Pom Gone Walkabout

 A website of stories, fun, travel and
 adventure.

  The Yorke Peninsula
 

 Our time in South Australia was coming to an end thanks to the mentality of some people in Woop Woop. But surely there is no better way to get over them than to spend a few days on the beautiful Yorke Peninsula.
Banjo our Lab certainly thinks so. Take a look at the picture above! A Labrador airborne, he's no Whippet and it's no mean feat either for a Lab or for me the photographer to capture such a moment. Not built for speed are Labradors, but "Baby we were born to run." (Bruce Springsteen)
Living out in the desert you get used to the hot dry weather so a few days spent by the sea is a bit of a novelty for us. A long journey lay ahead of us almost 800km, in a Defender! The scenery out front would change the further we travelled south as we exchanged the outback for the sea. Making our way through the Flinders ranges a family of Emus with their chicks ran incoherent like by the side of the road. Wedge tailed eagles the masters of the Australian skies either soared overhead or stood resilient on top of road kill, almost too heavy to take off.  Sadly all to soon this life would be left far behind, not just for this trip but for the immediate future. I much prefer the red sand of the outback to the golden sandy beaches.
Our visit to the Yorke completes the Hat trick for us as we have now visited all three peninsula's of South Australia. The other two are the Fleurieu and the Eyre. Will we ever forget the Eyre? Especially one particular campsite that will remain nameless! The owners were so obsessed that they came round and gave everyone a piece of shade cloth to put underneath their tables and chairs! Apparently the chairs and tables were ruining the grass! I daren't move off it for fear of retribution. Banjo apparently was also barking too much and if he didn't stop we were told that we would have to move on and make alternative arrangements. It was apparently a dog friendly campsite! So not giving them the owners the chance we moved on anyway. Such a shame because we had stayed there before with no problems. The owners were new then so maybe a year into the job they were feeling the strain? Maybe the grass wasn't so green after all?
So I have mixed feelings about the Eyre Peninsula, beautiful scenery, but it was also here where it took two dentists to sort out one very painful toothache which resulted in an extraction. But it was also here that I listened to England regain the Ashes on a transistor radio in the middle of the night. I also had a job interview in a public phone box whilst staying at Coffin Bay. I'm no Superman so didn't get the job, I ran out of change.
 I was so impressed with the Fleurieu that I wanted to sell up and buy a house in Port Elliot.
Anyway back to the Yorke Peninsula. Lovely coastline and small fishing towns. Locals launching their boats with the aid of ancient tractors A laid back lifestyle far removed from the stress of modern day living. The fishing is good too. This Fisho in the yellow shirt was so laid back he almost fell off the pier. The English nurse is reading the local brochure to me...

The campsite at Corny point where we were staying was clean and the management friendly. They didn't mind at all when we set up our chairs and table on their grass. Didn't wince when I hammered a few pegs into the ground either. They even shared their freshly caught fish, cheap at half the price. I have one complaint and it concerns the noisy pair of drunken barstewards camped opposite. Two dad's away for the long weekend with both their young sons. Their music was so loud, the language foul and you should have heard the fathers! Luckily for us both Father and sons buggered off on Sunday.

I told you previously that I preferred my camping to be remote.
 I get a little claustrophobic holed up in the middle of a campsite and get dizzy from all the kids riding round and round in circles on their bikes. But with the tent up, the English nurse was putting the new four burner stove of the camper trailer to good use. She's quite an expert at cooking Thai food. Chilli chicken basil, a bottle of cold crisp Chardonnay thanks to the Engel. Perfect, all is well with the world. Banjo, fed and contented lies asleep beneath the trailer. We didn't need much rocking that night. Next morning we woke to perfect blue skies, January 26th Australia day. Aussie flags strewn to car aerials, their owners towing boats to the local ramp ready for a days fishing. But for us its a breakfast of beans and eggs, washup then out in the Defender exploring the coastline and beaches. There's some quite amazing scenery. The manager of the campsite said to us "If you do nothing else whilst here make sure you visit Daly Head" We followed his advice. He was right. I've never seen a view quite like it and that's coming from me, someone who prefers the outback to the sea. The view from Daly Head! Well you will just have to go and see for yourself! The view from the cliff top! Absolutely amazing, breath taking. A pristine long beach and amazing rollers.
 My photo doesn't quite do it justice
It's a bit of a walk down to the beach along boardwalk stairs but well worth the effort and there's a cafe halfway down in case you need a rest and a coffee. (I'm fibbing) But I tell you what after you've made it down, down, down, down to the beach and back up, up, up, gasp! Up again you need something.  So we drove over to Marion Bay for a beer and a wood fired pizza! One beer two beers! The English nurse had already kindly volunteered to drive back to the campsite, but via the beach to give Banjo a run. There was a lady on the beach with her two Labs, a bitch and a male dog, yellow and black. The bitch was pleased to see Banjo, her male dog wasn't. He was growling like mad at Banjo. "Oh dear has he been done, your Dog? This is his bitch and he gets a bit upset!" "No he hasn't been done!" Now this is a question that we seem to get asked a lot especially when other dog owners see Banjo pulling us like mad, straining for all he's worth on the end of his lead. It's  a shame we can't somehow harvest the energy, cut down on our electricity. Kill Greenhouse gases stone dead. The whole world could be powered by Labradors! I feel like answering their question "Listen love you're bloody ugly I really hope you've been done!" But I'm too polite and say not yet.

Its quite a nice sunset as we walk along the beach, the perfect end to a perfect day. What could be better? Once back at the campsite, the two fathers and sons are playing very loud techo music from their car stereo. They must be the only one's that can't hear it because they've  opened the doors of their Ute. Camped next to them are a young couple with a baby. Sod me! Even they've got music blasting from their car radio. One of the techno fathers, pissed decides to switch stations to some easy listening shite, maybe for my benefit I'm not sure? Then leaving their two kids to bed down in the back of the Ute they switch the radio off and retire up the road to the pub. The language coming from the Ute. I'm  quite certain that the young lads can look after themselves whilst Daddy's get even more pissed. The kids are playing some sort of violent psychopathic computer game on a laptop, both swearing like troopers *$#@! &*$@* I stare across and give them a knowing sort of look...

 "Blow it up yer arse mate!"