Fitzgerald Bay

22nd to 24th November, 2011

 We left Port Gibbon in search of the elusive sealion. We eventually found a huge Grandpa one after trekking up, over and around mammoth sand dunes - a treat for us all! Happy in that we set off, through the heritage town of Cowell and made our way to Lucky Bay. We checked this out as a possible campspot, but decided to keep going to Whyalla. After checking out the township of Whyalla and having some lunch on the foreshore, we headed out to Fitzgerald Bay Bush Camp. We were greeted very warmly by friendly fellow campers and were impressed once again by the quality of SA's free camps. The bay was so so flat and at lowtide you had to walk 1500m to get to water that shallow it would only cover your toes. It was really hot here so we needed the water to cool down, a huge contrast to just having been in Port Lincoln!!  The best fishing here was the blue swimmer crabs and the razorfish. The blue swimmer crabs were so abundant all you needed was a bucket, a pair of tongs and a keen eye and you had dinner sorted. The razorfish are a type of shellfish, with a massive shell, that once you get to the part you can eat its a lot like scallop. The scenery around here was stunning with two peninsulas almost landlocked, it was pretty special! 

 

Port Gibbon, SA

21st November, 2010

A big day of sightseeing as we headed up the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula. We stopped in at Tumby Bay where the kids enjoyed a play in the park and we enjoyed the views of this quiet, historic old wheat port. We pulled in at the shanty town of Arno Bay, population of 250, to look for sealions. No luck, so we drove onto Port Gibbon to find a great overnighter.  Flat campsites with a flushing toilet (luxury), a bush shower (a corrugated iron changeroom, with a hook to hang your thermal shower bag -  another luxury), water from a tap and a site that we could leave the trailer hooked on. We set up and went for walk along the beach, finding lots of seagrass, a few pufferfish on the shore and loads of old sea urchins. The bay of Port Gibbon was surrounded by rugged orange cliffs that had been undercut after years of having been ravaged by the elements - pretty spectacular!

 

Grandpa sealion we stumbled across, it was huge!

James and Darcy taking over where the sealion left off

Need to get to the top so we can run back down - too much energy!

And again and again

The red cliffs of Port Gibbon

The undercut was a big scary

More sandhills, a bit smaller this time ...

But the same idea !

Pluto the donation dog at the free camp at Port Gibbon.

Great idea for an old jetty

Port Gibbon from afar

Never trust a snake with a small head.

Bearded dragon - stunning colour

Port Lincoln National Park

September Beach

16th to 20th November 2010

We left Coffin Bay and headed into the township of Port Lincoln, stocked up on groceries and water and made our way out to the National Park. We checked out camps at Surfleet Cove and Fisherman's Beach before settling on the spacious campsites and beautiful bay, that is September Beach. We spent our days here either in the lazy seaside port of Lincoln itself or enjoying the many spots that the national park had to offer. Lots of fishing, surfing, wildlife, swimming, rockpool exploring and bushwalking opportunites. You can tell by the pics that not alot of swimming went on when we had to resort to thermals at night!!

The last of the kids school work for the year - YIPPEE!

Beautiful September Beach

Port Lincoln

Tuna fishing boats

Makybe Diva and Amber Rose

Gotta love soft serve

Those 50c Macca's cones go long way

We thought we had lots of kids

Our camp

Eamon and Darcy trying to spot sea lions

Donnington Loop Walk

Engine Point Beach

Port Lincoln Lighthouse

The boys making "dinner"

The boys were right, there were sealions down there

The lichen on the rocks looked like cheezel stain - weird!

September Beach