SOUTH YORKE PENINSULA

27^th March, 2015

We leave Burra and the highway to Adelaide behind and head west through the Clare Valley passing lots of vineyards along the way. Then at the top of the Gulf of St Vincent we turn south and head down the east coast of the Yorke Peninsula. We pull into a caravan park in Port Vincent and check in for a few nights. With Easter fast approaching we need to find somewhere to hunker down for about a week. All the caravan parks on the peninsula are booked out as are the camp sites in the National Park. We find that there are some bush camping areas run by the local council that are on a first come first served basis, so on the Tuesday before Easter we hightail it over to the western side of the peninsula to Burners Beach and snaffle up a vacant campsite. No power or water of course, but the sites were quite large and there were two drop toilets.

Burners Beach campground

With a large sand dune affording some wind protection and the beach adjacent the campground is a great place to weather out the Easter madness. The campground has only a few campers when we arrive on the Tuesday but by Easter Friday space is at a premium with many vehicles driving through trying to find a spot only to drive away disappointed. Of course the main reason everyone comes here is to fish and at any time of the day (and night) you will find people out in boats or casting a line from the shore.

Getting ready to go fishing at Burners Beach

Wok does try his hand at trying to catch a fish while we are camped here and gets a few bites but no luck in catching anything. On Easter Sunday we do some exploring with Jeffery (the Jeep) further down the coast. The bays along this side of Spencer Gulf are quite shallow and at the small fishing hamlet of The Pines the locals have solved the problem of getting their boats out into deeper water by using tractors.

Tractor pull at The Pines

At Corny Point we take a drive out to the lighthouse.

Driving to Corny Point Lighthouse

Yorke Peninsula can be a dangerous place for ships navigating their way along its rugged coastline. There are lots of rocky islands off shore and many ships have come to grief over the years. Lighthouses have been built on some of the headlands and on islands to help ships navigate the hazardous waters.

Wok is feeling a tad cold at Corny Point

Further along the coast at Daly Head we find a plaque embedded in a rock which recognises the significance of the area to the surfing culture of South Australia.

We haven't seen a memorial of this type before. Guess there's a first time for everything and there well may be others out there that we haven't run across yet. A long staircase leads down from the memorial to the water

It's a long way down to the water at Daly Head

and about two kilometres along the beach we can see a group of surfboard riders out in the water. You have to be really keen to surf here as the only way to get to the surf break is by walking. This means you would have to lug your board all that way before finally being able to catch a wave. Definitely not for the faint hearted!

We make our way back to camp and on Easter Monday most of the holiday makers pack up and head back to whence they came. By Tuesday we figure it is okay to leave our little hideaway and get back to the land of the living. We pack up and drive back across the peninsula to the east coast and check into the caravan park at Edithburgh. This small coastal village was once a thriving port and the location of a large salt works for over 100 years. Salt was scraped from salt lakes in the area and processed at the salt works before being shipped all over the world. The jetty closed to commercial use in 1973 and is now only used by people trying to catch that elusive fish or squid. Squid fishing is a popular pastime in this part of the world. We decide to base ourselves here while we explore the south eastern part of the coast and Innes National Park. Dominating the skyline at Edithburgh is a plethora of wind turbines.

Wattle Point Wind Farm

Wattle Point Wind Farm is definitely situated in the right place. There always seems to be some sort of wind blowing across the peninsula and even on the day we visited a light breeze had the blades turning in an impressive display. It is not until you stand beside one of these giant structures can you appreciate how humongous they are. Over 60 metres tall with blades 40 metres in length!

Wattle Point Wind Farm

We go for a drive north of Edithburgh – through the small town of Coobowie (fresh oysters on sale here) – and then to the smaller hamlet of Wool Bay. A couple of kilometres outside of Wool Bay we pass by a massive grain storage facility (wheat and barley) with an equally impressive grain loading terminal and jetty.

Grain Silos

Besides having a plethora of silos, grain is also being stored at ground level under three ring circus size blue tarps. Our main purpose today is to see the Lime Kiln built into the coastal cliff at Wool Bay We stop at the car park overlooking the bay where we can see the top of the lime kiln.

View of Wool Bay near the top of the lime kiln.  The distinct line you can see in the water is where the weed starts to grow in the deeper water.  The water nearer the shore is crystal clear.

Back in the late 1800's and early 1900's there were six kilns here and lime was hauled along the jetty to be loaded onto ships which took the cargo across the gulf to Adelaide. We drive down the access road to the jetty and get a good view of the jetty a lime kiln with the grain loading terminal and silos in the distance.

Driving down to the jetty at Wool Bay

We pull into the jetty car park opposite the sole surviving lime kiln which has had a partial restoration.

Wok (on the left) is dwarfed by the lime kiln

A walk out onto the jetty affords us a good view of the kiln and cliff face. It must have been an impressive sight when all six kilns were in full swing. There are a few people fishing off the jetty with squid being the 'catch of the day'. Obviously squid is the predominant marine life caught around these areas as the black ink stains along the jetties kind of give that away.

Looking at the lime kiln from the jetty - note the squid ink stains on the jetty

On Saturday the weather report is for a calm sunny day so we take the opportunity to explore the southern coast. The shore is rugged with limestone cliffs precariously poised above sheer drops and little sandy beaches with crystal clear water.

Yep!  It's a long way down Wok ...

As we drive along the coastal track we can see Troubridge Hill with its lighthouse framed against the sky.

Troubridge Hill Lighthouse

In the waters off this point in 1909 the ship 'Clan Ranald' was shipwrecked. Forty of the 64 people on board drowned and are buried in Edithburgh Cemetery. It was one of the worst maritime disasters in South Australia and prompted the building of more lighthouses. Today the sea is calm but one wouldn't want to try to get ashore here in stormy seas. Those rocks are razor sharp!

Rocky shoreline at Troubridge Hill

We continue along the coast until we reach the entrance to Innes National Park. The local wildlife slows us down somewhat.

Jaywalking emu!

There is an information centre at the entrance but it is closed and looks like it has been closed for quite some time. In the forecourt a heavily fortified computer allows us to purchase an entry permit. It appears that many National Parks are going over to an on-line booking system for their camping and entry fees. This works OK for people who know what dates they want to visit the parks but doesn't work for 'on the spur of the moment' visitors like us who still require someone to be at the 'toll booth'. Oh well! We were in and had done the right thing and purchased an entry permit. Our first stop is at Stenhouse Bay where a substantial jetty is still standing.

Stenhouse Bay Jetty

In the early 1900's gypsum was hauled to the jetty from mining operations further inland and loaded onto ships. We drive further into the National Park towards Cable Bay.

Cable Bay Lookout

A track off the main road takes us to Cape Spencer and we walk to the lighthouse.

Cape Spencer Lighthouse
The island you can see is Althorpe Island - In the haze is Kangaroo Island

Although hazy, in the far distance across the water we can see the coastline of Kangaroo Island. We've picked a perfect day to visit the National Park. It's sunny with just a light breeze. So we find a nice bench to sit on and eat our picnic lunch. The view isn't half bad either.

View from our picnic bench near the lighthouse

Back on track we stop at the historic township of Inneston.

Some restoration work has been undertaken on the buildings but the majority are in ruin.

Inneston ruins

We wander around the buildings and down near the lake where the gypsum was mined. We just couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a photo (for our son Trent) of the cricket ground which hopefully would have been in much better condition when matches were being played.

Pitch seemed in reasonable condition but the outfield could do with some TLC.

We continued our drive through the National Park checking out the campgrounds along the way. There are seven campgrounds in the park and we were surprised to see that for the most part they were virtually empty. With school holidays underway we are scratching our heads as to why these campgrounds are not being utilised. It's a shame but we think the on line booking system has a lot to do with that. One of our last stops for the day is at Ethel Beach. The beach gets its name from the three masted iron barque 'Ethel' which was wrecked in a storm in 1904 and sixteen years later the iron screw steamship 'Ferret' also came to grief.

Remains of the 'Ethel' lie in the sand. 
The black shape in the water isn't a shark - it is part of the wreck of the 'Ferret'

It's late afternoon and we have a long drive back to camp. We take one last walk along the beach before making our way back to Jeffery.

Ethel Beach

We've had a great day exploring the rugged coastline of South Yorke Peninsula and are looking forward to putting our feet up and taking it easy.  Ahhh!  Life is tough for us retirees ...