Farewell to South Australia

If we arrive home looking utterly round and fat, with rather hard backs, it will be because we have turned into what we’ve been eating . . . oysters!

Our seafood lunch in Ceduna, on a wet and miserable day, started with a dozen oysters each; and they were large and luscious. We then had a great drive south along the west coast of the Eyre

A group of the Elliston clifftop sculptures.

Peninsula, calling at lots of beaches and small towns, and when we drove into Coffin Bay, once again we bought some oysters for an hors d’oeuvre that night. Before we left next morning, we bought two dozen more to have for lunch.

On we went to Port Lincoln, and then north along the east coast of that peninsula a far as Cowell, an historic town with lots of old buildings, and a foreshore caravan park, as well as a fish place near the jetty selling King George whiting, among other fish, which we had for dinner. Before we left, we  stocked up again with oysters for another delicious lunch as we travelled north to Port Augusta.

Apart from the oysters, there have been other marvels in these past few days. The wheat fields are looking fabulous; the canola is in full glorious yellow flowering; and there are some wonderful little

Just some of Murphy's Haystacks.

towns such as Tumby Bay (we’re definitely going back there), Elliston, Port Neill, Coffin Bay, and of course Cowell.

At Elliston, there is a great scenic clifftop drive which features sculptures on headlands. We pulled up on one to have lunch, and wonder of wonders, there was a whale cavorting in the sea below us.

The wheat silos mark the landscape, and judging by the wheat fields stretching to the horizons in all directions, they’ll be filling well by the end of the season.

There are some really strange rock formations known as Murphy’s Haystacks south of Streaky Bay. They are on private land but one is able to walk around them. Some enterprising apiarist has placed tubs of Haystacks Honey in a box at the entrance, so of course, we bought some.

Another of the Elliston clifftop sculptures.

Whyalla and Port Augusta are industrial towns, and apart from re-fuelling, the only stop we made in Port Augusta was to visit the School of the Air there, where my late sister had taught home economics for 10 years before her death in 2002. I was hoping to be able to buy a library book for the far-flung students, with a dedication to her (as I had done at the Longreach School of the Air in 2007) but the receptionist told me all their library books come from a central source in Adelaide.

She then led me down a corridor with photos of students and teachers over many years, and there was my sister Wendy in 1999, so I was very pleased.

On then to Spear Creek Station, just 25km south of Port Augusta, nestled into the base of the Flinders Range. It’s a 7000ha sheep station and its little caravan park is nestled into a glade full of wonderful old red gum trees. That night the rain started so it was a wet old exit the next morning, along a dirt road, and then we travelled over the Horrocks Pass to Wilmington, and headed south

Part of Spear Creek Station's campground.

through a series of nice little towns.

In Clare we stopped for a coffee, and having chosen a coffee shop at random, were delighted and surprised when some new Tasmanian friends we’d last seen at New Norcia came in the door. They’d been wandering in a different direction from us since then and were gradually making their way to Adelaide where Grant was to play masters’ hockey. They were staying the night in Clare but we pressed on to Adelaide to stay with my nephew Michael at Glenelg, where he is a policeman.

It’s an old suburb, full of superb stone houses, large and small, and leafy streets. He wasn’t sure we would be able to enter his back garden through a gate from a back lane (the former night-cart man’s access) but we managed it, and have had a great time with him. While he is at work, we wander the old streets of Glenelg, also checking out newer apartment blocks on the beach and marinas, with attendant rows of restaurants, as well as a glorious chocolate shop on the main street, where the famous Glenelg tram from the city runs regularly.

From Adelaide, we’ll head east again into western NSW, aiming to reach Canberra, and John’s brother and sister-in-law, by September 27, which coincidentally, is J’s birthday.