Waterloo Bay on the Eye Peninsula: Ron Kandelaars explores of the Erye Peninsula in the West Coast region of South Australia

For years Waterloo Bay on the West Coast of South Australia provided a reasonably safe anchorage for the ketches that pulled into the farming town of Elliston on Eyre Peninsula - some 650 kilometres from Adelaide.

The Elliston Caravan Park offers a great base from which to explore this part of the wild west coast. But for many of us, towing the boat all this way may not be an option so I thought I'd hire one from park owner Troy Taylor. He enlisted the help of local electrician Lester Hurrell to show me the ropes in a bay known for it's good fishing.

Troy Taylor: "You can catch King George Whiting in this bay, trevally, squid and Tommies off the jetty The bay's a great spot because it's so sheltered - it's shaped like a horseshoe so you get protection from the open sea."

Soon we're on our way but before we try our like with the whiting I'm keen to get my bearings. Waterloo Bay is deceptively big. The calmer waters made it the ideal place to establish a port for the farming communities half way up the western side of Eyre Peninsula.

The name Elliston is a derivation of Ellen Liston. She was a famous governess for an early pioneering family. The early pioneers used this as a transport hub when they'd come in their ketches to pick up supplies and then head off with bagged wheat and barley and wool for the markets in Adelaide and beyond.

The jetty is a marvel of late nineteenth century engineering and although it's been a feature of Elliston life for generations it's not the first. That was replaced as the wheat crops and wool clips increased in size.

Lester Hurrell: "It's a hundred years old and it's still called the new jetty and it's one of the screwpile type jetties. It was screwed into the rock. It's very rare as there's not too many of them around."

The job of skippering the ketches into Waterloo Bay was a hazardous one as the captains ran the gauntlet, weaving his way through a gap in the line of islands, exposed rock and hidden reefs. By lining up the triangle on the jetty with the one near the silos a skipper could set his course for open water.

It didn't always go to plan and many were wrecked on the treacherous breakers that slam into what the locals rather ominously call "the bar". And that's where the crew of the rocket launcher - came in. Should a ketch or steamer hit the reef they'd fire a lifeline via a rocket to the distressed vessel.

One last lap of tranquil Waterloo Bay with it thunderous reminders of life outside the Bar. And we head back home for tea - cooked by Troy's wife Andrea in the safe and comfortable confines of the Elliston Caravan Park's outdoor eatery. The tucker - courtesy of Lester my Elliston guide.

Should you want to try your luck in Waterloo Bay then one of Troy and Andrea's tinnies can be hired for $120 a day. The Park also has very comfortable accommodation a mere stone's throw from the town's historic jetty.

Elliston Caravan Park
2 Flinders Highway
Elliston
West Coast
Eyre Peninsula

'Tinnie' hire $120 per day
Contact (08) 8687 9061

Published 15th February 2009