19 February – 4 March 2023

After leaving Elliston, we made our way further south along the Eyre Peninsula. Our next stop for the night was at the historic townsite of Mount Dutton Bay. Back in the late 1800’s the area was largely pastoral with sheep farming the main agricultural pursuit. A shed was built along with the jetty to aid in the export and import of fleece along with tea, tobacco and flour amongst other items. The camp site sits alongside the old shearers quarters which is now a museum and accommodation. The little jetty was not great for fishing, but did provide a good habitat for mussels and crabs. Pete definitely got a good load of mussels and the most enormous crab we have ever seen. They all ended up in our seafood linguine dinner.

The next morning we continued along to the city of Port Lincoln. We were lucky enough to find a campsite at the back of a caravan repair shop. They allow campers to stay for the princely sum of $5 a night. How could we resist a few days here. Port Lincoln, famous for tuna fishing / farming and 3 time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva which has a bronze statue erected in her honor. The city is built on a steep hill around a very busy port. 2 cruise ships docked in the 3 days we were there. It seams that no matter where you go, there are brilliant views everywhere. We used our few days here to stock up on supplies, wash and of course fish. There are multiple jetties to fish from and we certainly tried a most of them. Apart from some herring, there wasn’t much (edible) fish to be caught.We celebrated Pete’s birthday (belatedly) with a trip to one of the many the hotels for dinner and a few drinks. There’s always a food special on at all of the pubs, so we went out for $15 schnitzel night & $7.50 pints. Once again, how could we say no!

Next it was off to the Lincoln National Park, 30 minutes away for 2 nights. Our site at Surfleet Cove overlooked the water which was nice to be able to see from the van. The bush bees were very friendly so I thought a bowl of water placed at the back of the van would help. Unfortunately, it only ended up attracting what seemed like all of the bees in the park. Lets just say the container was promptly moved elsewhere. The weather turned a bit cooler but we tried to make the most of it. We tried some fishing but were not overly successful. We drove to other areas of the park to look around and saw some beautiful views.

Next we rounded the bottom of the tip of the Eyre Peninsula and headed north. We visited the coastal camp of Lipson Cove. This stretch of coast is both rugged and stunning. It is where the high, rolling hills and red cliffs meet the aqua waters of the Spencer Gulf. The campground has 12 good sized sites with the added bonus of a couple of toilets and rubbish bins. Most of the sites (including ours) have the most spectacular uninterrupted views over the waters of the bay. The1km stretch of white beach is protected on 2 sided by the the land and on a third side by Lipson Island. The great thing about Lipson Island is that it is able to be walked to at low tide (or swam to at high tide). Many species of birds and other aquatic animals live on or near the island including gulls, terns, cormorants, sea eagles, dolphins and even the odd penguin. We took advantage of the low tides to walk over and do some fishing most mornings. We were very successful and caught plenty of garfish each day. The waters were warm, crystal clear and great for swimming and snorkeling in. It was so nice to be able to sit on the beach and relax in the balmy sunshine. While here, I celebrated my birthday with Pete making a surprise cake and cooking my favourite salt and pepper squid for dinner.

Next we continue our travels further north along the peninsula and deeper into South Australia. We will be meeting up with some old friends in the coming days which we are very much looking forward to but there are no bookings ahead of us, so lets see where the winds take us.