Port Augusta is a town at the very top of
the Spencer gulf and marks the beginning of the Eyre Peninsula. I (Jolmer)
decide that we do not have enough fishing rods so we stock up on 3 more reels
and a small rod! Where the Yorke was narrow with tired roads and farm land at
its most unattractive, the Eyre Peninsula offers brand new wide roads and
endless scrub country. The economy of this part of the country is fuelled by mining.
Mining is big dollars and it shows on the road. Very nice!
At Whyalla we park beachfront and start the
next morning with a run on the beach. There are dolphins hanging around the
fishing jetty and they make up for the lack of crabs. Tim and Hugo have a great
time looking at them play in the water while the rest is doing school work.
When we try to leave, the bus does not
start! From the steering wheel that is. We can still start from the engine bay
at the back. It is not easy to find an
electrician in town who can help us but eventually we manage to get help and
the spare part that will fix our starting problem. We push on to Cowell to find
all the caravan parks booked out. A pity as I really wanted to stay a few days
to fish the large bay here. On we go to
Tumby bay where we book into Modra Apartments. Not the apartments of course,
but the owner Damien offers limited spaces for people that are self contained.
It is at the harbor next to the boat launching facility. We catch squid and
blue swimmer crabs in the bay and harbor. It is here that we make the first
episode of the “Smit family fishing channel”: Talking Squid. (see previous
Blog Magic Moments).
I am really loving this part of the country
and when we pull into Port Lincoln this feeling only increases. We have another
stunning parking spot for the bus at yet another boat launching facility,
overlooking the Boston Bay. The weather is great and we go fishing and
snorkeling in the bay catching blue swimmer crabs with nets and by hand. I also
find a few scallops! There are razor fish aplenty and we cook some up (see
previous blogs for recipe). Christel concentrates on school work with the kids
and also takes them swimming in the local pool. From barely being able to swim
before leaving, the oldest boys are rapidly transforming to very good swimmers
and Tim and Hugo are starting as well.
A highlight for all of us is the swim with
the tuna’s. Port Lincoln is world famous
for Blue Fin Tuna fishing. Nowadays the tuna get raised in pens in the harbor.
Boats go out and catch juvenile Blue Fin Tuna on the edge of the continental
shelf. They are then transferred back in big holding nets and grown out to
commercial size fish before being sold to the Japanese buyers. One of the
raising pens is changed into a tourist attraction where you are able to get
into the water and swim with these fast swimming fish. It is amazing to see
them from up close in their own environment.
Apart from the Tuna there is also a pen with Blue Morwong, Port Jackson
bay sharks, Salmon, King fish and snapper.
Leaving Port Lincoln is hard. Between Tumby
Bay and Port Lincoln we might be onto something for the future……..
No comments:
Post a Comment