A Couple of Hours in Whyalla.

From the list of things to do in this West Coast town of South Australia, we had to prioritize according to the time at our disposal, and chose four things within a radius of 2km.

Freycinet Lookout is behind the local school and up the hill. It commemorates the work done by Flinders and Freycinet in mapping the peninsula. From the platform, where a metal sculpture of the pair join you in looking out, you can gaze across the memorial and see Hummock Hill, which Freycinet said was a good marker for navigators, the new jetty, the gulf, and freighter ships loaded with steel or ore.

Hummock Hill is another lookout, but packed with views and information. The most dominating of these are the steel plant, the old ship building site and the old power station. Only the first of these is still going, although production has been scaled back. Something of which I was not aware, was the installation of guns on Hummock Hill in 1942, that were used to defend a possible attack until 1945. All this makes sense, given that Whyalla produced steel which could be used for weapons and the construction of ships.

Three gazebos enable you to see the gulf from various viewpoints, including the stunning jetty, constructed in 2020, through it’s special frame.

While we waited for the sun to set, hoping to see the jetty lit up, I took some photos of the native flowers around the gazebos.

Ada Ryan Gardens are just back from the foreshore and are a small, well-designed group of plantings of native trees and shrubs.

There are also about 4 cages of birds, but I’m not sure if they are native or not, I just know they had me in their sights.

There is a small carpark, but plenty available outside and a small playground near the carpark and tennis courts.

The Foreshore follows directly from the gardens and is a real delight. It underwent it’s first redevelopment in the 1990s and there is a huge playground, exercise equipment, a monument celebrating cultural diversity with a sundial, noon mark and globe , concrete boardwalk built to look like wood, visitor centre and that stunning jetty, that we walked. A contingent of pelicans put on a good show, too.

Accessible and unexpected reasons to visit Whyalla, five hours west of Adelaide.

Safe Travels.