Well we had such a relaxing day in Tumby Bay on Sunday. We slept in after watching ‘Titanic’ on the TV (again). The weather was perfect, blue skies and not too hot so we immediately took the doggies on to the 10km white sandy beach, which was just a couple of steps from our van. Tia ran ragged after her tennis ball, in and out of the water and the two little ones pottered about as usual. Then it was back for mushroom omelette on toast for breakfast for us and sardines for the dogs. The rest of the day we spent just lounging about reading, talking, listening to the radio with all the interesting Australian politics that are happening right now. I put a bit of washing on and hung it on the line and it was dry in no time. Paul made very tasty pasta for a late lunch and it was time for an afternoon sleep!
By 4.30pm the dogs wanted some action, so we went for a long walk over the estuary and round the headland. We passed a street of old holiday homes which had probably been built in the 1950s and looked like typical Australian ‘Shacks’. Then we came to a new estate of huge homes with personal jetties that had been built around man-made canals. Some plots of land still for sale and some homes not yet finished. It looked like the town was growing fast.
There was a metal set of steps up to a lookout that was obviously enjoyed by many seagulls too! From the top we could see the beautiful bay and the islands off shore. There were interesting rock formations on the beaches and a range of coastal habitats – estuarine creek, mudflats, Mangroves, salt marshes and little rocky outcrops and sandy beaches. The pelicans were flying in formation along the bay and there was plenty to explore. After a small altercation with a very excited Labrador that charged towards us off leash, we got back to camp at 6.30pm with three famished dogs.
The dogs were fed and were nicely sleepy, and the sun was getting low and so it was time for an apple ale. We sat outside in our deck chairs and listened to music and watched the wattle birds and parrots jostling for a good branch for the night. Paul got out the picnic rug and did some Pilates stretches as the sun set and then we went inside the van for dinner and a movie.
All the above activity was so relaxing that we just repeated most of it for the next five days and stayed put at beautiful Tumby Bay. We fell easily into a pattern of nice long walks along the coast and round the town in the morning, computers and reading in the afternoon, then dinner and TV/Movie in the evening. The caravan park remained almost empty so we had the hot showers, laundry and a huge area of grass and trees all to ourselves. It was very nice to have a break from travelling and perhaps we hadn’t realised that we needed some time out to recharge our batteries.
I might digress a little here and tell you just a little about our computer work, because you’re probably thinking “why are they spending so much time on their laptops?”
Kathryn: computer activities...
1)Private - monitor private bank accounts and pay bills, deal with investment property activity and agent requests, send and receive emails from friends & relatives, write up and publish Blog http://archertravelnews.blogspot.com each week, download photos, make backups, Google trip information
2)DeathRowPets – maintain database with new subscribers and bounces/opt-outs, set up and send out regular information Updates to database, edit http://www.deathrowpets.net web site
3)PACE Australia - monitor PACE accounts and pay bills, maintain PACE database and synchronisation, edit http://www.paceaustralia.com.au web site, delegate web enquiries, monitor advertising, help and support Consultants, back up data
Paul: computer activities...
1) Private - buy and sell shares, track trades, monitor bank accounts, send and receive emails from friends and relatives, download photos, notify friends of Blog updates
2) DeathRowPets - write information Updates, write letters and emails, network and make new contacts, write up and publish http://deathrowpets.wordpress.com Blog articles, deal with enquiries and comments, manage campaigns
3) PACE Australia – support Consultants, network and liaise with clients
And these are just the main computer jobs, there are many more bits and pieces not worth mentioning here. So we have not left it all behind as you may have thought. Life is still pretty complicated but I suppose it keeps the mind ticking over.
We sadly moved off from Tumby Bay with a quick stop at the next tiny fishing village called Port Neil. Whilst it seemed quite pretty the wind was really blowing and we struggled to get out of the van when we parked at the jetty. So we drove on to Arno Bay for lunch. This town was once a major port with superphosphate shipped in and cereal crops shipped out. We parked at the Jetty and admired the sandy beach piled with huge clumps of sea weed and lined with pretty beachside shacks. Now with a population of 220, Arno Bay is the headquarters of CleanSeas which is a major Tuna and Kingfish aquaculture business.
After a brisk walk along the beach we drove on to Cowell for the evening. Cowell is on Franklin Harbour, a 48sq km natural harbour. The town was settled in 1853 and has a good variety of shops and pretty old stone cottages. We had a drink and meal of garfish and roasted veggies in the Cowell Commercial Hotel and it was very tasty. We rented the DVD “The Boat that Rocked” and had a great laugh watching it in the van parked in the $5.00 per night motor home rest area in town.
The next morning we took the doggies for a walk around the playing fields and then into the town. This was a rather unnerving experience as there was a dog off leash that charged us when we walked past the other hotel in town, and then several dogs that barked ferociously and ran up and down the fence line as we passed their front gardens. In spite of this we liked the town and Paul bought a tray of mussels and two crabs from ‘Turners Oysters and Seafood’. We were also surprised to learn that Nephrite Jade was discovered in the nearby Minbrie Range in 1965, so we visited the Cowell Jade and Gemstone Showroom and had a chat with the owner. The colour of the jade found was mainly dark green with some even jet black – quite different from the jade we saw in China on a previous holiday. However all the settings seemed very old fashioned, so we didn’t think they would be selling too much.
We drove on to little Lucky Bay which was the departure point for the SeaSA car and passenger ferry to Wallaroo on the Yorke Peninsula. It isn’t running now as the owner has sold the old ferry and not yet bought a new one. We wondered if there just weren’t enough passengers to make it viable. Lucky Bay was yet another one street town with a huge white sandy beach and jetty. Paul and I thought that we were starting to get “beached out” (if there’s such a thing). We were quite bemused to admit to this as we love walking on beaches with the doggies. Can there be too much of such a good thing – or are we just very spoilt?
Tia christened Lucky Bay with a big sicky outside the van after eating some rabbit poo. Better out than in I suppose, as long as out is outside the van!
We stopped for the night in a free rest area just outside Whyalla –as usual we were the only ones there. Along the way we saw an emu cross the road and then the huge tailings from Iron Duke, the OneSteel iron ore mine in the nearby South Middleback Ranges. Paul got stuck into cooking a seafood extravaganza with our purchases from Cowell while we watched the news. Couldn’t believe it was just two weeks to Christmas. I think we must feel our least Christmassy ever – perhaps we should make an effort to decorate the van somehow...
We drove into Whyalla the next morning and went straight to the Information Centre. The staff were very helpful and pointed us in the right direction for a $5 place to stay the night in town at the local Sports club. We also found out where to top up our water, empty our toilet cassette and all the ‘must visit’ places. First stop was just next door at the Maritime Museum where we had a guided tour of the WWII corvette “HMAS Whyalla”. The ship was the first modern warship built in South Australia in 1941 and now stands on dry land 2km from the sea, having been restored and relocated! It was a very interesting tour and Paul had a chance to sound the steam whistle and sit on the gun and we saw inside all the officers and seaman’s quarters.
We moved just 300m along to the Tandarra Craft Village – once the original BHP single men’s quarters built in 1942 to house the large workforce constructing the steelworks and shipyard. Now the buildings house the permanent home of many craft clubs. It was pleasant wandering through all the rooms looking at the wares, but most of the items were very old fashioned knitted and crochet goods. I did show goodwill and bought a plastic bags holder for the van for $5.
Paul went for a swim and shower at the local leisure centre, but when I did the same, they accidentally turned the lights out on me, leaving me half washed and un rinsed in total darkness in a strange shower room. Not happy Kath! We decided to check out our night stay at the Sports Centre and after dinner we drove to the cinema to see “Twilight”. It wasn’t really our cup of tea, but was also a little spoilt by a couple of ‘Bogan’ teenagers who giggled and swore throughout the movie.
The next morning as we drove off towards the Foreshore, a lady ran after us with a whole platter of home-made sweets and said she had seen us parked and thought we might enjoy them – how lovely. And indeed they did look fantastic: coconut ice, fudge, rocky-road, apricot balls, truffles etc.
We first went up Hammock Hill Lookout at the eastern end of town. It was the site of the first settlement and fortifications with guns were built in 1942. The lookout was further developed by BHP and opened by the Queen in 1986. It was simply amazing to see the huge Whyalla OneSteel steel works and a 360 degree view across Spencer Gulf to the Flinders Ranges. Paul and I argued about which was the best view – I opted for the massive steelworks (most interesting) and he wanted the foreshore and natural scenery.
Afterwards we walked the doggies along the foreshore and wide beach with the tide out for miles. Then we walked through the Ada Ryan gardens. Paul took photos of the old workers cottages near the steelworks which were coated all over in fine red dust – a house-wife’s nightmare!
We did some shopping and then visited the Mount Laura Homestead Museum. The house was built in 1922 on station country south of Whyalla. The town of Whyalla has now engulfed the homestead but it was fortunately been given to the National Trust and preserved. The area also included the Gay Street cottage which was built by BHP in 1914 for rental to its employees. Other attractions of note were all the engines used by the farming community and the first police “lock up”.
Well after taking all this in we were pretty exhausted and decided to have dinner and go to the local Carol Concert in the Civic Park to get us into the Christmas spirit. It was nice to roll up in our van early, find a spot to park and cook dinner and then be able to stroll over to the concert with our camping seats.
