Yorke Peninsula

Welcome to the YP.

The way around.

The Yorke Peninsula is a part of South Australia we have never before visited. It is a relatively small piece of land that kind of resembles the boot shape of Italy, but it is there that the comparisons cease!! We came at the end of summer when the land here is brown and dry. It was not a pretty landscape!! Vast flat fields wearing the brown and yellow stubble of harvested grain crops, and a crumbly white limestone coastline that is extremely tidal. I had researched the region quite well, or so I thought!! But here, there is no doubt the the tourist bureau is somewhat over zealous in its presentations of much of the region!! In fairness, there is no doubt that the landscape would look entirely different in Spring, when the grain fields are green, and the canola is in full bloom, but as the locals confirmed, most of the year it is brown! 

A common sight.

Old Dolomite mine.

Historically, farmers and miners have inhabited the region since the early to mid 1800's. Tin, copper, gypsum and flux were all mined until the early mid 1900's, and the towns of Wallaroo and Moonta have some great examples of elegant architecture from those times, as well as many old and tiny miner's cottages, some still in use and others derelict. There are also many grand old rural properties, again in varying states of repair. Grain has been grown here as well for all that time, and today remains the regions major industry. It is one of Australia's major grain regions, this year harvesting in excess of 6.5 million tonnes of grain, mostly wheat & barley, though lentils and chick peas are also big time. Grain is exported by sea from three huge loading facilities at Wallaroo, Ardrossan and Port Giles.

Recreational fishing is well supported.

Catching squid from a jetty.

From a tourist perspective, recreational fishermen have been coming to the region since the mid 1800's. The waters of the Gulf of St Vincent on the eastern side, and Spencer Gulf on the west, teem with the wonderful eating fish, King George Whiting, snapper, garfish, blue swimmer crabs and squid, and from the southern end of the peninsula, game fish like tuna, kingfish and sharks the size of Tasmania can be hunted!! The coastline is dotted with small fishing villages, most with a long jetty left over from the grain days, when bags of grain were loaded onto small ships. Recreational Fishing is king. What is surprising is that commercial fishing doesn't seem to happen. We couldn't find a fish co-op!

Wallaroo Grain Terminal.

Wallaroo Town Hall.

Our visit started at the town of Wallaroo on the north western coast of the peninsula. The blurb and the caravan park manager, had conned us with a glowing presentation, and we had paid up for a week. Three days would have been plenty, unless we had a boat and wanted to go fishing every day, like most of the people staying at the park. With the "NO REFUND" policy reverberating in our ears, we decided to go further afield and use the time to explore the peninsula and choose the places worth staying. After two days of looking, we decided that three longer stays, at what we thought were the pick towns, would be best, rather that be stuck in a series of tiny fishing villages, with little or no essential services, like coffee!!

Wallaroo canal estates.

The beach at Wallaroo.

So, lets talk Wallaroo!! It is one of the larger towns with a huge grain loading facility. It was originally established as mining town, with nearby and inland Kadina, the rural centre. Today, the mining has gone, with only a few reminders left. Some fantastic old buildings that housed banks and larger businesses, but only a small shopping centre with a very good Foodland Supermarket. There are obvious plans for expansion, as a massive marina has been built, and off it a residential housing estate set on a series of canals, most with their own jetty! A small resort and new pub has been built at the marina. There are lots of new houses, but not enough people!! We found out that most of the homes are holiday homes, owned by people from Adelaide!! Land started as low as $65,000 per block!!

Wallaroo swimming enclosure.

Weekend crowds on the beach.

On weekends, the population doubles or even trebles as the Adelaide folks arrive for the weekend! The caravan park filled up, the pub filled up, and you could hardly find a spot on the jetty to drop in a fishing line. The beach in front of the caravan park is one of the few in SA you can drive on, and it filled up too!! The tide goes out for miles, and even when you reach the waterline, it is another 100 metres before the water gets near your knees!! The secret is to swim at high tide!! In town near the jetty is a new swimming enclosure which is quite unique with its semi circular design. We found the cafe at the pool only average. The one in town near the supermarket was much better. 

Coffee at Noelene's Book Shop.

Saw this guy off the jetty!

On the Saturday, we found another nice coffee spot, purely because we went to the markets!! The market was held in an industrial estate on the outskirts of town and was very small. I picked up a good second hand book for $2.00!! At the industrial estate was Noelene's Book Shop & Cafe!! How would tourists know??? It was really nice, and sold nic nacs too. We decided to go and get the books we had read back at the caravan, and trade them in at Noelene's! I checked my $2.00 book and found I'd read it some time back. Bummer!!! Hate it when that happens!! So I took it to Noelene's and traded it in for $4.00!! I instantly saw the money making opportunity, but Carol saw the glint in my eye and said "no, you can't buy all the ladies $2 books at the market and trade them all in". That afternoon we joined 4 others at the movie theatre in Kadina, to see Three Billboards, which we enjoyed. On the way home we decided to have a drink at the pub, out on the deck at the marina. By 6.00pm the place was packed, so we decided to stay for dinner, which was good, and by 7.30pm it was almost empty!! So that about sums up Wallaroo. 

Port Broughton Pub.

Cafe Safavi in Port Pirie.

We did take a drive up to Port Broughton, about 40 kms north of Wallaroo. Someone had told us it was beautiful, and their favourite spot on the YP. What's that saying about beauty being in the eye of the beholder??? It was just another fishing village with a great big old pub, and heaps of old fishing shacks and newer holiday homes. Situated on a tidal inlet, it didn't do a lot for us. When we got to Port Broughton we realised we were only 60kms from Port Pirie, so with no decent coffee or lunch option in Port Broughton, we did the drive and went back to Port Pirie to have lunch at Saied's cafe Safavi. Saied didn't remember us, but the food and coffee was still great!!!

Ardrossan Jetty.

Ardrossan main street.

We also explored the eastern side of the peninsula from north to south. Starting at Ardrossan and working our way down to Marion Bay. The eastern side of the peninsula is even more tidal, and at low tide it seemed you could almost walk to Adelaide!! Ardrossan is another grain loading town, the main street lined with an impressive row of huge Norfolk pines. A couple of nice looking pubs, a small supermarket and quite a few shops offering support industries to the grain growers, and of course lots of fishing shacks and holiday homes!!

Looking towards Black Point.

New holiday homes near Pine Point.

The other major centres on this side were Port Vincent, which we were going to stay at for a few days, until we saw the caravan park, and what the town offered, and Edithburgh. Port Vincent was like being transported back to the 1960's!! They were crammed into the caravan park like garfish! We inquired about site availability, but the sites they showed us were so close together that when you got into bed at night, it would be wise to check it was your wife next to you!!! The corner  cafe/fish & chip shop/milk bar, was so 1960's, I expected John Travolta and Olivia to come dancing out the door!! Around the bay was another of these huge marina complexes with

From the lookout at Ardrossan.

Wattle Point Wind Farm.

brand new holiday homes. The infrastructure spending on marinas and boat launching facilities on the YP, tells you just how important recreational fishing is to the region's future! Edithburgh was more of the same but without John & Olivia!! It did have a huge wind farm right next door. We drove around the bay looking at fishing shack after fishing shack and hardly seeing a soul, until we came to the old fishing shack with a brand new Maserati parked in the driveway!!! Will leave that to your own imagination!! The most southerly town on the east is Marion Bay, and I'll talk more about that later on. 

Welcome to Moonta.

Can't get much closer to the beach!

After the one week, we headed a little further south down the west coast, to Moonta Bay. Just a couple of kms inland, is Moonta, which is a quaint little town. The caravan park at Moonta Bay is along the beach, but unlike Wallaroo which is flat and has cabins all along the beachfront, blocking any view, is raised up and on a couple of different levels. We had a waterfront spot which was just lovely, looking out over the beach to the jetty. We had some glorious days of weather, and a couple of windy days when we took a bit of a buffeting, but generally speaking we really enjoyed Moonta Bay. There isn't much in the way of shopping and coffee at Moonta Bay.

Moonta Town Hall & main street.

The old Moonta Railway Station.

Nearby Moonta we really liked. The town had some life!! An old mining town, it still has a shopping strip, and some great shops and cafes. There are some beautifully restored old buildings and churches, as well as the railway station which hasn't been in use for years, and now serves as the Visitor Centre. We really liked Cafe Capella, an Italian inspired cafe and restaurant. They had some fantastic home made cakes, and we really enjoyed our Valentine's Day lunch of delicious pasta loaded with local seafood and so full of flavour. The cafe, Taste the Yorke, also did good coffee, but the cake list wasn't nearly as good! 

On Moonta Bay Jetty.

Lazy days at Moonta Bay.

Moonta Bay/Port Hughes, is another place earmarked for growth. A Greg Norman designed golf course has been built, called Copperclub. It is a links style course and looked pretty nice, but I have to say they were less than helpful when I tried to get a game. There was never anyone on the course, and I chuckled again at the advertisement that proclaimed "book to avoid disappointment". I asked if they played a mid week comp, which they did, and they said they'd see if they could fit me in. There were two groups of four on the entire sheet!! They said I could put my name down and see if anyone else wanted to join me!! In the end, the less than friendly welcome and the windy weather meant I gave up trying. There are lots of new housing estates in and around the golf course, but again mostly holiday homes.

Love gelato!

Which flavour will I have??

Another quirky little place we found was Moonta Coffee Barn Gelateria, which is on a rural property just out of town. There is a small sign, that if you blinked you'd miss and it's covered in dust. You drive down behind the old house and park in a dusty lot full of old cars and junk, and walk into the old tin shed. It is run by an Italian couple who make great gelato, and also specialise in pancakes. We opted for coffee and gelato, but the pancakes that came out to a table of local ladies, whose body shapes cried "regulars", were huge and wicked!! Our burnt fig and marscapone gelato was extremely good.

A great day fishing.

Nice catch!

I couldn't leave the YP without trying my hand at fishing. I booked a day charter on a small boat out of Port Hughes. Barry from Port Hughes Fishing Charters was fantastic, and on a beautiful morning, I met him and my 6 fellow fisherman at the Port Hughes marina, to set out for the day. The plan was to head to one spot about 12 miles out, to try for King George whiting, and then to head a further 20 miles out, to get some big snapper. We were only about 5 minutes out, on the flattest, calmest sea you will ever find, when Stan went quiet, turned green and started throwing up!! He continued having fun all the way to the first spot, by which time he was white and now running at both ends! Barry the skipper was quite concerned for Stan's well being, and knew he couldn't continue, so decided to take him back to Port Hughes. One of Stan's caring mates, suggested we save time and put him in a life jacket, throw him over the side, and pick him up on the way back, but Barry wasn't keen!!!  So back to Port Hughes we went. We phoned ahead and Stan's wife met us at the jetty. We waved goodbye to Stan, but he was still busy throwing up over the side of the jetty!! Sea sickness is no fun!!

Moonta Bay Caravan Park.

Squid everywhere!

Barry now told us that time lost, meant we would be better staying in closer and fishing for King George Whiting. We all agreed, and off we went. In no time at all, we were pulling in whiting on a regular basis. The bag limit per person for whiting is 10. The time just flew by, and when Barry advised us that we now had a total of 54 whiting on board, we were all amazed. It didn't take long, and we had our 60 fish, 10 for everyone!! Some of us caught more than 10 and others less, and one guy in particular was pretty hopeless. He decided that he would rather fish for squid, and Barry set him up with a hand line and jig, and strict instructions not to bring any squid over the side, as they would squirt black ink everywhere. Barry watched him like a hawk, not wanting black ink staining his boat! The first squid caught was no problem, but it was some time before the next catch, which turned out to be a very large cuttlefish. In his excitement the big ugly thing was over the side, before Barry could reach it, and there was a huge squirt of thick black sludge, all over the deck and those of us nearby!! Barry was not happy!! He picked up the squid and hurled it back into the sea with another huge squirt of ink mid air, before sinking below the surface under a slick of black ink!! It was quite a clean up, and there was an awkward silence for little while!! But all in all it was a great day out. On returning to the caravan park, I cleaned and filleted my catch and we now had a freezer full of delicious King George Whiting.

Point Turton Caravan Park.

From Point Turton Jetty.

From Moonta Bay, we headed further south for our final stop on the YP, at Point Turton. Nestled in a sheltered bay, it is a quiet fishing spot, with only a general store which is a bakery as well, and a Tavern, situated just above the caravan park with fantastic views over Hardwicke Bay. We based ourselves here, because the caravan park had a great reputation, and Point Turton is a gateway to the southern parts of the YP, which are by far the most scenic. The caravan park is very sheltered, being set in an old Flux Quarry, right at the jetty. The managers would be some of the best and friendliest we have ever met, and our stay was indeed very nice. There are great walking trails around the bay, which we used most days. In fact, one of the big tourist things on the YP, is "Walk the Yorke", and there are well marked trails all the way around. 

It's a long walk!

Corny Point Lighthouse.

There is a fantastic tourist drive from Point Turton. It isn't well marked, but Malcolm, manager at the caravan park, had told us to just keep following the dirt road along the coast, until we came to a No Through Road sign! It worked a treat. From Point Turton, the coastal landscape changes dramatically. Gone is the low, crumbling white limestone, replaced by more traditional rocky cliffs and proper sandy beaches, especially once we passed Corny Point Lighthouse! Berry Bay, Point Annie, Daly Head and Gleesons Landing all had spectacular scenery, and there was now even surf!! The water was so clear and clean, but cold!! The few surfers we saw were all in wetsuits!! This drive was one of our real highlights of the YP.

Not a great beach. Lots of weed!

Mexican Oysters Kilpatrick.

We drove over to the east coast and Marion Bay, on a pretty bleak Sunday. The Marion Bay Tavern has a big reputation for its food. The bay itself isn't much, with lots of sea weed, but the Tavern was excellent. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch, sharing some innovative Mexican Kilpatrick Oysters, a mixed grill of the tenderest meat we'd eaten in some time, and finishing with a Fried Ice Cream Parfait with Butterscotch Sauce. It truly was culinary highlight of the YP. There is little else in Marion Bay itself, but just south is the gateway to the Innes National Park, with out doubt the highlight of the entire YP!

Innes NP coastline.

Ethel Beach.

Two days later, once the weather had improved a bit, we spent a whole day exploring the National Park. There is a small entry fee to pay online, and then it is very easy to follow the mostly sealed roads to the various sites. Stenhouse Bay has a jetty, built to export Gypsum in years gone by. From there we just followed the road to the many sites, all of which have fantastic pathways and wooden staircases for easy access. The most southerly point is Cape Spencer, where a lighthouse stands. There have been many shipwrecks along this treacherous piece of coastline. From here, you can see across to Kangaroo Island in the distance, plus there are many more small islands as well. At beautiful Ethel Beach, you can still see the rusted remains of the

Lots of fishing shacks.

Wreck of the Ethel.

Ethel rotting away on the sand. The beach itself is spectacular, as were the beaches at West Cape and Pandalowie Bay. We stopped by a small lake at Inneston to have our picnic lunch. This small town is just the remains of the town that was built to support the mining. The buildings have been restored and are available for rental accommodation through the National Parks office. Our drive ended at Browns Beach, which was the least spectacular but most accessible. This day had been a highlight of our trip to the YP, and was really what we had expected the entire region to be. These were the photos used in the travel brochures!!

Pandalowie Bay.

Stenhouse Bay.

So, our visit to the Yorke Peninsula was at an end. We had again proved to ourselves that we need to spend time exploring, to enjoy and understand all that a region has to offer.  Tourism here is fishing driven, and the tourism beach culture we enjoy and had expected to find here, is very much in its infancy. The Government investment in infrastructure to support recreational fishing is enormous, and evidence of how much they expect the region to expand. I'm not sure we will be back to check!! 

WWi Aviator, Harry Butler.

Harry's plane plus a model.

One last treat as we headed back to civilisation was a stop in the small inland town of Minlaton, a well kept little rural community, with a wide street where a green median strip and flower beds were a vast contrast to the brown landscape all around town!  The town had its own Red Baron flying ace back in WW1, and they have a great memorial to honor Harry Butler. His red plane has been restored and is held in a pavilion along with a bronze statue and the history of his wartime and aviation exploits on his return. Like many of our earliest aviators, he died very young!! Aside from Harry, Minlaton also has a great Chocolate Shop and a very nice bakery, where we treated ourselves one last time!!