Whalers Way: Eyre Peninsula on the West Coast of South Australia
About thirty minutes south of Port Lincoln and the scenic drive known as Whalers Way takes you to some of the most spectacular stretches of coastline in the State. Whalers Way is on private property. The road was graded by a local farmer and you need to pay a twenty dollar entrance fee at the Port Lincoln Visitor Centre to drive down to the very tip of Eyre Peninsula but it's well worth it.
“This is Cape Carnot. It was actually named by Frecyinet. I guess you'd call him Baudin's offsider. He came in here in 1803 along this coast.”
The French navigators who named this after one of Napoleon's generals treated this stretch of coastline with infinite respect for obvious reasons. Freak waves here have claimed lives and the signs serve as a constant reminder of just how dangerous Cape Carnot can be. But over the years many have ventured down to this spot where the full force of the Southern Ocean meets some of the oldest rock formations on the planet.
“It's the oldest rocks in the eastern half of Australia. Two thousand four hundred and sixty million years old and named by a fairly well known South Australian geologist.”
Sir Douglas Mawson was intrigued by this granite slab which forms the platform for so many of the limestone cliffs at the bottom end of the Peninsula. But eons ago forces mightier than granite helped shape this landscape.
“It's a fault-line. The Earth's actually cracked apart during an earthquake. You can still see stretch marks and everything on the rocks on the right hand side. It even fits together.”
It's the sort of place where you leave one spectacular view behind only to be confronted by another. Like the one at Black's Lookout towards Cape Wiles. Soon we're off through the scrub to the beach which explains why this scenic drive is called Whaler's Way. One of the highlights of Steve Pocock's tour is a tranquil retreat but the more gruesome history of this pristine cove becomes very apparent if you know where to look.
“In 1837 a year after the settlement of Adelaide and two years before the establishment of the town of Port Lincoln the whalers were at a remote spot called Fishery Bay. And it was on this natural ramp that they'd haul up the Southern Rights and carve them up for their blubber.”
“So these are remnants of the old whaling station?”
“Certainly are. There was a big platform built here and they lined it all with bricks. And they had all their blubber pots or tripots on top and as you can see. The burnt brick there is a sign of it. There's actually a heritage site in here and a lot of work has been done. These are what’s called Tom Thumb bricks or Tasmanian thumb bricks. They were made by convicts and have a thumb print in them.”
It's believed the South Australia Company Whalers lived here in the dunes just back from the beach. But it was a short-lived enterprise - just five years in fact.
“Even at that time they showed signs of the Southern Right Whale collapsing and they probably pushed it pretty hard in other areas. They were just too successful.”
Thankfully the Southern Rights are back at Fishery Bay come the winter months. It's just one of the places you can visit on a Great Australian Bight Safari. For bookings you can contact Steve on 1800 352 750. It you have anyt further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
