Week 2 in Port Lincoln

On Sunday7/2 we went out on the Tacoma. This is an old tuna fishing boat that is now run by preservation group that Anna helps run. There was a trip for RSA, not sure how many returned servicemen there were on the trip but quite a few older ladies who were not very steady on their legs! I saw a mother & baby dolfin playing around the bow of the boat, that was special!
There are large tuna & mussel farms around PL. Fishing & grain export are main commercial activities. The grain fields (called paddocks) are enormous covering hundreds of acres.
On Monday we headed off on a bush trip with Leonie, another friend of Anna's. Her son works on a farm in the outback and we would visit him. The trip was up along the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula. More amazing deserted beaches & cliffs. The towns along the way look like something out of the 50's - a mainstreet with church, community hall, baker, butcher and hotel. They are charming and quaint, though not sure the residents would appreciate that description! We drove up by Elliston, Streaky Bay and spent the night at a caravan park in Ceduna. Most of the roads were dirt roads, only main highway was tarmac! I wish I had taken photo's. Quite a few of the roads outside towns are like that, I understand now why so many people have high 4 wheel drive cars, you need them on some of these roads. It's so very different from Europe.
We drove to the farm on Tuesday morning and then headed to the Galwer range (a range of pink hills bit like Ayers Rock!). We went to visit the Organ Pipes, rock formation in the hills similiar in shape to Organ Pipes at Mount Wellington in Hobart or Giants Causeway in northern Ireland. The road in was something else. It was almost loke sking where you choose a route and you just have to follow it. We had to walk about the last km and god it was hot about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The toilet facilities had amazing views but no walls!
We had dinner at Wirrulla a small town near the farm and had early night. It was misty next morning as we were leaving. We stopped at town called Cummins to visit mosaic work on towns public toilets. See the pics!
On Friday we went camping in Lincoln National Park at September beach. We had the place virtually to ourselves until a kangaroo came visiting. The sea was a besutiful green/blue but you had to keep an eye out for sharks.
On Sunday I borrowed Anna's car and drove to Coffin Bay. I found it a bit confusing. Flinders highway, according yo the map yhe road to Coffin Bay was loke an ordinary town street and I was about 15kms out of town before finding a sign post for Coffin Bay. A lot of road signs do not say how far it is to the destination here. Different! Again Coffin Bay & the national park were beautiful.
Almost forgot, we have been swimming in the local pool -effectively part of the sea by the jetty with a pontoon and shark nets around it.
Next week is my last week in Port Lincoln