Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
fishing jetty (hope the whiting are biting). Waterside
Waterloo Bay Tourist Park
(
08-8687 9076;
www.visitelliston.net
; 10 Beach Tce; unpowered/powered sites $25/29, cabins
$60-110; )
is a smallish operation with decent cabins (aim for one on top of the
dunes) and fishing gear for sale.
Just north of Elliston, take the 10km detour to
Anxious Bay
for some anxiety-reliev-
ing ocean scenery (billed as Elliston's 'Great Ocean Tourist Drive'). En route you'll pass
Blackfellows
, which boasts some of the west coast's best surf. From here you can eye-
ball the 36-sq-km
Flinders Island
35km offshore, where there's a sheep station and a
son from $90)
. To get here you have to charter a plane from Port Lincoln or a boat from
Elliston (additional to accommodation costs); ask for details when you book.
At
Venus Bay
there are sheltered beaches (and the not-so-sheltered Mount Camel
Beach), a gaggle of pelicans, a small caravan park and the obligatory fishing jetty.
If you feel like taking a plunge and swimming with sea lions and dolphins, stop by
Baird Bay and organise a tour with
Baird Bay Ocean Eco Experience
(
08-8626 5017;
www.bairdbay.com
; 4hr tours adult/child $140/70;
Sep-May)
S
. Accommodation is also
available.
If you'd rather stay high-and-dry, the road to
Point Labatt
,43km south of Streaky
Bay, takes you to one of the few permanent sea-lion colonies on the Australian mainland;
ogle them from the cliff-tops (with binoculars).
A few kilometres down the Point Labatt road are the globular
Murphy's Haystacks
,
an improbable congregation of 'inselbergs' − colourful, weather-sculpted granite out-
crops, which are millions of years old.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Streaky Bay
POP 1150
This endearing little seasider (actually on Blanche Port) takes its name from the streaks
of seaweed Matt Flinders spied in the bay as he sailed by. Visible at low tide, the
seagrass attracts ocean critters and the bigger critters that eat them − first-class fishing.
For tourist info, swing by the
Streaky Bay Visitor Information Centre
(
08-8626
7033;
www.streakybay.com.au
;
21 Bay Rd; 9am-12.30pm & 1.30-5pm Mon-Fri)
.
$3.50/50c; 2-4pm Tue & Fri, 9am-noon Sat)
is inside a 1901 school house, and features a
fully furnished pug-and-pine hut, an old iron lung and plenty of pioneering history.
