Took a trip south west to Point Turton and then on to gravel roads along the north side, and half way down the west side of the foot shape of the peninsula, calling in to many of the beaches and camp sites. Amazingly, I went on a trip without my camera, but fortunately Merry had hers, so I will let her put the photos into this account of the trip. Her photos are every bit as good as mine, and invariably she takes many more shots than I do. The trip was a bit disappointing as there was no eye catching scenery and most of the beaches were rock strewn and uninviting. The was one beach in a rocky bay that allowed Foxy to have her run of freedom and chase a few seagulls, and Corny Point Lighthouse.At Point Turton we noticed that just about every house had a rusty old tractor parked outside and there were several sitting in a yard which were obviously for hire. We can only assume that the fishermen use them for bringing their boats in and out of the water. We didn’t take any photo as Point Turton because there
was nothing that appealed to us
We saw some waders on the beach where we walked Foxy but it was difficult to get close enough to get a decent photo.
Berry Bay was as far south as we went today and I think this was where we walked Foxy.
We saw some waders on the beach where we walked Foxy but it was difficult to get close enough to get a decent photo.
Berry Bay was as far south as we went today and I think this was where we walked Foxy.
Tuesday 24th February
We struck lucky with another couple living permanently in the caravan park who volunteered to look after Foxy for us which gave us the opportunity to go to the bottom of the south west tip of the peninsula, to the Innes National Park. There was a $6 dollar entry fee but the $3 dollars each w
as well worth it as many of the views were worth $3 each. A much better day out, plus I remembered my camera. The coast line faces the Investigator Straits which has claimed 40 plus shipwrecks over the years due to gales and bad navigation. Some of these wrecks are totally submerged, but the top of the stern post of the ‘Willyama’ (near Marion Bay) is visible all of the time, and the bow is also visible at low tide, so now we manage to catch the high tides. We did manage to catch a glimpse of the bow on one occasion but we couldn't photograph it.Marion Bay is quite a pretty little town and obviously popular with tourists. I would say a lot of tourists stay in the caravan park here and drive into the national park for the day. There were also several quite specky houses so there is a bit of money around somewhere.
Ethel bay has two wrecks, one of the ‘Ethel’ which was a sailing ship that ran aground and survived but much later after it was sold the refloat attempt failed and it was washed further up the beach. Another steam ship struck rocks and damaged its rudder and was washed against more rocks and sank but part of its boiler is on the beach near the skeleton of the sailing ship.
We visited Stenhouse Bay and had a look at the jetty and then enjoyed our packed lunch sitting in the car as it was very windy here. There was a large group of people wandering around in this area and they all had Conservation Volunteer jackets on. We couldn’t tell whether they were doing anything in the park or just visiting like we were but the park was very well looked after with no rubbish laying around so somebody was doing the work or the tourist were all well behaved.
We drove on to Cable Bay and Cape Spencer Lighthouse, stopping on the way to admire Chinamans Hat Island. The coastline has now become quite special visually and the wind dropped. There were several islands in this area but Chinamans Hat was the best from a photographic point of view. There was a beach in this area but we didn't attempt to go down to it we just stopped at the lookout for photos.
We visited Stenhouse Bay and had a look at the jetty and then enjoyed our packed lunch sitting in the car as it was very windy here. There was a large group of people wandering around in this area and they all had Conservation Volunteer jackets on. We couldn’t tell whether they were doing anything in the park or just visiting like we were but the park was very well looked after with no rubbish laying around so somebody was doing the work or the tourist were all well behaved.
We drove on to Cable Bay and Cape Spencer Lighthouse, stopping on the way to admire Chinamans Hat Island. The coastline has now become quite special visually and the wind dropped. There were several islands in this area but Chinamans Hat was the best from a photographic point of view. There was a beach in this area but we didn't attempt to go down to it we just stopped at the lookout for photos.
Cape Spencer Lighthouse is a semi-modern design compared to most lighthouses with Althorpe Island as the backdrop. We next visited the heritage gypsum mining village of Inneston and checked out the ruins of various buildings and the restored Post office. This involved a nearly one hour walk to
see it all as it was spread out and included a look at the lake that exists where the gypsum was removed. Because of the gypsum being white the blue of the sky reflected in the water produces a very blue lake.
see it all as it was spread out and included a look at the lake that exists where the gypsum was removed. Because of the gypsum being white the blue of the sky reflected in the water produces a very blue lake.
We continued on to Ethel beach where the car park is on a fairly high cliff where one can look down at the wreckage of the ship on the beach or take the steps down to the beach for a close up look. We opted for climbing down about half way and use the benefit of a decent zoom lens as we were starting to run out of time and still had more to see, plus coming back was all up hill, and very steep with lots of steps.West Cape lighthouse was our next stop but again we used the zoom lens for the photo rather than take the long walk out to it as the coastal scenery of to our right was much more interesting than a mere lighthouse. We did walk to where we could get down onto the beach to survey the bay, islands and the fishing village at closer quarters.
This was followed by a trip into Shell beach where we had a pleasant cuppa before starting our 1.5 hour trip home leaving out the last few beaches. There was a sign saying you could see Kangaroo Island on a clear day from one of the places where we were taking photos but we couldn’t see it then. We did however see it on the way home from our last call and it looked very big but we only saw an outline and not worth stopping for a photo.
The Innes National Park is one of the truly beautiful areas of South Australia of which there are many and well worth a visit for those of you who might get the chance. It took us seven hours to drive around the National Park and we certainly could have spent longer. If we didn’t have Foxy with us it would have been a lovely area to stay for a week or so. The camp sites appeared to be well serviced. There is a small charge for camping but it would be worth paying and we could see that lots of people were camping there.
The journey back to Minlaton was uneventful and we arrived home to a thoroughly spoilt dog who had obviously had the run of the caravan sleeping with Rita and Rob on their bed for the afternoon nap and walking with their daughter Nikita. Foxy took a dislike to Nikita’s friend Allison and Rita said she obviously was a good judge of character.
25th and 26th February
Wednesday and Thursday were spent catching up with the washing and messing about with the internet. We are once again having trouble with the wireless modem and will probably have to get a new one. Bigpond tell us we are just unlucky but it is infuriating when the thing drops out every few minutes and then tells us there is no modem there.
Wednesday and Thursday were spent catching up with the washing and messing about with the internet. We are once again having trouble with the wireless modem and will probably have to get a new one. Bigpond tell us we are just unlucky but it is infuriating when the thing drops out every few minutes and then tells us there is no modem there.
Friday 27th February
Today we packed up again and moved on to the northern part of the Yorke Peninsula. We were advised to stay at Bute Caravan Park because it was cheap and good. When we got there it was cheap but not good so we back tracked to Kadina where we are staying for a couple of weeks to get a look at the top end of the peninsula (the Copper Coast) and to try again to sort out the gas problem with the Nissan.
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