Port Pirie – Whyalla – Port Gibbon

We had a great night out in Port Pirie last night – parked outside one of the girls house that I used to work with (thanks Lee-anne) which was very handy right across from the Oval where the dump point for our loo was (LOL).  We took Chip for a run around at the Oval when we arrived and were surprised to see a few dog trailers turning up and owners exercising their dogs – found out there is a big dog show on in Port Pirie this weekend (which is Labour Weekend so a long weekend).  We went out for dinner with a couple of the girls I used to work with and their partners last night and then took to the pokies….it wasn’t my lucky night but one of the girls (who shall remain nameless) won nearly $200!!!! 

After a yummy breakfast (thanks again Lee-anne) we headed off in the rain to Whyalla to catch up with the son of a friend of Mals who’s wedding we went to in Brisbane a few years back.  He has since joined the SA police department and has spent the last two years stationed in Whyalla but is moving to Renmark next week.  As soon as we got out of Port Pirie the rain stopped and it was dry from there on.  From Port Augusta it was all new territory for both Mal and I…though not much to say of the scenery apart from that it is a vast expanse of brushland….

Whyalla certainly didn’t have much appeal apart from down the foreshore which would be lovely on a nice hot day.   The drive in to Whyalla is dominated by the Steelworks and the mine as the pictures below show (if you want to see the piccies bigger just click on them)

I think Whyalla people must have all taken off for the long weekend as the whole place seemed really deserted as we drove around.  Here are some piccies of the foreshore

We parked up on the foreshore and Ambrose (Mals friends son) came and had a coffee with us.
We then drove through to Port Gibbon on the coast and have parked up in a freecamp area across from the beach.  Its pretty deserted, we have one other couple in a caravan in the area but no one else.  Surprisingly we have awesome internet coverage so can catch up on some online TV shows that I have missed and maybe a movie or two via Bigpond!  We will probably stay here for a couple of days and just chill out – Mal might try a spot of fishing (supposedly great snapper around these parts) and there are some huge sand hills that we will go and explore tomorrow. Here are some piccies of Port Gibbon and our set up