Port Lincoln and visitors!

We were ready to leave Whyalla when the time came around and were packed up and out the door pretty early for the 3.5 hour or so drive further down the Eyre Peninsula to Fishery Bay.

The drive from Whyalla to Port Lincoln was (I’m sorry to say) reasonably boring, but probably a sign of things to come. Lots of nothing, mixed in with salt bush and blue bush. Flat as a pancake, with the odd massive grain farm thrown in for good measure.

We did spice it up a bit by blowing a tyre along the way. Well, sort of blown, the entire outer rim of one of the trailer tyres came off, and I managed to pull over before it blew to bits. Annoyingly it was a tyre we’d only recently bought in Shepperton, and of course the trailer tyres do far less mileage than the car so it really didn’t last very long.

We changed it on the side of the road and then stopped in at a couple of towns on the way to see if we could get another one fitted, with success in the second town called Tumby Bay. We had lunch there on the waterfront and the water looked spectacular. There were a couple of guys diving not too far out looking at the Sea Dragons. They’re a bit like a fancier version of a sea horse.

Our booking was for an Eyre Peninsula Council spot called Fishery Bay. It’s about 30 minutes south of Port Lincoln, half of it on a dirt road. Given our delays with the tyre we headed straight for it so we could get set up.

For $10/night we had a large private site with shelter on three sides. It was tricky to back the trailer in to what was a pretty tight turn into the spot, and then I hurt my shoulder doing the last little bit of the moving by hand, but we got it into the position we wanted eventually and set everything up. Just some drop toilets and bins in the campground (bins are always welcome), but a short walk to a quite spectacular little beach with crystal clear water, and despite being school holidays there was barely anyone around.

In the last few days of our Whyalla trip, Mum and Dad had hatched a plan to come to Port Lincoln to meet up with us. I managed to convince them to fly into there rather than drive from Adelaide (refer to the above boring drive) which they did, and booked into an Air B’n’B. We hadn’t told the kids they were coming so turned up at this random house the following morning where I told the kids to knock on the door. To their credit they did, and just walked straight into this stranger’s house, where they found granny and grandpa.

They shouted us a fish and chip lunch which was very tasty and we spent a bit of time looking around Port Lincoln, the waterfront and the town from a lookout. We asked the kids if they wanted to stay in the house, which surprise, surprise they did – there was a 60-inch TV after all (not to mention electricity and running water…).

So Jim and I went back to camp and had our first kid-free night for seven months, which was very strange (and quiet).

For all its perks, Fishery Bay had absolutely no internet or phone coverage. Which of course I hadn’t planned for, for my busy week of work. That creates a fair bit of stress, but I did manage to get some stuff done at Mum and Dad’s place, using their internet and power.

On one day of our stay we popped over to Coffin Bay, famous for its oysters. The bay itself is spectacular, and perhaps one day when we are dog-free we’ll come back and spend some time in the national park. We wandered around the town, had a picnic lunch then found some oysters to try (they were delicious, but I still think the first ones we had in Tasmania were the best).

On another day we drove up to the town of Cummins. We really only stopped there to use the facilities but the kids got to playing on the playground, then just as we were about to leave we heard “Hi Hamish” and there appear two girls that had been playing with the kids in the campground in Whyalla. So I stayed with them so they could have a play, while the others explored the town.

In their explorations, they found a kid’s activity on in the local hall (related to the Salt Festival). It was a mat on the floor that the kids could draw on with torches. The whole room was in darkness so they could see their drawings. It was pretty cool actually, and after we left the other kids we spent ages there while the lady running it chewed Jim’s ear off.

After that we found ourselves back at Tumby Bay, having a picnic lunch on exactly the same picnic table we’d been at days before. The wind wasn’t as favourable second-time around, although Hamish did go for a swim (a pretty quick one though!).

Finally the weather came good too and we had…wait for it…FOUR fine days in a row. Equalling the previous record. On one of those days we went to the Hotel Boston, a pub on the waterfront with an impressive beer garden and really nice food. We walked it off by checking out the marina area, which is clearly where the wealthy live (and there are a lot of them – Port Lincoln has more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in Australia).

On our last full day there we spent some time on our beach fishing. No luck of course (all week we’d only caught one keeper – a delicious flathead). But the kids had fun on their boards and it was nice to be in the sun.

Finally it was time to pack up though. We managed to do a lot of packing up the night before simply by not having the kids there, and planning to have breakfast at Mum and Dad’s the next day – so we could pack up their beds a night early, and pack up the whole kitchen as well. It made for a quick departure back up to Mum and Dad’s to collect the kids, say goodbye to them and move on.

We really enjoyed our time in Port Lincoln. The kids especially enjoyed the endless supply of TV and treats – Coco Pops, ice cream, hot chocolate and whatever else came their way!

But all good things must come to an end, and now, given how far south we are, the only way is north!