Outback SA cruising...wide open spaces

Burra SA is a cute little town with a copper and tin mining past, lots of rock homes and old shops. Whoopee it was the annual Antique fair weekend, so we had a nice browse thru market stalls and a few shops and checked a great quilting exhibition...they do my head in, I could never plan to do such things and admire friends who do quilting.

On the Barrier Hwy we were  amazed by the many km of wind generators along Mt Bryan, lots of info about them when I googled it!

We camped up at Peterbrough, out in the sticks while our mate Dennis W was having his Surprise 70th in View Bank, Melb...sorry we could not be there!

 These were quite unique at Orroroo, many layers of corrugated iron and the heads moved in the wind.

All my pics are from my iphone...so not the best quality but it saves carting around and keeping track of everything...just love my phone..rarely used as a phone!

Some of our travel days have only been 150-200km depends on the head winds and how we are feeling, and what camps are around etc..no rush anymore..the Freedom Lifestyle!





Planned destination Point Lowly about 30 km north of Whyalla, 6 warm and relaxing days, right on the water near a little harbour. The port was used for the fish farmers who have since moved out and there are a few very nice I might add beach shacks, the locals known as 'shakies'.
There were often up to 40 vans etc set up in this area, max stay 2 week and must be away for 5 weeks before coming back..I am sure that is what many people did.

It was time for the new specs after the cataract surgeries so into Whyalla, selected 2 pr specs which I will be able to collect in Kalgoorlie at a later date....Freedom lifestying..just make things happen where ever you may be...
We had a nice experience in Whyalla when the local Bra Shop or the retirng husband of owner picked us for travellers and proceeded to tell us all about the town and its mining and steel work, ship building history and about the water pipe line from the Murray and the fact that due to so much unused Murray water that they had a 400 head dairy farm and some irrigated cropping..all in the salt bush country.. the dairy is no long visible and the water was diverted to Iron Knob up on the Eyre Hwy. He talked of the Goyder Line which I had heard of but not remembered much about and how the saltbush is one side of it and the mallee scrub the other..googled it and it is all about the rain fall either side of a line across the bottom  Aus...freedom lifestying allows us to have these great chats..we liked the red rusty looking Whyalla, but it would be very hot in summer.

 Point Lowly is at the top of the Spencer Gulf and this is the area where giant cuttlefish come to breed, there are currently concerns about their deminishing numbers so the area was close for a year to cuttlefishing..but the squid were plentiful as were some late season blue swimmer crabs caught in drop nets off the jetty.






These are squid caught on a squid jig, they pull and squirt black squid ink out, the plan is out in the water, but sometimes you cop it when they are in..if you're are not too smart!!
The leg/tenticles can suck onto you but you pull them and the head out, keep that for bait for the crab pots, you can eat the leg things but when you cook them they can cause the oil to splatter and I get spot fat burns and crack the shits..so they are better off bait! With the help of some sand the outside 'wings' are peeled off, you can eat these, then there is a flat bone in the body which you pull out, and then turn the 'hood' inside out and clean it..not hard..and there you have it CALAMARI

 The crabs are blue before cooking and are fun to catch in some areas we have waded and raked them, fun thing to do til a sting ray floats by!!
These were caught in drop pots, there is a size limit, we kill and clean our crabs before cooking, makes for nicer eating, some people cook them whole and deal with the gut as they eat..not us!!

Half crabs we drop into boiling water for about 5 minutes, they are delicious and sweet as..yum.

 The squid hood can be sliced into rings or diced into pieces, to make pieces roll up you need to score the inside of the flesh..battering is nice but fattening, very quick to cook.

My favourite way is to coat/shake with salt and pepper and Chinese 5 spices,  cook about 40 seconds in very hot oil...you need to be careful not to over cook or you end up rubber bands!

Beer or wine is a must!

For those not familiar with camping this is the 'dump point' for the 'dunny'...not my job I must add.

There is always water at a dump point and unless otherwise indicated it is suitable to use for the caravan water tank!!

Just have to get your head around it!!!

It can also be the place to get water for washing...note my washing stick..a 'sailors washing machine' actually a funnel with large holes drilled in it attached to a walking stick, does a great job, usually my job, but Mick is the hereo here!!
(if only for the photo)