Eyre Peninsula, South AustraliaExplore the outdoors of Eyre Peninsula, SA
If you're a food fan or a nature lover, you'll find something to delight you in South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. The Peninsula is a vast region stretching from Whyalla in the east to the border with Western Australia, and from the Gawler Ranges in the north to Port Lincoln, offering visitors around 2000 kilometres of coastline to explore and play in. The city of Whyalla is the gateway to the Peninsula and offers the longest operating and only regular public tour of a steelworks in Australia, as well as a rather unusual ocean experience. Just offshore, along the rocky shores of Black Point and Point Lowly, are the annual spawning grounds of Australian giant cuttlefish. You can snorkel among thousands of them from May to August. The area also boasts some of the largest jade deposits in the world - so keep an eye out for great jewellery here too. Travelling south you'll discover Port Lincoln, Australia's tuna-fishing capital with one of the world's largest natural deepwater harbours. For a heart-hammering but enthralling encounter, you can cage-dive with great white sharks here on the Spencer Gulf, which empties into the Southern Ocean. If diving with sharks sounds like too much excitement, you can learn about another intriguing creature, the seahorse, at the local seahorse farm - the only one in South Australia. The Eyre Peninsula accounts for 60 per cent of the state's seafood, so while you're in Port Lincoln get your taste buds going with fresh barbecued prawns. If you happen to visit at the right time, you can also tour a working prawn trawler. And if you're hankering for a nice glass of white to wash down your prawns, there's a winery nearby. Keen photographers should also visit Whaler's Way about 30 minutes south of Port Lincoln - the blowholes, cliffs and golden beaches make for some amazing photographs. Still hungry? Travel west along the coast road to sample some world-famous Coffin Bay oysters and try matching them with a South Australian favourite - Coopers Stout. In Elliston about an hour and half drive from Port Lincoln, you can see live crays caught around the local waters in holding tanks. Better yet, hand-pick and purchase your crayfish, and cook it up near the rugged limestone cliffs just outside of Elliston. For a memorable experience continue west along the coast to snorkel with Australian sea lions at Baird Bay, a remote fishing village located on the West Coast of the Eyre Peninsula, 50 kilometres south of Streaky Bay. Found only in Australia and one of the most endangered fin-footed animals in the world, there are estimated to be between 10,000 and 12,000 Australian sea lions between the Pages Islands in South Australia and Houtman Abrolhos off the West Australian coast. They are generally found close to shore, so you don't need to be a great swimmer to snorkel with these beautiful creatures. Baird Bay is also home to bottlenose dolphins, although you will need to swim a bit further out to see them. And if you choose not to get wet, it's a delightful spot for boat or rock fishing, or just soaking up the sight of the highest vertical cliffs along the Great Australian Bight. Camping enthusiasts should head an hour and half north to the Gawler Ranges. The area boasts a unique geology as a result of volcanic activity millions of years ago. The ranges are also renowned for the wildflowers that bloom in the spring, including Sturt's Desert Pea, which was first seen by Edward John Eyre in 1839, during an early exploration of the region. Camping is available in certain sections of the park, so enjoy a night or two among its diverse bird and plant life and dramatic domes of volcanic rock. Photos from South Australia
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