From farmland to the coastline - explore the Yorke Peninsula

From farmland to the coastline

The Yorke Peninsula & Copper Coast
has so much to offer.  

Our first stop on this leg of our journey was the epic adventure playground and pink lake at St. Kilda. Just north of Adelaide, St Kilda's adventure playground is suitable for all ages including us 'big' kids. With gigantic slides, massive flying foxes, ninja setups, a pirate ship jutting out over the water, basketball courts plus the usual playground inclusions, this park has it all. The bonus is there was plenty of room to pull the LandCruiser & van up to stay the night!

Ardrossan was our first stopover on the peninsula & it also saw the first major setback on our trip. In a freak gust of wind, our awning snapped a pin in its arm leaving us in a precarious situation. With the awning flapping freely, its arms swung dangerously unhinged. But with a bit of luck on our side, we managed to retract it with the help of some fellow campers. Placing replacement parts on order, we licked our wounds & moved on. We learned a valuable lesson; when in doubt; pull the awning in. We have since witnessed a number of awning disasters & know not to trust the wind. 

Next, we made our way south, visiting some of the smaller towns along the way. If time allows you can follow the art trail or the pink lake trail, which are spectacular to see up close. We eventually set up camp for a couple of nights at Stenhouse Bay in the Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park. Here is the famous Stenhouse Bay Jetty offering great fishing. There are also a large number of wildlife, including many emus, lizards & kangaroos which visited the campground when we were there. Equipped with amenities & many camping sites it was a great place to stay. 

We found that the Yorke Peninsula is fueled by our mining industry. Historically, a lot of these towns were founded on mining, however, still to this day, there are many active ports, quarries, & mining facilities. There are many historical sites you can visit around the Yorke that explore the mining heritage that these towns were built on. 

Daly Heads was another choice campground that we visited on our travels down the Yorke. At $20 a night, this council-operated campground offers huge sites on the headland. If you're up climbing the large flight of stairs down to the beach you can spend your days here watching the dolphins that swim up & down the coastline, go for a swim or surf, flick out a fishing line, or just lay back on the pristine beaches & let the day pass you by. There were a number of campsites around Daly Heads to choose from & we would definitely visit this area again.

Point Turton & the famous Flaherty's Beach is an iconic location to stop in for a few nights. The Point Turton Caravan Park is the perfect location next to the town's jetty & boat ramp for fishing & within walking distance of the local pub. Make sure you check out the different breeds of rays that live around the jetty. The locals have even named a few & they can be seen (or pat) when they glide around the shallows. 

Fishing off the jetty was another popular activity in Port Turton & Cameron even managed to hook his first shark of the trip! It was just a little Port Jackson, though it still managed to put up a good fight!

There is an ocean swimming pool a short drive down past Magazine Bay Cave which offers snorkeling, swimming & the bonus of a pontoon. If beaches are your thing, Flaherty's Beach allows 4WD access & it's the ideal place to settle in for the day. The extra low tides reveal hundred of meters of low-lying sand bars. Partnered with crystal clear, flat waters this is the perfect place to do some Stand Up Paddle-boarding or allow the kids the freedom to play around in the water. We enjoyed our time in Point Turton & the only thing that pushed us onward was the looming bad weather. 

If you're looking for an ideal beach camp in the Yorke, look no further than Wauraltee Beach. The weather wasn't ideal for us to stop here on our trip, however, we love a good beach camp & this is not one to be missed. When we visit next time, Wauraltee is going to be at the top of our list. 

As we made our way to the top of the Yorke Peninsula, we stayed in an RV-friendly campground offered by Kadina Council. For $10/night, you can camp in the secure showgrounds. This is a great base to explore Moonta & Wallaroo. Our kids loved the free Moonta splash park (equipped with waterslides - NSW really needs to step up its splash park game!). Moontya also offered another great jetty & foreshore to explore, as well as the tourist train. 

We didn't spend as long as we would have liked in the Yorke Peninsula as we were pushed along by the impending wet weather that was making its way across SA at the time. To avoid this we continued north & ended up deciding to check out the Flinders Ranges. This was one of our best last-minute decisions to date & next month we'll share our experience in the Flinders with you!