Elliston to Tumby Bay

January 1 to January 8

  

Elliston Public Toilet Mural, best gender signage ever!

Sunday we departed Elliston to continue southeast down the Eyre Peninsula. We dropped in to the Locks Well Lookout, perched high on more magnificent cliffs (you would think we would be sick of them by now), before visiting our last cliff top lookout on this side of the peninsula, the Leo Cummings Lookout. Named after a sailor who died here tragically, this lookout had views both inland over Lake Hamilton, and north and south along the heavily eroded cliff line.

From there we decided to detour inland, as the coast road no longer followed the cliffs, and drive east to Cummins. This is pure wheat and sheep country, rolling hills and no traffic. We passed one car travelling in the opposite direction in 40kms. Driving south from Cummins we stopped at a memorial (for Returned Soldier Farm Blocks) just outside Wanilla for the night.

Leo Cummings Memorial Lookout, our last great cliff view

Monday was a short trip into Port Lincoln, the major town for the southern Eyre Peninsula. We visited the Information Centre, did a grocery shop, and walked around the town and foreshore. This is an RV Friendly Town, and as we are finding all around the Eyre Peninsula, they offer low cost ($10 or less) rather than free overnight parking areas within their towns. If staying in a town for a couple of days this is a good option, but if passing through, there are still many free camping options along the highways.

Old Mill, Port Lincoln

We decided to stay at the Billy Light’s Point boat ramp, which also had a nice coastal walk trail around the Billy Light’s Point. Tuesday we did more sightseeing around Port Lincoln, a longer foreshore walk along the Parnkalla Trail, and visiting the Old Mill. This is the oldest structure in Port Lincoln, built in 1850’s and was never completed as a flour mill (?) but has stood since construction. We finally hunted down some decent Coffin Bay Oysters for lunch. The demand for the oysters nationally and internationally is so great it is difficult to buy good sized ones locally at a reasonable price.

Cool Town Signage

We drove out to the Lincoln National Park before deciding to head towards Coffin Bay. It is only 50km so we drove to the free camp at the Wanilla Memorial, about half way.

Wednesday we spent in Coffin Bay. This spectacular bay is a seemingly endless array of bays and inlets with clear waters and white sand. Native Angasi Oysters were first found and harvested (dredged) here in the 1840’s, and was basically fished out by the 1890’s. The Angasi Oyster never recovered, and it wasn’t until 1969 when the Pacific Oyster was introduced into Coffin Bay, that the commercial oyster industry was re-established.

Old Oystertown Trail, Coffin Bay

We hiked the Oyster Walk, a walking trail that visits some of the original “Old Oystertown” settlements and the Kellidie National Park. We spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the sandy bays and foreshore, before heading out of town (17km) to a great rest stop at the Coffin Bay highway turnoff.

Thursday we drove back to Port Lincoln to stock up before heading north. We drove up to the Winter Hill Lookout before leaving, which gives a fantastic 360⁰ view of the southeast corner of the Eyre Peninsula. We visited picturesque North Shields and Point Boston on our way to Tumby Bay. Although the road doesn’t hug the coastline, it follows the elevated hills so we enjoyed terrific views of water and dunes as we travelled through wheat and sheep farms.

Coffin Bay, clear waters and white sand

Once at Tumby Bay we explored the small, holiday/fishing town before parking at their low cost “Motorhome Park”, about 2km from town. We walked back into town for dinner, as one of the two local pubs had a Schnitzel night. It was very popular and busy, and rightly so, fantastic quality and value, and we needed the walk back to help digest a meal that was much bigger than we normally have!

Friday we walked the southern headland and mangrove boardwalk, before checking into the caravan park so we can get a couple of loads of washing done. It was also going to 36⁰C so we thought it might be nice to have the air con in the afternoon.

Port Lincoln from Winter Hill Lookout

Saturday’s maximum was expected to reach 41⁰C so we had an early walk along the town beach and a drive out to Ski Beach, where you can access Tumby Island by wading along a sand bar at low tide. Unfortunately the sand bar has moved and it wasn’t possible to make it to the island. Although the temperature did 41⁰C, it was overcast and a stiff breeze (and low humidity) meant it wasn’t too bad. Saturday night we stayed at the Tumby Bay Motorhome Park.

Sunday we bid farewell to Tumby Bay and continued our drive North East towards Arno Bay.