travel australia-whyalla

TRAVEL AUSTRALIA-WHYALLA

Copyright all rights reserved-Gee&Cee

Gee and Cee travel Australia in a caravan Share photos of Australia and give word impressions of their

destinations. Seek Australian regional produce for home cooking.Fish.Enjoy the tourist sites. Reminisce

on past self sufficiency in Australia through vegetable and tropical fruit gardening.

WHYALLA



Whyalla ; Steel City

Whyalla is some three hundred&eighty K’s from Adelaide. You travel past the leg and boot shaped Yorke Peninsula and then some distance down the broad neck of the Eyre Peninsula. Here on the Spencer Gulf is Whyalla-the steel city.



Figure 1 A landscape on route to Whyalla

Figure 2 A landscape on the route to Whyalla



Early Explorers

Matthew Flinders came by sea in 1802 and explored the area around Whyalla.

Flinders was followed by John Eyre who did land exploration in 1840. Both explorers noticed ironstone 50 kilometres inland in the Middle Back Ranges. This area of ironstone was to become the future Iron Knob mine which was to become so economically vital to Whyalla.

The Early Days

The Mount Laura Station museum in Whyalla traces the early development of the district.

Figure 3 Mount Laura Station Museum



The first settlers in 1890 were the Cowled Family who started running sheep in the area. Their supplies came by sea in ketches same as they did in the development of the Yorke Peninsula. In this instance they beached the ketches on the sand at Cowleds’ Landing; unloaded them on to a horse and cart on the low tide and then refloated the ketch on the high tide.

Figure 4 Cowleds’ Landing

These ketches are recognised with a monument to both them and the Cowled Family at Cowled Ianding.



Figure 5 Monument to the family and the ketches

Figure 6 Details of the monument



A Lack Of Water

Just as it was in Yorke Peninsula, the biggest problem for settlers was the lack of surface water. The semi arid landscape could be exceptionally beautiful, particularly in certain lights. The red soil with the complementary hues of blue, green and olive from the salt bush scrub is startling. Any monotony is broken by the rounded elongated ridges. The ancient timelessness of it can make you gasp. It has a dangerous beauty.

Figure 7 The semi arid landscape



Figure 8 The semi arid landscape

Not an easy land to exist in either then or now. However you have to wonder; the original Cowled’s lived well into their eighties.

The History of the Steel City of Whyalla



Whyalla started on the shore as a tiny work camp at the foot of Hummock Hill in 1901.

Figure 9 Hummock Hill as it is today.

The purpose of the small camp was to load the iron ore, which was brought from Iron Knob, on to ships at the jetty. The jetty had been constructed by BHP(Broken Hill Proprietary Limited).



Figure 10 The BHP Jetty now

In 1914 BHP built tin houses for its work force and Hummock Hill expanded to become a little town. One of these tin houses, a Gay Street cottage, stands in the Mount Laura Station Museum.



Figure 11 A 1914 tin house

From these tin houses the settlement, then known as Hummock Hill, gradually expanded until by 1940 it had blast furnaces and shipyards and was renamed Whyalla. Whyalla became a city in 1961 and went on to have steelworks and a shipyard .There was 66 ships built here before the yard closed in 1978.

WHYALLA NOW

In the old town at the foot of Hummock Hill there is a collection of ugly, red, industrial buildings which are the steel mills and the heart of Whyalla.



Figure 12 Industrial Whyalla

Figure 13 Industrial Wyhalla



Figure 14 Industrial Whyalla

These scenes are not beautiful and yet historically renovated cottages nearby make a feature of the very ugliness of the red industrial dust. Surprisingly it works and does produce a kind of attractiveness.



Figure 15 Old renovated industrial cottages





A hibiscus bush in the garden adds that extra touch.

You can climb up Hummock Hill to get a better view of the steel making, the iron ore exporting and their surrounds. The wider perspective shakes you in its startling combinations. In a glance you can dip this red rust scene into the immensity of the nearby azure sea,the clean bright light and the huge sky.



Figure 18 Iron ore exporting jetty

Trains, clattering and booming, come in loaded with iron ore from the mine at Iron Knob.

Figure 19 Iron ore arrives by train



Ore is loaded onto conveyor belts that work it along onto the jetty.

Figure 20 Unloading the ore onto the escalators

Now it is the turn of the floating trains- the barges- which are pushed and shoved by their tugs out into The Spencer Gulf.



Figure 21 Tug pulls iron ore barge into the Spencer Gulf

Figure 22 Iron ore barge & tug



The barges look like red, overweight, puffing Billies as they bend like drowning struggling caterpillars when they are caught in the tide or prodded by their tugs.

The iron ore ship, probably from China, sits out in deeper water. Its attachments strain to catch the wayward barges so as they can fill their holds.

Figure 23 The iron ore ship with its attachments

It takes days and numerous barge loads before the ore ship’s belly is full and it settles down to its red plimsoll line.



Figure 24 Tides come & go as the ship gets loaded

The twinkling night makes the picture even more romantic You can imagine the ship’s Asian crewmen, weary for their far off homes, staring at this foreign shore, albeit a beautiful one, and longing to cast off.



Figure 25 The ship & barge at night

Figure 26 A ship at night



The Blue Line

What you will always remember about Whyalla, what will be imprinted on your mind, is the blue line.

This natural phenomenon, one of Nature’s beautiful quirks, comes about because of a huge tidal movement. At low tide a remarkable band of blue appears between shallow and deep water.

This occurance gives you the most incredible seascapes imaginable. It makes Whyalla a beautiful place.

Crabs love this setting and Whyalla is famous for its crabs and razor fish.

Figure 27 A view of Whyalla & the blue line



Figure 28 The blue line from Whyalla harbour

Figure 29 The blue line from Whyalla beach



Figure 30 Crabbing on the blue line

Some of the money from the resources boom works its way back into Whyalla.



Figure 31 Whyalla from Hummock Hill

The caravan park is beautifully sited and deservedly popular.



Figure 32 Whyalla Caravan Park

On the high tide fishing just here for small fish,garfish and tommy ruffs, can be quite rewarding;



Figure 33 Gee fishes for garfish at Whyalla caravan park

Figure 34 Gee's catch of garfish & tommy ruff



A carefully nurtured plant of Sturt’s Desert Pea, South Australia’s floral emblem survives well in the caravan park;

Figure 35 Sturt's Desert Pea

And a nearby public garden is an added attraction.



Figure 36 The beachside public garden

Crabbing At Whyalla

If the weather and tides are right, going crabbing from Whyalla Caravan Park beach is a sublime experience. The walk, the light, the colour, the sudden flash of a scuttling blue crab and the movement of sand and tide all play a part.

It is not easy. You have a long walk way out across sand and shallow water at the time of the turn of the incoming tide. You need your crab rake, floating bin on wheels and often end up chest deep in sea water. Then you need the eyes to spot the flash of blue and the quickness and strength to flip this blue crab onto your rake. It is fantastic though to come back to your camp with your harvest of crabs.



Figure 37 Cee starting off to walk to the blue line to crab



Whyalla Wetlands

Whyalla has wetlands in development. Making wetlands has become an important and popular Australian community endeavour. Such projects are good for the migrating birds, for people walking and relaxing and for beautifying the urban environment.

Figure 38 Whyalla Wetlands



BLACK POINT, PORT BONYTHON, POINT LOWLY

Further round the bay from Whyalla there are important sea grass meadows which are the world famous breeding grounds for the giant cuttlefish.

This area is known as Black Point

Figure 39 Black Point



Swing further round the bay again and you come to Port Bonython, the export jetty for the central South Australian, Moomba gas fields.

Figure 40 Port Bonython jetty

At Moomba liquid hydrocarbons, oil condensate and LPG are mixed and then pumped 659kms to here.



Figure 41 Plant at Port Bonython

A short distance on from here is historical Point Lowly. Here there is a lighthouse, which in the past has been a sentinel for shipping going through to the upper Spencer Gulf.



Figure 42 Point Lowly

Figure 43 Lighthouse at Point Lowly



Two old style cottages, built for the light house keepers, stand near the lighthouse.

Figure 44 Cottages for the lighthouse keepers

Amateur fishermen love the small harbour at Point Lowly.



Figure 45 Point Lowly Harbour

Gee is very happy to have caught two nice sized snapper here.

Figure 46 Snapper caught at Port Lowly



Go round Point Lowly and you are into Fitzgerald Bay. This was where the intrepid explorer, Matthew Flinders, anchored for his shore explorations of this part of South Australia.

Nowadays this place is big in fish farming. These crystal clear waters, bounded by semi desert, are ideal for breeding kingfish and queenfish.

Figure 47 Fish farming at Fitzgerald Bay



WHYALLA SNAPPER FISHING COMPETION

Figure 48 The Australian Snapper Competition Banner Whyalla has the yearly Australian, snapper fishing competition in April. Boats come from all over and zip in and out from the harbour over a few days as they compete to catch the biggest snapper.



Figure 49 Whyalla harbour

Figure 50 The judging of a big snapper



The competition has a fairground atmosphere with food and entertainment provided.

Figure 51 Whyalla Snapper Competition



Figure 52 Wagon rides at Whyalla

Figure 53 Helicopter flights at Whyalla



A very special feature of the event was the kite flying.

Figure 54 Kites at Whyalla

Two kites were especially symbolic for Whyalla;

Figure 55 The giant cuttlefish kite



Figure 56 Launching the white pointer shark kite

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