Tumby Bay to Whyalla

January 8 to January 15

We departed Tumby Bay Sunday morning after a final walk along the waterfront and jetty. Driving north east we stopped at Port Neill, another village with fishing shacks lining a bay. The “walking trail” along the bay took you through the front yards of the shacks, mingling with the holidaymakers.

Arno Bay Hotel RV Park - Guarding the solar panels

After lunch we continued to Arno Bay. Although a (another) small fishing village, the local Progress Association is working hard to attract travellers and to improve and showcase the town. The RV friendly parking is in the back carpark of the pub, and costs $20 for three nights, and you receive a $10 voucher to spend in town. How could we resist that offer?

Monday we walked the Town Trail, a walk around the town with points of history to explore. The town is half a kilometre inland from the bay (and pub), and was settled in the late 1800’s as a hub for the local grain growers to ship their goods. We also walked the tidal creek and mangrove boardwalk.

Beach shacks at Arno Bay

The local charter fisherman uses the pub’s fish cleaning table after each charter, so I began to understand a lot more of the local fishing attractions. He was (unfortunately, or fortunately?) booked up for the week so I couldn’t have gone out, however he goes 40 kilometres offshore to a reef chasing snapper. Given it was blowing 25-35km/h winds each day, I think you have to be hardy to be out that far in the exposed ocean! Although they did catch some huge snapper (he was booked by the same four fishermen from Sydney, for four days straight), they didn’t catch too many. By the third day they gave me a couple of snapper “wings” (the part behind the pectoral fin to the gills) as they only wanted the fillets. When they come off 10+kg snappers, they are a great meal!

I had hoped to get out on the kayak, but the relentless onshore wind didn’t abate. Also, the target fish inshore in the Spenser Gulf are flathead and King George Whiting. Both are most active in the winter months and go offshore and are difficult to catch in summer. I did some mountain biking around the region, only the main access roads are sealed, and there are a maze of dirt roads that access the more remote coastline and fishing shacks.

How did they taste? Shucking great!

Wednesday we left Arno Bay and drove to Cowell, a larger village on the shallow, sheltered Franklin Harbour, just 44km north. The main produce here is oysters. Being a shallow bay the shoreline is mangroves, not beach. The town has some beautiful stone buildings from its settlement commencing in 1853, again as a hub for agriculture. More recently a discovery of Jade in the local hills in 1965, and oyster farming commencing in 1987, have given this town a boost.

We stayed at the RV Park, which happened to be about 250 metres from an oyster farmer. He only sells oysters unopened, and although I can open oysters, I’m not too flash. With a lesson from the farmer and a bag full of closed oysters, I can now officially shuck (not suck)!

First ship built in Whyalla

Thursday we drove to Lucky Bay, where the vehicular ferry operates across the Spenser Gulf to the York Peninsula. This isn’t even a village, just collection of fishing shacks. This time of year it is alive with kids swimming and playing on the beach, it would be a fantastic place for young families to holiday.

We continued on to Whyalla, South Australia’s Steel City. Unfortunately Arrium, or One Steel, one of the state’s largest employers is in receivership, and the whole town is waiting for the news whether it will be closed or sold and continue operating. Either way it has had a major effect on the town, with many workers leaving, apparently there is 1000 homes for sale and 800 for rent. For a town of 20,000 people, that’s a large percentage.

Coke Oven, Whyalla Steel Mill

Thursday reached 36⁰C, so after a visit to the Information Centre and booking on the Steel Mill tour for Friday, we headed to the shopping centre for some respite. We stayed at the RV Friendly Park in Whyalla, conveniently located at the local sports field.

As often happens in South Australia, after a hot day you may get a cool, windy and rainy day. Fortunately the Steel Mill tour is carried out in a minibus, so the weather didn’t affect it too much. The tour guide has extensive experience with the mill and wasn’t shy in giving us her opinion on the current problems. Nearly every section of the mill seemed to have operational breakdowns, including the offshore ship loader which was in flames the day before. The tour was interesting and covered all the mill’s operations, which are widely spread over the 10 square kilometre site.

Whyalla RV Park, behind the baseball field

Saturday was still cool, overcast and windy, but at least not raining. We visited the Whyalla Wetlands and walked the trails, and walked around the “old” town centre of Whyalla. After visiting a number of towns where the historic architecture is from around 1900, Whyalla’s town was developed in the 1920’s and 1930’s, and many of the old buildings have interesting art deco designs. We also walked around the foreshore and marina precinct, which is not terribly attractive with the very shallow coastline, copious sea grass deposits on the tideline, and relentless wind.

Sunday we stocked up and did some more sightseeing before heading out of town to Iron Knob.