8/10/21 Looking Around: Kiana Park to Port Lincoln.

I'm pleased to report that Roger survived the night with suitable resilience. We woke to find a hundred (not literally, I didn't count them) mosquitoes trapped between the tent inner and the fly, rendered torpid by the cold morning. Callously, we packed up the tent with them still in it and hoped that they were squashed to oblivion.

It was a very cold morning.  Even the little birds were all puffed up and too busy trying to keep warm to fly away.

Morning wheatfields: Kiana Park.

Not far from Lake Hamilton and Kiana Park is the Cummings Memorial, at the top of these rugged cliffs.  It commemorates Mr Cummings, who lost his life here while crayfishing.  The untold hero of the whole story is a young fella called Barry who, when the cray boat capsized got himself to shore, then went back in and rescued his Dad; then went back in and tried really hard to rescue Cummings, but couldn't; then was an integral part of the search and rescue effort that followed.  They're tough, those cray fishermen.

 

We lunched at Coffin Bay, on the trendy end of the Eyre Peninsula. The bay is large and shallow, the waters placid when we were there. We were merely conducting reconnaissance for our return later in the week.

Sandhills on the horizon, coming in to Coffin Bay.

The jetty at Coffin Bay township.  A local lady told us that seals regularly come and bask on the end of the jetty, and are splendidly unworried by humans passing by. Now I have high expectations for seal sightings when I'm here next week.

The bike shop in Port Lincoln replaced my tyre in less time than it took for me to walk out, get in the car, and drive a block toward the caravan park. It's not the tyre I'd have by choice, but it's an intact tyre which is entirely better than one that has a hole in it.

Once settled in the Port Lincoln Caravan Park we went for a short ride along the Parnkalla Trail into town. Port Lincoln has a large wheat storage and loading facility right next to the town centre and foreshore, shades of Whyalla without the whole iron ore/smelter side of things, and the trail goes right through/around it.

Port Lincoln jetty and wheat loading facility.  And in the fore ground, the latest fashion in magpie deterrent helmet tape.

The wheat conveyer belt is a beautiful shade of aquamarine, in fine keeping with the marine environment.

Action cyclist past the wheat silos.

Port Lincoln foreshore.

On the way back into the caravan park we spied a bicycle tourist setting up camp under a shady tree. Oh excitement! We immediately interrupted the poor man and badgered him with questions about his trip, his gear, and his bike, all of which he patiently answered. It transpired that in the time we've been lollygagging around Queensland, the NT, and SA, Tim the Tourer has ridden his bicycle from central Qld to Port Lincoln via Cairns, Karumba, Booraloola, Halls Creek, the coast of WA, and the Nullarbor. And he still considers himself a novice! Awed, we left him to continue setting up his camp and went on with our evening routine which ended up (again) being built around minimising our exposure to mosquitoes. 

After sweeping all these perfectly pressed and preserved mosquitoes out of the tent when we set up, we ushered in a new lot this evening.  Ah well, I'm told it's good to have pets.