Yorke Peninsular Australian paradise on a stick
Jun 04 '07
The Bottom Line Whatever you want from a holiday Yorke Peninsular has got it as long as its a rest!
Australia is the only country in the world to occupy an entire continent, albeit the smallest one, with an area about the same as the USA.
That makes it an island with well over twenty five thousand kilometers of coastline – and that means a lot of places to visit for those with an interest in the sea.
As for me, that means no interest as the sea is wet, full of sharks and lots of sand that grinds away at my toes.
So, although like eighty percent of Aussies I live close to the coast I prefer to stay in the hills surrounded by bushland – so I am a whole lot drier and there are very few sharks!
Regardless I realize the beach is high on the agenda for many people so for what its worth I thought I would give a brief dissertation of our recent holiday.
South Australia, which is a state, not a geographic area, is a big lump of dirt about twice the size of Texas. It has its fair share of coastline which is probably a good thing because over eighty percent of the state is desert.
The coastline, particularly in the Adelaide area, is a very jagged arrangement with two rather large peninsula’s close by making ideal holiday spots only a couple of hours drive away – except for the bigger of the two which is about eight hours away. These peninsulas are called Yorke and Eyre, for no particular reason other than it kept a couple of Poms happy about a hundred and fifty years ago.
Yorke Peninsula is the closest and very popular as a short term holiday destination for Adelaide’s million or so inhabitants.
It is one of, if not the, best barley growing areas of the world and spans an area about one hundred and fifty kilometers long and varies in width but averages around sixty kilometers. The whole lot is within “Goyders Line of Rainfall”. Goyder was one of my ancestors, the bloke who worked out just by looking at vegetation what land was arable and what was not. He achieved this by riding a horse (I suspect a lot of horses) backwards and forwards across the width of the state several times over a few years – a total ride of well over seven thousand kilometers. What he actually achieved was to draw a line along the exact spot where rainfall is plus or minus twelve inches a year. So accurate was this little exercise that this line is still used today and largely determines the value, or otherwise, of agricultural land.
Anyway back to Yorke Peninsular.
Apart from being a barley growing paradise it is an ideal place for those who like to fish – which I hate so that’s enough about that.
Fortunately there is also a lot to see from Aboriginal Settlements, early now disowned copper mines to the largest wind farm in Australia. The wind farm, contrary to popular opinion, does not make wind. Rather it is a mob of a hundred and fifty windmills that produce electricity – for next to nothing (apart from the couple of hundred million it cost to put them there). Together they generate about five percent of the State’s electricity requirements – but it’s a start! – and there are a few more on the way.
Yorke Peninsular has excellent roads and all types of accommodation. It really is a great place for a bludge (doing nothing) except for those hell bent on bushwalking, fishing and enjoying nature – and the scenery is fantastic.
Also it is only about thirty kilometers from Adelaide, across the water, so the rescue helicopters can have you in hospital in next to no time.
Thankfully I am happy to bludge.
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