A great Catch up, move on, and some issues!
Trip Start
Jan 22, 2011
1
18
65
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Port Lincoln tourist park
Port Lincoln, South Australia, Australia
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Dinner was great, the company even better, and the night was over way to fast really! Thanks Boof for your hospitality, and we really loved seeing you all again..
The next morning we packed up, as usual, and left Port Lincoln, heading north up the Eyre Peninsula along it's east coast (following the Spencer Gulf coastline really) and aimed to stop in at Tumby Bay for our morning tea. The kids tested out the playground, (of course) then we went for a stroll down the jetty, as you always get the best look at the bay and town from out there!
Tumby had been mentioned by a few fellow travellers as a cute place to stop, but it was certainly in the 'super-sleepy' category! My favourite thing about SA so far is all the really old buildings... al the pubs are cute, the small towns are mainly filled with ancient little houses that have been maintained over the years, and the best thing, is all the farm houses that look like they are the original homestead... yes please!
Moving on from Tumby, our luchtime destination was to be Arno Bay, but along the way our 4wd decided to have a few temperature issues! Oh help! The bitumen was about 50 degrees that day, and that combined with towing our 'fridge' (the van) and the aircon doing it's thing, it just kept getting hot. We got the windows down instead, and let the car cool completely at Arno while we had lunch under the jetty.. the only spot in the shade and out of the hot, howling, and yet somehow muggy, wind.
After the kids had a paddle, we set off for for Cowell, a slightly larger town, hoping to find a mechanic who could flush our radiator and check our thermostat. No. Not going to happen there, so continue driving (keeping it at a safe temp of course) through to Whyalla, but after ringing and visiting the appropriate mechanics, the best guy was found to be in Port Augusta, 100kms further along our path.
We decided to stay the night in a recommended free stay along the way at Point Lowly, which turned out to be quite popular, but our favourite spot so far! It was on a pebbled bay, with a boat ramp, and set out on the end of the point.
A massive refinery dominated the landscape to the north, with a pretty lighthouse to the south of us. The refinery was very pretty by night, and we all has a great time at the beach next to it.. the most perfect beach so far. Calm, clear, warm, no weed, no deep drop offs... the kids were in heaven, and as we were all to hot and lazy to go back to the van for bathers, Geoff and I just paddled, and the kids swam in their knickers! We chased little whiting around the rock pools and watched the tide come in (very fast!) before heading home for dinner.
It was scorching hot and super muggy, 30 degrees over night in the van! Thanks for the 12 volt fan idea Richie and Manda, we would not have survived without it!
There were the sweetest people at this site, we had some great chats with fellow travellers... We were so sad to have to leave, but our best chance to get the car fixed by the weekend was to get it to Port Augusta asap.. so bye Point Lowly! (tears.. )
... will keep you all posted
Love from Felicity and the rest of the Thommos xxx
Comments
OH wow looks like you all had a great time with your friends here they haven't changed a bit.Glad you could catch up with some familiar faces.Pheonix and willow i just love seeing you having fun on the beach and always seeing a great smile on your dile lol will chat on Skype soon i hope take care and love to everyone xxxxxx