Eyre Peninsula Coastline - Part 2: Western Eyre Peninsula

With the hot weather that is typical of February in South Australia having now arrived, part 2 of our journey commenced with a short jaunt to Coffin Bay just 50km away to the west of Pt. Lincoln across the bottom tip of Eyre Peninsula.  Coffin Bay is renowned for its oysters and as such, it was mandatory (in my mind at least), to enjoy some of the local product while we were in this pretty little town - so out to dinner we went!

Dressed for dinner at Coffin Bay

I enjoyed the oysters and vowed this would not be the last time I would enjoy a feed of these beauties on this trip!

From Coffin Bay we travelled in a north-westerly direction along the Eyre Peninsula coastline with stops at free camps and caravan parks along the way.  During this part of our journey we were continually in awe of the power of the sea, the beauty of the coastal cliffs and the solitude that could be found on any of the pristine beaches we stopped at along our route.

Our travels took us to a secluded stay at Sheringa Beach where we had the place to ourselves.  Heather tried some metal detecting on the beach but given its remoteness it was not surprising that there was nothing to be found there – not even the normally ever-present pull tabs discarded from drink cans.

Heather out metal detecting at sunset on Sheringa Beach

We passed through the town of Elliston but not before doing the ‘Elliston Great Ocean View’ self-drive tour.  The tour has you drive along the local cliff top road which provides great views of cliffs and rolling surf.  It also has some interesting sculptures positioned along the way.

Some of the cliff-top sculptures at Elliston

Our only non-coastal overnight stop during the outward-bound leg of the trip was at a place known as ‘Murphy’s Haystacks’.  These ‘Haystacks’ are actually outcropping granite boulders and they make for a great photo opportunity especially at sunrise and sunset.  As an added bonus the landowners had put some jars of honey produced by bees from the local Mallee flower pollen into an honesty box at the gate.  We bought a jar and it has a truly delicious flavour!  We will be certain to get some more the next time we are passing by.

Haystacks honey with Murphy's Haystacks in the background

We stayed a couple of days at Streaky Bay and took our time exploring the surrounding area including the Pt. Labatt sea lion colony, several surf beaches, seas with huge swells pounding into more coastal cliffs and blowholes.  It was well worth taking the time to look around.

Yet another spectacular surf beach (near Streaky Bay)

From Streaky Bay we moved on to Ceduna which is at the end of the ‘Seafood Frontier Route’.  Oysters from the Ceduna area, including Smoky Bay to the east and Denial Bay to the west, are HUGE!  I enjoyed a dozen of these monsters (I told you my oysters in Coffin Bay would not be the last), at a roadside Oyster Bar just outside of Ceduna.  So what if they are terrible for the cholesterol, they are too delicious to pass up!

 

Roadside 'Ceduna Oyster Bar' and a dozen of their finest!

While we were at the end of the Seafood Frontier Route we were not ready to turn around and head home just yet so we decided to make a run to the SA/WA border.  Along the way we stayed at Cactus Beach, Fowlers Bay, at the Head of the Bight near the town of Nullarbor and then finally at Border Village.  Spectacular coastal scenery, more world renown surf beaches, a windmill museum including the largest diameter windmill in the country, and a continuous 200km stretch of the 80m high Bunda Cliffs were some of the things we encountered along the way.

 

Australia's largest windmill (10m diameter) & Iconic Nullarbor road-sign

At Eastern Edge of the Nullarbor (treeless) Plain & Car at SA/WA border

After doing a U-turn at the border we commenced our return to Adelaide.  We spent a night back in Ceduna where we topped up the fuel tank and just happened to pick up half a dozen more fresh oysters which were cooked up for dinner that night.  Next day we stopped at Venus Bay and tried our luck fishing for squid in the hope of catching our own Calamari dinner.  We were not successful but no one can say we didn't try as we were out on the jetty well into the night in the wind and rain!
 

Unsuccessful Night Squidding

 
Two more nights out on the road then we arrived back home for a brief stop before hitting the road again on our next adventure.  'Where to next?', I hear you asking.  To find out WTF? - Where are The Farrows?, just click on the notification you receive when I next post and all will be revealed.