Did a ton of driving after leaving Coober Pedy. I had about 8 hours to get in before I arrived at Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park. My plan was to hang out in Coober Pedy for a bit and then leave later in the morning. But I woke up at sunrise and nothing was really open until 10 o’clock. I came and I saw what I wanted to see. What was I going to stay in town for? To go into an underground house? I really wasn’t too bothered so I got on the road earlier than expected.
I stopped off in Port Augusta and took a drive through the botanical garden. It’s a bit different than most botanic gardens because the land is very arid. Different types of plants grow here. There was a look-out point with a good view of the Flinders ranges.
From there I stopped off at a small town called Ardrossan, halfway into my Yorke Peninsula drive. The towns here are really small but there are a ton of them scattered here and there. I would say that most of the land consists of farms for wheat and barley. It used to be a place where a lot of mining was done but that’s not the case anymore.
The drive down was quite beautiful. Right down the coast the whole way. I eventually reached the Wattle Point campground at around 8 o’clock. I was greeted by a few Aussie men when I arrived. They were older than me. One was in his early 50s and the other was in his 70s. Really nice guys though. I shot the shit with them for about an hour and then went to bed. I was exhausted from all the driving and I wanted to get up for sunrise in the morning.
I planned on camping on the east side of the peninsula the first night and then the west side the second night. That way I could wake up and see the sunrise and then see the sunset over the water on the same day.
I woke up around 4:30 and made my way to the park. I still had a ways to go – about an hour drive. I made a beeline for the lighthouse at Cape Spencer, the most southeast point of the park. The sunrise was really beautiful and the spot was even better. I just chilled out and played ukulele watching the sun make its way over the horizon.
From there I went to Inneston, which is an abandoned town in the middle of the park. They used to mine material used to make concrete but that was shut down in the early 1900s. Now there’s just a bunch of abandoned buildings around the park. It was cool to learn about the history of the settlement.
The park is set up nicely for cars. You just drive along the coast from east to west and it’s easy stop off at all the major points of interest. Next up was Ethel Bay. There is a shipwreck on the beach here. The best part about this spot was the cliffs. You have to walk down about 150 feet from the car park and the beach is surrounded by cliff faces that tall. They were towering over the beach and it made for some insane views.
I walked down the beach and watched some of the surfers in the water. The waves here were absolutely gargantuan. Probably some of the biggest surf waves I’ve seen between Australia and Hawaii. These guys were good. Though I’d see the occasional wipe out which was quite enjoyable, I’ll admit.
From there off to the west side of the park. I did a small walk to the lighthouse there and again the views were absolutely stunning. Sat down in the shade and made some friends with a few lizards. They are called Slow Lizards and that is a very appropriate name because they are not very fast. They like orange slices too.
By this time the sun was irresistible and it was time for a swim. Good thing that the next few stops were all beaches. I stopped off at a few and took a couple of swims. The water here is just so clear. You would think you were in the Carribean if no one told you that you were in Australia. And all the little islands that littered the horizon made for a really cool experience.
From there not much else happened. I drove north and stopped off at a few lookout spots. All very beautiful. Stopped into a few towns but as I said before, they were all very small, and there wasn’t much worth checking out.
That night I camped near the beach on the west side. The first campsite I went to was all full which ended up being a good thing becuase the next one happened to be even better. The sunset wasn’t all that great but it was still a nice place to spend the night.