4th - 5th December 2021 Steaky Bay SA

Time to move on from Shelly Beach, we are going down the Eyre Peninsula stopping at places that look interesting.

Our first stop was Smokey Bay, we had stayed there nearly 20 years ago and was astounded by the change.

The caravan park has all been upgraded, there are lovely new houses along the foreshore, there's a new boat ramp but what struck us was the upgraded jetty, along towards the end there are bench seats with shelters built over them, 6 of them spaced out and in sets of 2 facing in opposite directions, these are built for the comfort of anyone fishing from the jetty.

There is also a swim area that is completely fenced in steel wire so people can swim safely without the worry of sharks.

There were people fishing for sqid using a float to keep the lure from the bottom. We saw sqid caught and the jetty was covered in squid ink but we didn't give it a try, we had a walk around then decided to move on further down the coast.

We left Smokey Bay planning at shopping at Streaky Bay, we had both been there a long time ago.

When we arrived we found the RV park which is near the sports ground, there is plenty of room, clean toilets and rubbish bins for only $10 per night.

We decided to stay 2 nights so we took the camper off the truck so we could drive about.

After setting up we went down to thw wharf, once again people fishing not having a lot of luck, there wasn't much squid ink on the jetty but we decided after dinner we would go down and try to catch a sqid.

The wind came up and with lots of layers on I was freezing, we were down there for 2 hours without any luck but there was a young man with his son who caught some nice crabs with their crab nets.

Another young man caught a bronze whaler shark about 2 metres long before we got there which is a good reason to have the safe swimming areas, this jetty also has one.

I was hoping it would be sunny when I got up I wanted to go for a swim in the shark proof area but it was overcast.

After breakfast we walked into town headed for the bakery, via the jetty, of course on the jetty the was lots of people fishing, mostly kids catching skippy and garfish, the boys were back trying to catch sharks burlying up the water, they rowed their baits out but the burly made it more fun for the other kids. 

We spent a long time on the jetty talking to people and watching the kids then we walked to the bakery, not open of a Sunday doh! 

We went to the cafe and had a coffee while overlooking the water, we have to remember here that whenever you enter a building you must wear a mask and login, apparently they haven't stopped wearing masks.

We walked back along the beach in front of the caravan park and stopped to watch a young man on a motorized surfboard, we waited till he came in so we could get a closer look at it.

It was people from the local surf shop trying it out, they wanted Merv to have a go but he declined, thankfully as after the young man had a second run and we were discussing the bits and pieces of it he said you couldn't sit on it unless it was going otherwise it would swamp water would get easily to the motor and destroy it, this piece of play equipment cost $20,000.

They are made in  and imported from America.

It was a lovely evening so after dinner we headed out Cape Bauer up the Gibson Peninsula to watch the sun set, omg what magnificent scenery, the amount of times one drives past these places.

There is also a huge ocean beach that I would love to explore but we won't have time this time we will be taking more time in the future to explore the whole of the Eyre Peninsula.

On the way back I was hoping to see a wombat as it was dusk but we only saw 3 kangaroos, a mother with joey out of the pouch and another big one.