Rocks disguised as haystacks and a scenic loop – Eyre West Coast, SA

 Day 48

We woke to windy, chilly weather - not ideal for lingering at beach spots - but we were well protected up high in Izzy and still treated to good views.

Our first stop was Murphy’s Haystacks. Despite the name, they are very much not haystacks, but a striking collection of granite boulders rising from the surrounding farmland. They were named by a Scottish agricultural expert who mistook them for haystacks, but geologically they’re known as Inselbergs - isolated rocky hills rising from a flat landscape (Insel meaning island, Berg meaning mountain). Formed by the uneven weathering of pink granite, the inselbergs on Murphy’s property are thought to be at least 100,000 years old. Very impressive - even if we were nearly blown away and relentlessly harassed by what felt like an entire truckload of flies.

From there we had access to several scenic coastal loop drives and decided to do the Westall Way Loop, which delivered more beautiful coastline, a stop at Smooth Pools, and some completely unexpected minion installations. Go figure. I had to have my photo taken with a minion - especially since Stephen affectionately referred to me as his ‘minion’ when I was unwell with jaundice last year. Such a caring person!

We stopped for a late lunch in Streaky Bay. A lovely spot, but with the wind showing no signs of letting up, we decided to press on rather than linger.

We wanted to be closer to Ceduna to begin preparing for our Nullarbor crossing and found a wonderful coastal spot in Wittelbee Conservation Park, about 10km out of town. By then the wind had dropped and the flies had disappeared, so I managed a swim and we were able to sit outside for the first time in a while, enjoying a drink and watching the sunset.

An easy day but we still managed to see a lot of sights.