Saturday 15 May 2021

My Sunday Selections

Smoky Bay

Continuing the theme of country towns while travelling from South Australia to Western Australia in 2017.

This meme is now continued by Elephant's Child and I occasionally join in as do a few others. Andrew is one. Drop in to Elephant's Child and have a look.   

Smoky Bay, population of about 200, is a popular seaside town on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula and is known for its oysters and fishing.  It has a jetty and boat ramp.







The beach has a lot of seaweed







Interesting rock formations in Smoky Bay


Our next town was Ceduna, a town of about 3,500 people.  We stopped here to replenish a few supplies at the supermarket as Ceduna is larger than many of the small towns and has more shops.

The Ceduna foreshore area


 
The Ceduna Hotel

 
We left Ceduna and headed off to Penong to visit the outdoor Windmill Museum..

There are about 20 windmills which have been donated by local farmers and includes Australia's largest windmill. 













After spending some time at the windmills we hit the road again and found a good  overnight stay at the Cohen rest area.  The rest area is located on the site of the old school and there are still some remains of the buildings.  It was a great spot to stay for the night.



Scenery along the way


Cohen rest area


Relaxing outside





Ron inspecting the ruins


A good overnight stay


After our stay at the old school site we headed off again towards the Head of the Bight at Nullarbor.



The roadside scenery




The Head of the Bight Whale Centre is about 12km from Nullarbor.





Near the Whale Centre is a free camping area but we decided not to stay there as it was still early afternoon




Unfortunately there were no whales visiting at this time of the year so we had a quick look around and enjoyed a cup of coffee at the Visitor Centre.  In 2009 we were lucky to see a lot of whales when at the Whale Centre.

Below are photos of whales I took on our trip in 2009.




Watching the whales with friends






Always something different to look at or buy at the Visitor Centre

A nice modern setting leading out to the boardwalk








At Nullarbor we got fuel, there is also a Motel for overnight stays.


Below is the Menu (ha ha), in the old buildings which have now been replaced by a new Roadhouse and Service Station.


We usually fill our fuel tanks whenever we can as sometimes the Service Stations run out of fuel because of transport problems so it is best to keep the tanks full if possible




Nullarbor means treeless, and for many kms it is but there 
are quite a lot of small bushes and small trees along the road.  Many people think the Nullarbor is a boring drive but we have done it 4 times and enjoy it every time, as there is always something interesting to see you just have to look for it.




Saturday 8 May 2021

My Sunday Selections

I am continuing with my theme of country towns as we travel through South Australia towards Western Australia in 2017.



This meme is now continued by Elephant's Child and I occasionally join in as do a few others. Andrew is one. Drop in to Elephant's Child and have a look.

After leaving Wudinna and Pildappa Rock we travelled to Minnipa which is about 30km west of Wudinna.  Minnipa is a  farming area of approximately 200 people.

If you enlarge this map you can see Wudinna inland about half way between Port Lincoln and Streaky Bay on the western coast of Eyre Peninsula




Minnipa Airport

The airport and runway looks to be unused. We had a wander around as the airport was named after a family friend.


 Jack was a pilot in WW2 and after the war he owned a store in Minnipa.  He was known as “The Flying Storekeeper” and used to fly his plane to collect supplies from Adelaide and on one of his trips his plane crashed on his return flight to Minnipa and all 3 occupants were killed.

Ron standing on the runway.  No planes here for quite some time.

The next town we stopped at was Poochera, another small town in the wheat belt of Eyre Peninsula.



A pretty garden in a very dry climate

Windscreen shot of Poochera Hotel 


Our next stop was Streaky Bay about 60 km from Poochera.  Streaky Bay is situated on the Great Australian Bight and is a beautiful town with all the amenities youwant when travelling.  We stayed at a caravan park and had a site right on the beachfront -perfect!


Beautiful view from our caravan



Time for a drink


The pelicans waiting for a fish feed as the fish cleaning area was nearby



View at dusk

Looking towards the town centre

View towards the jetty

We stayed in Streaky Bay for a few days as it was such a lovely caravan park and our site was so good that we didn't want to leave, but of course we had to continue on our road trip.

Featured post

Clouds in the City

SKYWATCH FRIDAY https://skyley.blogspot.com St Peters Cathedral, Adelaide Torrens Weir, Adelaide North Terrace, Adelaide Mt Lofty, Adelaide ...