Eucla to Home

Leaving Eucla we cross into South Australia. Goodbye WA, we will be back, there is much more to see. From Eucla we follow the coast along the Great Australia Bight. We stop in at all of the scenic stops and admire this amazing coastline.

(P) Steep cliffs, Southern Ocean rolling waves, secluded beaches. We have a windless day (unusual) and almost a cloudless sky to enjoy the spectacular views of the “Bight”. We spot a 2 wheel 4WD track winding it’s way to the coast, we reverse up and crawl down and find the most awesome future campsite well off the road. After enjoying lunch and a pleasant walk (with my “Don’t get too close to the edge” audible alarm (Judith) sounding several times!) this place is GPS marked on our navigation software for our next visit.

As we reach the “Head of the Bight” we decide not to go in as we stopped here on the way over, but at the last minute we turn off, may not be back for a while. We are so pleased we stopped, as we walked down the walkway to the lookout points we spot whales in the distance. Mother and calf, single whales, groups of whales, about 18 in total. What a sight, they are close to the coast and pretty easy to see but our binoculars bring them so much closer. We enjoy watching these majestic animals for a while before getting back in the truck and driving on. These stops make travelling so worth while.

We make further stops over the next few days at places like Colona to see the shearing shed (although we can only look from the road), Cohen old school site, Penong Windmill Museum, Ceduna, where we stop in at the fish shop for Philip to purchase some oysters. Of course he can’t help himself and emerges from the shop oversupplied with other Seafood specialities as well as Oysters!!

The Penong Windmill Museum was very interesting. It showcases old, new, small and large windmills. This includes “Bruce” the biggest windmill in Australia. It has a span in excess of 10.67metre span, built in 1932. It was first owned by the Commonwealth Railways and was situated at McKinnon Dam to provide water for the railways near Kingoonya.

Another stop was at Pidalpa Rock. This is a large granite outcrop one of many on the Eyre Peninsula. The wave shape was caused by moist soil in contact with the rock causing the granite to weather inwards.

We overnight in Kimba, who’s claim to fame is that it is the halfway point across Australia between the east and west coast. After parking our rig at the Recreation centre we head off for a walk around town. This is a lovely little town that seems to be flourishing at the moment. There are some lovely old homes and commercial buildings. We stop at an old garage that has now been transformed into a hub for local artisans. Inside are several shipping containers made into small retail outlets selling anything from soap, made on site, ceramic pottery, also made on site, homewares and gifts, antiques, quilts. It’s a great idea and after talking to one of the four women who have set this place up, feel that it has a great future and we look forward to visiting again on another trip. We also stop to admire the painted silos. They are stunning, depicting a small girl in a wheat field. We return after dinner and see it lit up at night and it really comes to life. Whilst outstanding to see the Silo art of a day, the floodlit night scene was absolutely awesome!

(P) Chatting to a farmers wife and the following morning a farmer ( no connection) we find out that the area needs a rain to “finish” the wheat and grain crops off to make a good season, Hay crops (for export) are viewed being cut and raked with bailing for the season about to commence. The rolling fields of crop with the Gawler ranges as a distant backdrop are a stunning sight.

From Kimba we head to Iron Knob and then on to Whyalla, where we park the truck and walk through the town centre that is extremely quiet and then up to the Queens Lookout. Looking to the North we can see the industry here and Philip loves it. There’s a steel mill and iron ore plant, chimneys belching smoke (steam), dust in the air and the low hum of big machinery working. Looking to the south is totally the opposite, clear blue waters a lovely beach, parks and playgrounds. Boats at the marina and kids playing make the scene almost idyllic, if only there wasn’t the rumble of industry in the background. Reading about the area we decide this is another place to put on the bucket list to revisit and spend some time.

We are now retracing steps that we drove at the start of our trip passing Port Augusta, and heading down to Locheil where we camped again. On the way up Lake Bumbunga was almost dry and people were walking out to the sculpture in the lake. Not today the lake has a considerable amount of water and it’s pink/ purple with the salt content in it makes it look pretty good.

Next day I am expecting we will follow the same track towards Murray Bridge, avoiding Adelaide. But I am much mistaken. We have time and the crops around here look so good that Philip decides to take the “tourist route”. Taking various roads around the area we enjoy the beautiful views over flourishing wheat, barley and canola crops, interspersed with beautiful old homes, silo art and quaint towns. Instead of doing 300 k today we travel 450 but it’s well worth the side trips.

Now unfortunately we have our G2G’s and Tassie Permits and have made it back to the Spirit of Tasmania Terminal in Melbourne ready for our “cruise” home tonight.

We have had an awesome 20 weeks travelling

(P) As Judith mentioned it’s been an awesome “Clump” of weeks travel. Almost every day was an eye opener and we now have as many “To Explore” destinations as we initially commenced with noted on our “Bucket Lists”!

A few highlights for me were –

-Travelling some of the original Eyre Highway and Koonalda Station

– Visiting friends

-Big Sky starry nights

-Golden Sunrises and Sunsets

-Heavy Industry and Mines by the “truckload”

-The many Cattle (former sheep) stations we visited and were fortunate to camp on

-Historic Wool sheds and station ruins

-Dirt Roads travelled with minimal or no planning and in general just “where will we go tomorrow” planning

-The Station owners, Workers, Truckies, Mine workers and Country Butchers (experts at a good story) who shared a conversation or more with us. Also a few good people we met and look forward to keeping in contact with.

– the spontaneous “Kimberley Cruise”

– The Wild flowers ( yes even Phil was stunned by them)!

– Plus a heck of a lot more!

A couple of statistics-

-20 weeks ( that went quick)!

-24,860 total klm

-14,700 klm of dirt roads, sand tracks, Station Access Roads and 2 wheel rut stoney tracks.

( sometimes not another vehicle to be seen for 2 or 3 days)

-700 nautical Miles of Kimberley coast exploring

– approx 550 klm of walking and wandering ( no wonder my sandals are stuffed!)

– Quite a few litres (gallons) of Fuel

– Great food ( mostly cooked ourselves with awesome local ingredients)

– Possibilities of a slight weight gain each!!

– 12000 photos, they will need some sorting once we get home.

Where to next? Who knows but will be good to see all at home.

As I mentioned once before- How lucky are we?