Sunday 22^nd July

A beautiful sunrise was ours for the taking this morning, so we surprised ourselves by being ready and out on the road by just after 9 am.  Our first stop was the Old Mill again so that I could be confident in my climb – yes I did it without any worries today. As I mentioned before the grain silos and the jetty are blots on the seascape, however the view from the mill was quite good.

The next stop was named Winters Hill and here we enjoyed a vista of both the ocean and the countryside behind this hill. 

We could just make out the slight yellow haze of canola which is nearly ready to bloom. A man was just leaving this lookout as we arrived, but a few minutes later he drove back to tell us about Sleaford Bay, about 15km away and a place where whales have been sighted recently.  We found out he is an abalone diver and he was happy to answer my questions about the industry.  He only works about 50 days a year as there is a quota of abalone which can be caught and after that they wait for the next year. We did drive out to Sleaford Bay to join a few other people who were on the same mission, but alas the whales were otherwise occupied today and not out to entertain us.

We had been given a recommendation of a place to get the “best fish and chips in Port Lincoln”, so down to the Marina we headed to find the Coastal Café.  We left our platters clean after a delicious fish, chips and salad lunch – the owner came to tell us that he has a source of fresh fish here and that is all he uses – no frozen fish at all.  This was refreshing to know as on many occasions we are lured to a spot as it is the place where something is grown, or farmed, only to find there is a shop selling souvenirs of the said industry.  I want to be at the coal face, not just look at souvenirs or photos!!

Close by we paused at the Fisherman’s Memorial, created in honour of all the fishermen who have never returned from their seafaring.  One can see the mother and children looking out to sea.  It was crafted by Marijan Bekic, the same person who made the Farmer statue in Wudinna which we saw about a week ago.

One of the brochures from yesterday was about a Segway track at Glen-Forest Tourist Park and vineyard at Greenpatch about 20km from the city. This sounded like something different and a way to work off the fish and chips, so we headed out there to be greeted by many species of wildlife including kangaroo, peacock, emu, ostrich, alpacas and many others.  

Kym the owner took us on a 45 minute trip on the segway which was a whole lot of fun.  The idea is to lean your body toward the handlebars to gain speed and bend the knees, and to stop you need to almost stand up straight.  Apart from two minor spills we hooned all over his farm and paddocks, scaring a flock of sheep in the process and generally just having a great time.  Yes even old grey nomads can do this – I would recommend it to anyone as its very easy to pick up.

Our final destination today was the Axel Stenross Maritime Museum featuring older style tools used in building wooden boats, wooden dinghies, large collection of maritime artifacts and photos as well as newspaper cuttings of the local fishing and boating history.  The museum was named in honour of Axel Stenross, a Finnish fisherman who made Port Lincoln his home.  There was a poignant story about the fiancée whom he had left in Finland.  He wrote to her after being in Port Lincoln for a few years telling her that she would not be able to cope with the lifestyle out here and that it was best to call off the engagement.  She never married, looked after her elderly parents and it was only after her death that Axel married a lady from Port Lincoln whom he had been courting for 30 years.  They had 17 years of marriage and he outlived her by about 5 years.