Streaky Bay to the Clare Valley - Nov 2017

Wednesday 22 Nov 2017

The morning dawned cold, windy and raining.  Quite a change from Midnight when it was still hot with Thunderstorms all around.

Late yesterday the weather forecast changed fairly drastically for the next few days.  Instead of just a pleasant cool change, Thunderstorms with localised heavy rain and flash flooding, along with damaging winds were predicted for the next couple of days across the Eyre Peninsular, the Gawler Ranges and a number of other areas.  Not the best conditions to be a 100km off the main road on dirt if I got unlucky.

Quick change of plans.  I decided to continue East and spent the day driving through intermittent heavy showers to Nuttbush Retreat at Pandurra Station, about 30km to the West of Port Augusta.  I had stayed there before and it is a pleasant small rural caravan park and stopover point (pictures posted in a previous blog last year).  Only disadvantage is that it is right next to the Eyre Highway, so all night the trucks roar past, lighting the sky for miles with their huge spotlights.  Not a problem for someone as deaf as I am with the blinds up on the road side of the van.......clear sky overnight with brilliant stars and the distant light glow of both Whyalla and Port Augusta.

On Thursday morning I drove into Port Augusta and had my van Anderson Plug connector replaced and repaired at a caravan hire & repair business in town.  I also got them to cut some links out of my safety chains so I could install hammer locks and large shackles to match the new chain 4T rating.  They did a great job, whilst it just pissed down outside.  About 35mm of rain during the morning.  Had an excellent light lunch at the Wadlata Outback (Tourist Information) Centre and did a small shop at Coles.  I then drove to Port Pirie and set up in a free RV layby area quite close to town.  Again a noisy location but not a problem for me and walking distance from town.  Had a long evening walk up the main street and around town.
 
 




The Port is right next to the main street.

 





The lead smelter chimney stack, Railway Station Museum and Post Office, with Port immediately behind them.

 Such a magnificent building.

The Nyrstar Smelter is just so close to town.  Just undergone a huge refit and rebuild to extend its life and significantly reduce pollution and heath effects in the town. Not like the old days when it was run by BHP.......




 
 

Some great old buildings including the office of the once famous Adelaide Steamship Company.  Another one gone.

 

In the morning (Friday), I visited the Railway Station Museum, which is operated by the National Trust.  An interesting historical collection of the City and an extensive view from the old tower.

Late morning I set off for Clare, with a pleasant lunch stop at a free camping site next to the main East - West railway line in Crystal Brook.  Fasting day so a couple of eggs and a grilled tomato.

Booked in for a few days at the Discovery Parks Caravan Park a km or so South of town as there is very little free camping available close to Clare.  I have stayed before & it is convenient for a number of the wineries, including Skillogalee, one of my favourites.

So of course on Saturday after an early visit to Woolies & the local hardware store in Clare, I made the short drive out Skillogalee, where I had booked lunch for 12 noon.  My third visit and again, I was not disappointed.

Lovely shady verandah, looking out over the garden and some of the vineyard.

 The old olive tree, next to the verandah.  More Summer and sunny dining. 






 

Port Lincoln sardines with parsley butter on the left and duck breast with an orange and brandy sauce with beetroot and sugar snap peas above......Yum

A beautiful herb garden just next to my table.

Made it back to the Park successfully and had a very long afternoon nap to recover from pigging out on such a special lunch.  Did I mention the bone dry cabernet merlot rose.....

I talked to Ric & Ann in the evening and decided to change my plans again.  The Barossa will have to wait for another time. They start their trip away to NSW on Monday with an overnight visit to Kurlana Sanctuary, which is in the SA Mallee Country South of Waikerie on the Murray River.  It is owned by the Lifeflow Meditation Group where Ann works and teaches. I am now going to meet them there and on Tuesday travel on to Mildura where they have a Birthday dinner for Ric planned at Stefanos Restaurant, which has an excellent reputation. (some of your may remember that Stefano had a local produce and cooking show on ABC TV some years ago).  When I was in Mildura, last year, it was closed for renovations so I missed out.  Another special meal to look forward to.

Sunday 26 November 2017.

A catch up day in the caravan park today.  Filled the water tanks, dumped the toilet cassette,  talked to a couple of old friends I hope to catch up with in Warnanbool and Melbourne, transferred photos to the computer and updated this blog.

Should be time for a short visit to one new winery this afternoon.  Perhaps Mad Bastard Wines - Wines of Finery for something different.  Trip advisor also recommend Indi of Clare as an excellent Indian Restaurant.  Could be take away this evening, followed by a fasting day as I travel on the the Murray to meet up with Ric and Ann tomorrow.......

Maybe that will be another Chapter.  Who knows......

November 2017 - On the road East again.

Well, as usual the time since my last trip in the Bustracker has just disappeared somewhere again.  Not sure where, but it seems to accelerate each year.....
 
I had been working hard to try & finish all the Spring jobs at Folly Farm to a point where I could escape for a longer journey to the East, this year hoping to be away for Christmas and a good many months, assuming all goes well at home, and that Jean can cope with the dog continuing to slowly die (very slowly mind you) and the stresses associated with her Mum becoming more frail and Dementia steadily taking hold.  Not to mention the horses.

So on a very hot forecast day, Thursday 16 November 2017, I rolled out the gate of Folly Farm around 8am and set off for the Great Eastern Highway via Toodyay and along the Avon River to Northam.  Nice feeling to be starting out and everything was cruising along just nicely.  I stopped off in Kellerberrin for a coffee and to stretch the legs, which were still pretty tender from lots of "whipper snippering" of the late Spring grass and helping out on three Brigade Hazard Reduction burns in the weeks leading up to my escape.  Did I mention that I rolled my ankle as well.  Becoming an old fart all too quickly.

 Succulent Foods in the main street of Kellerberrin has good coffee and a surprisingly good selection of home cooked food for locals and travellers.

Next stop was Merredin for a lunch break and more coffee.  I parked under a large old native fig tree, which turned out to be a mistake, as the cockies raided the fruit and covered my nice clean Landcruiser with bird shit and bits of fig.  Unfortunately at the same time I noticed that my Anderson Plug (charging power) connection from the car to the caravan had dislodged and had been dragging on the road, which had worn half of it away........not impressed, but not critical in the big picture of what goes wrong with caravans.  On the list to get replaced when somewhere that has a caravan repairer or auto electrician.

The day continued with temperatures around 38 deg C.  Not pleasant for stopping long anywhere, so I kept on driving and ended up in Norseman around sunset.  Around 700km for the day, which is a big one for me.  Stopped in a free camp on the edge of town, along with about 15 other vans, but a big space so no crowding needed.  Lots of midges as soon as the sun went down, but managed to keep most of them outside and the breeze cooled down for a decent sleep.

 Lots of room and flat ground in Norseman in the early morning light.

Friday morning I was up early and pressed on to the East.  Again a hot day, so kept on going with stops at Balladonia, Caiguna, Cocklebiddy, Mundrabilla and finally Border Village (East of Eucla) though to around 7pm, by which time it was dark.  Well over 700 km again and I camped in a gravel pit area sheltered from the road and the strong overnight wind.  Very close to the Coast so after another hot day the breeze turned cool during the night.

Wow.  South Australia in two days driving with the caravan.  A new record for me, but not something I would want to do on a regular basis. Next stop was one of the scenic views along the limestone cliffs of the Great Australian Bight.

 Such a magnificent sight, but a strong, hot Northerly wind and plenty of flies kept me on my way.

I stopped at Nullarbor Roadhouse for another surprisingly good coffee.  Sat inside and read my email and enjoyed the coffee with temp reaching 39 deg C outside.  The sign just past the roadhouse captured my attention again as it is so reflective of Australia.

Camels, wombats and kangaroos.  Wot next..... 

 I drove on to Nundroo Roadhouse and refueled.  Much cheaper fuel than Nullarbor but very rundown and toilets not to be visited unless in grave emergency.  Thought about driving to the coast to visit Fowlers Bay, but decided to go on to Penong and stop at the caravan park for a couple of nights to recuperate.  Still very hot so first pleasure was to plug in to mains power and stick the aircon on and recover with a short nap.

Penong is a very pleasant tiny rural town with much history and a very practical and spotless small caravan park for travellers.  Nearby is a fabulous windmill park.

All sorts and sizes, including the largest windmill (head) in Australia, restored by a dedicated small group of locals to promote their town and give people a reason to stop.  Very impressive.

 On a morning walk I discovered quite a collection of wrecked cars at the back edge of Town.  They cover quite a long period of history for by the looks of it.

About 25km away from Penong is Cactus Beach, which is (apparently) a well known classic surfing beach.  Not a lot of swell whilst I was there, but you can see how there would be some good breaks on a decent day.

 

 Nice sheltered camping near the beach and a little further on is Point LeHunte, which is on the other side of the small peninsular and has a boat ramp, swimming enclosure and a jetty.  With local harvest finished, there were plenty of Sunday picnics and fishing trips in progress.

On the road in there are a couple of salt lakes and one side of a causeway is distinctly pink.

Not unlike the pink lake at Port Gregory in Western Australia. 

 Was nice to have a day to wind down a little and do some walking after 3 long driving days.

Monday morning (20 Nov) I took the short drive into Ceduna.  Went through Quarantine on the outskirts of town (had used up all my fresh fruit and veg this time and had two apple cores for their bin).  Refueled at the nearby large BP roadhouse and then went into town. Did a refresh shop at the large modern Foodland store and visited the Post Office to send off a surprise package to Jean.  Will be interesting to see how long it takes from Ceduna to Gidgegannup.  After yet another excellent coffee at the Blue Dolphin Cafe (visited on previous journeys) I headed down the Flinders Highway to Streaky Bay for a couple of days.  

This time I stayed at the very new Islands Caravan Park, located about 4km out of town.  Wonderful ablutions and facilities, owned by a Western Australian Businessman who has (reputedly) invested about $8 million in setting it all up, including a solar system and large desalination plant to provide fresh water from the nearby bay.  Very impressive and reasonably priced at $33 per night for a powered generously sized caravan site with lovely sweet water to top up the Bushtracker tanks.  Only downside is that Telstra mobile signal is a bit variable and not the best for full on internet access.  Another first world problem.

 

 Of course one of my reasons for returning to Streaky Bay is a feed of local King George Whiting from the local pub.  The salad has got smaller, the bread roll disappeared, but the quality of the KGW and good chips still make it a worthwhile stopover, with a cold beer....












Streaky Bay Jetty from the front deck of the pub as the sun goes down.


It is now Tuesday afternoon, with a warm humid wind still blowing.  A Southerly cool change is due tomorrow and should last for 3 or 4 days.  After some discussion with old friends Ann & Ric who live in the Adelaide Hills, I had hoped to visit Hiltiba Station which located to the West of Gawler Ranges National Park and is managed by the Nature Foundation SA.  However, they have just shut down external visitors for the rest of the hot Summer and high Bush Fire risk Season.  Maybe I will do it on the way back home if they have reopened as I pass by.

Anyway, to take advantage of the short cooler weather window, I am planning to visit Gawler Ranges National Park, North of the Eyre Highway from Minnipa and spend 3 or 4 nights off the grid camping out in the bush, which hopefully will be quiet and full of interesting things to see and do.  Next installment when I return to decent mobile coverage and can summon the enthusiasm to write some more......have to admit that Facebook posting of a few photos and brief comment is becoming a more attractive option every day.  Perhaps some of you recalcitrants should take it up just for me........