Port Lincoln and Coffin Bay

After tiring out the hounds with ball games on the green grass, we were off again with our first stop being the beautiful Coffin Bay. It is a beautiful little town which has most services. Apparently the pub does a good feed and you can walk off the calories on the walking trail that seems to go right around the town.

Like most of the coastal towns here it is located on a large natural harbour and judging by the state of the art boat ramp it is a fisherman’s paradise. The town border in Coffin Bay National Park which was off limits to us due to the mutts in the back seat.

We then made our way to Port Licoln which is the major town in the Southern part of the Eyre. The farmland down here looks much more productive than the rocky paddocks further North and we saw our first horses and trees for hundreds of kilometres. Port Lincoln has all major facilities, shops and junk food for those missing Golden Arches Cruisine. There is a nice esplanade and jetty. A statue of a man with a cat caught my eye and turned out to be a monument to Matthew Flinders and his companion cat.

The major industries are agriculture and fishing. There is a large marina which is home to the fishing fleet and a large number of upmarket homes, some with their own private jetty. This area also has a recreation centre with indoor pool and is definitely the place to be if you like the mod cons.

One of the tuna fishermen was an owner of the three times Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva and although she never set a hoof in the place there is a life sized statue on the main esplanade. I went to get a photo (what else does a photographer on holidays do?) only to find the Diva being lovingly  “groomed and polished”. We got talking to the guy working on her and it turned out he was the sculptor who created her from photos and personal visits. So sorry, no show pictures this time!

Port Lincoln has two low cost ($10 per night) camp sites but both are in bitumen car parks some distance from the town. One is right next to the sewage farm (poooooo!)and the other is on a slope next to the maritime museum. Neither took our fancy so we set up camp in Port Lincoln Tourist Park to catch up on washing, shopping and caravan repairs. It is a large well run park with a variety of sites ranging from large concrete drive through site to slopey unpowered ones. The park is on the side of a hill, but the powered sites are terraced and offset to maximise the views. We did not need power and had plenty of room in the unpowered section. If you want a powered site get there early or book ahead as it was full both nights.

The views are good and a great walking trail goes along the water for several km in both directions. The park also has a private jetty, boat ramp and sheltered swimming area. The sign requesting people to report shark sightings did not really encourage me to don the bathers!