Streaky Bay and Elliston- exploring the western side of the Eyre Peninsula

Streaky Bay, Eyre Peninsula, SA

Thursday 16th- Saturday 18th February

We spent 2 nights at the lovely beachside town of Streaky Bay, although we arrived late on the Thursday after a big drive completing the Nullarbor, going through quarantine and stocking up on supplies in Ceduna. Even though we only had 1 full day at Streaky Bay we still managed a few of the 'must do' experiences:

• The Cape Bauer loop drive- taking in some picturesque views, stunning cliffs and some loud blowholes.
• Fish and chips on the foreshore, complete with some local, freshly caught oysters.
• Fishing for squid off the jetty at sunset
• Putting our heads in the replica of the huge Great White Shark that was caught off the coast of Streaky Bay
• Walking through the water at low tide, looking out for razor fish

Our first stop on the Cape Bauer drive- the tide was out so the reef was exposed and looked great.

I loved this rock just out from the Cape Bauer lookout. There are heaps of these rocky islands along this part of the coast- they seem to be home to many different sea birds.

Testing out their balancing skills on the boardwalk on the way to the Blowholes

The Blowholes - water shot up from the holes in the flat rock - it made a thunderous noise and sent sea mist flying all over us.

A model of a White Pointer (Great White) Shark that was caught in the local area in 1990- it was 16-18 years old, more than 5m long and weighed 1520kgs! It is sad that such a big creature was killed, but thankfully these sharks are now protected (not that I'd even want to see one this size in real life!).

Streaky Bay (and all along the Eyre Peninsula) is known for fresh, delectable oysters- I had a 1/2 dozen for lunch, whilst the others had fish and chips.

Jackson wanted to try an oyster- it was in his mouth for about 2 seconds before it came hurtling out!!

We spent an evening at Streaky Bay jetty - the boys fished whilst Emilia and I took advantage of the great evening light to take photos.

The long Streaky Bay jetty - we both think this looks like a fake backdrop.

The boys tried for some squid, but unfortunately were not in luck.

The tide was out so far that we were able to walk across to the rocky island out the front of the caravan park on the morning we left.

Jackson tried again to catch some squid, but instead of squid he found a blue ringed octopus. He managed to pick it up using a shell and put it in the fishing bucket - they kids are studying it intently.

It was so interesting watching the octopus move around the bucket. Before we left, Jackson carefully lowered the creature back into the ocean and we watched him swim away to the safety of a seaweed patch.

Murphy's Haystacks and Tahlia Cave (aka Woolshed Caves)

Saturday 18th February

We stopped off to see these iconic rocks, and the impressive Tahlia Caves, on our way down the coast.

Some of the inselbergs (translated this means 'island mountains') that make up Murphy's Haystacks. The granite they are made up from is around 1500 million years old, with their current shape formed at least 100,000 years ago!

Jackson attempted to run up this one, but it was way too steep.

We loved the colour and design of this one.

He finally made it to the top!

The channel that funnels the sea water into the rock- over time it has eroded the granite and formed Tahlia Cave (also known as Woolshed Cave).

Of course Jackson needed to climb along the steep edges and get into the cave.

Random roadside bakery in the middle of nowhere - Daniel and the kids said the sticky fruit buns they got were to die for. (I just watched enviously as they devoured the fresh, sweet smelling buns, silently bemoaning my gluten intolerant stomach!)

Elliston, Eyre Peninsula, SA

Saturday 18th- Monday 20th February

We'd only passed through this cute town last trip, so decided to spend a few nights here this time. We had a great time and filled our time with the following:

• walking along the coastal track looking out at some of the many small rocky islands that are along this stretch of coast, 
• enjoying Town Beach and Little Bay, 
• doing the Elliston Coastal Drive looking at all the different sculptures along the way, 
• watching the sunset over Waterloo Bay, 

But by far our favourite experience at Elliston was watching a playful sea lion frolic along in the water as we ran along watching it pop its head up before quickly diving back down. We certainly didn't expect to see a sea lion that close to shore, lucky us!

The sea lion we followed along the beach - we walked/ran for about a 1km along the shore watching as it jumped out of the water every 10 seconds or so.

After a beer at the pub and a play in the playground, we walked back to camp via the wetlands, where there were literally hundreds of pigeons. Jackson couldn't resist running out to set them off flying - the noise of their wings all flapping in unison was deafening (it felt like we were under attack!). Cool to see though, once I got over the initial shock.

One of the sculptures on the Coastal Drive - a seahorse made with metal from old farming machinery.

Art and ocean views - it was a great afternoon drive.

The kids spent a few hours building and decorating this epic sandcastle.

The boys went for a quick dive at Little Bay (the water was freezing). It was teeming with whiting, so Daniel got his speargun, but whiting are particularly hard to get with a speargun so they only got one (it was still delicious though!).

Sandcastle number two - they are loving building sandcastles at the moment.

A bit of fun whilst watching the sunset over Waterloo Bay (not sure about Jackson's cartwheeling style, but I was pretty impressed that Daniel managed to do a half decent one).