19 March 2024 – 5 April 2024

Point Lowly, 25km from Whyalla at the Northern end of the Eyre Peninsula holds a special place in our hearts. We visited twice while traveling many years ago so were really looking forward to coming back. It hadn’t changed much, except the playground was bigger, there were bbq’s and even shelters complete with 12v charging points and blue tooth speakers built into the tables. The camp sites are plentiful and have lovely views over the upper Spencer Gulf. You can even see the other side of the gulf and the Yorke Peninsula.

While we were there, the weather was not great with the wind howling every day. Originally we had planned to stay for a week and enjoy the beach and fishing but that was cut a few days short with the weather not playing nice. We tried fishing from the marina and some of the camp spots in the area, but failed miserably. There were not a lot of campers either, with most only staying a night before moving along to their next destination. With all of the facilities available, in better weather, this would definitely be an amazing place to stay. We did take advantage of being within close proximity of Whyalla to do some shopping and other little bits.

The biggest drive since arriving in SA found us 350km from Point Lowly and into the Yorke Peninsula. We chose to visit Port Victoria on the western side of the peninsula with its jetty and talk of plenty of fish and squid. The local progress association allow campers to stay in the scrub surrounding the town oval for $10 a night. The farm next door had a herd of alpacas that we enjoyed watching each day as they basked in the afternoon sun. With Easter rapidly approaching, we decided this would be our home for the next week, till the hoards of Easter holiday makers subside.

This cute little town is very popular with new houses popping up along the ocean front. Properties are selling for almost $700K which goes to show the popularity of the place. It is small with 2 general stores and a pub being pretty much the only things in town to service the surrounding farms. We had high hopes from all of the talk of fish from the jetty so naturally we gave it a go. Success at last! Squid were plentiful one day and then nothing for a few days. It was hit and miss but was better than nothing.

We drove to many of the local beaches with their hard white sands perfect for driving on and turquoise blue waters, perfect for swimming and snorkeling in. We made sure to try a meal and cold beverage or two at the pub and tried to enjoy the ambience of this little town. Easter Saturday provided some fun with a fishing competition being held. Peter, Tony entered the beach fishing section. They caught some Herring and Garfish. Tony entered the largest garfish section and Pete the largest herring section. That evening we all went to the sea rescue building where they held a great night of food, drinks, raffles and of course awarded prizes for the fishing competition. We had such a great night winning several raffle prizes (5 bottles of wine, chocolate bunny, fishing pack and chocolates) and to top it off, the 3^rd biggest Herring! The prize was great, a new fishing rod and reel, squid jig, beanie and a voucher for a trip on a fishing charter. Pete and Tony will take advantage of that in the coming week.

I wasn’t able to enter the competition or fish or do anything much actually because my body decided to throw us a curve ball and develop an infection in my leg. A trip to the ED on Easter Sunday had the doctor thinking it was an abscess so provided some antibiotics and sent me on my way. This was only the start of it though. A couple of days later it was so much worse. The pain was horrific and I couldn’t even dress myself. It was so bad I had to go back to the ED. Opening up the dressing was very distressing with what looked (to me) like half of my thigh protruding through a hole in my leg. The severe infection was evident and needed attention. 4 vials of Lidocane injected into the gaping wound (yes that was way more painful than it even sounds) and a heap of pressure & pushing by the doctor and he was done for now. The medical student got to take photos of this very interesting wound and the nurses all had to have a look too. As it turns out it was a carbuncle, a cluster of boils which all connect together to form an area of infection under the skin. Now what causes these? Well I’m glad you asked…infected hair follicles! Stupid hairy legs with potentially a small nick in the skin got infected and now I have a huge wound likely to scar. It’s one war wound I will not be forgetting about in a hurry. Another trip to the ED to check the wound and it was looking pretty stable, so I was able to dress it myself for a few days without the need to drive the 100km round trip to the hospital. A trip would not be complete if there’s no trip to the hospital now would it? Apologies in advance for those with a squeamish stomach. A picture says a thousand words they say, so I’ve put a very unflattering photo below. I am on the mend, but think there will be a long bumpy road ahead.

Now as we sit in our new campsite, (yes we moved from Port Victoria to Port Julia while this was happening) we will try some more fishing, squidding and will also try raking for crabs. Port Julia sits on the eastern side of the Yorke Peninsula and is traditionally a place for great hauls of crabs. Tony and Pete will go on their fishing charter in the coming days but I’m not sure how much I will be able to do. Lets see what pans out from here.