18. Fitzgerald Bay Campground, Port Bonython

Month: April
Days Stayed:
Weather: Sunny and cloudy

This site is just before Whyalla, fight near the defence again. On the way down to the water we saw a family emus right along the side of the road about 3 metres away from us. Amazing! the next day was

say one roaming along the waters edge. The place has geographical significance in that there is a mound of shale rocks that runs the length of the end of the beach. Conflicting theories in the campsite: A tsunami, a deposit thousands of years ago by 10 feet tides.

The water colour is also an amazing beautiful bright azure blue, then all of sudden a rich dark blue. Again, according to the locals- that's where the seaweed starts. Absolutely Stunning!

Highlights:
The bike ride:
We could see campers right around the other side of the bay so Father got the bikes off and took me for a ride there. Instead of taking the civilised route he took me through the soft sand onto the rocks, through the prickly bushes (where I got scratched to the point of bleeding) and then decided to head towards the track. When we finally got on the road we saw that the on the other side was the defence. Again, what a dangerous place_ the sign said: bombs and other hazardous 'stuff'- Hope none of those emus set any off!

Emus, Emus, Everywhere!
My bucket list was overflowing!!! There were emus along side the road and pretty much in the same stretch of road. There was even an emu walking along the rocky beach, near our van. I was standing at my van when I took the photo of the emu on the beach. I couldn't understand where they were getting their water as there didn't appear to be any fresh water???

The Steel Works:
We booked a tour to the steelworks. Wow! Very different to when we all went to the steelworks on an excursion as kids! we were in a mini bus and we drove around the huge site. We did get to see some of the molten product at some points, however, it was really just about listening to the commentary of the different buildings and what went on in there. It was very interesting and we got to see a lot of the site.

The Ship:
Whyalla had bought an old condemned ship and had moved it up to the site of the Information building. We went on a tour up onto the ship. I knew there would be stairs up to the deck and had prepared myself for that, however, I wasn't thinking about the ladders to the different decks. So, I mainly sat on deck and waited. After the tour, we went to the museum and enjoyed that. They also had a mini railway which was fascinating.

Lowly Point Lighthouse:
We drove up and around to Lowly Point to use the dump point, check out the beach and the light house. Father walked down to the light house. Much to his disappointment it was shut. I was watching this lady standing about knee height in the water fishing.

The washing:
We decided to move to the other camp area to do the washing as there was access to water there. In the morning it was extremely hot and there was a lot of wind, stirring up the sand. Father was NOT happy Jan!!! So we moved again to a more sheltered spot and did the washing. It was not a very successful day- I was in so much pain and it was so incredibly hot-40 degrees, my mind wasn't working well I accidentally left the tap on when I went out to hang the washing. OOOPS! it went everywhere in the van!. So, we mopped it up and the washing dried in no time at all, we went back to the beach camp

area. Oh well the floor got a good washing! By then, the air was beginning to cool- 'shucoola'!

Hummock Hill:
We drove up to the lookout- amazing it was a 360 degree view. It used to be used for the navy to man the coastline, so it had bunkers (which were shut) and a big cannon.

Flinders and Freycient Lookout:
This lookout was not as high as the Hummock hill, however, it had 2 cute guys looking out on the view!

Iron Knob:
We decided to head out here to the open cut mines of Iron Knob. This old codger (who used to be a farmer in the greater region and lived in the 'knob for 6 years) took us in a mini bus (we were the only people on the tour) and gave us a running commentary about the town and the mine. It was very interesting and the mine cuts were enormous! We found out later that some of his information was a tad wrong! The town itself is almost a ghost town with only about 150 people living there. A lot of the buildings such as schools, churches etc were closed and standing empty.

Iron Knob-The Christian Bookshop:
We noticed on the tour a sign saying: Christian Bookshop and Crafts. It was the Old Police station had been bought and tuned into a home/church/crafts/bookshop/tourist attraction. It had the original 2 police cells. The people who lived their were semi retired missionaries. They used to have a 5th wheeler and travelled to all the outback towns targeting truckers. The man was an ex truckie and as his wife said he knew how to 'talk the talk'. They had a pulpit in the corner of their dinning room (this room gets used as a church room on Sundays, as the town won't let them use the empty church building as they are baptists and not Anglican/Catholic or Uniting minister. So they minister through the craft shop. The lady took us to the back to look at the cells- all beautifully restored and in immaculate condition. She makes all the craft items- mainly sewing and knitted objects with a few 'raw' materials as well. Then we sat in their dinning room and they spoke to us about their ministry.

Pichi Richi Railway:
We got up with the birds and headed back into Port Augusta to board the Pichi Richi train to Quorn up in the Flinders Rangers. I was a tad disappointed as the seats ran along the carriage instead of in rows, however, That didn't last for long. It was absolutely beautiful as we meandered up and into the ranges. Once we arrived in town there was enough time to grab some lunch look around the town not many shops anymore) and then head back. Father enjoyed either hanging out the window or standing on the little verandas taking photos.

Oh my Goodness:
The shark Lady:
I decided to sit on the very 'civilisely' placed bench to gaze out over the bay, while father walked down to the lighthouse.
All off a sudden I saw a black fin. Her daughter was sitting on the edge of the water and yelled 'shark' to her mum. The mum shouted back- its only a dolphin.
However, a little way across from where I was sitting were some seasoned campers and they were pointing out the shark in the water right near the lady. She eventually moved to the shallow water, whilst her daughter wisely moved out of the water! Crazy fishing lady!!!

The Midget:
We met a Midget that lived in a 'rig' -his words and oh my goodness, boiling hot and he just stays inside this tiny hovel. He had his 'washing ' out and it looked filthy to me. He befriended us and was an incredibly huge 'know it all' Oh well each to their own! Still we always tooted and waved when we went by and if he was out we'd stop and talk or should I say he would talk! I thought Father was good- he's nothing compared to this matie!!! He came later in the week to 'sprout' his information about this spaceship that he believes orbits and is visible so many years in the northern hemisphere. Then he wanted to link it to bible stories- Oh my goodness, he was totally mixed truths with #$@*!!!

Those bold emus!
We went into town to the dump point along the main 4 lane highway to Port Lincoln and these 2 bold emus just dawdled across the road in front of us! Amazing!!!
We had another emu cross the road on our way to Iron Knob. It was quite funny cause it looked like it was strolling across looked towards us coming and then took off as if it needed to hurry across.

The View:
The view from on the beach as well as coming into the bay is absolutely beautiful!!!

The Dolphins:
The tide was exceeding low one morning when we saw 3 dolphins frolicking around in the shallow water- Amazing!!!

The Goats:
We say 3 wild goats on the road, alas, we were too far away to get a picture as they ran off into the bush.

The racing Kangaroo:
We were coming home from shopping when there was a kangaroo on the road. Instead of going to the side it decided to race in front of us on the road. Father clocked him going 30 klms and then when he did go to the side- still trying to race us he clocked him at 40 klms- Amazing!