Streaky Bay

Early morning surf at Port Elliston

Perhaps it is our prairie roots that draw us to the sea.  Both Enid and I, like the prairie boys that joined the navy in large numbers during World War II, find it fascinating to watch.  Maybe it is in part the huge vista that is what we enjoy, blue sky stretching to the horizon in all directions, so like the blue overhead on the prairies .  We certainly enjoyed todays travel along the Eyre Peninsula as it joins the wide open ocean of the Great Australian Bight, taking short side trips of a few kilometers to go to the ocean edge where high cliffs of limestone meet the sandy soil of the desert.

Early this morning I walked to a point about two kilometres from our campspot.  High above the ocean on the cliffs I watched as the sun rose creating pink streaks of foam on the churning surf below.  Waves crashed into the jagged rocks of the cliffs where reefs along the bottom edge churned the blue-green water into white foam.  I had planned to try and video tape some sea birds; however, there weren’t any very interesting ones, so instead I spent an hour filming and photographing the surf.

After breakfast we left and drove along the Great Ocean tourist drive, a loop of about 12 kilometres outside Elliston.  There are more spectacular cliffs, a bay where they surf on the huge incoming swells, and every so often sculptures which they’ve erected on the cliffs.  Some where whimsical, like a pair of flip-flops and a surfer carrying his board on a bicycle; a pole with carved salmon; replicas of the Easter Island heads; and others that we didn’t stop to look at too closely.

There is a self serve bread stand at Colton (which appears to be a house, and a church, and that’s all).  We bought some fresh bread and rolls, putting the money into the honesty box there.  They bake the bread daily, and it is an interesting way of marketing it.  There would have been about a dozen loaves of bread in the stand, and a few bags of rolls.

Following that we drove in to the Talia caves, which are sea caves carved into the limestone cliffs.  The largest cave is “The Woolshed”.  When we arrived there were quite a large number of tourists there.  They didn’t stay long, and soon we were by ourselves, and we stayed and watched the ocean surf for almost half an hour.  We then drove on to “The Tub” which is a large sinkhole that has collapsed.  About 30 metres wide and half that deep, it has an opening to the ocean where the tide comes in at very high tides.  When we were there it was empty, but we didn’t climb down in, although you can.  We ate our dinner here and once again watched the ocean.

We stopped tonight at the small town of “Streaky Bay”.  It is very hot here tonight, which is a real change from the last several days.  We are on a bay, but it is very sheltered from the main ocean, and so it is almost as if we are several kilometers inland.  We don’t have the nice cool breeze here off the southern ocean.  In fact Enid went down to the water, which is only 50 metres away, and found that it was far too hot to swim in.  Moreover, this is a fishing area, and they clean the fish at a table near the water, so there are many seabirds on the water.  The very large pelicans have been conditioned to come in to the cleaning station whenever they see a person approaching the area with a basket.

Sand dunes at Talia Caves

When we got here today I spent several hours editing the photographs I’d taken today.  I am too fascinated by the waves and took too many pictures!  I find it hard to photograph the Australian landscape.  It is so big.  Like photographing the prairies, the view never ends, so I find myself taking large panoramas and stiching them together.  It is easier to videotape, for then at least you can pan.  In any case, I’ve uploaded lots more pictures, so feel free to view them if you have time at www.digipac.ca/pictures.