Sceale bay to Clare

Day 256

After a day relaxing and looking at things that weren’t long straight roads we were ready to jump back into Polly and continue. We head out of Sceale bay and along the same hard gravel road that had brought us in the day before.

First stop of the day is at a group of unusual rock formations known as ‘Murphy’s haystacks’ (or ‘Giant Haystacks’ as I have renamed them in honour of the English wrestler). Formed by uneven weathering of pink granite the formations are at least 100,000 years old and the rock is some 1500 million years old!

Quite unlike anything you have seen before they sit on top of a lonely hill, jutting out and resembling…. well resembling giant rocks! They look pretty striking against the blue sky and remind us a bit of the devils marbles from the Northern territory and we spend a happy hour or so strolling around and through them before continuing on.

Our destination for the day is Coffin bay near the tip of the Eyre peninsular and before too long we have arrived and booked in to the campsite for a couple of nights. Coffin bay is a beautifully picturesque fishing village on a naturally sheltered inlet and after setting up we decide to head out for a stroll along the ‘oyster walk’.

The walk meanders along the foreshore, past holiday homes and numerous jetties (all of which look good for fishing) and we end up at the main jetty where we see brightly coloured jellyfish and schools of bait fish swimming by (definitely good for fishing) and we resolve to get the rods out and return tomorrow to catch us a fish (or two).

Back at the campsite and as darkness falls we find ourselves surrounded by dozens of Skippy’s and we can’t resist throwing them a slice of bread. They are not shy either and come right up to the van to see if we have any more and in the end we have to shut the door to stop them all trying to get into bed with us!

Day 257

Awake to a nice bright, sunny morning and after breakfast we decide that we will try out some of those fishing spots we saw yesterday. So we head to the shop, purchase some squid for bait and head down to one of the wharves where we set ourselves up in the hope of catching dinner.

We are both getting bites straight away and before long I reel in the first catch of the day, a flathead. Needless to say he is too small to keep and so back he goes. Then I am in again and this time it feels a bit bigger, reel it in and this time it’s a salmon. Unhook him and this one is only just undersized, but undersized it is and so back it goes. Carmen’s turn next and another flathead but undersized again. Almost becoming a joke now as soon as I hook up again I can tell that it’s going to be too small and lo and behold another undersized flathead.

After such a fine start to the day the clouds have come over and we decide to call it a day and head back to the van before we get rained on. Happy that we both caught fish but unsurprisingly a bit disappointed that we couldn’t keep any of them we arrive back just in time before a light drizzle sets in for the rest of the afternoon. Sit up in the evening expecting to be inundated with Skippy’s again but not seeing one we think they must be staying indoors out of the rain tonight and decide to settle in ourselves.

Day 258

Pack up and leave a grey Coffin bay and after a brief stop in Port Lincoln for fuel and a visit to the tourist office we head a couple of hours North back up the Eyre Peninsular to Cowell. Reputed to be another great fishing village we set up and after a cleansing ale in the pub decide to brave the now almost gale force winds and head out along the jetty to try our luck fishing again.

It is dangerously windy and we both have to sit down with hoods up for fear of being blown off the jetty and into the sea. Again we are both having bites straight away although it is difficult to tell in the cyclonic winds and I do manage to catch two fish, neither of which are in our fish identification book and are both too small to worry about anyway. After a time and both numb from head to toe we head back to the safety and warmth of the van and after warming up with cups of tea have an early night.

Day 259

Onwards and upwards and after an hour or so of driving we arrive at South Australia’s second largest city, Whyalla. It’s amazing how good an idea you can get of a city by visiting it’s shopping centre (boasting to be the largest regional shopping centre in South Australia!) and lets just say that after a visit to said shopping centre we decide to push straight on without delay!

After stopping in Port Augusta for lunch we continue just down the road to Mount Remarkable National Park and Mambray creek campground. This is our first National Park in South Australia and so we were curious to see how it compared to the rest of the country and I must say we were both pleasantly surprised. The facilities were great with drinking water available, hot showers, flushing toilets (something of a novelty for us!) and free BBQ’s. Plus because the school holidays have only just finished the place was all but deserted.

The highlight of this park are a number of walks along the south end of the Southern Flinders ranges and so, settled in we don our walkers and decide to head off on a short stroll along the ‘Daveys gully hike’.

Carmen remarks that ‘the blog is pretty much writing itself’ as we start along Daveys gully, walking first along a dried up creek bed before ascending the hill and looping back on ourselves where we are afforded great views over both the ranges below and out towards Spencer Gulf.

We return to the van to find a kookaburra perched on a branch looking down at us and no doubt seeing if we have any spare sausages (they are meat eaters).

We don’t and so after a while looking and making his distinctive calls he flies off and we retire for the night.

Day 260

Up early to the gentle pitter patter of rain on Polly’s roof and look out of the window to see the clouds have covered the tops of the ranges and look pretty grey and forbidding. Luckily by the time we have had breakfast the rain has stopped and so we pack our lunch and head off on a days walk to the hidden gorge.

The walk is 18km’s and the information board tells you to allow 7 hours and so without further delay we get going.

The walk starts off easy enough taking you along a valley floor, following the course of a dry riverbed upstream as it winds its way through the hills.

As you progress the valley begins to close in on you and the sides become steeper and rockier and before too long we come across the hidden campsite (not very hidden with a whacking great sign) and we know we must be close.

Then, at about the halfway mark we enter the hidden valley itself.

A beautiful and serene place with steep sides made of fragmented red rock and an almost eerie silence.

We decide here would be a good place to stop for lunch and we sit for a while taking in the view (and resting our tired legs).

After lunch the trail becomes decidedly more difficult as we continue to follow the course of the river upstream, clambering over collapsed sections and walking on the loose, rocky riverbed we are glad when we finally begin to climb out of the valley.

The climb takes us right up to the top of the range where we get spectacular views towards to the coast and over the valley below us and then, to finish the walk we drop back down the other side of the range to the riverbed where we started a mere 6 hours ago!

Back at the van and after a huge steak dinner we both fall into bed and are asleep as soon as our heads touch the pillow.

Day 261

Looking at the map over breakfast we realise that our route today takes us right past the infamous ‘Snowtown’ and we are reminded of our Christmas day movie (the ‘bodies in barrels’ serial killer one) and think it would be a shame if we didn’t stop in for a look.

We pack Polly, head off and after a nice drive along a quiet road through rolling hills we arrive in Snowtown and have to chuckle to ourselves when we see the town information board and it says Population : 300 (approx)!

There isn’t much to the town and the highlight seems to be a giant propeller blade which they proudly display on the main street, although I must admit with thoughts of the film still fresh in our minds we didn’t want to hang about for too long!

We both then remark (when we are at a safe distance) that the film probably didn’t do a lot for Snowtown’s tourism and we probably should have given it a fair go.

Continuing on we arrive in the first of our South Australian wine regions, the Clare valley and decide to stay in Clare itself. Our usual trip to the information reveals that there is a Riesling wine trail through the region consisting of a cycle route along the old railway line and decide that we will jump on the bikes and tackle at least part of the route tomorrow.

As the sun sets so the temperature plummets and we are both glad to get under the warmth of the duvet for a nights sleep.