Leaving Jeparit we crossed the border and headed for Murray Bridge. The farmers in the Bordertown area were having an excellent season and there's a good vibe when you're driving alongside a good wheat crop. Murray bridge was our first stop in South Australia. We had a lovely site overlooking the mighty Murray and it looked healthy as it made it's way to the sea.
Crossing the Murray River at Murray Bridge
The following morning on route to Adelaide we visited one of the culinary capitals of Australia, Handorf. A German settlement in the Adelaide hills it is the home of Beerenberg products as well as lots of great cafe's and eating places. The bakery, well, we covered lunch, afternoon tea and dinner there in a few minutes. This is one place we could have stayed a while, but there were a few portly locals walking about and the trip budget would have been smashed with Jordy and Kurt spending a few days there.
At Otto's Bakery Hahndorf.
We drove through Adelaide only stopping for fuel and bare necessities before making our way to Port Germain 220km north of Adelaide. The kids loved crabbing on the 1.5km long jetty. There were plenty of crabs and they were mostly size, but a lot smaller than WA's legal size. We kept six and they were enjoyed by all - a late night supper.
Crabbing at Port Germain on the 1.4km Jetty
A keeper, guess what happens next?
Boat launching Port Germain Style
For Sale, the old Port Hotel in Port Germain, Fully renovated $495,000
Jim did not want to buy it but somebody else was very interested.....
The next day we headed for Arno Bay. On the way we stopped at Whyalla which wins the award as the most frustrating town in Australia. The reason for this is, no bloody street signs, well maybe one in four streets have signs. Don't know what they are thinking. After all it's not Chapel Street or Hollywood Boulevard it's bloody Whyalla!
When we arrived at Arno Bay it was 40 degrees but a pretty spot, a cool change soon arrived which was welcomed. We jumped off the jetty and had barbequed free snapper wings for dinner, can't argue with that!
Kurt at Arno Bay
Will in free fall!
Port Lincoln
Unfortunately our visit to Port Lincoln was wind effected to
the point that we couldn’t really get out and about too much due to the wind.
We did have a bit of a touristy drive around the fishing fleet which is very
impressive as well as buy some prawns and local fish which was very nice. Port
Lincoln is similar to Albany in many ways but a lot drier. It is relatively
isolated (600KM from Adelaide) but a pretty place none the less. There are
obviously some very wealthy people in the town and a nice place for a few days
in better weather.
With Makybe Diva in Port Lincoln
Coffin Bay
45 km from Port Lincoln lies Coffin Bay, a beautiful little
spot that is home to lots of tourists, Oysters and retired farmers. We caught
up with John Scheepers who used to work at St Joes and Brian and June St Jack
from Albany who we last saw in Broome. We
sampled some oysters which when natural taste like salty things, when
adding worchestire sauce, taste like that but they were nice. As much as we
tried we could not get the kids to eat a raw one; although Kurt did sample a couple cooked on the weber. The west coast of the Eyre
Peninsula is quite spectacular with it’s rugged coastline and beautiful bays. I
would not like to be a farmer here as it browns off very quickly in the
limestone country and there were some very average crops around.
Fishing in Coffin Bay, lots of little ones.
Lunch Coffin Bay style, half a dozen oysters and a Coopers.
With Brian and June St Jack and John Scheepers in Coffin Bay
Coffin Bay Oysters Beds
Streaky Bay
What a beautiful place! We scored a camp right on the water
but man was it hot! 39 degrees on Wednesday kept us on our toes. Once again an
easy day or two, said farewell to the St Jacks and went for a stunning coastal
drive. Only a small town, but a thriving one with lovely shops it would be a
great place to visit with a boat. A world record 5m 1500kg white pointer is on
display at the service station, it is Big and a very good reminder of what is
actually out there somewhere, sometimes.....
Our site in Streaky Bay
Chrissy's sunrise shot of Streaky Bay jetty, from campsite
Will checking out the big White Pointer
