The first thing everyone does is go and do some shopping.Ceduna is a small neat town on the shores of Murat Bay. There is a grain terminal here where the wheat is taken away by the ships. You hear the train all night taking the grain out to the terminal. Salt and gypsum is also shipped from here.
This is a very large wheat growing area as well as a large oyster growing area and crabbing in season is a great pastime for locals.
Our caravan park was facing a lovely grassy foreshore which had a large jetty nearby.
We caught up with some people that we met in WA so we had drinks with them that night although it was quite chilly. We had great problems adjusting to the 2 1/2 hour time difference and found ourselves going to bed really late and sleeping in the morning.
The next day we saw some beautiful blue sky. We drove to to Denial Bay where there was a long jetty which people were fishing from. People also catch squid and you see the black “ink” all over the jetty. The water is very clear although there is quite a lot of seagrass which entangles hooks and also washes up on the beach and accumulates in black clumps.
On a walk out onto the Ceduna jetty we saw some kids catching crabs. There is a very strict rule about the size of fish and crabs allowed to be caught and as it was only the beginning of the crab season so most were too small.
We went for a drive to Pinky Point where you can get a view of the shipping terminal and see the islands that Dutch explorers named in 1627.
The next morning we left Ceduna for a small free camp at a little village called
Haslam. This is mainly an oyster growing area and fresh oysters are very cheap. There is a jetty where you can fish so we decided to give it try. We didn’t catch anything but I finally mastered the art of casting.
The water is shallow so a boat so when a boat comes in a tractor has to pull it out. When we were leaving in the morning we saw the tractor bringing all the fresh oysters to the shed. What a pity we don’t like oysters!!
Onto Streaky Bay which a quiet little town which of course has oysters as well.
There is a long jetty out into the bay. The jetties were very important in the early days as shipping was their only form of transport as well as goods and supplies. The wheat and wool were taken away by boat.Matthew Flinders named Streaky Bay in 1802 and in 1839, Eyre the explorer set up a depot nearby for overland explorations to Point Bell and Albany.
It was an overcast day so the sea looked grey but at least it wasn’t raining.
We went on a drive around some of the rugged coastline in this area which was very impressive.
After we left Streaky Bay we called into an amazing rock formation of wind worn pink
granite which are called inselbergs that are believed to be 1500 million years old. The wind has carved out some very interesting shapes.
We continued on and decided to stay in a caravan park and were lucky to stumble on a picturesque little place called Venus Bay. It looked out over a very large bay which was as smooth as glass. It is a popular fishing place and most people have a boat. Lots of pelicans hang about the fish cleaning table for some titbits.
Once again there is a jetty and apparently prawn trawlers pull up here. The jetties used to have railway lines on them so the goods could be hauled out usually by horses.The caravan park had a great camp kitchen with table and chairs looking out over the bay. It was like a classy restaurant. We cooked our meal and sat watched the view. It was still overcast which was a shame as the water would have been very blue.
I walked up to scenic lookout which looked over some magnificent rugged cliffs.
These are limestone cliffs and are very unstable so you have to be careful not to get to close to the edge. Huge 
chunks of rock break off without warning. There was also a scenic walk around these cliffs and every corner turned up another amazing view. I keep walking and walking. The limestone was rather rough and then there were sandy tracks but the path became undefined and I wasn’t sure where to go and was a bit afraid of getting lost as I had walked quite a distance so I turned back. I was very tired by the time I got back and my feet were sore but it was worth it. It rained in the night and was overcast and windy so we decided not to stay another night.
We continued down the coastline discovering some interesting places like Colton
(which has one house) If the big sign says OPEN make sure you stop for some fresh wood fired bread and pay by and honesty box and coastal towns like Elliston where the whole town hall which was now the info centre was covered in murals depicting the early days. They had a brilliant exhibition of aboriginal art on display.
We found another campsite right by the beach which is very isolated. The sand very white but lots of sea grass gets washed up onto the beaches so they look a bit untidy. Apparently the sea grass is important for the ecology and provides habitat for many creatures. The stumpy tail lizards are everywhere and you often see them crossing the road but I think this one was more interested in chasing her!!
Once more an overnighter, we stopped to view some more rugged cliffs where there is a memorial to a young local fisherman and onto Coffin Bay which is near the bottom of the Eyre Peninsula. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the pub and had some nice fish and chips. Coffin Bay is also famous for its oysters. It’s a sleepy little place but would be very busy in the summer as there are huge calm waterways here. It was still overcast so once again the water was grey.
There is a huge National park just past Coffin Bay and we went for an explore in the morning – more steep cliffs and lots of sandy coast line as well. There are lots of bays and islands so it was very pretty.
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