Port Augusta - Coffin Bay

Campsite at Port Augusta SA @ Cenrtal Augusta Sports Club

Our band aid solution in Port Augusta seems to have worked. We added a product called Seal Up with water into the radiator and it has plugged the gaps. On the bottle it says it is liquid glass. No idea how it works but it has. Bess does seem to be starting and running a lot easier now.

Flinders Ranges as seen from Port Augusta SA

Charlie & Asha at Tug-O-War

Point LowlySA

We left Port Augusta on Tuesday 20/3 and traveled south west down the Eyre Peninsula to a place recommended to us called Point Lowly. It has a large and popular free camp with a toilet block with showers. There would easily have been 50 or more vans there when we arrived. We managed to find a spot to set up and then went down to the beach for a swim. It was magnificent! Pristine clear, calm blue water with white sand. The temperature of the day was about 30 degrees without a cloud in sight and just a breath of air for a breeze. Lib and I decided there and then to spend a week there. Charlie had no fear of the water either. Asha was her usual self and stayed most of the time on the beach. When Lib and I walked into the water Charlie was not going to be left behind and in he came. He was happy enough to chase a stick or the ball in the water while we were in there. I don't think he would ever enjoy going in on his own but he had fun in there with us.

Point Lowly SA

While in the water we noticed a couple of other campers in the dunes and so we wandered over to have a look. We found two vans in a car park by themselves with no "no camping" signs around. They were far from the toilets but they were a lot closer to the beach so we then packed down our campsite and moved over to where they were. As it was only a small car park, it only fit four vans in that night.

Lighthouse @ Point Lowly SA

That night the weather changed. A southerly blew in and we thought we were going to blow away it was that fierce. Wednesday 21/3 dawned with howling winds and the temperature that day rose to more no more than 20 degrees. Oh where had our idyllic paradise gone. We spent the majority of the day hiding in the van from the wind but we did get out for a walk around the point at about lunch time. We walked out along the beach and then rocks to the lighthouse and then back via the road to the boat ramp and jetty. It was pretty.

Point Lowly SA

Point Lowly SA

Point Lowly SA

Boobies!!!

Sunset @ Point Lowly SA

The next morning Thursday 22/3 we moved on as the weather forecast had the weather remaining the way it was for the next week or so. We traveled down through Whyalla to Cowell, where we had a seafood lunch at the Franklin Harbor Jetty. After lunch we began heading towards a free camp in the book at Port Gibbon. On the way we saw a another road heading off in the other direction down the coast and decided to see where it went. We ended up driving to the end of a dirt road and came to Point Gibbon where we spent the next two nights camped by our selves. We saw few people during the day but as it was still chilly and windy we spent most of our time in the van. We did go for the occasional walk along the beach and through the big white sand dunes. The dogs loved tearing up and down those dunes.

 View of beach from our campsite @ Point Lowly SA

Whyalla SA

Point Gibbon SA

On Saturday 24/3 we moved just down the coast to another free camp in the book called Redbanks. We got out the fishing gear here as we'd bought some bait at Arno Bay before making camp at Redbanks just north of town. In the first half an hour I caught a foot and a half long Australian Salmon, which Lib cooked up the next day for lunch in an amazing fish curry, but the rest of our time there I didn't even get a nibble. Saturday night saw us acting like children as we got rolling drunk, fished, enjoyed the amazing sunset and each others company.

Sand Dunes @ Point Gibbon SA

We left Redbanks on Monday 26/3 and checked out Port Neill and Tumby Bay as we made our way down to Port Lincoln. They both looked like happy seaside towns though there did seem to be alot of seaweed on the beaches. We had been told that this part of South Australia was famous for its white sandy beaches but so far we hadn't seen any. At Port Lincoln we found out that there were two new free camps in town at the two public boat ramps. We checked out the one north of town but it was highly unsuitable as even with ramps we could not get Bess level. We headed over to the other south of town and it proved to be well worth it. There is a public toilet there which is locked at night but it is level enough. On the way there though Lib and I both missed a "DIP" sign. As a consequence we ended up with a crack in one of our water tanks. We spent that night in the free camp but decided to spend the next three nights in a caravan park while we repaired the crack.

Sand Dunes @ Point Gibbon SA

There is one caravan park in Port Lincoln which does not take dogs but there is one 10km north at North Shields that does. We had to jack up Bess and drop out the water tank to find the crack to repair it. While at the caravan park we walked up to the jetty each day and we bought a squid jig at the caravan park shop and tried our hand at squidding, but so far we have caught none. Though we have seen others catch them. Looks messy but worth it I think if you like calamari.

Sand Dunes @ Point Gibbon SA

As far as white sandy beaches go we were told that they usually are in spring and summer but that the sou' westerly winds in autumn and winter drove the seaweed up onto the beaches.

One local attraction here I did look into as it looked like fun was Cage Diving with Great White Sharks! Way! Well, it did look good until I found out that it came with a $500 price tag. I don't think it looks like that much fun. I think for that money I'd rather go sky diving again.

US @ Redbanks SA

On Friday 30/3 we left the caravan park and dropped Charlie off at the vets so he could have his nuts cut off. We spent the day running errands, had a look at the local marina where we saw prawns being unloaded and had lunch at a local hotel while we waited to pick him up. I know it is necessary to have him desexed traveling so he is much easier to control while we are living on the road, but I still give Lib a hard time about it. It is good that we are able to joke about it.

Redbanks SA

We stayed that night in the free camp at the boat ramp again and tried squidding in the evening but to no avail. Saturday morning 31/3 we moved on to Coffin Bay where we are spending the next two nights at the caravan park. When we arrived yesterday we stopped at the General Store which is also the information centre in town to get the local hot goss on fishing etc only to find out the guy behind the counter, while friendly enough, had no interest and therefore no idea about fishing in the area. He was happy enough to sell us a dozen fresh Coffin Bay Oysters for $8.50 which were beautiful to eat for lunch. As dusk was coming on and we were settling in for the evening we had kangaroos come and visit the caravan park too.

Redbanks SA

Sunset @ Redbanks SA

Port Neil SA

Prawn Boats @ Port Lincoln Marina

Prawn Boats @ Port Lincoln Marina

Kangaroos at dusk @ Coffin Bay C.P.

N.B. If you click on the photos you can view them at full size.