Day 32: Thu 16 Mar 23 - Barossa to Edithburgh

March 16, 2023

Thu 16 Mar 23 - Barossa to Edithburgh (Towed 245km)

Minimum of 15 Deg reaching 32 Deg starting out foggy as we drove away from Tanunda at 0840, then clearing and becoming another hot sunny day. Our first stop for coffee was after 100 km at Port Wakefield, a historical old town which was once a major port for shipping copper from Burra and later wool. Now it almost appears like a ghost town, with a lot of old buildings, and barely a soul to be seen. The mural on the hotel is one of the best we've seen though. After leaving Port Wakefield, we stopped at the next town on our list - Ardrossan. Located at the top end of the Yorke Peninsula on the eastern shore of Gulf St Vincent, it's a lovely quiet town with a 1,000m jetty and bulk grain storage facilities, which when built in 1952 were the largest in Australia. After a walk around town we sat outside the van on the foreshore under the shade of pine trees for some lunch. We then continued 40km further south to Port Vincent, stopping briefly at Pine Point lookout along the way for wonderful coastal views. Port Vincent is another very quiet town, but with little to see here we continued to the next town 12 km further at Stansbury. Also very quiet, Stansbury is a very appealing holiday town with a beautiful beach and some lovely murals. After a quick look around, with only 25km to drive, we continued to Edithburgh and checked into the Edithburgh Caravan Park by 1500. After setting up on another great site (two back to back sites, a few rows back from the waterfront), we set off for a walk through town and along the jetty and foreshore. Edithburgh was once the third busiest port in South Australia and is surrounded by nearly 200 lakes which were used to mine salt which was shipped from here. Now, Edithburgh is a popular fishing destination (without a supermarket, but it does have a specialist bra shop - weird). This place has a reputation for nasty winds, but today it was very pleasant. It did pick up for a few hours late in the afternoon, but it dropped off again very quickly by the evening. The roads today were very rough and bumpy in places, and there was a lot of heavy transport / road trains, nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable drive, with some very scenic stops and some great views across the Gulf. We will stay three nights at Edithburgh and use it as a base to see the southern part of the Yorke Peninsula. I may even try my luck at catching a fish or calamari off the jetty.