McCulloch Family Giant Leap: Port Julia introduces us to the Yorke Peninsula

What a day our Friday was, not really one we want to re-live again anytime soon but in saying that, if it is our worst day on this trip then we are really lucky. It all started with Hamish chucking a massive tantrum and demanding everything as we were trying to pack up. Of course we were not giving in to this bad behaviour so that only made it worse and trying to deal with that and packing up wasn’t exactly fun.

Our first stop was the weighbridge to make sure we were all still legal with our towing with the van and we were quietly confident that we were, yet my gut was not. Really should listen to my gut as it wasn’t good news at all. The caravan was 100kg heavier than what we wanted it to be. It was still well within the caravan weight limit but as it was over 2.5t it meant the tow ball weight had to be 180kg. Whilst we didn’t get an official tow ball weight there is a basic calculation that can give you a rough figure and that was 260kg, so yeah just a bit over there.

It isn’t the end of the world as we had our water tanks full, so if we travelled with them half full that would drop the weight from the caravan and put it back down to 2.5t which then means our tow ball weight can be 250kg. It would easily be that when you take that much weight off the front of the van. That being said, it isn’t really helpful for free camping as you need water and it also annoyed us as it means we have added 100kg to our caravan along the road and during our travels! That part had us stumped.

Anyway on we went towards our destination of Port Julia which was only 177km away. Once on the main highway out of town someone driving past gets Jason’s attention and points to our caravan to indicate something needs winding up. That is never good so we looked for somewhere to pull over and finally found a space big enough for us to fit. One of the caravan legs weren’t fully up. It wasn’t fully down either but still it is better to have it properly locked in. We are very grateful to that stranger for letting us know.

So take two on trying to get to our destination, and once we were back on the highway Hamish of course suddenly needs to go to the toilet. We ask him to hold whilst we look for the next truck or parking bay, but of course there isn’t one for ages. I was so annoyed at myself for not taking him to the bathroom before we left – when will I learn. We ended up pulling over on a side road and Jason took Hamish to our toilet. It is great having it just behind you for these reasons. Unfortunately this time getting back onto the highway wasn’t so easy and we thought we could do a U-turn at an intersection of four roads.

In hindsight it wasn’t a great idea, but it is possible as our car and caravan has a great turning circle, you just have to take off the Hayman Reese bars. As you can now imagine we didn’t take them off and we thought we had pulled off the manoeuvre when we heard a bang. We thought it was the bars just re-aligning themselves but luckily Jason wasn’t convinced and pulled over. One of the bars had bent its pin holding it in place so bad it had come off. On the upside (which at the time we could not see) we hadn’t done any damage to the parts on either the car or caravan. It was just the pin that took the brunt of it and needed to be replaced.

Now in the middle of nowhere there isn’t exactly going to be a shop we can just walk into to buy another one so we needed to decide what we were going to do. Jason remembered that there was a caravan shop in Port Wakefield which was 60km in the direction we wanted to go. So we took the other bar off as we thought it would be safer to drive without them on then just one on. He also rang ahead to make sure they had the part before we got there and we were in luck as she thought she did.

We took it slower to Port Wakefield and it gave us time to discuss the weight and why there had been an increase as I thought I had been trying to counteract anything new coming in. In reality I realised I hadn’t been doing as well as I thought and we started to work out what we had added and when we had last weighed the van when we hardly had any food or beer in the van. Now we had at least half a carton under the bed and quite a big stockpile of food and other items. Also our mistakes with the Hayman Reese bars were discussed at length and some new action plans were also put in place.

In regards to the weight we agreed that the best long time solution would be to have the car certified to tow 3t with a tow ball weight of 250kg. So I guess it is upgrading the tow ball capacity. Jason met someone on Kangaroo Island who had done this so he could have a ball weight of 250kg when towing over 2500kg. We will look into that in the future but in the mean time we will travel with our tanks half full and get rid of a few extra items we really don’t need.

Then quietly to myself I came up with a plan in case this stop didn’t have the part we needed and what we would do. The worrier in me needs to always know there is another option out there, and in reality there were plenty. Once we arrived in Port Wakefield I left Jason to take care of the caravan whilst I took the kids to the local bakery. That way Jason could get the part plus spares (not that we hope to make the same mistake) and could fix it all back up as one of the bolts also needed tightening.

We had also ruined the new bearings so Jason had to replace them but luckily we already had spares. He actually got it fixed quite fast and came to join us for a coffee to calm us down – of course the kids got a sugar coated donut to hype them up! Don’t ask us to explain our logic. By now we were over this drive and just wanted to get to the Port Julia free camp. Happily the rest of the drive was uneventful and nice and easy. Though we were back to dry country again and it was obvious that they hadn’t gotten any of the recent rain that came through.

We wanted to try out our new solar and start to get some cheaper places to stay so had done a bit of research and found that the community of Port Julia had a camping area run by their Progress society. There was no power or water to plug into the van, but it was only $7 a night. We rolled in and did the lap of the area to suss out where we wanted to park. Once we had decided it was a matter of removing the Hayman Reese bars (see we have learnt our lesson) and backing in the van. Jason did say that it was actually easier reversing into the site without them on.

There were some fellow campers there who had been staying for quite a while as they were working in the area and they kindly shared with us some information. For instance they did not recommend swimming down at the local beach as there are razor fish which would slice up the kid’s feet! Also, that we could get good water from a park in Port Vincent which would allow us to top up our water tanks if need be. Best of all it was only 15km down the road and had the nearest shops so no doubt we would be calling in there at least once.

Our camp setup in Port Julia.

Once we were all set up we went for a drive around Port Julia but there wasn’t much to see at all. Just lots of holiday beach shacks and a jetty, so we headed onto Port Vincent. It is a beautiful little sleepy beach town with a small beach that was obviously safe due to the number of people on it and in the water. We let the kids out to enjoy it and have a paddle as we hadn’t packed their togs in the car. Jason also took the opportunity to go and buy another plastic water container.

Lookout over Port Julia

A photo for our old neighbour Vince.

The kids went for a bit more than a paddle and were quite saturated by the time Jason got back. I didn’t mind at all as they were just having so much fun playing that I wasn’t going to stop it. So we stripped them off, chucked them in the car and headed back to camp. It was a lovely cool evening for camping without power and Jason and I have to admit we found it quite addictive watching to see how much power everything used and how low the battery got. The worst item for draining power was the pump for the water.

Having fun at the beach.

Just a little paddle, we will only go up to our waist!

Saturday saw us get going very slowly as it was quite cool overnight and Kayla hadn’t slept well. I should have known that the temperature would drop and to put her in her winter pjs, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. After the coffee kicked in we headed straight down to check out the Wattle Point Wind Farm which had a viewing area right up close. We have seen heaps of them from a distance but never have we been able to get up this close to one. The viewing area also had heaps of information about the wind turbines on display so we could get a better understanding of just how powerful they are.

Some of the wind turbines.

The kids checking them out.

This really cements in our minds that South Australia seems to be going down the sustainable living path. They have so many more different alternatives, plastic bags in shops are not handed out – you are charged for them so naturally after a while you get sick of this and start to actually remember to bring in your green bags. The noise coming from the wind turbines wasn’t as loud as I was expecting, but in saying that I think I would struggle to sleep right under one. I can’t even stand the awning of our caravan flapping around too much.

There were so many of them.

On the way back to the caravan we drove through Edithburgh, Coobowie and Wool Bay. Just lots of sleepy little beach towns that look like great places to just get away and unwind. There really isn’t much else to do there so if you are after an exciting place to hang out they really aren’t your sort of holiday destination. As we had promised the kids we would take them to the beach, we returned to Port Vincent. It is certainly no mean feat with everything we had to take with us. First there was the sun shade, the togs, mat to sit on, shovels, spades, food and of course the snorkelling gear.

Loading grain near Wool Bay.

The big grain silos.

Eventually we were all set up except we realised we had forgotten the towels! Just a major oversight on our behalf, so Jason set off back to the van to grab them. At least it wasn’t far away thankfully but it was a bit cool so we thought the kids would want them. On his return Jason went out for a snorkel and saw some big whiting in the water. Talk about stirring him, knowing that they were in there but he couldn’t catch them. The sun shade held up really well and it was great to be able to sit out of the sun and supervise the kids. Mind you of course they made new friends and kept going further down the beach so I had to leave my comfortable spot to make sure they were okay.

All set up and ready for me to sit in.

Jason and the kids having a play.

Eventually we pulled the kids away to head back to the van for a late lunch. Jason did a few jobs around the van and then we all relaxed after the bad night sleep. We even made some play doh for the kids to play with and I got to catch up on the blog and start reading the next book. Great Christmas present for Jason Mum and Dad! I got sick of waiting for him to finish his other one and started this one. We also arranged where we were going to stop next and decided on Marion Bay, so booked into a caravan park there. For only $33 a night for power and water you have to be happy with that. One thing we have learnt about this Peninsula is that it is the place to visit if you love diving, snorkelling or fishing (boat needed).

On Sunday we headed into Minlaton to see if we could get some spare fuses for the TV to run off 12 volt. Always good to have some just in case and also some bearings to replace the ones we broke on our way here. However, at the time we didn’t really think or realise what day it was so forgot that it was Sunday and of course everything was pretty much shut. Luckily the Information Centre was open so we popped in there and grabbed a few brochures before heading to the local park. There, we had the morning tea that we had packed which was lucky as it looked like even the bakery was closed.

Having a play on the surfboard.

Kayla as she hops off the slide.

There, they had the Red Devil memorial which was an interesting read on the history of the pilot (who I have forgotten his name). From here we decided then to head to Ardrossan as there was a lookout over a mine and ship loading facility. After the 48km drive we were very disappointed to find it was closed and locked off. According to the sign it is now locked off on weekends due to misuse. Sad really as we expect shops to be shut on a weekend but not lookouts.

The Red Devil.

So we headed back to the van for lunch, on the way calling into Billy Goat Flat and Pine Point to check them out. Both seemed to be holiday shacks that are shut up for most of the year. Though all the beachfront ones at Pine Point would be nice to stay in as the majority of them had direct beach access. After lunch Jason and Hamish headed down to the jetty to try a spot of fishing. I had decided I needed to get a bit of exercise so took Kayla in a stroller for a walk around the streets before making our way down to the jetty too. The boys weren’t having much luck so after a while they called it quits and we returned to the van and cooked yummy roast pork for dinner instead.

It has been a great stay at Port Julia but I have to admit I am looking forward to getting back to a caravan park to plug into the power and most importantly water. Then I can have a nice long hot shower without thinking how much water I am using.