Coffin Bay (including the Coffin Bay National Park, Wangary, Farm Beach and Gallipoli Beach)
Attractive and isolated holiday retreat on the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula
Coffin Bay and the beautiful Coffin Bay National Park (which covers 29,000 ha of the peninsula) are located 703 km west of Adelaide and 47 km west of Port Lincoln. Coffin Bay is a typical Australian holiday resort (of the unspoilt variety) full of holiday units and relatively cheap accommodation and designed for people who want to spend a holiday fishing, sailing, skindiving, bushwalking or enjoying themselves on the beach. In recent times the calm waters of the bay have become enormously popular so that the population of the area, especially in school holiday time, is likely to increase from the small regular population of around 300-400 to over 3000.
The surrounding area is spectacularly beautiful and some of the out-of-the-way places like Gallipoli Beach, Farm Beach and the Coffin Bay Peninsula are genuinely fascinating.
Coffin Bay was named by Matthew Flinders after his friend the naval officer, Isaac Coffin. Coffin, who was to become a Vice Admiral of the British Navy, assisted Flinders when he was preparing to sail for Australia. Flinders passed the area in 1802 although he never actually entered Coffin Bay.
Flinders was not the first European to visit this lonely and isolated coastline. A decade earlier the French explorer Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, had sighted the coast but, like Flinders, he had been loath to come too close because of the rugged coastline and the difficult and dangerous seas.
By the 1840s there was a small settlement, appropriately named Oyster Town, in Coffin Bay exploiting the vast supplies of oysters in the area. The oysters were shipped out to Adelaide until supplies ran out and the town was abandoned.
The Conservation Parks and National Parks in the area offer a rich variety of flora and fauna as well as a wide range of interesting bushwalks. There are breeding grounds for sea birds such as the reef heron, fairy penguins, cormorants, sooty oystercatchers, and crested and caspian terns. The flora includes the moonah tea-tree, cutting grass, the beautiful drooping she-oak and, in spring and summer, the parks are alive with the colours of the wildflowers which grow in profusion.
It is worth remembering that while Yangie Bay and Point Avoid are accessible by conventional vehicle (albeit on a less than wonderful dirt road) the tracks which wind northwest along Coffin Bay Peninsula to the lookout at Point Sir Isaac and Reef Point are restricted to 4WD vehicles.
Things to see:
Point Avoid and Yangie Bay
However a trip out to Point Avoid and Yangie Bay is well worthwhile. The views of the rugged and lonely beaches on the western shoreline of the park and the dramatic view across Coffin Bay which is offered at Yangie Bay lookout point are truly breathtaking. The size of the huge sand dunes in the area (some are over 100 metres high) bears grim witness to the seas, driven by the Roaring Forties and uninterrupted on their journey across the Great Australian Bight, which batter this section of the Australian coast.
Fishing at Coffin Bay
Over the years the whole Coffin Bay area has gained a reputation as a haven for fishermen. Consequently everyone from rock fishermen, to surf fishermen, people keen to fish from boats, and jetty fishermen (there are special fishing jetties near Coffin Bay township at Crinolin Point and Schnapper Point) are all attracted to the area. Fish caught in the area include whiting, salmon, trevally, garfish, tommy ruffs, snapper and flathead. The Enjoy Coffin Bay brochure available around town provides details about the kind of fishing available around the bay.
For those who like other people to do their fishing for them there is the Coffin Bay Oyster Farm which is open from 8.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. It sells fresh oysters, prawns and lobsters as well as a range of local fish.
Old Hotel at Wangery
The Old Hotel at Wangary, on the Flinders Highway near Coffin Bay, is one of the very few pubs in Australia actually to boast to the passer-by 'No Beds-No Beer'. This is not something new. The pub hasn't had a liquor licence since 1933. Instead it operates as a general store and is proud of its pasties and cakes.
No one is exactly sure where the word 'wangary' came from with sources claiming that it is a corruption of the local Aboriginal word 'wangara' which could variously mean 'talk' or 'to have a corroboree'.
The Hotel, which was built in 1871, is now the only building of any significance in the tiny settlement. Its great moment (a true brush with fame) came when someone found an old horse carriage in a shed out the back which was being used by the hotel's fowls. Closer investigation found the motto 'Crede Biron' on the carriage and it was discovered that its original owner had been the famous English poet Lord Byron. Apparently Byron had sent the carriage to Lady Charlotte Bacon in Adelaide. It had subsequently been bought by the owners of Wangary Station and eventually found its way into a shed behind the hotel. The owner of the hotel, oblivious to the value of the carriage, sold it to a blacksmith in Port Lincoln who dismantled it and sold it off as souvenirs to tourists. A piece of the carriage found its way to the museum at Koppio (see Tumby Bay).
Apart from The Old Hotel, Wangary has the historic ruins of the old Post Office, Coach House and Bakery and, surprisingly for such a small settlement, it has is a very fine oval.
Mt Dutton Bay Woolshed and Jetty
The road from Wangary to Farm Beach passes a turnoff to Dutton Bay where an old woolshed and restored jetty stand as reminders of an era when this entire stretch of coastline, from Dutton Bay to Elliston, was privately leased to Price Maurice who built the woolshed in 1875 utilising local stone and wooden trusses from Oregon in the United States. It is estimated that over 20 000 sheep were shorn each year at the woolshed's peak of activity with the fleeces shipped from the jetty to overseas markets. It only ceased to function as a woolshed in the 1970s, later being used as a storage shed for broom grass (used in making brooms).
Now restored, the shed functions as a museum displaying hundreds of items relating to local economic history, centring on shearing, farming and fishing. The wool press dates from the early 19th century. The shearer's quarters, which also date from 1875, once housed 14 blade-shearers as well as four roustabouts and two cooks. Guided tours are available and guided kayaking and walking tour packages are on offer (see http://www.outtheretours.com.au).
Bunk-style hostel accommodation is available, and there is a stone cottage (c.1875) offering more private accommodation. A caravan park is due to open in the middle of 2003 and a new boat ramp has been built. Later in 2003 a tea room will open, offering refreshments, gifts and tourist information. There are also function facilities. The museum is open from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. daily (except Christmas Day and Boxing Day). There is a small entry fee. For further information ring (02) 8685 4031 or (0428) 854 031, or email: woolshed@duttonbay.com
Farm Beach
Only 10 km from Wangary is Farm Beach, a tiny settlement which is really nothing more than a caravan park and launching point for dozens of small fishing boats. It is, however, a must for anyone who wants to see a truly fascinating and bizarre 'tractor museum'. On the weekends, and during holidays, the beach and foreshore are crowded with fishermen who use old tractors to get their boats over the mountains of seaweed which are washed up onto the beach. The result is a parking area where, at any one time, there may be up to 50 tractors, all of them ancient and rusty.
At the south end of Farm Beach, just near the main launching point, there is a rough dirt road which leads to the beach where the invasion scenes in the movie Gallipoli was filmed. Unfortunately all of the trenches, sandbags and the dugouts have to be removed. This eccentric local council decision has meant that something which could have become a major tourist attraction in the area has been returned to its natural state. The only thing left to see is a bay which approximates to the famous shoreline where the ANZACs came ashore at Gallipoli. The section of the coastline is now named Gallipoli Beach.
Tourist Information
Beachcombers
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08) 8685 4057
Motels
Coffin Bay Hotel Motel
Sheppard Ave
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08) 8685 4111
Facsimile: (08) 8685 4334
Rating: ***
Apartments
Almonta Holiday Apartments
49 The Esplanade
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08) 8685 4076
Facsimile: (08) 8685 4076
Rating: ***1/2
Holiday Homes & Units
Coffin Bay Beach Units
347 The Esplanade
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08) 8685 4173
Email: coffinbayunits@yahoo.com.au
Kooringa Holiday Flats
83 Greenly Ave
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08) 8685 4087
Facsimile: (08) 8685 4087
Rating: ***
Sheoak Estside Apartments
275 Esplanade
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08)8685 4170
Facsimile: (08) 8685 4410
Rating: ****
Sheoak Holiday Home
259b The Esplanade
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08) 8685 4314
Facsimile: (08) 8685 4314
Rating: ****
Snapper View Holiday Flats
241 The Esplanade
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08) 8685 4247 or 0428 854 247
Facsimile: (08) 8685 4247
Rating: ***
Siesta Lodge
333 The Esplanade
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08) 8685 4001
Facsimile: (08) 8685 5000
Rating: ***
Cottages & Cabins
Coffin Bay Caravan Park
The Esplanade P.O. Box 28
Coffin Bay SA 5607
Telephone: (08) 8685 4170
Facsimile: (08) 8685 4410
Rating: ***
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