Whyalla

Leaving Port Lincoln we drove the scenic route again.  Firstly to Tumby Bay, then Arno Bay and finally Cowell Bay.  In Tumby Bay we watched a helicopter rescue.  It was a little far out to sea to really tell what was going on but it was a little dramatic anyway.  The town itself seemed like a really nice little place.  One would would stay at if we visited again.  Arno Bay was a nice enough town and then in Cowell Bay I finally picked up some amazing fresh oysters.  They were great.  I had them for lunch while the others ate pies and pasties.  They were so good I went back and got 3 dozen unshucked oysters to take with us.  $8 a dozen now that's just perfect.

There is a little guy hanging from the bottom of the helicopter.

Who's the naughty boy then?

This was to stop him sniffing.  We had had enough.

Whyalla is a port for exporting Iron Ore.  It reminded us of the Pilbara.  Red stained buildings and the back drop of iron ore works.  The Discovery Caravan Park was a welcome relief.  We had a foreshore spot overlooking the bay.  The Iron Ore ships on the horizon but a great grassed area for the kids to play on and a jumping pillow and playground to entertain them.  We had a lovely dinner on the first night in Whyalla of prawns, oyster and whiting that we picked up in our travels.  It was very yummy.  I was in seafood heaven.

Our tour of Whyalla began as a drive around the marina, foreshore area and then up to Hummock Hill.  It was the a lookout that had a 360 degrees view of the area.  We looked at the large old guns on site and read about the history the community of Whyalla played in the world wars.  It had some very nice views also.

Iron ore pier

Hummuck Hill

Hummock Hill Lookout

Marine and foreshore

From there we headed to the Whyalla Maritime Museum.  He we took a tour of a their mine sweeping ship.  Whyalla was responsible for many a ship in the war come out of its ship building yard.  'Whyalla' was particularly special as it was the first ever off the ship building line.  Now it took them ages to dry dock the ship because they brought it back inland by 2km.  A very unique task.  Wandering around the ship the kids enjoyed listening to the guide and learning new information.  I was very interesting.

After wandering around the ship we then head down the path to the museum.  We read about all the important things Whyalla did in war time and how they continued to build ships for oil companies also.  The had interesting displays on just about all the important parts of Whyalla history including fish and shark stuffed animals.  Yuck!  The main attraction that held all of our attention was the model railway that showed the entire areas rail network with the types of working trains that use it regularly.  It took us ages to work out how the track system ran and how empty trucks became full trucks.  It was very cool.

Empty

Full

The kids spent the afternoon with Nigel at the caravan park while I went in search of a photocopier and a photo processor.  This was a long task.  The photocopying was fairly easy but the photos took forever.  The machine kept breaking down, they had hundreds of photos to do and they just kept putting me on hold.  After speaking to them several time and explaining that we were heading out of Whyalla they pushed our job to the top of the list and finally I arrived back at the caravan with the letters and photos for the great grandmothers.  My that was a difficult task.

Nigel and I now decided to head to Hawker for a couple of days.  We had made up time so I suggest that we visit the Flinders Ranges.  Hawker is the gateway to the National Park so this is now where we are heading next.   Just a quick couple of nights.  We are looking forward to it.