Leaving Adelaide for the Yorke Peninsula is a dual carriage way delight all the way to Port Wakefield. A few klm futher on the Copper Coast Highway peels lazily away from Route 1that heads northwest to Port Augusta and beyond. At Federation Corner, the road divides, both paths winding down each side to meet at Yorketown, nestled in the heel of the peninsula. For those who can’t make up their mind, the rest area at Federation Corner includes facilities and plenty of parking for an overnight “let’s sleep on itâ€.
We decided to exit stage left and head down the Yorke Highway. This part of the world is wheat country and has been for over 150 years. Gentle undulating hills of gold stretching down to the deep blue waters of St Vincent Gulf. The east coast is dotted with small towns and villages but our first destination was the town of Ardrossan, home of the legendary stump-jump plough.
Every small village seems to have a caravan park, so accommodation is not a problem, but always on the lookout for a freebie, we landed just south of town at the Parara Bush Campground. This is situated on the beach and has room for up to 15 vans. It was late afternoon and all the good spots were long gone, but we squeezed in for an overnighter. There’s a single drop toilet and a que, depending on the time of day. The next morning we drove into Ardrossan for a look-see. The skyline is dominated by a huge grain storage facility and shipping wharf. The town itself is attractive with headland parks, boat ramp, shops and historical buildings. If your heading further down south, it’s the last but one stop for supermarket stock-ups.
We decided to hug the coast along the St Vincent Highway with the St Vincent Gulf always in view on our left. There are several small villages along the way, but far enough off the main road, that you tend to shrug your shoulders, and keep going. We did take one diversion to Port Giles to check out another grain facility and in the process discovered a large overnight parking area complete with ocean views just 100 metres away.
Our destination Edithburgh was only a few clicks further on and we spent the night in a parking area just up from the jetty. Tamika was desperate to drop a line. We’d heard that fish were attracted to the lights of the jetty at night, so we waited till after dark and strolled down to try our luck. We left an hour later empty handed and windblown but we were apparently in good company. By 11pm it was howling a gale (always the down side to ocean frontage on the Yorke Peninsula).
The next morning we fuelled up. Tamika bought some snorkelling gear from a great little water sports store. The shop assistant recommended we take the Trouebridge Scenic Drive on the way to our destination, Cable Bay Campground in the Dhiba Guuranda Innes National Park. Sure, why not ?
It’s easy to be misled by the tourist maps into thinking that the Troubridge Scenic Drive runs the length of the south coast. It is in fact a short but spectacular diversion that starts about 15klm southwest of Edithburgh and finishes about 10klm east of Port Modrowie. The important advice is how to get there without those nasty corrugations ruining a nice drive. This was something we learned the hard way. We abandoned our first attempt before we even got to the Scenic Drive. Negotiating the corrugations at an agonising 15klm for a distance unknown is no fun. Below is the much preferred route. This is definitely a leave your van somewhere excursion.
From Edithburgh head towards Yorketown and take a left down Goldsmith Beach Road. This will drop you out at the start of the Scenic Drive and avoids a bad stretch that runs parallel to the wind farm. The scenic drive itself is a mixed bag, but the views along the rugged coastline are worth it. It’s not often that you can walk to a cliffs edge and the prevailing head wind keeps you firmly planted on terra firma.
There are several beaches along the way including Kemps Bay and McEachens Beach at Port Modrowie. If you want the sand all to yourself, you’ll find it here. At the western end you’ll take a left onto Clan Randall Rd then another left onto Diamond Lake Road which becomes Boathill Station Rd. Take the first signpost to Yorketown then back to Edithburgh. The whole trip should take less than 2 hours.
After our first aborted attempt, we took the road more traveled to our ultimate destination, Cable Bay Beach Campground. We couldn’t help but notice every so often, an abandoned homestead, ruins of a small farm, probably bought out by an ambitious neighbour. The endless fields of wheat stubble threw these abandoned building into stark relief, like a postage stamp on the envelope of history.
After checking in at the National Park Centre at Stenhouse Bay (mainly for directions), we found the turnoff to our site for the next three nights. Now, website photos can be deceiving and the site measurements are definitely a guide only. When we pulled up in front of our allotted spot….”There has to be a mistake” we chorused. Tamika gingerly jumped out and said bravely, “I’ll guide you in.” More in hope than confidence I suspect. The site was wide, sure, ONCE you squeezed through the pencil thin opening to get in there. There was no room for error. Somehow, I jagged it at the first attempt. It was more good luck than good management, but of course I took all the lavish praise Tamika lauded me with.
The winds had followed us across the peninsula, but there was still plenty to see. We took a drive that afternoon along Marion Bay Road to check out potential fishing and snorkeling sites on the lee side of the peninsula and found a couple that we would go back to…..if the sun broke through anytime while we were there. Water was another issue we had to address. Not a lot of rain falls down that way, so water is a bit of a commodity that is not offered up freely. ….especially if they’ve removed the tap handles. Luckily, after a bit of sleuthing, we discovered a community hall at Marion Bay provided water for the tourists. They made you work hard for it though….hold the button down and a slow feed into the jerry can meant some cramping in the hand. Still, we were grateful for both the water and decent internet to catch up on the world and friends.
Next morning, the sun broke through and we headed back to Shell Beach for a bit of snorkeling. Tamika was keen to try out her new gear but a bit nervous about actually using it. She needn’t have worried. It only took a few minutes and she was having a ball. Shell Beach is quite pretty, protected from the wind and great to walk. There’s a great rock pool around the point. Unfortunately, we only found out about it after we had left. Oh well……
Caravaning is not always about seeing things and doin’ stuff. There’s a fair bit of lying around involved too. I believe it’s called relaxing, I read about it somewhere. For me, I have to work hard at not doing much. Luckily Tamika is a natural and she’s made it her life’s work to teach me all the skills required to transform Schedule Slave into Manyana Man. I’ve gotta say my resistance is crumbling. Early rises are now only for photo shoots. Sleep ins and brunches are becoming the new normal. Afternoon snoozes…WTF !! Cloudy days are more of a good excuse than a disappointment. When your time is your own and the choices are ALL good………
There are some things that will still get me out early. The historic village of Inneston was one of them. Thriving in the early 1900’s but a victim of the Great Depression, it could have just decayed back into the bush. But some astute restoration work by National Parks has resulted in a wonderful mix of what is and what was. The historic township walk is well signposted with helpful explanations at key points of interest. You can even stay in one of several restored cottages. It was my first abandoned township and I expect there will be a few more in our travels around Australia.
After three days we left Cable Beach and took the coast road heading back to Edithburgh. We’d heard how popular the jetty there was for underwater exploring so now both kitted up, we looked forward to a second go. Along the way we stopped overnight at Foul Bay, which despite it’s unfortunate name was a picture. Tamika had purchased a crabbing rake, which, for the bemused reader, is a device for annoying mud crabs enough that they grab onto it angrily only then to find themselves in a bucket with a very uncertain future. Foul Bay looked perfect. Big tides and plenty of sand. Tamika spent an hour disturbing and I followed dutifully with the bucket. All we caught was our own reflection in the shallow pools. A simple conversation with a local ancient mariner revealed that crabbing was in fact a pastime much further up the peninsula than where we were. Undaunted, we vowed to try again soon.
The next day we blew a tyre just out of Yorktown and decided we needed to replace both rear tyres. So, with Adelaide only a couple of hours away, we decided to head back to base . It wasn’t long however before we realized a blown tyre was the least of our our car troubles. Once the van was unhitched, a very expensive sounding noise started rumbling from underneath the Jeep. We were in trouble.