Yorke Peninsula: (West Coast)

Yorke Peninsula is – fishing, oysters, blue crabs, squid, wheat and barley crops, jetties, ports, roses, beautiful old buildings – lots, lay back atmosphere. These are the things that come to mind in this beautiful part of the world.

From Port Augusta we set off down the Yorke Peninsula which is in the shape of a boot and is only a few hours from Adelaide.

All along the coastline are dotted small towns quite close together. Most of them here have a jetty as they were so reliant on shipping in years gone by to transport wheat, wool, gypsum and salt. Hence a lot of these villages have been named Port and there was always busy activity in the Ports. As the ships became bigger and steamers took over, the jetties were extended into deeper water. Eventually, when shipping was no longer used as a mode of transport because of trains and later road transport, the jetties fell into disrepair. Now most of the jetties have been restored and are very popular for fishing and crabbing. There little towns are very historic and have lots of old stone buildings but unfortunately because of the proximity to Adelaide there are many ”flash” holiday homes appearing. Luckily there still remains a relaxing atmosphere in the towns and there are very few shops or commercialism.

We stopped at Port Germein which has the largest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. The friendly caravan park was on the foreshore and just across the road from the jetty which we discovered was really long – well over a kilometre!!

This area is known for its crabbing and you could hire a crab pot for $2 and we were even given some bait – so off we went on the long hike to the end of the jetty to try our luck. It was fun to fling the crab pot out as far as you could. While you are waiting you can go and chat to other hopefuls. No feeling bites or nibbles in this game – just patience to leave the pot in long enough to allow the crabs to get trapped. When you do decide to pull it up you have to do so quickly so you prey doesn’t swim out. Crabs have to be a certain size before you can legally keep them so you have a measurer which the caravan park lent us. You hold it by the nippers while you measure. I commandeered a fellow fisherman to do this. I think he was fascinated as I was taking photos of each step and of course quizzing him on what to. It was quite exciting to haul the pot up with a squirming crab only to realize it was quite small so you throw it back. Most of the ones we caught were undersize but we did catch three and one of mine was quite big. I like it as you don’t have to unhook a poor fish. We then took our catch back to cook up and for me to try. We had good instructions on how to do this. Brian did the putting them into boiling water – I don’t think I would have liked to see that!!! Well sad news – I didn’t really like the taste of them and the fishy smell – sorry all you seafood lovers!!! But it was lots of fun.

We found a quirky “junk” shop crammed full of bric–a-brac, junk and collector’s items. It even came with resident skeletons as well as cobwebs. Brian bought some bolts from the old Ghan railway.

We travelled quite a distance the next day through lots of wheat fields. We came to a town called Moonta. Copper was found in the area and there was an influx of skilled miners from Cornwall and with them came Cornish traditions including the Cornish pasty. A big Cornish festival is held every second year. Brian tried a Cornish pasty. There were some beautiful old buildings here.

Port Victoria is a lovely little beachside village and the caravan park is overlooking the bay and the Jetty. We watched the sunset silhouetting the jetty in vivid colours. Lots of people were fishing on the jetty. There was a fish and chip shop, cum post office plus gift shop near the jetty and very few other conveniences. We spent time relaxing and observing the view and checking out how the fishing was progressing.

On the way to our next stop, Port Turton, we passed through a town called Minlaton which is known as the Barley Capital of the World. Housed in Minlaton is a Bristol monoplane which is its original condition. It was owned by a local Harry Butler a local daredevil. The plane was called the Red Devil.


Our site at Port Turton Caravan Park was on the upper level overlooking the ocean. This is a new part of the caravan park that was being upgraded. We were glad to be up there as it we were fanned by cooler breeze. There was a large group belonging to Australian Retired Persons Association (fishing chapter) in the lower part so we were extra pleased to be in heights. The jetty was very busy as they receive prizes for most fish caught etc. Apparently this organization has all sorts of interest groups who meet regularly and go on trips together.

We went on a drive along the cliff tops to a lighthouse which is on the tip of the toe of the boot which is the Yorke Peninsula. It was amazing how many houses were stretched out along coastline considering the actual town was so tiny.


The next day was very overcast and we were going for a drive down to Innes National Park which is right down the bottom. It is very beautiful with pristine water. A jetty here was used to take gypsum away. It had been beautifully restored and you could see where the gypsum was pushed down from the top of the cliff.


There are lots of beautiful beaches with white sand and a 360 degree lookout but by this time it was raining heavily so we couldn’t really see very well. We were going to go on a scenic drive along the coast but the visibility was poor and the road was dirt so we missed that as well.

We left the next day and had to get some supplies at Yorketown which is supposed to be the biggest town on the peninsula. It was only very small too. I think this is the charm of the area.