Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Week 3 - Gawler Ranges & Streaky Bay - still in SA

 

It turned out we got away from Port Augusta just in the nick of time - it started raining as we left and just kept on and off for the first few hours. We took a westward heading on Easter Saturday, for the Gawler Ranges NP at the top of the Eyre Peninsula. This NP had been mentioned to Andy ages ago by a bowls (or maybe work) friend so we put it on our list. Our itinerary had us passing by so we figured we'd give it a look. So we did.

First break stop was at Kimba to check out the Big Galah. We were also hopeful of a bakery lunch but Kimba was all shut down for the long weekend. Despite being closed when we blew through it looked like a neat little town, and a natural stop across the Eyre.

It was still raining on and off and super gusty with the Patrol getting blown around by road trains as well as cross winds. Big dust clouds blowing off the bare paddocks reduced the visibility in parts making for some yucky driving conditions.

Kimba's big galah is one of Australia's official big things. An 8m tall galah - fitting as lots of them wheeling and squawking in the air. 

With nothing doing in Kimba we pushed on for Wudinna, another service town at the top of the Eyre Peninsula. It had a great feel, but unfortunately we pulled in at 11:59am and the IGA closed at 12:00...and the rest of the town was closed for the long weekend. The pub would be opening at 3pm but we still had  60km of unknown access road into the NP - both our phones were saying it was going to take 2hrs for the 60km so we were pretty keen to get that done...how bad could the road be? The NP website said that the roads become impassable after rain, and it had been raining, we just didn't know if, and how wet it would be. It was still raining in Wudinna.....



 Wudinna's free jumping pillow - which the kids just adored despite being wet and slippery. James and Jemma have adjusted to this travel life very well - we try very hard not to have too many big driving days, and to limit the time in the car but it's not always possible with the vast distances we need to cover. They don't mind 'driving days' when its rainy and cold but always love getting out for a leg stretch, or a jump.

Waganny campground in Gawler Ranges NP was surprisingly lovely. 11 spacious, spread out, shady spots. When we got there only 3 other spots were occupied. This is a pretty out of the way NP. We still had a few showers the first afternoon and evening, but it was lifting. And the road? The first section through farmland from Wudinna was pretty good (for a gravel road) and got a bit rough in patches with some corrugated sections and a little bit of bull dust. The roads inside the national park were variable but nothing too crazy. And it certainly didn't take 2 hours to cover the 60km.

Walking in the Gawler Ranges - the Waganny Rock walk. A short and easy walk to a large ancient granite outcrop. A sign up at the park entrance warned of animal carcasses in the park due to the dry condition and the nature of the boom-or-bust ecology - we saw our first one on this walk. 

 Playing in the dirt. Jemma thrives in the dirt. Still building fairy gardens wherever we go.

 Playing in the trees. The trees at the campground were amazing with many kid-accessible almost-horizontal branches for climbing, swinging and just hanging about on. Our campsite neighbours had 3 kiddos in a caravan and Jemma spent hours and hours in the trees with them playing the most incredible, detailed imaginary games. She stopped occasionally for a drink but she didn't stop for lunch - far too busy.
 Best trees for climbing and playing in. The kids slept like logs after hours of climbing and running and playing. The campground was so quiet at night - it was blissful.



 The Easter bunny found them - this had been a pretty big concern of Jemma's in the lead up to departing home and Easter. I promised the kids that I would buy some Easter eggs just in case, as we really weren't sure how it was going to play out. Turns out we were worried about nothing and the kids happily ate chocolate for breakfast!



 The Organ Pipes - Gawler Ranges. 1500 million year old exposed volcanic rock. This is what Gawler Ranges NP is famous for. Ancient exposed granites from volcanic activity.

 
 We took a drive around the national park to visit some of the points of interest. Couldn't pass up a selfie with this sign - I know it isn't the exact same spelling, but we'll take it. Old Paney station was another failed sheep station from the 1800s. Like a lot of the attempts to farm SA lands in this period the invaders initially visited and saw it in 'BOOM' years , and assumed  (incorrectly) that it was always like this and would support European farm practices. It didn't take too long before the reality was clear and farms like this were destocked and eventually abandoned. 

We departed Gawler Ranges a day earlier than planned, deciding to spend the extra night at Streaky Bay ( they were able to accommodate us). We exchanged contact details with our new caravan friends (Eliza, Damian, Oscar, Xavier & Indie) so if the opportunity arose we could hang out and let the kids play again.


 Venus Bay foreshore - a small fishing and holiday town on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula before heading to Streaky Bay



 Sunset at Streaky Bay. We stayed at Islands caravan park,  about 15km out of Streaky Bay. This would be our first caravan park stop. It had all the things - washing machines, playground, hot showers and beach access.

 Streaky bay was tops. Our friendly park host supplied us with a map of all the things to do in and around streaky bay - including 3 scenic drives.We did all three but will definitely be back to spend more time at some of the best spots.

 Halley's Beach on the Cape Bauer loop drive

 The Granites Rockpool on the Westall Loop drive



 The Granites Rockpool

 5m female great white shark replica caught at Streaky Bay in the 1990s

Big shark

 Sand dunes on the Westall Loop drive.

 Sea based lunch - Streaky Bay

 More sea based lunch - Streaky Bay

 Sand dune on Westall loop road

 We absolutely loved Streaky Bay and have put this part of the Eyre on our list to explore more in future trips. The town has everything you need and despite being very busy with visitors there seems to be enough space, and enough to do, to not feel cramped. We were very pleased we had the extra night and day to explore. We also got to see our Gawler Ranges friends in a park as they were having their car serviced in town. The kids were delighted to see one another again. They have remembered and relearned that friendships on the road can be fleeting and fast and to play when they can.

 HOT MESS - this is what living out of our car looks like. I used to spend a lot of head space freaking out about the state of the car with all the double and triple handling that goes on. I am actually feeling better about this. The kids and Andy really don't care about what looks like chaos to me, and I would/could go mad trying to keep on top of it.

 Penong windmill museum. We left Streaky Bay on ANZAC Day - we discussed heading into town for the dawn service at 6:45 but the forecast and radar were urging us otherwise once more. I knew if we went we would just be worrying about our gear and packing wet gear in the rain, so we opted to stay and pack up. It started raining just as we finished packing up.
 Quick play at Smoky Bay where we also had a few minutes reflection at the ANZAC memorial.

From Streaky Bay we were set to head west and begin the Nullarbor crossing. We tried to prime the kids about the enormity of the drive, and Australia in general, and that it would take 4 driving days to get to Esperance (1510kms)...it's hard to really appreciate the bigness until you see it for yourself. We had rain and not-rain for most of the day and WIND.
Due to the wind and rain Andy booked us into the Nullarbor Roadhouse motel for the night. This turned out to be a great save. It was a horrible night on the Nullarbor for sure.

 Head of the Bight - stunning views east and west and a bit of whingeing from Jemma about having to get out of the car for 'all the lookouts'! Are we going to stop at every single one? Luckily for her there aren't that many spots where you can access the cliff tops, so there were just 3 ( I think).



 The old Nullarbor Roadhouse - a site for weary drivers



 Nullarbor Roadhouse - milo cups for dessert - in bed! We dined in the roadhouse as cooking for ourselves would have required getting all our gear out of, or off, the car, setting up and doing the cooking in the crazy wind and rain. 
The wind howled, the rain poured down and the road trains roared past all night. We were snug and safe in our little motel room, ready to face day 2 of the Nullarbor.

Next stop WA...



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