We moved further south down the Yorke Peninsula. Because it is quite narrow there is no road going directly down the coast, but rather down the middle of the land, with turn-offs to various towns every now and then.

The first stop was Maitland, a small inland town with a few shops and not much else.

From here we took the turn off to Port Victoria, a small coastal town half way down the boot, and the only one that could be reached on sealed roads. This was a very small town with a pub and a kiosk at the jetty. There was a caravan park, but we had heard it was not so good. We stopped at the oval which was open to self-contained vehicles, and there met another very interesting couple. They had two large vehicles - one towing a caravan and the other a boat. They had been on the road for a few years and were of no fixed address. We shared each other's stories, talked about politics and various other things. Although we came from very different ends of the spectrum, we had a lot in common.

The next day we pushed further south and went through another inland town called Minlaton. This was also a small town but had wide streets lined by elegant old buildings. There were several good cafés, and even a chocolaterie.

The next stop was a town called Warooka, which was basically a junction where several 'highways' met. One road led to Minlaton, the next to Yorketown and the eastern side of the peninsula, and the third to Marion Bay and the southern end - the toe of the boot.

We set off for Marion Bay and after 50 kms of open wheat fields and scrub we arrived - but it was hard to tell. There were no signs. There was a turn-off to a jetty but nothing else. We kept going and found ourselves about to enter the national park, so had to do a quick U-turn on an ever narrowing strip of bitumen.

We turned in to the jetty road. There was a car park for cars with boat trailers only - caravans and motorhomes not welcome. And that was it. We drove up and down the two roads of the town, lined by various holiday houses. The 'Esplanade' consisted of shacks right on the beach, whereas the second street one block behind had some slightly better looking holiday houses. We had thought Port Victoria was small. At least they had a pub and a kiosk. This place has absolutely nothing.

Made the 50 km trek back to Warooka, then headed out to Yorketown and Edithburgh. Yorketown is another small inland town of one main street with an IGA and a few small shops. Moved on fairly quickly.

Edithburgh is on the beach, at the heel of the boot. Again a lovely little town with wide streets and elegant old buildings. It had a long jetty and a small marina at one end. At the other end was a 'swimming pool' built of rocks and cement on the sea shore - similar to the one in Bermagui and some other towns in NSW. This is the first one we had come across in South Australia. The beach itself was rocky, and there was no sand. We could see a nice beach in the distance, but unsure how to reach it.

Spent the night in the caravan park as we had been free-wheeling for a while, and felt the need for power, a good shower, and wi-fi of course.

GeorgeY's Bit

The Yorke Peninsula has "sealed roads" - just. Small towns, some nice and some not, but all small. Distances are much shorter than we got used to. Beaches have long tides, hence the long jetties, but no white sandy stretches to be seen. Any nice sandy beach, according to South Australian law, has to be used to drive massive 4WDs to as close as possible to the water in order to show the tides who has got the upper hand.

To the untrained eye South Australia has fully embraced the "Greens" annoying rituals, like no shopping bags, wind farms …etc. Yet on the beach, the noisiest polluting marine toys are a welcomed sight. Driving motorised water craft in SA, even life savers are scary.