Main Street, Cowell
Cowell
The idyllic coastal town of Cowell is the perfect spot for a traditional Eyre Peninsula seaside holiday, with an abundance of fish just waiting to be caught in one of South Australia’s prettiest, safest, and calmest landlocked harbours. Located approximately halfway between Port Augusta and Port Lincoln, the popular town lures families and couples alike with a myriad of water and land-based
activities, attractions, scenic drives and local secrets, including world-class oysters and one of the largest jade deposits in the world.
Although picturesque Cowell sits on a beautiful, welcoming harbour just made for family seaside and fishing holidays, there’s also a lot of other things to see and do in and around the town and the Franklin Harbour district. The best place to kick off your adventure is the Cowell Visitor Information Centre, located in the Franklin Harbour Institute on Main Street. The centre is staffed by volunteers who will help you plan your visit, with suggestions for activities and attractions. Be sure to take a look at the local art and crafts while you’re there.
Perhaps the best way to get a feel of the town and to immerse yourself in Cowell is to embark on the Historical Town Walk. Pop into the visitor information centre and grab a brochure before discovering more than 50 buildings and places of historical significance within the town. And while you’re in a nostalgic frame of mind, check out the Historical Museum, with its artefacts, memorabilia and geographic samples, in the magnificent former post office. Examples of heritage agricultural equipment can also be seen at the Cowell Agricultural Museum, on the Lincoln Highway just north of the town, including a fully restored 1910 Ruston Proctor steam traction tractor. Tourists and the local community alike can now stay connected in Cowell with the Main Street Wi-Fi project, offering free access to the internet
while in Main Street. The name of the free Wi-Fi is Franklin Harbour Free WiFi. Security cameras have also been placed along Main Street to provide a safer environment for visitors to stay and enjoy. On the foreshore, a boardwalk sits in an enclosed tidal aquatic area adjacent to the jetty and boat ramp, ideal for fishing. Along the foreshore, fun awaits with a skate park, jumping pillow, basketball
court, waterslide, and splash area. Further along, a mangrove boardwalk invites visitors to observe local marine and birdlife.
The new Franklin Harbour Marina now proudly boasts 32 permanent berths, within easy walking distance of the main street. Look out too for the Black Stump on Main Street. This huge 2060-kg stump was originally a prank in 1972, set up between the Commercial Hotel
and the Franklin Harbour Hotel, on which signs read 'Best pub this side of the black stump'. The original stump was stolen, with a larger
replacement erected in its place and moved up the street. If getting back to nature is more to your liking, the Franklin Harbour Conservation Park is located just 16 km south of Cowell. Enjoy secluded camping, fishing, and swimming, but you’ll need a 4WD. Cowell is also located in one of the most significant marine parks and wetlands in South Australia. The Franklin Harbour Marine Park is an important nursery for King George whiting, prawns, sardines, scale fish and blue swimmer crabs. If you’re a diver, expect to see various
species of sea dragons, plus rare types of seagrasses and large colonies of stony coral. Further afield, lovers of the Gumnut Babies
classic Snugglepot and Cuddlepie will be thrilled to learn author May Gibbs spent her early childhood in the area, which is believed
to have been the inspiration for her children’s books. A memorial and plaque are featured on the May Gibbs Tree, approximately 10 km from Cowell, on the Birdseye Highway. And finally, if you’re taking a scenic drive along the Birdseye Highway, be sure to drop into the
public viewing platform at Mount Millar for an incredible view of the Eyre Peninsula’s largest wind farm. With 35 two-megawatt turbines, each with a 71-m-diameter blade on top of an 85-m tower, it makes for an impressive spectacle. Mount Millar Wind Farm has the capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 168,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.
Lucky Bay
The Lucky Bay area has undergone some major development in the 2007, with the construction of a ferry service linking the Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas. For more details regarding the ferry service head to their website https://spencergulfsearoad.com/
A list of Shacks available for rent head to the accommodation section
Port Gibbon
Port Gibbon was an old shipping port. Only part of the original jetty remains. . Public toilets and BBQ area, shacks along the cliff top, wide clean beach with backdrop of cliffs.
HISTORYWheat from the Elbow Hill and Carpa districts was stacked on the cliff top at Port Gibbon before the township was surveyed in 1915. There were two agencies buying wheat, and each company operated a shute to slide the bags (in early days, four bushel bags only were used) down to a large dinghy which was then rowed to a ketch anchored in deeper water. This slow and arduous method of loading wheat was used throughout many coastal regions of the state.
As the settled districts developed, land gained in fertility, production increased and so the shipping facilities needed to be upgraded. The farming community had foreseen the need for a shipping port for a long time and succeeded in having the township of Port Gibbon established after considerable negotiations. With the building of port facilities - goods shed, super and wheat sheds and a jetty - the stage was set for the advancement of the area.
Tram lines were laid from the wheat sheds to the end of the jetty, thus making the loading of ketches much easier. The loaded trucks were started from the shed down the steep incline to the jetty with the brakes being applied most of the way. Sometimes, the truck hit the buffer at the end of the jetty with such force that some of its load ended in the sea.
The township of Port Gibbon needed a direct road link with Cowell. The planned road followed the coastline, crossing the tramline near the jetty, and a bridge across Narridy Creek was proposed. However, when the plan was put to council, councillors objected strongly, claiming the crossing of the tramline was too dangerous and a bridge to span Narridy Creek was an unwarranted expense as the traffic flow would be limited. Councillors suggested that landowners near the creek be asked to sell three or four acres of land for a cutting to be made and that a ford be constructed. Agreement was reached and the land was bought for ?1/1- an acre. This road is still in use today.
Small schools from the immediate vicinity combined for an annual sports day at Port Gibbon, and a sports meeting was held on Christmas Day. Tossing the sheaf was popular, with the top exponents of the art able to toss a sheaf over the goods shed.
The Government put down wells, equipped with one hand pump and a windmill, in the sandhills southwest of Port Gibbon. Farmers carted water from the wells when their own supplies in dams or underground tanks or so on ran out, sometimes having to draw the water in buckets to fill their tanks.
Port Gibbon is now obsolete as a shipping port. The rails and sheds have been dismantled and only a small portion of the jetty remains.
