Day 38: Wed 22 Mar 23 - Wallaroo to Whyalla

March 22, 2023

Wed 22 Mar 23 - Wallaroo to Whyalla (Towed 287 km)

17 Deg overnight, reaching 34 Deg just after midday at Port Augusta and 27 Deg on arrival at Whyalla. Another fantastic day of weather, although the wind did get up late in the afternoon / evening at Whyalla. We packed and left Wallaroo by 0915, travelling north along the Spencer Highway, by-passing Port Broughton, then turned right across Clements Gap to pick up the Augusta Highway (A1) towards Port Augusta and Whyalla. Shortly after joining the Augusta Highway, at about 1015 we stopped for morning coffee and a muffin at the Meriton road stop. The flies were far too friendly here, but we were soon on the road again, also by-passing Port Pirie on the way to Port Augusta. The landscape was very dry and uninteresting today with vast brown fields of freshly harvested grain crops. As we neared Port Augusta, crops gave way to expansive solar farms and 100s of wind turbines. Driving through Port Augusta, it was very congested and a lot of road works, so we decided to not stop here either - we will stop here for a quick look on the way back to the Flinders Ranges from the Eyre Peninsula. Overall, the roads travelled today were good, but the Augusta Highway was very good. It was busy, but most of the traffic was in the opposite direction, and well behaved. As we turned south along the Eyre Highway, to the left we could see the Cultana Military Training Area which covers more than 2,000 square kms. I visited here a few years ago when I worked with the Defence Training Areas Management team in Canberra. We continued to a rest area 26km south of Port Augusta for a leg stretch and a bite to eat, then continued to our planned destination - the Weeroona Bay Football Club RV Stay, which is unpowered, and for self contained RVs. After setting up at 1415 (first in best dressed, and we just snagged the 2nd last remaining site, with the last one being taken as we were parking). All caravan parks in town were at capacity. It's a large open gravel site with a lot of space between the sites and it's very quiet. After setting up, we drove into the Information Centre where the ex HMAS Whyalla (1) sits on a hard stand in the maritime museum and is open daily for tours. We'll decide tonight if we will return tomorrow for a tour through the ship. From here, we drove up to Hummock Hill Lookout for magnificent views across the steel works, the harbour, along the coast and inland across the city. We then ventured down to the Whyalla Jetty which is a very unique circular design. At the end of the Jetty, we watched a very curious dolphin looking up at us and playing around in the water below - it was such a cool thing to witness. We made our way back to the van by 1630, and settled in for the evening as the lady caretaker came around to collect the $10 per night camp fee - good value.

Coffee Stop - Meriton Road Side Rest Area

Wind Turbines with Cultana Training Area (Ridge) in the background

Road side stop south of Whyalla along the Eyre Highway

Uninteresting countrside along the Eyre Highway

HMAS Whyalla (1) at Whyalla. One of 60 Australian Minesweepers (Corvettes) built during WW2 in Australian shipyards. 36 were built for the RAN. Whyalla was commissioned in 1942, and decommissioned in 1946.