Cowell to Clare.

We first headed to Kimba and found that there would have been some decent accommodation there if we had arrived there last night as planned. Visited the op shop and bought a few things. Kimba is home of the giant galah, and at the  town lookout there are scrap metal figures - Eyre and guide.  Next stop was Iron Knob. We drove around here and took photos of interesting things with the backdrop of the mines. Next we went back through Port Augusta and on to Quorn for lunch and a look at the old buildings and streetscape which has been used in many movies. We continued on to Clare stopping in Wilmington, Gladstone and Laura.

Whalers Way (Part 2) - Port Lincoln to Cowell

After spending more time than we expected at Whalers Way, we went back to Port Lincoln for a late lunch. Then we headed up the Todd Highway to Cummins and Lock and took the Birdseye Highway to Cleve. Due to lack of accommodation we decided to go to Cowell on the coast for the night, even though we went through there on the way down. Added extra photos of Whalers Way.

Whalers Way

Around 9am we headed out from Port Lincoln to Whalers Way, a 14km coastal road with incredible coastal scenery. As it is on private property we had to purchase a permit and be let in the gate at the start of the road. We saw crevasses, blowholes, SA oldest rock, rockpools, sand dunes and rocky cliffs galore.  There were no railings at most sites, even the ones with sheer drops. Very scary. We spent about 5 hours on the unsealed road stopping at every marked spot.

Lincoln National Park

On arrival at the park we paid our day fees and decided to drive to Stamford Hill and do the hike up the hill for spectacular views of Boston Bay, Port Lincoln and the park.  On the way we stopped at various viewing points to take photos of the coastline. The hike was 1.1km to the top, where there was a Matthew Flinders monument. It was fairly steep and took about 45mins return. We then ventured further into the park to Donington beach and lighthouse. There was also a tiny island close to the coast.  On the way back we visited September beach, and then we went and walked on the Sleaford Dunes.

Tumby Bay to Port Lincoln

Before leaving Tumby Bay we took a stroll along the jetty which was very quiet, except for one boy fishing.  After a quick stop at the bakery for Aileen to buy some jelly slice we headed towards Port Lincoln.  On arrival 50 kms later we found a lookout which has incredible panoramic views of Port Lincoln. Then we visited an old mill which is the oldest building in Port Lincoln.  After a quick stop at the supermarket and cheap as chips we headed to the National Park.

Whyalla to Tumby Bay

After waking early, we decided to go for a walk through the gardens ajacent to our room.  We then walked to the foreshore and marina and out on the jetty.  As we were leaving town we visited our 1st op shop on this trip and the Whyalla library.  The rest of the day was spent driving down the coast  toward Port Lincoln.  We have finally left the Ports that are involved with heavy industry, and now all the seaside towns are quiet fishing villages. I don't know where South Australians go for holidays but it does not seem to be the Eyre peninsula. First stop was Cowell where the world's oldest jade deposit was found. I wanted to buy some jade but could not find anything I liked. We also did the first of our mangrove board walks. We also stopped at Arno Bay and Port Neill before stopping at Tumby Bay for the night.

Port Pirie to Whyalla

We first checked out Port Pirie's industrial areas which consisted of oil tanks, grain silos and a 250 metre smokestack. Leaving Port Pirie we heard an alert for extreme winds.  It was also going to be 32 degrees with a total fire ban.  Our first stop was Port Germein which has a 1.7 km jetty and was at one time the longest wooden jetty in the Southern hemisphere.  The wind was so strong, that we only walked part of the way out.  Coming back the wind was almost impossible to walk into.  Next stop was Port Augusta where we viewed the power station from a lookout.  We then visited the Port Augusta arid lands botanic gardens, where we saw wildflowers and Sturt desert pea.  There also was the Matthew Flinders lookout which overlooked mangroves, red cliffs and Spencer Gulf.  The water tower lookout was our last stop before we left town.  Last stop was Whyalla where after finding somewhere to stay, we went for a paddle in the sea. The water was very cool and clear. The town is overshadowed  by the huge buildings of the steel works and smoking chimneys.  We visited Hummock Hill which had views of the city, steel works and coast from a WWII observation post.