Minesweeper HMAS Whyalla. Took a very interesting tour all over the ship which is high and dry in the grounds behind the Info Centre – 2K from the sea!!
Finally left Whyalla and drove the few Ks to Port Augusta. I phoned Cuppa to say that we were on our way and would be there in an hour or so, only for them to say that they had in fact left and had headed inland and were nearly at Kyankutta. What a shame – I was really disappointed that we had almost managed got together, but not quite. Oh well – c’est la vie.
We had a quick look around Port Augusta and then turned Betty southward towards Adelaide. We got as far as Port Wakefield where we stopped for fuel and I checked to see if there were any campsites nearby. There was and we decided to stay the night in this rather nice little town. The site was the usual mix of campers, caravans, cabins and permanent residents. Rather a good site right next to a dammed-up inlet/river(?) which served as the site’s swimming pool. Apparently many years ago Australia’s great swimmer, Dawn Fraser, once swam in it.
WEDNESDAY 31 DECEMBER
We tried to get into the Top Tourist site near the centre of Adelaide, but they wuz full so we opted for the Windsor Lodge Caravan Park, on the north-eastern side of Adelaide. We chose this because we thought we’d be able to get into the City for the New Year celebrations and it was on the way to Tony and Heather’s place in the Adelaide Hills. Unfortunately we discovered that it was rather a long uphill walk to the bus stop, so we didn’t bother. We had the quietest New Year for years!!! There was a party going on somewhere in the camp but we hadn’t been there long enough to get to know anyone. Wish we’d stayed the extra day in Port Wakefield!!! Oh well – Goodbye 2008 – Hellooo 2009.