5th Lap II - Whyalla Memories

THE FIFTH LAP

Whyalla Memories

Previous: Southern Yorke Peninsula to Whyalla

Once leaving Moonta Bay, it was an easy drive northwards towards Port Augusta, going through Port Pirie. After topping up some fuel one of the credit card operated depots, Sandi headed south into the Eyre Peninsula. I had passed Port Augusta a couple of times at least, but again, had never ventured south into the Eyre Peninsla.

I have fond memories of Whyalla. Whyalla Steelworks, was my first business trip traveling by air, a year after my graduation from university. It was also on a twin prop airplane, which flew in from Adelaide in 1976. It probably was either a Fokker Friendship or one of the Australian made Nomads.

Yes, Australia had been building aircrafts, here is a bit of history of the Nomads...The Australian Made passenger aircraft, NOMAD, a very useful aircraft for country with sparse populations over a huge land mass.

The job was to service a legacy Emission Spectrometer that was installed quite a number of years ago, which I neither had seen nor familiar with the operation. But at least I knew what it would look like, from pictures. My job was also trying to convince them to upgrade / retrofit the dial-switch operated machine to the then new-fangle microcomputer-control ones, the ones that I had been building in Melbourne. All I can remember was, the metallurgist / chemist was most hospitable, and the job was done. It was just one of those dusty industrial towns which I visited, but never saw much more than the road to/from the airport.

Now, I want to see it in more depth.

Upon arriving at the Visitor Center of Whyalla, my first ask was if there was a tour for the steelworks. Sorry, the next tour would be next Tuesday, after the long weekend, which is 4 days away!!! What a disappointment!

But there was a Cuttle Fish tour, sitting in a glass-bottomed boat to see cuttlefishes in their annual breeding ground, it was the season for that. Although it was full for the next two days, the lady was able to squeeze one more in for the afternoon next day! And for tonight, there is a Squid Festival being held, just a couple of blocks away.

So the first thing was obvious....went straight to the Squid Festival.

And the Squid Festival was full of people having plenty of fun, festivities before the long Kings Birthday weekend.

While I could not tour the inside of the Whyalla Steel Works, there is nothing stopping me from seeing it from the outside....so early the next morning, up on the Hummock Hill Lookout.

From there, I discovered the foreshores underneath with its beautiful jetty.

While walking on the jetty, I had the chance to chat with a few locals. Interestingly, I met a lady who had immigrated here with her father from the Netherlands, a boiler maker for the steel works, around the same time as my first visit. Over the years, Whyalla has transformed from an ugly, dusty steelwork town into a modern, clean, and environmentally friendly community, she shared.

The water around the steelwork are beautifully clean, and dolphins are a frequent sights.

And the Cuttlefish glass boat tour is another testament of the clean environment there. Whyalla as the traditional breeding ground for cuttlefishes, has flourished in recent years. I joined the Cuttle Fish glassboat tour and took many of these amazing pictures.