We tried to stay out of the way as our friends readied themselves for work and school and then enjoyed an unhurried breakfast and reboiled the thermos before heading off.
The gas bottles were filled and a replacement lighter found (I crushed the last one in a mishap) and we were on our way.
We passed Sundrop where the wind generators were hardly moving against a bright blue sky, but the large solar array was probably pumping out the power on this lovely clear day. Hopefully all those beautiful veggies are growing away happily.
We detoured to see the McClellan lookout on the outskirts of Port Augusta. This is on the spot where Matthew Flinders apparently camped on March 10, 1802 while exploring the area.
The view to the other side of Spencer Gulf across the mangroves is quite beautiful.
It was too early for lunch so we meandered around the edge of the city, discovering the location of the hospital (also overlooking the gulf) and some of what are probably original houses.
The edges of the highway were still pretty green as we headed towards Whyalla and the saltbush a stunning blue in the later part of that stretch.
We let our technology tell us that the best bakery lunch was at Casa la Pan (house of bread). We didn’t try the bread but the pepper steak pies and chocolate donuts were pretty good. We took them away to the wetlands and sat in the shade of a shelter while we teased the seagulls and brewed a cuppa from the thermos.
A short walk showed us that the new (to us anyway) cafe at the wetlands (called “ Sumthin’ Tastee”) does certainly appear to serve tasty food, and that little black cormorants, pied stilts and hoary headed grebes appear to enjoy the wetlands.
Since we hadn’t done it before and we had some time up our sleeve we dropped in to Lucky Bay to see where the ferry goes from (to Wallaroo). Currently it runs daily either way, with an extra later Monday service. Here the sea was green with sandbars either side of the channel. A large grain ship was in when we visited. The wind was strong with a very strong beach smell. A nice row of shacks curved around the little bay and the beach sloped gently out into deeper water.
Only 13 more km on Cowell awaited us. First stop was the Commercial Hotel where we, as the first to arrive, paid money and picked up keys for the units we had booked. We also made a reservation for the evening meal.
Then we headed off down the street to find our digs for the night. We enjoyed a relaxing cuppa, had the air conditioning cooling the units down, and were nicely showered by the time most of our companions arrived. Five of us headed off to the pub for a tasty meal ( curry night) and Trevor and I had a bit of an amble around Cowell.
We tried, without joy, to figure out which house it was we stayed in years before on a trip to the West Coast. Mostly I remembered the quandong tree next to the driveway. Then we cut through the caravan park to the small mangrove walk, boat ramp and to the new marina.
We saw this last year and it seemed nearly complete with little use, but sadly now it still looks that way, with the new cafe building out there on the point still looking unfinished and still “ for lease”. I am now forming the opinion that Cowell made an attempt but failed to pick a strategy to bring and support businesses in a dwindling community.
Luvapuzzle 