Sunday, December 10, 2017

DAY 155 – CWA CARAVAN PARK AT TUMBY BAY



We have spoken to quite a few people on our travels who have told us not to miss Tumby Bay…. Just under 50kms up the highway from Port Lincoln, so as we have a bit of time to kill this week before Ian and Kathy head off back to Queensland, we have planned a few 2 day stops up along the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula. Tumby Bay being our first stop.
Wild flowers from my sweetheart this morning from his walk...
 Once again Wiki Camps has come in handy locating a suitable van park.  Steve had seen  that the CWA Caravan Park in Tumby Bar was right on the esplanade and also it was only $25 a night, so thought he would ring and see if we could book in….

Apparently they still had two spots available (we found out once we arrived that the Caravan Park only has four caravan sites – very small, but we loved it….
 
Came across this on the highway this morning...
Lots of wheat in this area of Australia
It was indeed right on the beach, and each caravan site had it’s own ensuite, even if they were a little old… I mean what do you expect for $25 a night….

The view from our caravan
Jetty at Tumby Bay
The park was also right in town, just around the corner from the few shops and post office. 


We arrived before lunch and set up, had a cuppa and then we took off for a drive to explore Tumby Bay.  We mainly drove around town and out to Tumby Bay Look and the Point out at Ski Beach. 

We found the boat ramp first and Steve was pretty impressed with the sand banks around there and was keen to come back at a later time to do some fishing there.  I wasn’t as keen to come back as the blow flies were terrible… Just goes to show that a passionate fisherman can put up with anything if he thinks he has found a good fishing spot. 
  
The Lookout at Tumby Bay
Steve climbing up to the Lookout.
Then it was around the corner where we found the lookout.  The Lookout was actually a tower that needed to be climbed to give you a good view back at Tumby Bay and then then the beaches to the south.   
Ski Beach Tumby Bay
Large amounts of sea grass wash up onto the beaches over here...





 It was then out to the Point at Ski Beach to check out the beach there and we came across a couple of fishermen fishing along this beach.  Another spot Steve was keen to try out.

Then it was back into town where we discovered a Mangrove Boardwalk, so we hopped out of the car and did the walk out to the observation tower.  Unfortunately the weather was pretty poor, overcast and very windy, so we didn’t actually see too much wildlife today,  no birds about other than a few seagulls, and no fish and crabs in the water, or if they were there, there were too many ripples on the water to get a good look.
A visit to the Art Gallery in Tow


We headed back towards the van and stopped at the local fish and chip shop where we bought some chips for lunch.  Back to the van to eat them.  Ian and Kathy had obviously gone out, so after we had a bit to eat, we took off to do some more exploring of the area around Tumby Bay. 

This afternoon we did a couple of the tourist drives.  Most of the tourist drive roads are gravel, but in pretty good condition,  easily able to do 80kms an hour on.   We headed out to Cape Bauer,  quite a few of the churches have camp sites along the beaches out this way, with one even have accommodation for caravans. 
The camp sites and beaches along Massena Bay were really lovely, although they all do have quite a bit of washed up sea grass on them. 

The Uniting Church Campsite even had a lovely outdoor chapel set up right on the beach… 
From here we headed down to Wiseman’s Beach at Peake Bay but really didn’t get a good look at this beach as most of the area was closed off due to private properties.  
Outdoor church at the Uniting Church Campsite
Moonlight Bay
Our last stop along the coast was a trip down White River Road and we turned off go and check out the beach at Moonlight Bay.  There are so many lovely secluded beaches along this stretch of the coastline.  I think the thing I love most about it all is that they are mostly uninhabited and you have these vast stretches of beautiful coastline all to yourself…. 

There was lots of farming areas around here, mostly wheat farms and sheep farms, and  it amazed us that the wheat was almost growing right up to the beach.  It appears that the salt area doesn’t seem to affect it.    
 We did stop along the road to check out the wheat and even picked a couple of pieces of it.   It is a very dried out grain, not green at all like other produce, but there are acres and acres and acres of it down in this part of South Australia….
 
Sea Views

From the beaches we headed inland along another scenic drive – all gravel roads again and headed up to Koppio, where there is a National Trust Museum.  The drive up here was absolutely beautiful providing some stunning views looking back out to sea.  It was a gradual drive uphill and we found the Museum, but unfortunately it was closed for the day and didn’t reopen until Tuesday, which means we will miss being able to visit it.  It looked a really good museum too, and I was a little disappointed that we would miss it.  


From here, we headed through so picturesque countryside to Yallundra Flats before connecting up with the bitumen again.   Then it was back into Tumby Bay and home to the van…. This really is a very pretty little spot on the coast…

Steve was keen to do some fishing tomorrow, so he set up his lines ready to hit the beaches first thing in the morning….

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