Why Whyalla?

It has been 49 years since we (Michelle’s family) left Whyalla SA as a family and moved to Sandgate Brisbane Qld.  We immigrated to SA in 1966 from England through BHP, lived in BHP supplied housing and had 4 1/2 truley memorable years roaming the streets, going bush, following iron ore trains, climbing hills and just generally hanging out in the streets and back allies with all the other neighbourhood immigrant kids, as long as we were home for tea.

City outskirts....Morgan Whyalla Pipeline still supplies the city’s water.....I use to walk along this as a kid and it seemed much higher. My old house and street too below, and where we played in the bush and on the railway tracks at the foot of Mt Laura. Loving the landscape, semi arid, and the grey salt bush and red dirt, it was hard to describe it to Derek, but now he has experienced it first hand,....it really is unique, just like the electricity poles found throughout SA! They are called Stobie poles.....way different from the wooden tree poles in Queensland.

I remember it as if it were yesterday, and have enjoyed this week walking my neighbourhood streets, back to my school, up Mt Laura, climbed up Hummock Hill, drove out to Eight Mile Creek Beach, and did a tour of the steel works and shipyard...2 areas which are now closed to the public, but were where we enjoyed many a fishing outing on the breakwater in Whyalla Basin where we watched the ships being built and launched and tug boats operating.

It was a culture shock for most Europeans, but these are a few of the things of Whyalla that has stuck with me and places I remember most.

View from Mt Laura above, and Hummock Hill behind Derek

Steel works and old shipyard below

We are spending a week here, Derek is finally getting to see this part of my family history which has helped mould me into the outdoorsy person I am today. Whyalla had the climate, we had the freedom and dad and mum gave us tons of experiences such as camping and fishing.

Dad use to make us dig for blood worms in the sea weed.  Dolphins now follow the boats in daily.

Dad and mum taught us all to fish, couldn’t resist fishing this morning, 6am high tide,  todays catch...

Now we will need to you-tube how to fillet whiting.

I loved our stay, it was how I remembered it, nothing much had changed, we had a fabulous relaxing week, but now on to Point Lowly, another fishing spot of Dads, and then we move further north into Outback South Australia.

We worked it out and did get a photo of dinner