As we were only planning on travelling a relatively short distance today, we had another leisurely start. After-all, we’re not really in a hurry to get anywhere! Sun was shining, sky was blue, and all seemed to be good with the world. It was a little windy but nothing like the windstorms we had experienced recently.
Views along Lincoln Highway.
After getting back to the Lincoln Highway, it wasn’t long before we diverted off the highway to Arno Bay. We had seen that there was apparently a free camp behind the pub so we thought that we’d check it out, even if we weren’t going to stay there this trip. Arno Bay is very literally a little sleepy fishing village. The Arno Bay Hotel is a big building and looks as though it has been recently restored. The views over the bay from one of the first floor accommodation units would be excellent. There is a very impressive array of solar panels attached to the pub too.
Arno Bay Hotel and impressive solar array.
We stopped at Humphries Park which has a new toilet block, a large children’s play area under shade cloth, plenty of tables and chairs, access to the Jetty, a number of historic displays and so on. After going for a decent walk around the park area, we stopped at the Jetty Café for an early lunch of fish and chips overlooking the sea. The fish was Butterfish and it just melted in your mouth – YUM!! The Jetty Café is an interesting place, a bit of a general store with take-away food, or eat in, an area for the local craft and quilting ladies to display their work, etc. The business and adjoining residence is up for sale if anyone is interested. The caravan park is next to the Jetty and the Jetty Café, and very close to the pub, so it could be a great place to stop for a while for a relax and chill out time.
Views of Arno Bay.
What surprised us most about coming into Arno Bay were the large grain silos. Until now the landscape looked anything like cropping land, but once we left Arno Bay and headed further South more and more of the countryside was obviously under cultivation, and in some places was quite green from recent rains.
Green after the rain.
Back on the Lincoln Highway our next diversion was to Port Neill, just to have a look around. This is also a sleepy fishing village but a bit bigger and more active than Arno Bay. We had a good cruise around town, which was pretty dead for a Saturday afternoon, and returned to the highway without stopping anywhere.
Port Neill.
Next stop, and our potential overnight stop, was Tumby Bay. Again, it’s a fishing village, but on a totally different scale to Arno Bay and Port Neill. It has some beautiful old buildings that have been restored, but also some beautiful old buildings with totally ugly modern additions. Obviously not a heritage listed area. We stopped for a very nice coffee at the Ritz Café and sat outside admiring the view out over the water. A quick drive around Tumby Bay was a bit disappointing; we had perhaps expected a bit more activity. Rather than stay here tonight we decided to continue on to Port Lincoln.
Views of Tumby Bay
Port Lincoln is a pretty amazing place. It is quite built up and from our drive around town there are some huge mansions in some areas, some very large boats in the marina, and some very nice shops and cafes in town. We had a quick look at an area that was apparently available for free camping but rejected it as a suitable place to stay on a Saturday night and continued on to the Port Lincoln Tourist Park. This is a very big and busy park but they found a great spot for us with a million dollar view across the Bay. Can’t ask for more than that.
Amazing view from our front window, and some furry neighbours.
We’ll probably book this spot for another night and head out tomorrow in Bertha for a really good exploration of Port Lincoln. From our first glimpses today there seems to be plenty to see.
Tonight we’ll have pizza for tea before watching some DVDs as we can’t get TV reception. We have a DVD about Port Lincoln so that will probably guide our travels tomorrow.
The adventure continues …….
Shorty's RV Adventures 