We are currently at Elliston which is on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is situated on Waterloo Bay. The population of this small coastal town is just over 300, so as you can imagine, there is not that much here.
After getting the van set up we went for a quick look around the town and then went to check out one of the tourist trails overlooking the bay. We drove to the initial car park and then walked around the top of the clifftops. The views were just fantastic. Waterloo Bay has a bad reputation in the Maritime world as there had been numerous shipwrecks in times past. The photo of their version of the 12 Apostles, the 2 apostles, shows that the waves seem to be coming from 2 different directions.
The cliffs are probably 50 metres above the waterline and the rock faces look great. They are so weatherbeaten and craggy they are awesome. After walking along for a while you come across one area that is in its own inlet and is also covered in sand. It is its own lovely protected beach, totally out of character for the rest of the rugged coastline in this area.
On a previous blog we had Deb sitting on a rock formation, pretending to be the queen. I found another throne for her on these rock faces but she was unwilling to take up her seat. I can't understand why. There is also another rock face that I liken to a huge shark with its mouth open, but sadly I am the only one that can see it.
This coastline is a photographers paradise, but sadly the photos probably don't do it justice. Just the sheer power of the ocean on these rock faces, probably over millions of years, have turned them into a their own fantastic art works.
At the end of this drive we headed down to the Information centre to check out the artwork that adorns this area. The locals obviously take great pride in their town as these give it a character of their own. The front of the toilets has a great mural across it and in no way resembles a public convenience. I would hate to be busting to go because if you drove past it on the street you would probably keep going.
On the adjoining community centre/hall/information centre, you have murals painted on 3 walls and they all depict a different phase of the local history. The mural of the shearing shed is just so lifelike you almost feel like you are there. The other end of this mural depicts more of the farming nature of this area. The corner of the building depicts home life on the farm with the cart and windmill. They are all extremely well done.
The front of the building reminds you of a town scene straight out of the movies. A close up of the figures shows the extreme detail the artist went into. The side wall is more of the farming history of the area and the final wing of the mural is more to do with the original indigenous people looking out over the sea.
Even though the town has very few shops, they still manage to have murals on them. The pharmacy has some really cool murals on the side of the building as well as the front.
We then strolled across the road to check out a sculpture in the centre of the park area. It is thought provoking to say the least. You stand on one angle and maybe it is of 2 persons in an embrace, but then when you look from another angle it looks like just one man with a very large ##@#@ You be the judge.
The following morning we headed out to check the local area. We first went to Talia Caves which is about 40 k's away. The major cave here is Woolshed Cave and it fantastic. The geological look of this entire area is just fantastic. The area around the cave is of 2 totally different types of rock. You have the normal very rough craggy type of rock that we have come to expect from this area, as well as the really smooth type of rock that had a pinkish type of colouring.
Deb had her wind jacket on but I think she was still feeling the cold. I found a really awesome rock pool towards the ocean and I could see some fair size crabs in it. The pool was probably about 3 feet deep and of course I was concentrating on getting the best photo for everyones viewing pleasure, thus forgetting about the ocean. The next thing Deb is calling to me to watch out but of course it was too little, too late, and a wave washed over the rocks and I finished up with wet feet and the bottom of my trousers. It wasn't even a great photo either as the crabs refused to move when I was focussed on them. That's nature I suppose. I tried several more times to get that perfect 'crab' photo but the tide was coming in and my little rock pool was now a rock lake.
There are several other caves in this area, but none of them were as good as the first one. We then checked an area called The Tub. This is more of a sinkhole than a cave. It is fairly large, maybe 50 metres across and 25 metres deep. You can see where the ocean tries to get through but it must be partially blocked as not much water gets in. Hmmm maybe I should try to get down the ocean side and have a look.
We drove another 100 metres along and stopped for a look. There was a beautiful pinkish sloping rock that was being hammered by the ocean. It was probably about 50 metres down to the ocean so I plotted a bit of a course and clambered down. Note to self, the black colouring on the red rock is bloody slippery. I should have remembered from previous scrambling. Anyway I didn't fall in the ocean and got as close as I could to the entry to the sinkhole. I could see where the water rushed in but it came back out just as fast. Maybe they were right. There is a blockage there. Anyway I had to have a look.
Now it was back to try to work out how the bloody hell I got down here. As you can see, Deb is another world away, just looking down and thinking, why the hell didn't he leave the car keys with me. Good idea for next time just in case. It was tougher getting back up than it was getting down but it was worth the climb.
It is just incredible but a further 500 metres around from these awesome cliffs, they have a huge stretch of beachfront. Definitely not a beach for kids to swim, as the 2 metre waves smash almost on the shore. Thinking about it again, not a beach I would swim in either.
Enough of the caves now and it was back into Elliston to check out the tourist drive just out of town. It is a 12 km loop and it is fantastic. I know I am rambling on but the clifftops are just awe inspiring. Over the length of the drive you come across 4 separate sculptures that have been done by local artists. Three of them were pretty excellent but the tallest one had lost most of its fish and it was just a hunk of rock sticking up out of the ground.
Sorry to bore you but just a few more photos of these cliffs. We also came across another piece of art near the end. It was 2 x 5ft tall thongs that had been erected. Maybe not as spectacular as the sculptures, but definitely a cheeky bit of Aussie art.
The final bit of our holiday in Elliston is to head out to a small place called Lock Well. It was about 12 k's from town. This is the place that the serious fishermen go. We stayed up the top of the lookout as to get to the beach you had to go down a stairway that had several hundred stairs. The brave fishermen were down there fishing for salmon and it could be seen that they were doing fairly well. By this time of day it was windy and getting quite cold so it was back to the van for a restful night.
We are off tomorrow and heading to Streaky Bay. Sadly for you there are some great clifftop drives in that area as well. We will probably save you the pain of looking at more of the same but, then again, we will have to wait and see.
That's all for now.
Barry and Deb.
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