Day 8: Off to the Eyre Peninsula (Mon. 30/12/13)

It is a sad thing indeed, dear reader, to be overcome by indecision and lack of steadfastness. But it is a reality in the Veltkamp Grey Nomad experience. It is rationalised by saying that we are not bound by schedules and fixed plans, but like to adapt to changing circumstances. You be the judge.

Our certain and often-repeated intention was to go down the Eyre Peninsula to Port Lincoln and then up the other side to Streaky Bay, going westward via Ceduna after that. However, schedules, offspring availability, etc. gave us an increasing urgency to be in Rockingham by Friday, 3^rd January.

How were we going to marry the two together, then? Our original plan was given an extra impetus by weather reports hinting at a big warm high moving slowly eastward across our track. Being in Port Lincoln as it passed us by would allow us to escape the worst.

How did we solve the dilemma? We did both. We set off from Port Augusta for Whyalla on a good quality, flat but featureless road. While we drove we considered whether we could cut across the middle of the Peninsula instead of going down to Port Lincoln. In Whyalla we looked around the town and then did what we do best: we changed our minds. We left this red and rusty looking town behind, not going south, but back north in a road which would put us back on the Eyre Highway at Iron Knob.

Driving through Iron Knob we chanced upon the recreation park and the dunny with the “Dunny” mural on its side which I photographed 7 years ago and posted on the Internet. I reckoned that the thousands of armchair tourists who have found that picture on Google Earth probably outnumber the real-life tourists who visit it in person in Iron Knob.

On we went through Kimba, where we had lunch, Kyancutta, Wudinna to Poochera, where we turned off to go Streaky Bay. Our new strategy was to overnight in Streaky Bay, then sprint the 110-odd kms to Ceduna and stay in a caravan park there with access to water in which we could immerse ourselves, be it a pool or the sea. The weather reports had become quite definite about a zone of 45 degrees plus stretching from Ceduna to Eucla and beyond. Furthermore, it would move on fairly quickly, being replaced by the remnants of Cyclone Catherine as it dispersed on a south-easterly trajectory from where it hit the coast at Karratha.

The caravan park at Streaky Bay was our first full park on this trip. We had often wondered where all the holiday-makers were, but Streaky Bay had its full share of them. Lots of families, teenagers, boats, fishing gear, etc. Very few Grey Nomads. We were placed right at the back of the park among a couple of the latter, one set of which was Canadian/Australian, a very nice couple.

The day ended in the mid-to-high thirties, with us scrabbling to remain in the shade.