Saturday 14^th July and Sunday 15^th July

It rained quite heavily last night and the ground was very muddy as we prepared ourselves for the next leg of our journey.  We were thinking of the football match that was to be held on the adjacent ground – there will be some very grubby players at the end of it I’m sure.  They must have been expecting a large crowd as Bob came across the canteen ladies preparing the hot dogs – he estimated there were enough to feed an army.

Todays trip took us to Wudinna where we found a wonderful granite statue known as “The Australian Farmer”. It stands at 8 metres (26 ft) in height, and weighs in the vicinity of 70 tonnes. It took 17 years to produce from initial proposal to the final unveiling in 2009, and two years for the artist, Marijan Bekic (with the assistance of his son, David) to carve. 

The stylised work of a farmer represents the early settlers of the region, with carvings symbolising grain and sheep found within the sculpture. While it takes a basic human form, the top represents the sun, while in the body are grain crops. 

Further around town we found this chainsaw carving – self explanatory and quirky.

The next small town was Minnipa and we found it to be a carbon copy of Wudinna minus any “big” objects. We did manage to find a hardware store which sold the brand of axe which Bob had been looking for – so it found a new home with us, along with a new camp oven and a yabbie net.  I’ll let you all know when the first yabbie finds the net!!

We drove for quite a while toward our destination of Streaky Bay. The road was relentlessly straight and flanked by more wheat fields, and then suddenly an oval surrounded by many 4 x 4 vehicles and a football match in progress.  Where do all these people come from?  Ahh yes this is the country and they drive distances unfamiliar to us in order to get to events which are important to them and the community.

We found a lovely camping spot just out of Streaky Bay and very quickly Bob put that new axe to work and collected a substantial pile of wood for a fire.  In fact he collected so much we stayed here two nights to use it up.

The spot was significant as Edward John Eyre had established his depot here in 1839 on his first expedition to the region.  He also used this site as a base camp when he returned in 1840 to make his famous expedition from Port Lincoln around the Great Australian Bight to King George Sound in Western Australia.  His journal entry for 3 November 1840 records:

“This curious little hole contained water from five to seven inches in depth, the level of which was maintained as rapidly as a person could bale it out; this was the sole supply for ourselves and horses but it was a never failing one.”

On our second night here a young English couple camped nearby, so we invited them to share our warmth by the fire.  I made a delicious sweet damper in the Eco-pot and it turned out somewhat similar to a fruit loaf and appreciated by all for supper. 

We visited Streaky Bay and walked the length of the jetty to soak up the fresh sea air and watch the abundant birdlife around the water.  After a thorough familiarization around town our noses led us to the pub where we enjoyed a counter lunch.