There and Back Again 2022 – Day 5

Today we travelled from Clare along the western side of St Vincent Gulf.

Our motel at Clare has alpacas in the grounds. The allama clock went off early, the birds were singing and we hoped for some alpacapella (they make a humming sound).

Things could take a turn for the worse – well… spit happens.

Brooks Lookout near Blyth just west of Clare. There are series of fault lines and rift valleys throughout this district.

Lake Bumbunga at Lochiel – but wait, what is that out in the water?

The Loch-Eel Monster – a lochturnal creature. There is a legend of a local monster after bullocks went missing on the lake in the 1860s. The real monster hasn’t been seen since the Lochiel Hotel closed in 2014.

The Loch-eel monster is monstrously popular.

Lake Bumbunga with another Loch-Eel Monster sculpture north of Lochiel. This one is a bit tyred.

Getting out to the monster was across the slushy salty surface – beast of loch to us getting there!

Federation Corner near Port Wakefield has a plough commemorating the inventor of the Stump Jump Plough – Clarrie Smith from nearby Ardrossan. The Stump Jump Plough was a groundbreaking invention.

Also at Federation Corner is this marsupial who did roo the day he ate too much.

Clinton Conservation Park is part of a RAMSAR wetland of international significance. We saw spoonbills here in 2019 and hoped to see them again – we were not disappointed.

Taking flight

Ardrossan is a town on the western side of St Vincent Gulf that has many old stone buildings with a heritage vibe. We endured 50km/hr winds gusting to 70km/hr for most of the day.

Some people come here and catch crabs.

Ardrossan coastal views from a park at the end of the main street.

The Ardrossan silos were the largest in Australia when they were built in 1952.

Banksias in a local park

Ardrossan beach

A local gull not looking chipper

Ardrossan Jetty with view along the low cliff line.

Ardrossan Lookout with views over an open cut dolomite mine (calcium and magnesium)….

…and the Ardrossan silos, town and coastline.

Wildflowers on the roadside bush remnants on the Yorke Highway:

Wattle

Holly-leaved grevillea

Templetonia – Cockies Tongue

Mallee flowers

Casuarina seed pods

Port Vincent Water Tower Art shows the Narungga people’s connection to the land and coast along with recreational aspects of Port Vincent.

Stansbury Water Tower Art – the design features Norfolk Island Pines, Stansbury Jetty, the blue swimmer crab, oysters, pelicans, and dolphins.

Stansbury is famous for ocean views, relaxed lifestyle and plagues of pied cormorants. They roost in trees on the foreshore and “paint” everything white in the evenings. See photos below from ABC news story from September 2021: