What we thought would be a pretty ordinary drive today from Streaky Bay to Port Lincoln turned out to be one of the most spectacular drives to date. We forget that we are still driving along the edge of the Great Australian Bight and there is always going to be huge cliffs that edge the Bight. We thought we had seen the best cliffs when we drove across the Nullarbor, and indeed the Bunda Cliffs can not be beaten, but the cliffs that we drove along today have to be a very close second.
The first part of our drive, as we left Streaky Bay, was much the same as we had seen on a good part of our journey but once we head further east the scenery starts to change
Even from a distance we can see ahead of us a coastline with rugged cliff faces and soaring sand dunes and once we reach the township of Elliston we see a turnoff that says "Great Ocean Drive". A quick google search brings up enough information for us to decide to turn down the gravel road and head towards the ocean. To make this 12 km drive even more interesting, there are large sculptures that are called "Sculpture on the Cliffs". This drive is, in a word, stunning.
The first stop we make is to watch the dozen or so surfers tackle the huge waves that the southern ocean offers them. My heart is in my throat as I watch them from high above. While we were watching another surfer pulled up and we wondered how he was going to get down the 40-50 metre sheer cliff face. We thought there may have been a path that we couldn't see, but no, it was just straight over the edge and slip and slide your way down with your surfboard tucked under your arm. How on earth they ever get back up that same cliff face is beyond me. The surfers look the size of ants from this high up.
The drive continues winding its way around the cliff edges and we stop at every available place to breath in the views. We are so incredibly high and believe me when I tell you that my hands were clammy every time I came close to a cliff edge. There are no safety fences or rails. You are on your own on this drive. The cliff is forever eroding and we can see great chunks of rocks at the bottom of the cliffs that have fallen from the top. At one of the lookouts Philip points out a huge crack right near where we are standing that is ready to fall. I hope that no-one is standing close by when that happens. It is so very difficult to get height perspective in my photos. The only way I could do that is to get right to the very edge and take a photo looking down, but I ain't ever going to do that! All you can imagine is the height of the cliffs that I am taking a photo from is exactly the same height as where I am standing and underneath my feet is the same eroding cliff face. Scary stuff.
You can see the crack in the ground where the cliff is ready to give way
The drive is steep in places and not ideal for towing a caravan but our trusty Toyota does the job well. The gravel road is very wide and well maintained that makes life easier. It took us the best part of an hour to travel this 12km tourist drive with all our stops. By the time we finish this drive and we are back on the Flinders Highway it is almost time for a lunch stop. We find the perfect stop right beside a very old Drystone Wall. We have seen the remnants of these walls for the past 100km or so and I am intrigued to be up close to one of them. The skill and workmanship that went into these walls is amazing. The country along the Eyre Peninsular lends itself to this type of fence as it is very rocky country. Building the fences had the dual purpose of not only keeping stock in one place but it cleared the paddocks of all those rocks.
A little further down the road, after our lunch break, we came across another of the beautiful old stone buildings that dot the skyline. A lot of these old stone buildings are derelict with usually just the fireplace and chimney left standing, but this building has been restored and was an important place for travellers back in the 1800's. It is called the Lake Hamilton Eating House and was a place that coaches and travellers stopped for a meal and refreshment.
Our journey towards Port Lincoln continues and we are reminded that cropping plays in important part in this area. Most of the canola has been cut and waiting to be bailed but most of the wheat crops are still standing.
Our arrival into Port Lincoln was later than we anticipated with all our stops and detours along the way, but it was a terrific drive that I would recommend. There are very few vehicles along the Flinders Highway from Streaky Bay to Port Lincoln and the vehicles that we did see are towing a caravan. We think that people might be bypassing the Eyre Peninsular on their journeys east and west and it is a real shame because it is a stunning part of Australia that shouldn't be missed.
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