perlubie beach
Our first official off-grid beach camp, ever! What a beauty! The view, the weather, the company, we couldn’t of asked for anything more!
Before we get into our epic beach stay, the drive between Yangie Bay and Perlubie Beach was scenic and full of foodie goodness! Allow plenty of time to visit these places on your journey.
greenly beach rockpool
Our first stop was a hidden gem called Greenly Beach Rockpool, only 30mins from Coffin Bay. The water was crystal clear and the rock-pool had an abundance of orange sea stars. It was a rocky track down, and since we were visiting during an incoming tide, waves were flowing into the rock-pool so take caution when visiting. It is an unsealed road once you turn off Flinders Highway and there is no caravan parking in the carpark due to an extremely tight turn and a steep drop off the road, but you can park just off Greenly Beach Road with an easy turnaround bay a little further down the road.
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colton bakehouse
Now, it would have been untouristy of us to not stop at Colton Bakehouse! A roadside stall selling high top bread and sticky fruit buns that are baked in a wood-fired scotch oven. Now for these hot cross bun lovers, the sticky fruit buns tasted even better! You can find this bakehouse between Elliston and Talia Caves. It is a cash only honesty box system. It is opened 7 days a week and is loaded up around 8:30am so be sure to arrive early for the most available options.
talia caves
A little further down the road and just off Flinders Highway, was Woolshed Cave and The Tub. These are part of the Talia Caves natural attractions and are accessible via an unsealed but easy track. Woolshed Cave was quite spectacular! Walking into the cave and looking back out to the ocean created a picturesque frame. The walls of the cave were lined with interesting stalagmites and stalactites, in some places where these two joined, it created a honeycomb pattern. The Tub was just down the road and is a large crater that is 10-30m deep and 50m wide. The walk around the rim offered long views across Talia Beach and along the dramatic cliff faces.
murphy's haystacks
Our last stop before we arrived into Streaky Bay was Murphy’s Haystacks. These grandeur rock formations are over 100,000 years old and hold great significance for the Wirangu People. The name Murphy’s Haystacks came from a Scottish coachman who once mistook the boulders and pillars for haystacks on Murphy’s farm. These are located on private property so an entry fee is based on an honesty system. It is $4 per person or $10 per family that can be paid either by cash or PayID. You can also purchase locally made Haystacks Honey from here which comes highly recommended!
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After our tourist drive, we arrived at Perlubie Beach with much excitement! We aired down to 17psi and didn’t have any troubles. The track along the beach is firm but the sand at the campsites can be quite soft so it is worth taking that extra 10mins to air down. We couldn’t believe that we were actually having our first beach camp! Five nights of nothing but rolling out of bed and into the water! Absolute bliss! Sunshine everyday, late glowing sunsets every night, and for $20 a night! This one has definitely made it into the childhood memory bank for being the place where our eldest warrior captured footage of his first sea life- dolphins, which also happens to be our youngest warrior’s spirit animal, so there was truly a buzz in the air! There is phone reception at the campsites, and you can find bins and a public toilet at the entry onto the beach. There are also shelters at that end of the beach if you are looking for a shady spot during the day.
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We also popped into Streaky Bay to peruse the shops, check out the jetty, measure ourselves up with a real size replica of a great white shark (who breed like crazy here), and order the famous Indian food from the Shell Roadhouse! It definitely fed our curry cravings! We also ventured along the Westall Way Loop, one of three loops that explore the rugged coastline along the Southern Ocean. This included chilling out at Smooth Pool and The Granites for an afternoon.
There is a dump point and water station in Streaky Bay too. It does cost for mains water if you do need to fill your tanks. It is $1 per 25 litres. Here you can also find a great nature park called The Pioneers Park where the kidlets can burn some energy while you deal with vanlife admin. We acknowledge the Wirungu people as the traditional owners and respect their deep connection to Country. We soaked up our last few days in South Australia before we began our trek across The Nullarbor.
Peace + love,
Peace + love,