Point Turton: Ron visits this great little fishing village at the foot of the Yorke Peninsula region of South Australia

Talk to the locals and they'll tell you any day's a good day at Point Turton. Located near the foot of Yorke Peninsula about 240 kilometres from Adelaide, this little town shows no signs of slowing when it comes to the seachange phenomenon gripping much of the nation.

Malcolm Clifton, Point Turton Caravan Park: "The town in the last six years has more than doubled. Point Turton would be the fastest growing town on Yorke Peninsula."

With 150 permanent residents, the town's population swells to about three thousand come Christmas time and only a small number who've booked early get to stay at the Point Turton Caravan Park. The row of cabins lining the hilltop must have some of the best vantage points on the Peninsula with Hardwicke Bay stretching out before them and the little dogleg jetty offering holidaymakers the chance to wet a line. This is a town which makes the most of what it's been given with the caravan park now perfectly positioned in what was once the local quarry.

Malcolm Clifton, Point Turton Caravan Park: "This was a disused quarry. They used to mine flux which was shipped to Port Pirie to the lead smelters and to Whyalla for the steel works. It was all crushed and dug by hand and the jetty was built for the ketches to come and load it up. When they stopped mining here the local farmers put some really big sheds to store their grain to keep the ketches coming to Point Turton."

Now it's tourists and shackies who come. Travel along the coast and you'll see they've grabbed some of the prettiest spots from which to launch a tinnie or just sit back and take in the views. It's an idyllic spot now but the early farmers certainly didn't have it all their own way. Head inland from town and you'll come across the Peesey Swamp.

During the early years of settlement winter rains would turn it into something more akin a rice paddy than a wheat field so the local cockies forced the swamp to bend to their. They dig a four kilometre drain to drain the water into Hardwicke Bay.

In its own little way the Port Turton jetty is a showcase of Yorke Peninsula ingenuity. It was built with a bend in it to face north so in the olden days the sailing ketches would make a wide arc in Hardwicke Bay, drop their sails and then pick up the south easterly winds and ever so gently ease their way into the jetty. From there they could load up and head off.

As you'd expect the jetty is now a great place for fishing and for divers - offering one of the easiest dives in the state. For many years those in the know kept coming to Point Turton but for many there was one thing lacking until Elaine Nankivell and husband Greg came for a drive. They decided the town needed a pub so they opened the Tavern on Turton. The Tavern on Turton is located just above the town jetty and is open daily. To book accommodation at the Port Turton Caravan Park contact Malcolm Clifton on 8854 5222. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au

Point Turton Caravan Park
Yorke Peninsula
Bookings 8854 5222

Tavern On Turton
Open Daily
Bookings 8854 5063
Point Turton
Yorke Peninsula

Published 24th October 2010