Wilpena to Marion Bay: 23rd -
We ended up spending 8 days at Wilpena doing several walks and the big one of 19 kls that smartened us up, it was a very restful and peaceful time and I managed to knock out a couple of paintings. It felt good to take up arms again although one day I was parked 6metres off the roadway amongst the weeds that had recently been tractor slashed, painting a magnificent gum tree (on canvas not the tree Brett), a young Parks Ranger pulled up in his 4wd and informed me in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t allowed to drive off road other people would follow and damage the flora (slashed weeds), although I felt that I was probably doing more good than harm, I kept my thoughts to myself and obligingly relocated. Unfortunately before I was completely re-organised the wind got up and my easel blew over, the palette of fresh paint splatting onto the gravel naturally wet side down, I caught the easel so ended with plenty of paint on myself. Perhaps I wouldn’t have been so polite if the young w***er had driven up then.
Heading for the York Peninsula:
Departure day from Wilpena was 23rd Nov, we had a good run to Port Augusta enjoying a tail wind for a change and stopping for a look around in the quaint old town of Quorn (corn) on the way down and where Nancy picked up a couple of the best Tee bone steaks I have ever eaten (she’s got a thing about butchers shops). Port Augusta we picked up new Visa cards, replacing the ones cancelled after someone lost hers last time we were in the city. Then of course the obligatory shopping to replace depleting stocks.
Our stop over for the night was Port Broughton on the York Peninsula, the temp when we arrived was 37C. The drive to Port Broughton was quite scenic alongside the southern Flinders Ranges through kilometres of fields of barley being harvested quaint old towns with beautiful old cottages and homes.
Wednesday 24th we awoke to rain, overcast conditions and quite cold, our destination was Marion Bay at the base of the York Peninsula and once again we travelled through grain growing areas where harvesting was in top gear and a continuous stream of grain trucks raced back and forth to Wallaroo where a large bulk carrier was being loaded for export.. Stops were made at several of the small towns enroute to Marion Bay most of these towns were established in the late 1850’s when rich copper ore deposits were discovered, a result of this was a large influx of Cornish miners and their families and this is revealed today in the heritage architecture of the region and the famous Cornish Pasties, which I can assure you tasted great.
Marion Bay is on the foot of the Yorke Peninsula and approximately 6 kls from the famous Innes National Park, the region is well known for its mining of Gypsum in earlier days, now days it is just a popular holiday fishing village (only the fish don’t know that).
Gypsum or hydrated calcium sulphate (CaSO4.2H2O) in other words calcium with water is used in the manufacture of plaster, plaster of paris, plaster board, ceiling board, mouldings, fertiliser a soil conditioner (as in breaking up clay ground) and even as an agent in Chinese medicine.
following are extracts from SA Government Gazette;
Like many towns, the population of the Marion Bay area developed in response to economic opportunity. Gypsum, a mineral used as an ingredient for plaster, was discovered in the area, and William Innes (after whom the mining village and the National Park are named) formed the Australian Gypsum and Whiting Company in the 1880s, to mine the gypsum leases in the area. As a substantial jetty was necessary to support the export of the large quantities of gypsum being mined, the Marion Bay jetty was built in 1889. Unlike other jetties on the Yorke Peninsula which were built for the export of primary produce, Marion Bay jetty was constructed with wooden tramway tracks, along which the gypsum was transported from the Inneston mining operations, located in what is now known as Innes National Park.
When operations were taken over by Mr A.A. Hassell in 1898, the original wooden tramway tracks were replaced with steel rails, and steam locomotives and side tipping trucks were installed to carry the gypsum down to the jetty. By the 1920s grain, wool and salt were also being shipped from Marion Bay. In 1930 nearby Stenhouse Bay took over the shipment of gypsum from lower Yorke Peninsula.
By 1970 Inneston had become a ghost town as mining operations ceased. Today the partially restored Inneston village and the stately heritage-listed Stenhouse Bay jetty provide excellent insights into the mining history of the region.
Other mining that has taken place on the Peninsula includes copper (Moonta Mines), lime (near Stansbury), dolomite (Ardrossan), and salt (Edithburgh and Price). Marion Bay has now developed into another popular holiday town on the Yorke Peninsula, offering swimming, surfing, fishing, boating, and bushwalking in Innes National Park.
During our 3 day stay at Marion Bay Nancy and I drove and walk numerous kls through the Innes National Park, the coastline around the park is quite rugged with steep high cliffs several of which have important lighthouses built on them to warn shipping of the local dangers, from these great vantage points fantastic views are had of the coastline, one in particular gives a 360 degree view and is quite sensational all of these locations are easily accessed by short relatively easy walks of a couple of kls at most and well worth the effort. We were very fortunate that the 2 days we decided to carry out our park sojourn the weather was kind to us and we were able to check out all of the important historical sites and most of the walking trails.
I walked down to a jetty to check out the fishing in this famous fishing place and chatted to a family who told me the only thing around was Tommy Ruffs and they’re good eating. Tommy Ruffs? So I waited and watched for a while, they use light gear and floats and suspend a bait above the bottom to avoid weed, then one excited member of the family pulled in what I was told was large Tommy Ruff or in other words Herring about the size of a gold fish and they eat the bloody things. I haven’t been fishing yet.
The weather changed piddled down all night and blew like hell, the morning was wet, windy and very cold. We chose to move on and took our time driving from one side of the York Peninsula to the other and back checking out the small villages enroute to Stansbury on the east coast of the York Peninsula, once again a renowned and popular fishing village with a very shallow bay beach right in front of the caravan park, once we were set up I wandered down the beach to chat to a couple of blokes fishing. The wind was howling overhead and it was freezing, these guys were local SA people and had heavy jackets and balaclavas on and they were cold as well, very un-seasonal they told me and it was obviously affecting the fishing. I haven’t been fishing yet.
To the north of the bay by about 750metres is a large jetty built for the old days of sailing ships but still in great condition and a mecca for fishing, apparently they catch blue swimmer crabs off the jetty and all sorts of fish according to another caravan occupier who had caught 17 blue swimmers just the other night, (their description sound like our sand crabs). At the other end of the bay is a groin and past this the beach is very flat so the tide goes out for ever and here they use a rake similar in appearance to a grass rake to wander through shallow clear water and rake up the blue swimmers (apparently), of course the weather has an effect on the results you don’t want any wind other wise you can’t see for ripples and of course it’s blowing its guts out now isn’t it, at least I’ve seen the rakes and had the method described. I haven’t been fishing yet.
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