Yorke Peninsula

Looking at the map the distance from Adelaide to the base of the Yorke Peninsula would only take three hours to complete, I had two options in mind depending on timing and how our day was progressing. First option was to be Ardrossan, at the northern end of the Peninsular it sounded attractive in the brochures for its fishing and an untried to us catch of blue swimmer crabs.
Arriving in Ardrossan we checked out the caravan park and the jetty which all looked nice but as it was early we made a quick call to the Edithburgh Caravan Park further south and our option two. Edithburgh is a small township at the southern end of the Peninsular, my thoughts were we could base ourselves there and cover the region without needing to setup and packup each day. The park was offering a special price for the week and included the kids so decision made we went straight to Edithburgh and checked in at the park for the next seven nights.

Edithburgh has two pubs, a couple of takeaways and cafe/restaurant all servicing a population of around 400 people, the town appears to be limbo as some of the businesses have closed yet a new housing development is taking shape on the outskirts of town. Further out from town is a large wind farm Wattle Point, opened in 2005 it was Australia's largest at 91megawatts and consists of 55 turbines at a cost of $180million.
There is a great play area for the kids and a nice ocean swimming pool so you can take a dip without fear of being the next sharks lunch. That brings me to one thing that is prevalent on all of these peninsulas and you have to be wary of, Great White Sharks are known for inhabiting the waters off the coast, in fact only a few weeks earlier a spear fisherman was taken by a shark not fare out of Edithburgh so getting us in the water snorkelling was going to be an issue despite the beautiful clear waters around us. Our days here were spent catching up with school, fishing off the jetty for squid and taking drives around the local area.

At the very bottom of the Yorke Peninsular there is Innes National Park, throughout the park are viewing points out to sea where many ships have come to grief on the rocks over the years, at one point you can see two shipwrecks of the Ferret and The Ethel which ran aground in 1904. Also in the park you can find the old Inneston village, this is an abandoned gypsum mining town which once was called home to around 200 people whose only link to the outside world was via ship.

Another interesting point is at West Cape, taking a short walk you come to a look out with 360 degree views of the surrounding Althorpe Islands conservation park, from this position you can see five working lighthouses it would make for a good view after dark.

 

 

When it was time to leave Edithburgh we travelled out through Yorketown, Port Victoria and Walleroo, as the kids had some school work being sent to Port Augusta we did not want to go past there until needed so pulled in at a free camp in the small town of Alford. The place to camp is in the old school grounds and is run by donations from those staying, the school was closed in 2004 and around the same time most the local businesses also closed their doors. All that remains is the bowling club, the pub which is due to reopen in April 2014 and the tennis club which still operates, such a shame to see these small towns die off but a sign of the times with everyone wanting to be close to the major centres in this case Kadina.
Still having no joy knowing where the kids mail was or when it would reach Augusta we needed to find somewhere to spend the weekend, but where were we to go?, until next time.