Arrived in Coffin Bay on Thursday afternoon but had a look around the town today, including a journey down to the Coffin Bay National Park which has a pretty spectacular coast line. Whilst the photos don’t show it, it was very windy but it did create some speccy photos with the waves crashing into the shore. Huge sand dunes also along the coast here.

After Tumby Bay it was onto Port Lincoln, which is the largest town of the Eyre Peninsula. Large enough to have cruise ships berth in the town. Sixteen ships are expected to berth this year and 20 next year, so Port Lincoln is getting to be a hotspot for Cruise ships in the southern ocean. Another big “fishing” town on the Peninsula with cage diving with Great White “Sharks” a big drawcard.

From Arno bay we travelled to down to Tumby Bay for brunch and a look around. It was another great seaside town and we could have stayed here there for a number of days but unfortunately we were on the move so we only had time for a quick look around, morning tea and a Hair cut for Susan . Hopefully one day we’ll be back.

We’ve been on the road now for 1 month, so I’ve attached a photo of our travels so far, (including Tassie late last year).

We’ve been in Arno bay for a couple of days now and fortunately its been warmer weather, I’ve been able to wear shorts for the last few days. Susan managed to get out fishing and whilst she didn’t catch anything on the first day she did manage to catch 2 Whiting today but unfortunately they were undersized and had to go back in. We travelled about 35 k’s south of Arno bay today to visit Port Neill, another small seaside town on the Eyre Peninsula. As we’ve become accustomed to on this trip, we walked on the jetty and then had a walk along the beach, then off to the Pub for lunch and a drink!

On the way back into Arno bay we discovered they had a Golf Course. I won’t do Ray’s CRAPP here as I didn’t play the course but when you see the photo below you’ll understand why. I think the course caretaker has been on extended leave!

We leave tomorrow to go to Coffin Bay via Port Lincoln, basically the bottom of the Eyre Peninsula. We’ll catch up with Steve and Vicki James. Really forward to doing a bit of travelling with them.

We weren’t sorry to say goodbye to Port Germein today, it was just a little bit quiet for us. From Port Germein it was a left turn up Highway 1 to Port Augusta. We visited Port Augusta last year when we came over to the Flinders Ranges, so we didn’t stop, just continued on to Whyalla and had lunch there. Being a public holiday there was very little open so it was a quick bite in the local shopping centre then off again. Once you do the turn at Port Augusta you are basically on the edge of the outback, so its red soil onwards for the next 6 or so months. Basically from Whyalla you are on the Eyre Peninsula, so we headed south to Arno Bay which is about half way between Whyalla and Port Lincoln on the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula. We stopped at Cowell about 50 km’s north of Arno Bay for some more silo art, there are truly gifted artists showing their talents on old silos all over the country. Finally arriving into a windy Arno Bay. Our site in the park has a good view of the jetty and beach, Susan is going to go fishing tomorrow and endeavour to catch us something for dinner. Me, I’ll relax, as I’m still stressed from the excitement at Port Germein. What was very pleasing was the crabs served up at Happy Hour tonight by the owner of the park, by far the best crabs I have ever had. There is something different every night at happy hour so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s edition, with a Bundy in hand (of course)!

Well from Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills we travelled up to Port Germein via Adelaide City and Port Wakefield. It was the long weekend in SA and we expected Port Germein to be rocking but what we got was totally different. It was very quiet, even with the caravan park full. The most exciting thing in Port Germein was watching the grass grow but then I would be lying as there is no grass in Port Germein. Happy hour each day was good, having a drink with other “bored” patrons. We did walk out along the jetty each day, its the longest wooden jetty in Australia at nearly 1.7 km’s long, so we did get some exercise! Went into Port Pirie on the Saturday as the excitement in Port Germein go to much for us. Just look at the photo of the Main Street during peak hour below, you’ll get an idea! If you want to get away from everything and have a quiet time then Port Germein is the place to go!

Hi all! Sorry for not posting recently but we’ve had internet problems since last Thursday, so I’m going to go back over what’s happened since then.

We spent our last day in the Adelaide Hills @ Mt Lofty (which overlooks Adelaide) and Hahndorf, an historical German village in the Hills. We finished the day off at the Hahndorf Inn for dinner with Briony, Ian and their daughter Eve. It was a great way to finish our stay in “Adelaide”.

Travelled to Mount Barker from Robe yesterday, travelling thru the Coorong National Park which is on the south east coast of South Australia. Visited Strathalbyn, which is a lovely historic town and Goolwa today.

Last full day in Robe, as we head to Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills tomorrow. It was a very wet and windy last night and pretty cool today, although we did see some sunny patches. Did a bit of sightseeing but our main task today was to pull apart our ensuite on the van as our washing machine was leaking water. After disassembling the surrounds of the machine and pulling it out I discovered the exit hose had come away from the pump in the machine. It ended up a fairly quick fix but the re-installation and re-assembling took some time. Anyway it was good to get a quick fix and not have to get outside help. Finished off the day with a good meal at the Caledonian Inn in town. We’ve enjoyed our time here although surprised at the temperature, really hoping for some beach weather. It looks like we are going to miss out on a ocean swim until much later in the tour, although saltie’s and other nasties might impact that as well.

Well it’s another Ray’s CRAPP for those that are interested. Played in a social 4BBB at Robe Golf Club today. I was teamed up with a young local player and we managed to win the comp with 46 points. Prizes were pretty impressive with 6 Pro V1 golf balls, 2 pair of FJ socks and a golf drink bottle each as winners, very happy.

The golf course is basically in 2, the old 6 holes that you see when you come to the club and the newer 12 holes (with the final 3 opening in November last year). The new holes are magic set amongst the large sand dunes and are on par with what you will see on the Mornington Peninsula courses. Unfortunately the old holes are suffering big time in comparison. The club has future plans and is well cashed up so I expect Robe to become an absolute gem in the next 5 to 10 years.

So Ray’s CRAPP is:

Design: 13 out of 20

Condition: 10 out of 20 (mainly due to the front 6 holes)

Cost: 15 out of 20

Visual Appeal: 10 out of 20 (once again because of the first 6 holes but see the photo below of the 9th hole, re the new holes)

Facilities: 8 out of 10

Ambience/Appeal: 9 out of 10 (I really like this club it was so welcoming and friendly)

Total Score: 65