Fresh Eyre

The West Coast of SA’s Eyre Peninsula is like its own world.

Story + Photos Mark Muller

Sitting virtually halfway between Perth and Sydney, the Eyre Peninsula is a wild, beautiful, rich and varied environment that is as entrancing as it is remote. OUTBACK editor-in-chief Mark Muller was recently on this coast to research stories for the upcoming seventh edition of R.M.Williams Publishing’s Australia In Style book. He flew into Port Lincoln in late June, joining local photographer and long-term OUTBACK contributor Robert Lang and spending 3 days venturing out from this hub to explore the region with Australian Coastal Safaris’ Dave Doudle. Mark and Rob then drove further up the coast to spend 3 more days on and around Baird Bay with Brendon and Kat Bevan and their young sons Fin and Rowan, who have recently taken up stewardship of the Baird Bay Experience ecotourism operation.

“It’s a stunning part of my home state, and one I’d not been to before,” Mark says. “I’ve spent a lot of time in and around Robe in the South East where I’m from, and also time on Kangaroo Island, and further out across the Nullarbor for work. I could see some similarities in the ancient geology of the limestone and the cold power of the Southern Ocean, but the beauty and sheer scale of the country up the peninsula’s west coast has its own magic. There is that sense of things being familiar yet different that I found both reassuring and exciting.”

Great stretches of rugged coast and pristine beaches, massive dune fields, productive farming and grazing operations, commercial and recreational fishing, aquaculture, national parks and private reserves, sea lion colonies, koala enclaves, wonderful birdlife and a succession of knowledgeable, friendly and passionate locals all added to the experience.

“There’s such a strong sense of place, and such an interesting variety of things to see and experience,” Mark says. “It’s raw and wild and the people I was with are steeped in the history and life of the country. There’s an authenticity and energy that infuses them and that draws others who are doing amazing things with food, agriculture, aquaculture, tourism and business there that makes it a really compelling place to spend time.”