Big Trip 2024 - Day 9 (Eyre Peninsula)

 A momentous day today. Up until this morning most of the roads covered, with the exception of Kangaroo Island, I had previously traveled. From here on in it is all new to me. I wont be back on familiar territory until midway through the final day of this holiday.

This first part of today was another boat ride. This time, a ferry was going to pick up, about 100 metres where I had been staying the last couple of days, and depositing me to Lucky Bay, on the Eyre Peninsula.

The ferry was smaller than the Kangaroo Island Ferry, however had a load on/off ramp at each end of the boat, making for a easier embarkation.

The vehicles being transported weren't just your standard SUVs and utes. They included these two monsters:

 

Seating was plentiful and comfortable.

An NFL game was on the screen in front of me. I tried to understand how the game was played but failed miserably and gave up after a while.

The screen just behind me was playing Play School. There were no kids on board.

I listened to podcasts.

Just before midday the ferry arrived at Lucky Bay.

It's. In. The. Middle. Of. Nowhere.

The total ferry ride took about 3 hours from getting the boarding pass to driving off the ferry at the end. If I was to have driven the entire way instead it would have taken me about 4 1/2 hours. I'm not sure the economics stack up to saving about 90 minutes in total, when the ticket costs about $190. 

Having thought about it a bit more, it's more the experience of a ferry across a body of water, and not needing to worry about driving for a couple of hours that makes it value for money.

First town south is Cowell, and also the first proper example of Grain Silo Art.

As well as other art.

After a brief lunch (pie review below), it was on to the very picturesque town called Tumby Bay. They take their street art very seriously here.

The mural of the poppies was right next to the town's war memorial, which had been covered with wreaths as today is Remembrance Day.

On the way out of town, another example of Grain Silo Art.

Somebody had asked me yesterday why the recent increase in popularity of big art in small country towns.

My initial response had something to do with increasing tourism but, upon reflection, I think I missed why its not only increasing in popularity, but is also important.

Art can be a compelling was of having a town express its character visually, and convey that in an entertaining way to visitors. The art shown in Tumby Bay quickly captures the feel of a seaside town enjoying itself. Other towns have shown its history, or its native flora and fauna through art.

In Tumby Bay there was four sided installation representing the history of town:

Because there was a lot happening on all four sides, an explanation was also provided.

As a visitor, I don't need to visit their information centre or their museum to understand the history of the  town. It's all there in the art. Transport. Agriculture. Mining. Community.

Art is also an external sign that the town is looking after itself, and cares about how it looks. We've all seen those towns where half the shops are boarded up and graffiti (alternative art?) covers up the walls. You don't tend to see significant graffiti in towns that have art, or at least not in my experience.

A lot of the time when you see rural art, there will tend to be a sign acknowledging the various funders for the project. Whilst governments at all levels do seem to provide a lot of money, it is also true that local businesses and service organisations also contribute. The town is collectively proud enough to make sure their town is not only presentable, but appealing. I, for one, applaud that.

Mid afternoon I arrived at my home for the next few days at a Tourist Park in Port Lincoln.

I'm spending a few days here. Tomorrow will be a quiet one in the morning before I start exploring in the afternoon. I understand that the prawns here are OK.

PIE REVIEW

This pie review was a series of milestones:

• It was the first review of a pie from a bakery without the work "bakery" in its name.
• It was the first time I had ever tried a curry pie.
• This is the furthermost west I had ever eaten a pie.
• This is the first time I forgot to take a picture of the pie before starting to eat it.

The bakery in question was Sassy's Cafe in Cowell. The pie cost some money (I forgot to check this), and was a standard beef mince pie with the addition of curry flavour.

I have seen many reviews online going nuts over curry pies. I just don't see the attraction. It wasn't a bad pie it just wasn't a great one. I am not sure if this is sacrilegious, but the flavour was enhanced with the addition of tomato sauce.

Confession time: I am not intending to have any pie reviews whilst I am in Port Lincoln. At the moment I have other lunch plans that do not involve meat in a crust casing. I will probably resume at the next stop.

Podcast of the day: The Weekly Planet - Red One & Big MCU Trailers.

- this podcast gives almost all of the pop culture news I need covering movies and TV shows (and sometimes computer games and comic books). Nick Mason and James "Mr Sunday"Clement have been presenting this podcast for over 10 years, and have a huge following in their home country of Australia, as well as in UK and USA.

Total km Traveled:   2,635