(Up to Port Lincoln!)
We found our caravan park in Whyalla was in a great location, right on the beach. Interesting at low tide as you had to walk 1 ½ kms to the water! However it was a haven to catch (by raking again) the Blue Swimmer crabs! Here you did not even have to rake as they were swimming around in the water! On one day with another couple we caught 44 in an hour. After cooking them up we sort of fed half the caravan park as we didn’t have the room to freeze this amount.Whyalla was a lovely city, great shopping and as the caravan park handed out 3 pages of discount vouchers we decided to take advantage of them! We saved quite a lot of money with a variety of local businesses offering deals. From Lingerie to butchers, hair dressers, book shops to sporting goods. Great value.
Walter of course had to first visit the doctor that he had been referred to for his hernia ops and surgery was then scheduled for later in January. In the meantime we did the tourist th
ing. We visited the Maritime Museum and also viewed a video on the ship “The Whyalla”. This ship was a corvette and built in the Whyalla shipyards. However after it was decommissioned the Whyalla commu
nity bought it back and arranged for it to be transported the 2kms over land from the harbour to sit next to the Information Centre and Maritime museum. We also took a tour over it. Fascinating stuff. We visited both Hummocks Hill lookout and the Freycinet Lookout, both with great views. We also took a drive out to Iron Knob about 50kms from Whyalla and went through that museum and revisited the history of the Iron Knob (iron ore) mine. It is not being mined any more.
Another drive took us down south of town to Cowleds landing. Just a tiny fishing village down a very dry and dusty road. Whilst we were in Whyalla the city hosted South Australian Surf Kite championships. These guys (and few girls) were fascinating to watch their acrobatics on the waves. It is very windy in Whyalla so it was a perfect place to view this sport!
We also celebrated Australia Day whilst we were there. With another couple we walked down to the foreshore park to join in the celebrations.
Walter’s surgery went well and after only 2 days in hospital came back to the van. This week saw that dreadful heat wave with temperatures soaring to around 50 degrees! The evening that Walter came home from hospital, we took the thermometer out at 5pm to the shade under a tree and it was still 47 degrees!
We drove away from Whyalla on the Saturday morning of the terrible Victorian bushfires. It was so stifling hot the air con in the car wouldn’t work! The wind was so strong it was blowing huge dust clouds both from the dry paddocks and the Iron Ore mine at Iron Monarch. At one stage we could not see 50 metres in front of us. We arrived in Cowell with this limited visibility so once setting the van up we closed ourselves inside and watched a DVD! By the time the movie finished the winds had dropped so we decided to go for a drive.
One of the brochures the caravan park had given us was a drive to Port Gibbon and Point G
ibbon via the coast road. The brochure stated that you could quite often see sea lions at Point Gibbon. Now we are a bit sceptical about claims l
ike this but we thought we’d look! After parking at the car park we could not see anything resembling sea lions so decided to walk along the beach and around the point. After rounding the point we virtually tripped over two of them! We were within a metre of them so as you can see we took some great photos. The coast drive back was also great. It is an amazing coastline all around the Eyre.Then we drove to Arno Bay planning to stay 2 nights. It didn’t take us long after discovering the park was easily the nicest we have ever stayed in, even has soft green grass to decide to stay for a week. We only had to walk across the road and through a gate to be on the jetty and the beach. Apparently the week before the beach was pristine but with those really strong winds, tons and tons of sea grass had been blown onto it. Also very close t
o the van was a great boardwalk, built by the Lions Club along a tidal creek and through the mangroves. They had even built platforms over the creek at intervals which made fishing a breeze! Walter and I 
took our prawn bait and tried our luck in the creek from one of these platforms. Well as soon as our line hit the water we were catching silver whiting, all good size. We caught 12 in ¾ hour so quit as we again did not have the room for storage! Fresh whiting made a great dinner! We fished from there a number of times, e
ach time successful with whiting. We found driving the 27kms to Cleve was a better shopping option for food than the little general store in Arno. So we made the most of this trip driving a scenic route around through the hills and forest and visiting an old weir built in the early part of 20th century. The water it supplied was for both Cowell and Arno Bay but not for Cleve (even though it was only 5 kms away) as it was by gravity feed – lower than Cleve itself.We had been told by fellow travellers about a few free camp sites south of Arno so we packed up another picnic lunch and headed out on the exploring trail. We visited Port Neill (very pretty but caravan park is not as nice as Arno) and then took the coast road (dirt) south. Camps 3 listed a number of ‘free’ sites. So we looked at Carrow Wells, Brayfields camp (also very nice and were we had a surf) then drove fu
rther to Lipsom Cove. Well, we came over the hill and just went WOW! This place is magic! White sands, turquoise crystal clear sea, bird rookery and lovely camp sites at least 200m apart, clean pit toilets and even garbage bins! We made our decision there and then to stay for a few days when we left Arno.Whilst at Lipsom Cove we got out the snorkelling gear and walked at low tide over to the island that is also a bird rookery. We were am
azed to find not only the Pied Cormorants nesting there but pigeons! Not in nests but holes in the ground like rabbits! Neither of us had seen anything like this before! Crested terns are also there in their hundreds, along with pelicans, Pacific gulls and silver gulls. We tried our hand at fishing but only caught small stuff. One of the other guys had caught a large salmon but it wasn’t our luck.
Then we drove the 60kms to Port Lincoln. This is a lovely place! Everything you could wish for. We could easily live here. As soon as we set up, again overlooking the bay, we called Meg & Graham who we met whilst on our Cape York trip. We then
headed downtown to collect our mail and ran into them in the Post Office! They organised to take Walter for beers at the Great Northern at 5 pm and Meg would pick me up from there and we would go for champagne with the girls! Very civilised!!
From there we went onto the Tourist Information office and whilst we were there received another call from Graham stating he had something for us. What it was, was a fishing charter voucher that he had won and did not wish to use. He offered it to us and we decided that it was too
good an opportunity to miss as we had been looking to do a fishing charter. We rang the charter operator and picked up the option for the Sunda
y. It was a great day, leaving from Coffin Bay. So it was an early start as it is 48kms to Coffin Bay and he wanted us there by 7.30am! The day dawned sunny and not a breath of wind! Just perfect for a day way out at Greenly Island! 60 nautical miles from Coffin Bay meant a good 3 hours sail. The charter was full and trolled for Blue Fin Tuna. Both of us caught one, Walter 20kg and Rob 22kgs. Boy these fish really fight! I needed Walter’s assistance to finally bring my fish into the boat! We have now added fresh tuna to our extensive seafood diet and I am now researching the different ways to prepare it! One of our favourites is the Sashimi way! Raw with Wasabi, pickled ginger and dipped in soy sauce. We have a freezer full so we do need some variety though!
With Meg, I have been attending Water Aerobics with her 3 days a week which is great fun as well as good exercise! Meg and Graham are members of Probus so they engineered for us to also go with them on a club visit to the Lincoln Marine Science Institute. This was a fascinating and informative visit to this centr
e that centres on the Aquaculture industry not only in Port Lincoln but through South Australia. Meg & Graham then also drove us with a picnic lunch out to Mikkira Station. This place was the very first station on the Eyre Peninsula. It has a restored settler’s cottage set among the old stone walls of sheep yards, and koalas hanging out of virtually all the gum trees! So lovely to see them in their natural environment and thriving!
Another p
icnic lunch packed and Walter and I drove down through the locked gate to Whalers Way. This is private property but you can pay a small price to gain the key to see some beautiful and rugged coastline. As Meg said it would be really spectacular on a rough day! We also took a half day trip with Triple Bay tours to a tuna farm and seal colony. There are a lot of millionaires in Port Lincoln who have made their money from this industry. However after finding out the work involved they have earned it!
Yesterday saw us take another full day tour, a once in a lifetime opportunity! We went out 45 nautical miles to the Neptune Islands and went cage diving with the Great White Pointer sharks! Another very early start – 6.30 am from the Marina. A good 3 hours sail in a 65’ Motor cruiser saw us anchor around 9.30am. The crew then burleyed old tuna and fish oil into the water to attract the sharks. The cage was placed into
the water and then we waited! It was only about ½ hour when a huge white pointer hit the bait and made off with it! Then the first 4 guys went into the cage. They saw 2 sharks in their time in the cage then they were out and it was my turn. Then 3 huge white pointers turned up. What awesome fish! No photo shows their true size and awesome power! Walter went in after me and also saw really good action! From the boat you also saw the m
ost amazing sights watching these awesome fish run for the baits! It was the best day! Now you will all say we are crazy but if I ever wanted to see a White Pointer in the water this is the only way I would like to! It was run so very well, very safe. We would recommend it to anyone who comes this way.
We are going to stay in Port Lincoln until next Monday (9th March) when we will head to Coffin Bay. We still have to drive out to both Memory Cove Wilderness area and Lincoln National Park. Meg & Graham have also organised for us to attend a stud cattle sale on Friday and then there is an Outdoor Living Expo here in the park over the weekend.
As you can see life is still pretty tough for us “homeless” people!
Until our next episode, we will leave you to feel sorry for us!
The Travelling Uhl’s
Walter & Rob
azed to find not only the Pied Cormorants nesting there but pigeons! Not in nests but holes in the ground like rabbits! Neither of us had seen anything like this before! Crested terns are also there in their hundreds, along with pelicans, Pacific gulls and silver gulls. We tried our hand at fishing but only caught small stuff. One of the other guys had caught a large salmon but it wasn’t our luck.Then we drove the 60kms to Port Lincoln. This is a lovely place! Everything you could wish for. We could easily live here. As soon as we set up, again overlooking the bay, we called Meg & Graham who we met whilst on our Cape York trip. We then
headed downtown to collect our mail and ran into them in the Post Office! They organised to take Walter for beers at the Great Northern at 5 pm and Meg would pick me up from there and we would go for champagne with the girls! Very civilised!!From there we went onto the Tourist Information office and whilst we were there received another call from Graham stating he had something for us. What it was, was a fishing charter voucher that he had won and did not wish to use. He offered it to us and we decided that it was too
good an opportunity to miss as we had been looking to do a fishing charter. We rang the charter operator and picked up the option for the Sunda
y. It was a great day, leaving from Coffin Bay. So it was an early start as it is 48kms to Coffin Bay and he wanted us there by 7.30am! The day dawned sunny and not a breath of wind! Just perfect for a day way out at Greenly Island! 60 nautical miles from Coffin Bay meant a good 3 hours sail. The charter was full and trolled for Blue Fin Tuna. Both of us caught one, Walter 20kg and Rob 22kgs. Boy these fish really fight! I needed Walter’s assistance to finally bring my fish into the boat! We have now added fresh tuna to our extensive seafood diet and I am now researching the different ways to prepare it! One of our favourites is the Sashimi way! Raw with Wasabi, pickled ginger and dipped in soy sauce. We have a freezer full so we do need some variety though!
With Meg, I have been attending Water Aerobics with her 3 days a week which is great fun as well as good exercise! Meg and Graham are members of Probus so they engineered for us to also go with them on a club visit to the Lincoln Marine Science Institute. This was a fascinating and informative visit to this centr
e that centres on the Aquaculture industry not only in Port Lincoln but through South Australia. Meg & Graham then also drove us with a picnic lunch out to Mikkira Station. This place was the very first station on the Eyre Peninsula. It has a restored settler’s cottage set among the old stone walls of sheep yards, and koalas hanging out of virtually all the gum trees! So lovely to see them in their natural environment and thriving!Another p
icnic lunch packed and Walter and I drove down through the locked gate to Whalers Way. This is private property but you can pay a small price to gain the key to see some beautiful and rugged coastline. As Meg said it would be really spectacular on a rough day! We also took a half day trip with Triple Bay tours to a tuna farm and seal colony. There are a lot of millionaires in Port Lincoln who have made their money from this industry. However after finding out the work involved they have earned it!Yesterday saw us take another full day tour, a once in a lifetime opportunity! We went out 45 nautical miles to the Neptune Islands and went cage diving with the Great White Pointer sharks! Another very early start – 6.30 am from the Marina. A good 3 hours sail in a 65’ Motor cruiser saw us anchor around 9.30am. The crew then burleyed old tuna and fish oil into the water to attract the sharks. The cage was placed into
the water and then we waited! It was only about ½ hour when a huge white pointer hit the bait and made off with it! Then the first 4 guys went into the cage. They saw 2 sharks in their time in the cage then they were out and it was my turn. Then 3 huge white pointers turned up. What awesome fish! No photo shows their true size and awesome power! Walter went in after me and also saw really good action! From the boat you also saw the m
ost amazing sights watching these awesome fish run for the baits! It was the best day! Now you will all say we are crazy but if I ever wanted to see a White Pointer in the water this is the only way I would like to! It was run so very well, very safe. We would recommend it to anyone who comes this way.We are going to stay in Port Lincoln until next Monday (9th March) when we will head to Coffin Bay. We still have to drive out to both Memory Cove Wilderness area and Lincoln National Park. Meg & Graham have also organised for us to attend a stud cattle sale on Friday and then there is an Outdoor Living Expo here in the park over the weekend.
As you can see life is still pretty tough for us “homeless” people!
Until our next episode, we will leave you to feel sorry for us!
The Travelling Uhl’s
Walter & Rob
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