Marion Bay to Wallaroo
Take this captivating coastal drive through the Yorke Peninsula, one of South Australia's favourite holiday destinations.
From Marion Bay, head south to Innes National Park, at the tip of Yorke Peninsula. The Stenhouse Bay store and Rhino's Tavern at the park's entrance are the only places in the park to buy supplies, so you may want to stock up. Rich in seafaring and mining history, the park was named after William Innes who discovered commercial quantities of gypsum here in the 1890s.
You'll find yourself hopping in and out of the car all the way through Innes National Park, with stunning coastal lookouts at spots including Cable Bay and Cape Spencer, and scenes of maritime tragedy at the shipwrecks Ethel and Ferret. Most of the park's beaches are popular with surfers who generally set up camp at one of three camping grounds near Pondalowie Bay.
Continuing past Pondalowie along Browns Beach Road, you'll find you're about to hit beautiful Browns Beach by the unexpected bunch of fishing shacks clustered by the roadside. Drive over the crest of dunes and you'll see the golden sands of one of the peninsula's best fishing beaches, renowned for its salmon.
To round off your coastal experience, head back through Stenhouse Bay and up to Corny Point detouring on the way to see Daly Head overlooking a vast and beautiful beach.
The inland town on Minlaton is home to the Red Devil, a tiny but historic World War I monoplane flown by pioneer aviator Captain Harry Butler. In 1919, Captain Butler flew South Australia's first airmail across water from Adelaide to Minlaton.
Drive 44 kilometres north to Port Victoria, the last of the great wind jammer ports, where scuba divers will revel in the opportunity to explore an underwater trail of eight shipwrecks around Wardang Island.
The mid-peninsula town of Maitland sits on a ridge overlooking the Yorke Valley and features a walking trail highlighting the town's heritage buildings.
Further north, 35 kilometres, is Moonta, where copper was discovered in 1861. Moonta soon became one of the richest copper mines in Australia and industrious Cornish miners left their culinary legacy in the form of the Cornish pasty. This pastry-wrapped treat features a pronounced folded edge, so the miners could hold it with their filthy hands without spoiling it. You can go on a self drive tour around the Moonta Mines State Heritage Area, taking in the Moonta Mines Museum.
The Farm Shed Museum & Tourism Centre at Kadina shows the ingenuity and inventiveness of farmers of the region in their quest to improve their crops and harvest.
No trip to the Yorke Peninsula would be complete with a visit to the popular holiday town of Wallaroo. The Wallaroo jetty is always dotted with anglers, while the business end of the wharf, equipped with grain loading facilities, is one of South Australia's busiest.
Make sure you try the fish and chips at The Boatshed Restaurant near the jetty. They're some of the best on the peninsula.
Maps
Download a Yorke Peninsula map for an overview of the region. You'll also find interactive Google maps of Yorke Peninsula on its home page on SouthAustralia.com.
