Day 4: Dutton Bay

Probably just hang out near the cottage after the long drive of the previous day.

Yep, that is what happened.  After a good nights sleep the noise of the birds (and not John Peel's horn)  got me from my bed.  A good haul was achieved, of which the most surprising was two Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoos.  Pied Cormorants were also good.  The mammal list was enlarged by a fox (being seen off by Masked Lapwings) and a pod of at least a dozen dolphins in the bay.

As is often the case in coastal areas there are tractors around the place that are used for hauling boats down to the ramp.  I think this one (a Fordson rather than the traditional Fergie TE20) is past its used by date.

Following breaking our fasts we wandered off to revisit the areas I had been earlier to see what else we could find and to identify the plants.  We were able to identify the area also: it is the Ricky Bates Reserve, named after a custodian of the site, who appears to have passed away and been replaced by a local Landcare group. 

This is basically a sheoke heath (Allocasuarina verticillata) on a Limestone base.

We found some good plants (to save upload times I have decided to have a special plants page and will use hyperlinks to let people see images of species when they wish:

Hardenbergia violaceae 

Templetonia retusa

Wurmbea dioica

Correa pulchella 

Drosera auriculata

Lomandra effusa  

Eucalyptus diversifolia  

Lasiopetalum discolor 

Goodenia sp.

Pomadierris obcordata 

Threlkedia diffusa (a saltbush) 

Acrotriche patula

There was also a very interesting plant which thus far we haven't identified with certainty. has finally (close to a year later) been identified as Grevillea aspera: pretty close to endemic to this area.

The cliffs were also photogenic.

In the afternoon, since it appeared likely to rain we drove to Shelly Beach.  

The only plant in flower there was a lily Burchardia umbellata.  As the rain appeared to be starting we hopped in the car and headed for home, pausing to look down into a swamp (why there is standing water in a limestone area is a question I can't answer!).  There were some good birds there including 8 Australian Shelducks and 2 Caspian Terns.

Nothing much came of the rain so I went back to Ricky Bates Reserve to photograph the Threlkedia.  After finding that I decidable to have a good look for orchids.  I think I found some!  As they still seem to be at bud stage ID is a bit iffy but I will opine that Cyrtostylis robusta (the robut gnat orchid) is looking like a winner!

I haven't commented at all on invertebrates because they haven't been too obvious.  A few mosquitoes were evident at Ricky Bates Reserve but although their bites swelled up they didn't itch.  Back at the house we found quite a lot of case moth larval cases stuck on the water tank.

After the exertions of the day we were having a medicinal glass of red when I noticed a dolfin phin (sic) out in the sea.  We watched it swim around and along the shoreline about 10m out.  As it came past “our” house it must have got on to some good stuff as it sped up dramatically.  

About 30m past our house it disappeared below the ripples.  A truly magic moment, like unto seeing a Rhino from our room at Ngorongoro or Hippos on the lawn in the Serengeti.

The maritime theme continues inside the house with several art works made from shells and driftwood decorating the walls.

There are also quite a few mounted photographs of kids enjoying the beach at sunset: presumably that is in Summer not the current climate.

Other residents watch their large digital TVs.  We didn't watch the TV as they didn't receive ABC or SBS!

Bird of the Day:                                 Australian Shelduck due to good numbers and speccie looking.   [Several others were nominated: Pied Oystercatchers (Colourful, amusing and nice to see from the bed).  Horsfields Bronze-Cuckoo (unusually early sighting).]

Plant of the day:                                Correa pulcella: lots of them and very colourful.  [The orchid will get a guernsey once it opens!]

Most interesting thing of the day:    Seeing a dolphin swim by 10m out from the shoreline.

What we learned today:                    Preparing for the plants has paid off!

At Tuesday Eve did cross a Dolphin,

Across the Bay it came;

It ate the food it always ate

Sped up, when meal did same.

(A slight cheat as this combines, as model, parts of two verses of the original.)

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Day 6: Coffin Bay National Park

There, (or possibly here) around Lower Eyre Peninsula.

A large part of the attraction of this trip for me was the chance to visit Coffin Bay National Park which I had seen several times from aircraft between Adelaide and Perth.  It looked to have spectacular scenery, particularly when the 'planes were approaching Adelaide.

Today was the day we would fit this in to our schedule.  As it was a National Park the small dog would not be welcome so we took her for a walk to Ricky Bates Reserve first.  By being a little more adventurous we found that the area at the end of the road I had assumed was private property not only allowed public access, but also permitted dogs on leash.  (The leash bit reflects a 1080 fox baiting project.) We added several birds to the Dutton Bay list and found more orchids.  At present I am unsure if they are a different species or just  late-emerging specimens of Cyrtostylis robusta.  We also saw another dolphin (actually it could have  been the same one, but you know what I mean) out in the Bay.

On our way to Coffin Bay we found the Grass Trees again and stopped for photos.  Then on through the town to the National Park.  Getting our Park permits was amusing as we wanted to pay with change and the envelope wouldn't seal and the slot through which to post was too narrow for our pile of metal,  So someone will have to scrape it all out of the container.  Tough: if they had someone on duty they wouldn't have had the problem.

In fact we didn't see any trace of a Ranger or other official presence.  Presumably they all lurk in Port Lincoln where cafe lattes are easier to acquire.

We first stopped at the Templetonia Lookout to assess the rather spiffy 360 degree views to Mount Dutton etc in the North

and the sandhills behind Gunyah Beach, and the ocean, to the South,  

We then headed for Avoid Bay 

(and the similarly named Point).  

This was all bitumen and certainly provided some excellent cliff views.  There were many Rock Parrots around and an Osprey was soaring along the clifftops at the Point.

I had thought we would walk a trail from the bitumen road to Gunyah Baech but that turned out to be a 4x4 track so we drove along it until it started to look very sandy and parked.  This had cut about 1.2km off the 8km walk.  (In fact we could have gone for another 2km before it got too sandy, but the walk was very pleasant).

We didn't find many new plants for the day but the flowering of the Templetonia, Pomaderris (white bushes in the background, living up to its reputation as the coming woody weed),

Leucopogon and mallee-form Eucalyptus was excellent. Pigface and other succulents were on the dunes.  A   Wedge-tailed Eagle flew over (surprisingly the first for the trip) and various honeyeaters made a ruckus in the bush.  A group of 3 Emus were booming near the track.

In total we saw 18 species of bird in the Park, adding 3 to the trip list (which now stands at 91sp.)

Getting close to the beach we found some large sandhills on and in which the 4x4 fraternity had been having fun. 

We walked up and along one of the big hills and were intrigued to see how quickly (within 10 minutes) the wind was erasing our footprints in some places.   This is illustrated by the differing heights of the  track markers:

- a third one only had the red bit showing!

On leaving the Park we stopped to have another go at getting our envelope through the slot and while I was losing that battle Frances glanced out of the car and there was another large colony of gnat orchids.  They are giving Pomaderris a run for its money as next WW.

We then cruised the town looking for Oysters.  The first two places we investigated only sold closed ones and I didn't fancy opening them with a knife.  A passing ETSA employee told me a simple way to do it, if we had time:

1.      put them in a freezer overnight; then

2.      shift them to the fridge for about 2 hours; and

3.      they will open themselves.

I mention that for educational purposes only since we found that the butchers shop would open them for us for a quite reasonable fee.  So we did that.  (As an aside, in a conversation in the shop one participant mentioned that they had never used an ATM.  I am astonished!)

Back to the Shack to find a very happy little dog.

Just after typing this I glanced out the window and saw a Pacific Gull rise out of the water and dive back in, completely immersing itself.  It then flew to the beach with prey in beak.  The prey turned out to be a fist-sized octopus which was gobbled before I could photograph the event.  A Pied Oystercatcher ran past quickly, presumably to ensure it didn't beccome dessert.

Bird of the day:                     Emus [Osprey was a contender but Frances barely saw it.]

Flower of the day:                 Templetonia: everywhere in the Park

Interesting sight of the day: The sandhills

What we learnt today:          How to open oysters (without opening an artery). [To believe at least some "4WD drive only" signs was a runner up in this category.]

I looked upon the towering dunes,

And quietly blessed my luck;

I looked upon the carved up track,

And there I was not stuck.

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Day 7: Roadsides of Eyre Peninsula

Yet more meandering in LEP.

I began the day with a run over to Shelly Beach and back. A whole 4km, but better than nothing. On getting 'home' there was a nice dawn to look at!

We then went back to Ricky Bates Reserve and still could not confirm whether the new "new" orchids were a different species.  Some of them had red undersides to the leaves suggesting Acianthus pusillus but

1.      the labellum, while mainly maroon, and matching quite well the illustration in "Start with the Leaves" by Robert Lawrence, appears to be a lot paler than in the images I have from an electronic copy of "South Australia's Native Orchids" by RJ Bates for A.  pusillus;

2.      in one case at least the labellum has a point (like Cyrtostylis robusta); and

3.      the leaves were not, in any case, above the ground.

HELP!

Ask and ye shall receive.  At least you will if you ask the people from the Native Orchid Society of South Australia.  They have kindly confirmed that the identification of this species as Acianthus pusillus was correct.

At least two dolphins were out in the Bay and off the tip of the point, where we turned, an oysterperson was doing their business.  As we neared the exit on the return a Nankeen Night-heron flushed from some scrub above the water.  A nice addition to the trip list.

We had noticed that the catch on the gate to the Reserve had been broken since we last visited.  I was able to find a short length of fencing wire and close it to keep the ins and outs in the correct relativities but would like to know who to call about the breakage.  It turns out the area is owned by a local resident and I visited his home to tell him.  In short, they are breeding bettongs in there and the fence is to keep foxes out.  He tries to allow public access so that folk can get in to go fishing.  The gate was going to be fixed.

After a sit down and some lunch we headed off to explore some roadsides and reserves towards Wanilla.  This area was recommended in "Wildflowers of Lower Eyre Peninsula" by ANPS SA Region.   Although the weather was a little ordinary, with a number of showers passing through, we found a whiole bunch of pretty and interesting plants.  We weren't able to identify them all

●         Acacia spinescens- easy with a spiky stem and no phyllodes!  Three (!) other Acacias proved to have homes in the 'too hard' basket!

●         Astroloma conostepioides

●         Astroloma himfusum

●         Boronia coerulescens

●         Callistemon rugulosus

●         Correa reflexa

●         Cryptandra tormentosa.

●         Hakea cycloptera (and another Hakea in the 'too hard' basket)

A Drosera sp was snapped with a flower in the background, Gahnia deusta made an interesting shape and a Xanthorrhoea was found in flower!  A number of other flowers have been given names of the form "unknown <colour>".  One of these was obviously some sort of daisy, but was notable for having a small spider in situ!

Near to Wanilla we found our second Eyre Peninsula Shoe Tree. 

I have no idea why folk do this but it is probably better than slinging unwanted footwear over power lines!  This was near a marker just outside Wanilla explaining about the soldier settlement scheme in the area.

As it was beginning to micturate down we decided to leave Wanilla and take the signposted hypotenuse (but dirt rather than bitumen) route back to Wangary.  A bit along this route it seemed that a visit to a Conservation Reserve was possible as an optional extra.  However after one interesting 'foot to the floor and hope the 4WD works' moment we went back to where we were going.  It was  perplexing that after the sign at the start pointing us towards Wangary all the other signs along the road mentioned road names (mainly local identities - probably race horse owners) and a small amount of faith and navigation by landmarks was required to arrive at, or at least adjacent to, at the metropolis of Wangary (which aspires to reaching the status of one-horse town any time from now).

Bird of the day:                     Nankeen Night-heron

Plant of the day:                    Boronia coerulescens

Interesting sight of the day:  Looking down from the Reserve and seeing sea urchins and starfish in the bay.

What we learnt today:          That with roadside remnant of vegetation one can bird and plant-watch as well as in formal parks.  Without all the official rules that bugger things up in the formal areas.

Oystercatchers walked forth and back

as though they owned the beach.

Pacific Gull ate octopus (black)

As though it was a peach.

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Day 8: to the Barossa

Another transit day.  This is 670kms so should give us enough time to call in at the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens in Port Augusta.

In fact we decided that we had done enough plant watching, so lets get to the Barossa while the light is good.

We ended up leaving a few minutes late due to investing  little time in watching two dolphins patrolling the beach,  If only the tossers of the financial industry offered a rate of return on investment like that!

After cleaning the dew off the car we headed out, avoiding the wallabies on Dutton Bay West road. In to Port Lincoln with little excitement and find our way to Aus Star Fish megastore.  Some prawns and oysters were acquired (and by 8pm on the day had been consumed and enjoyed greatly).

We then rolled up the Highway towards Whyalla.  After this stage of the trip the total bird list was up to 92 species, with 73 seen in various parts of Eyre Peninsula and 52 seen within 2km of Vandy's Shack. 

As we went along we occasionally reflected on the appalling driving standards of folk with SA plates.  One social misfit who pulled out in front of us and then propelled themselves at 80kph in a 110kph zone - with a sol id centre line so could not be overtaken - deserves a special award of some nature.  I suspect this was the guy they had in mind when designing the sign.

There is possibly a truckie somewhere tonight who would give us a similar award.   We passed him (making an assumption, I didn't check their sex or gender) a few km North of Port Lincoln and he came past us as we were photographing a plant with pink flowers - I suspect a Boronia - I had noticed on the way down. 

We passed them (the truckie, not the flowers) again about 30 km later.  As we stopped to brew some coffee and take lunch in the Whyalla Wetlands  they must have come past since we overtook them again around Port Germein!  I suspect they came past while we were refuelling at Port Pirie, but we didn't catch up by the time we turned off in Crystal Brook.

Getting out of that narrative there was a lot of smoke (but no obvious mirrors) evident at the Onesteel plant in Whyalla. We didn't stop for a steelworks tour.  Apparently the Mad Monk and his colleagues had been prophesying that the Carbon price would cause Whyalla to fall into the sea: not so - the lads were obviously hard at it.

Around this area we started to see wide loads.  They were indeed seriously wide loads and sensible drivers gave them a wide berth.

At Crystal Brook we decided to take the inland route to the Barossa through Clare.  This was going to be longer than continuing down Route 1 but would be more interesting.  Both these expectations were correct.

We managed to avoid the blandishments of most of the Clare Valley's excellent wineries but I did feel obliged to swing into Sevenhill Cellars for auld lang syne.

When we used to visit in the 1970s one was served by a monk (it is a Jesuit retreat as well as a winery) and the wine was good and cheap.  Now the service is by two apparently nice ladies (perhaps The Monk has been devalued by a certain politician) and wine is $35 a bottle!!!!!  Pass.  The architecture was nice however.

There was an old house/ruin behind the shrine.  It was quite typical of the old abandoned cottages one saw along the roads: presumably these were the houses of farmers in the days when a living could be made off a small block (or when a small block supported paid staff as well as the farmer).

Of a more up-to-date appearance was a sculpture entitled Madonna of the Vines.  It has some reference  to a South American "Madonna of the Snows", but Uncle Google doesn't help with that reference.  Most of their offerings for such a Madonna seem to come from Italy!

The vineyards of the Clare region all looked to be in excellent condition (well pruned vines, no weeds etc) despite a very tough year in 2011.  The same comment applies to the Barossa.  The tidiness of these areas contrasts dramatically with the scruffy nature of the vines in Sunraysia.

We found our way to our accommodation near Seppleltsfield and very nice it is too.   Of course being inland it is very different to Vandy's Shack: the dolphins have been replaced by some Suffolk rams that were of considerable interest to the small dog.

We sat out on the deck for a cleansing Pinot Noir or two and watched the sun go down.  Someone has to do this stuff.

Bird of the Day:                    AdelaideRosella (OK a hybrid of Crimson and Yellow Rosella but still interesting),

Plant of the Day                    Unknown pink thing.

Interesting sight of the day:  Black faced rams (Tammy got to vote on this).  [Dolphins got a mention again but Tammy made demands!]

What we leaned today          Petrol prices change dramatically North of Port Pirie.  [A contender was the very high quality of ABC Radio National programming, which kept us entertained from about 9am to 3:30 pm!  However that is very close to the winner last Saturday!]

Two times twenty living men,

played footy in each town

Each mighty punt, the forwards leapt

Fullbacks dropped them quickly down.

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