Well after being through one of the biggest dust storms we have seen and surviving it was time to leave Port Lincoln and start our venture of the Eyre Peninsular up the east side.  Our destination was for a free camp just outside of Port Neill at a place called Carrow Wells.  On our travel to Carrow Wells we stopped off at Tumby Bay for morning tea and to look at the silo art they have there.  Well worth a look at.  Tumby was another neat little town that you could easily spend a couple of days  at and do essentially nothing.

Our arrival at Carrow Wells was one of indifference to us both.  It wasn’t the most inviting of camp grounds, quite rough and no real designated areas to camp.  There were a couple of others there when we arrived so we thought we would give it try.  Of course the wind was blowing again so it was finding an area to park that would offer some wind resistance.  We picked a spot that wasn’t far from the beach so listening to the waves was nice at night.  As with the rest of the Eyre Peninsular we have seen so far it was very dry here and dusty.  It was a pity it was so dry as it must be a very picturesque place when its a bit greener. 

The toilet we had at Carrow Wells was an old thunder box toilet that I thought we had got rid of years ago.  Brought back memories of my childhood in Kalgoorlie.  Port Neill was another neat little town to visit as well.  As with all towns on the Eyre Peninsular they also had a jetty that was serviceable.  That is one thing we have noticed about all the places on the Eyre is that they have all managed to maintain their jetties.  Hopefully they can all keep them as they do add a lot of character to the towns.  We did try some fishing at Carrow but the less said about that escapade the better, lets just say we are both glad there are fish markets around the place.

After three days of wind and dust at Carrow Wells we decided our next stay at Cowell would be in a caravan park and hopefully a bit less dust and wind.  We have had it quite windy for a couple of weeks now and you do start to get a bit sick of it.  We stayed just out of Cowell at the Harbour View Caravan Park.  We had a huge site and also some respite from the wind so it was nice.  I was last in Cowell about 10 years ago with Renae when the ferry from Lucky Bay took you over to Wallaroo.  It doesn’t run anymore which is a pity.

Cowell is a good sized small town that you could use as a good base to see the wider area if you wanted.  There is a good range of shops in the town and you can get most things here.  We did a day drive around the area close to Cowell that took in Ubana Weir which was bone dry, the Cowell Wind Farm and May Gibbs Tree. May Gibbs was the writer of the Gumnut children’s books and was from the area. 

Whyalla was our next destination from Cowell.  This was an easy 105km trip up the highway.  As this was also the first weekend of the school holidays we thought we should book in as well as we weren’t sure how busy it would be.  We booked into the Discovery Park on the Whyalla foreshore.  Its in a great location and we couldn’t have got any closer to the water or we would have been in it.  We actually had a break from the wind which was very nice.  The weather for us while in Whyalla was perfect.  The walk from the caravan park along the foreshore to the marina was nice and we were rewarded with seeing dolphins playing in the marina.  The dolphins are now a permanent attraction as they wait for the fishing boats to come into the marina.

There were a few things to do while in Whyalla.  We booked ourselves onto a Whyalla Steelworks Tour which was quite good.  You can’t get off the bus but they take around everywhere so you do get to see a lot.  We were lucky to see coke being taken from the ovens which was quite impressive.  The Whyalla Maritime Museum is worth a visit.  It is also now home to HMAS Whyalla that was built in the local ship yards in 1941.  Hummock Hill Lookout also gives you a good view over the city and across Spencer Gulf to the Southern Flinders Ranges and to Point Bonython where the Santos gas works are located and Point Lowly Lighthouse.   There was also the Loaded Dog  sculpture by sculptor Andy Scott and is based on the poem by Henry Lawson.

We did drive out to the Whyalla Conservation Park and climbed Wild dog Hill.  After a pretty bouncy road into the park we were hoping for something a bit special, but unfortunately this wasn’t to be.  The climb was very easy and the views OK but probably not really worth the drive out.  We did quite enjoy Whyalla and it did remind us a bit of Port Hedland.  Most of the buildings were a very brown looking from the iron ore dust, must be a BHP thing to leave this type of image on places.

From Whyalla we drove to Port Augusta and the end of our trip through the Eyre Peninsular.  We had booked into a station stay about 20km out of Port Augusta called Catninga Station Stay.  You have to book prior to arrival, which is fair enough as you wouldn’t want to drive out and be turned away.  The camping area only has about 8 spots and you are quite a distance from each other, which we like.  The actual camp areas are a bit rough but there is plenty of fire wood around and we could at last have a fire at night.  We did enjoy this stay very much but the only real down side was that the wind had picked up again and with this the dust.

A drive into Port Augusta and we visited the Wadlata Outback Centre and the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens.  The Botanic Gardens were quite good but being so dry here at the moment we weren’t able to see it at its best.  Unfortunate as you could see it would be a lot nicer.  The Wadlata Outback Centre was over $40 to enter which we both thought was a bit steep for what it was.

At Catninga Station we did a walk from the homestead to the mountain hut.  This was an 8km return walk through some pretty interesting country and a great walk at the top to the hut.  We had packed a picnic lunch so had plenty of time to do the walk.  With the country around here so dry at the moment you do wonder how some of the stock and wildlife are surviving.  Everyone’s doing it tough at the moment.

This was our last stop for completing our trip around the Eyre Peninsular.  We have enjoyed it, just a shame it is so dry here at the moment.  We did think it would be a lot greener.  Might have to come one time in the spring to see it in healthier times.  We are doing a bit of a detour from here down towards Adelaide for a day and get some new batteries for the caravan.  We are having trouble with our present ones holding charge overnight when we free camp.  Discussions with some experts over the phone are pointing towards our batteries being suspect.  Anyway we will get some new ones and see what happens, then see if our dealer in Perth is interested in some form of reimbursement after we get the old batteries tested.

Hopefully from here on we get a bit less wind, be a nice change.  Some rain as well to wash the van a bit would be nice also.