Streaky Bay SA

About Streaky Bay

Streaky Bay is a important, small service centre on the edge of the only safe, deep water harbour between Port Lincoln and King George Sound in Western Australia. While the town has a wonderfully casual, Mediterranean ambience its real attraction is that it is surrounded by some superb, unusual coastal scenery. The beautiful Smooth Pool and huge white sand dunes on the Westall Way Scenic Drive; the sea lions lazing in the sun on the rocks below Point Labatt; the rugged cliffs and pristine, white beaches all help to make Streaky Bay a magnet for holidaymakers (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Streaky Bay Caravan Park

We soon discovered the reason why so many people find Streaky Bay Foreshore Caravan Park is the perfect place to stay when visiting Streaky Bay, as it offers beautiful sea views and an ideal location right near the water.

Razorfish gathering

Streaky Bay is a beautiful place to stay and the caravan park is right on the beach. One of our neighbours “Fast Eddy” took me out to gather some Razorfish.

Razorfish (also known as razorshell, razor clam, common razor and pod razor) are a range of bivalve mollusc species common around the Eyre Peninsula coastline. They are an edible species of shellfish which gets their common name from their resemblance to an old fashioned cut throat razor.

You need to wear protective footwear and gloves as they will cut through your skin very easily (why they are called Razorfish). They are like flattened cones and are about 300mm in length with the pointy end embedded in the sand and the “mouth” just poking out of the seabed. You just pull them out, crack them open and remove the “heart” which looks like a scallop. Cook them just like a scallop too. Limit is 25 per person per day.

Here is a video I found on YouTube showing how Razorfish are cleaned…

Cape Bauer Loop Coastal Drive

The Cape Bauer Loop drive is a 39 km coastal scenic drive from Streaky Bay, on the western side of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is a good quality dirt road, very little traffic, lovely coastal scenery and easy access from Streaky Bay.

Cape Bauer is a limestone headland that marks the northernmost point of Corvisart Bay. The eastern side falls away to the sheltered waters of the Gibson Peninsula coastal wetlands, while beautiful beaches stretch southwards.

The drive is still classified as being part of the Great Australian Bight. Taking the drive out of Streaky Bay we visited several locations along the way including the blow hole and whistling rocks along with many scenic lookouts.

Point Labatt Seals

The second coastal drive from Streaky Bay was to Point Labatt to check out the seal colony and view more of the striking coastline. (maplink)

We found lazy seals, just kickin’ back doing nothing, and energetic seals who were frolicking in the rock pools. It was a great trip.

Found in no other country in the world, the Australian sea-lion is one of Australia’s most endangered marine mammals and rarest seals. Point Labatt is the only place on the mainland where Australian seal pups can be seen learning to swim, play and rest on the beach. It is also one of the few places in and around Australia where they are protected from land predators and which provides a safe environment for the sea-lion pups to develop.

Murphy’s Haystacks

As we left Streaky Bay (SA), travelling to Elliston, we stopped off at a pretty interesting natural phenomenon called “Murphy’s Haystacks”. They are ancient wind-worn pink granite boulders that formed 1500 million years ago. They stand like a crooked set of giant’s molars on a hilltop just 2km off the Flinders Highway. (maplink)

Folklore has them named after a Scottish agricultural expert who spotted the crop of remarkable rocks from the local mail coach. The Scotsman obviously had a fertile imagination. “That man must harrow,” he commented to his fellow travellers. “Look at all the hay he has saved.”

The owner of the land was Denis Murphy, and faster than you could shout “mine’s a Guinness!” the Murphy’s Haystacks nickname had stuck. Of course they’ve nothing to do with haymaking and are in fact great examples of weathered granite inselberg formations (German for “island-mountain”). They’re part of a larger mass called the Hiltaba Granite, named for the Hiltaba Station in the southwest Gawler Ranges, under which much of the mass lies. Ayers Rock is an inselberg.

The granite was originally hidden deep in the Earth’s crust, probably some 7-10 km below the surface, but over eons the overlying rocks have worn to be transported and deposited on the surrounding continental shelf and inland basins.

Some links…

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