Whyalla

[pim]

Just arrived in Whyalla and can definitely confirm that Whyalla is still there! Somebody should inform Barnaby Joyce

[ponto]

Have been to Port Pirie....which is near Whyalla.

[pim]

About 170km by road if you drive via Port Augusta over the top of Spencer Gulf. A lot closer if you take the ferry across the Gulf - about 2 hours if you're prepared to fork out $160 per vehicle.

I've driven through Port Pirie a few times but never stayed overnight. The kids there have high lead content in their blood because of the lead smelter. I've always thought of Port Pirie as a bit of a Struggletown.

[ponto]

It was a Sunday and just stopped for awhile at Port Pirie, nice old buildings in the main street, nothing open as such so we looked then moved on to Port Augusta, then onto Woomera and spent the night at Lake Hart rest area, lake itself was interesting.

Arrived there just on dusk couldn't see the lake very clear, looked grey in the evening light, Being a early riser I woke in the morn to see the lake from the rest area had a blueish tinge that looked like water, leaving the wife sleeping in the van I decided go down and paddle the feet thinking it would be shallow...only to find it was a salt lake with no water at all just a optical illusion. Well none the less while there had a look around at the old abandoned salt mining activity, small scale rail tracks and then spotted a single star picket way out in the center of the lake with a small sign on it, so off I go to investigate, also not realising things off in the distance are further away than you think so after about an hour I got to the sign which read..."keep out military lasers used in this area" ....great I thought walked all that way to be told to keep out...by this time 8am the sun was up and starting to to get uncomfortably hot, by the time I had got back to the van it was really hot and I parched....told the wife about my Lake experience and she said hey I wouldn't mind looking at that....my reaction was...fuck that not going out there again in this heat, you can die out there....she was a bit disappointed but I had brought back a large salt crystal and said here go its all like that....salty and crystally...and hot.

At the time, time was running out and we were aiming for the red center. Next time around will have more time to spend at different places to be sure so much to see and explore.

[pim]

These old working class towns have a certain dignity to them. I used to see it in Newcastle when I lived there years ago: home-owning working class, modest houses well-maintained with their little gardens. Whyalla is like that.

You've got one on me there Ponto. I've never been to Woomera. It's on my list of places in South Australia to visit. I have been up the Flinders Ranges as far north as Arkaroola (stunning! As magnificent as the Pyramids in my opinion) and on this trip I'm heading west to Streaky Bay and Ceduna.

What I haven't done yet is to travel by road up through Roxby Downs and Coober Pedy up to the Alice. <sigh> one day ...

It's the desert landscapes that blow me away here. I'm still a boy from NSW who grew up on the NSW north coast and spent his working life with the NSW south coast as the playground (Canberra-on-sea). Forests of gum trees, wildlife ... all wonderful of course and I love it all but it's familiar. But SA is mostly desert and when you venture out into it the landscapes are truly awe-inspiring. Those ochre-red colours with all their shades. And the sense of space!

Anyhow, I'm supposed to be a tourist instead of a discussion board couch potato. Time to wear out some shoe leather.

[ponto]

One day hope to venture on the western side of the Spencer Gulf...a must return.

[pim]

Sadly, if this article in the Conversation is correct, Barnaby’s prediction of the demise of Whyalla might come to pass. But not for the reasons he said ...

theconversation.com/diminishing-city-hope-despair-and-whyalla-69988

[ponto]

Make Whyalla a surf mecca...somehow.

[caskur]

Mar 15, 2021 17:49:59 GMT 10 ponto said:

Make Whyalla a surf mecca...somehow.

Use google earthmaps to view Whyalla..they have great pictures as well... it boasts cuttlefish and dolphins.

[ponto]

Chinese surfer tourism...way to go Whyalla...

[pim]

It's where you can come the raw prawn.

[ponto]

Nice big prawn...though I am finding these day's prawns excessively salty, spoils the taste.




.

[pim]

One of the things that struck me about Adelaide when I moved there was the quality of its seafood. Adelaide fish markets have the rich pickings of the Southern Ocean as well as Spencer's Gulf and Gulf St Vincent to draw their product from.

The prawns on offer in Adelaide are sourced from Spencer's Gulf and they are wonderful.

The other seafood product, but it's more from around Port Lincoln and Coffin Bay, is oysters. Problem for me is I don't like oysters! I think it's the texture. If it lives in a shell and clings to a rock I tend to gag if I have to eat it. There was a very bad experience I had with a seafood paella in Spain as a young guy. I ended up being spectacularly sick heaving my guts up all night. It was gross. I haven't come near shellfish ever since.

However I acknowledge that oysters have a big following and millions love to eat them. Among those afficionados oysters from Port Lincoln are especially prized.

[ponto]

Pacific oysters are bigger than the Sydney Rock oyster as for myself prefer the Sydney Rock variety for flavour and texture...chilled watermelon and lime oysters or oysters topped with a thin slice of salmon, philly cream cheese and topped with caviar ....bit of alright.

Never had a bad oyster, basic rule of thumb is if they don't smell like the ocean, then don't eat em.

[pim]

I’m in Coffin Bay. I dunno why Matthew Flinders chose a name like “Coffin Bay” . A bit of dark humour perhaps? It’s renowned for its oysters








This is a Coffin Bay king oyster

[ponto]

Nambucca River rock oysters are also tasty suckers...

coastbeat.com.au/tasty-river-treasures/#:~:text=Sydney%20rock%20oysters%20are%20world%20renowned%20for%20their,you%20will%20ever%20have%20the%20pleasure%20to%20devour.

[pim]

Ignore the driving times given on the map. The road is the B100 and it’s a good sealed road. The drive from Whyalla to Port Lincoln is a doddle these days

[pim]

I just listened to this podcast on Whyalla. Ironic when you consider I was there yesterday ....

7ampodcast.com.au/episodes/the-billionaire-who-went-bust-and-the-town-on-the-brink

[ponto]

Whyalla is boom and bust...boom and bust...and so on....hopefully good times ahead.

Hope your having good weather on your sojourn....

[pim]

Where the hell is Elliston? It’s 160km west of Coffin Bay as the southern Australian coastline curves north west at the beginning of the Great Australian Bight. A pristine environment. I had to stop at a location called Lock’s Well and this is what I saw ...



Elliston is a tiny place in the middle of nowhere on the southern ocean coastline, but if “nowhere” equals “stunning” then I don’t want to go anywhere!

[ponto]

Gotta see that one day...meanwhile pissin' down with rain here.

[pim]

Mar 17, 2021 7:04:24 GMT 10 ponto said:

Nambucca River rock oysters are also tasty suckers...

coastbeat.com.au/tasty-river-treasures/#:~:text=Sydney%20rock%20oysters%20are%20world%20renowned%20for%20their,you%20will%20ever%20have%20the%20pleasure%20to%20devour.

Not so sure I’d want to be in Nambucca Heads right now ...



Or in Coffs ..

[caskur]

Warms my heart seeing all water... it stops the fire bugs in their tracks.

[ponto]

Photo's are of Stuart Island and a causeway over the Nambucca river looks more dramatic than it actually is...news looking for flooding...causeway goes under with king tides.

Not a good time for oysters.

Its been raining since before Christmas....it will be prolonged drought next.

[pim]

How are things at Valla Beach? Spent the Christmas holidays there with my parents when I was a kid.