Cool for School

By Craig Haslam.

The Eyre Peninsula is predominantly known for its pristine coastal wildernesses, maritime history and abundant land and marine national parks. With sea side villages, seal colonies, whale emigration routes, fisheries, surf breaks, the Gawler Ranges’ big skies and wide open spaces, there is plenty for students to see, do, explore and learn about.

Located in the South Western region of South Australia, the Eyre Peninsula has 2000 kms of pristine coast line with a total land area bigger than the state of Tasmania. Despite the size of the region, it has a population of only 50,000 people distributed across it with 20,000 residing in Whyalla, 15,000 in Pt Lincoln and the remaining 15,000 residents spread throughout smaller communities in the greater western region.

The Eyre Peninsula is one of Australia’s natural playgrounds. Grand and beautiful, it has an interesting and exhilarating landscape. From its furthest inland reaches to its beautiful coastal vistas, it has secret treasures to discover and explore. Students can experience the desert, native inland mallee and coastal forests, vast coastal dunes, estuaries, salt lakes and lagoons. There are geologically significant regions and ancient sculptured features. The worn coastal cliffs known as the “The Great Australian Bight”, which has held steadfast against the relentless toil of the Southern Ocean since the beginning of time, is literally littered with history as a result of the many tragic shipwrecks that have occurred in the Bight since Australia’s discovery.

Students visiting the region can listen out for the ancient voices along the indigenous trail from Poonindie, near Pt Lincoln, to the head of the Great Australian Bight. While in the region, school groups can learn about the region’s Aboriginal arts, history, heritage and culture or visit one of the region’s indigenous art, cultural and language centres.

In the northern region of Eyre Peninsula, one finds the Gawler Ranges, an ancient wonder formed 1.5 billion years ago by volcanic activity. The landscape around the ranges is decorated with a host of amazing features including granite out crops and old geological wonders like the Organ Pipes and Peter’s Pillars. For those groups looking to explore the wide open spaces that comprise much of Australia’s wonder, the region’s national parks, the private Mt Ive Station pastoral lease hold land and the massive salt pan Lake Gairdner at the northern boundary offer an abundance of opportunities for adventure. Swilling billy tea around the camp fire is the ideal way for local, expert guides to share with students the secrets of the region such as which bird species they might expect to encounter and in what habitats and areas might they find them; where they will find particular endemic flora species and which animals make certain tracks. Students can also learn to identify the local animal population while discovering more about where the animals live, how they survive and so on.

The geographical features in the region reach out to students from the beginnings of time, whispering secrets from the past and hinting of landscapes long ago lost in the region’s ancient history. Students are often fascinated when they learn that the area which is now the site of the annual local grain harvest was once a sea.

Groups looking to study early Australian history can also visit and see first hand the areas where the early European settlers, who pioneered the region, worked with limited rain and back breaking labour to produce crops that their descendants continue  to cultivate today. They can also learn about the early entrepreneurial spirit of the pioneers that gave rise to the industries that have become an integral part of the fabric that makes up the Eyre Peninsula.

Pt Lincoln and the Eyre Peninsula are world renowned as a site for recreational sports fishing, commercial fisheries and aquaculture enterprises. The local seas and marine environments around Pt Lincoln provide an abundance of seafood which makes its way to dinner plates not just across Australia, but around the globe. Pt Lincoln marina tours showcase the local fishing, marine and associated industries.

The Eyre Peninsula is unlike any other destination in Australia. Here, students not only see wildlife, they can encounter and interact with wildlife in a way not possible in many other regions. For example, as part of the region’s Be Active programme, students can dive with sea lions and or swim with dolphins. It is a safe, exiting and exhilarating experience for all.

The opportunity to get in and amongst marine wildlife in its natural habitat is priceless – an opportunity which presents itself on a daily basis in the marine environment on the Eyre Peninsula. Excursions are conducted by licenced professionals who can provide school groups with all the necessary instruction and equipment to ensure the experience is a success. In fact, the experience that comes from swimming with playful Australian sea lion pups and dolphin pods, living and learning in nature’s classroom, is nothing short of amazing.

Swimming with large tuna fish in floating ocean fish pens is thrilling to say the least. Students can get up close with these feisty fish species and engage in the aquaculture. The tuna fish travel at speeds of up to 70kms per hour and need to swim at least twice their body length to stay alive. As a species, Tuna never sleep, they simply shut down half of their brain and continue to swim. This and many other interesting facts form an important part of any education trip to the region.

The cage dive with Great White Sharks, although not really an appropriate school group activity, has great appeal to those wishing to learn more about the species and habits of the Great White Shark.

While in the region, school groups can also study the process of ecological sustainability – from collecting native seeds and propagating plants to planting trees so that they contribute toward and gain an understanding of the importance of environmental sustainability. Staff and students can gain an appreciation of land management and an environmental awareness towards shaping a balanced ecological future.

You have to be here to see it and do it!

The local beach culture and Surf School form an important part of the region’s community. As part of a visit the Eyre Peninsula, students can learn to surf with qualified instructors and ‘hang ten’ or ‘shoot the curl’ in a safe supervised environment. Kowabunga Dudes!

For those students more comfortable on land, they can experience surfing on some awesome Eyre Peninsula sand dunes that provides the ultimate speed thrill as you travel down the multi-directional face of extreme sand dunes.

School groups can also explore and learn about the region’s local nocturnal inhabitants when they take part in night school classes. Our guides show and inform students about native creatures that prowl the night as groups use search lights to spot wombats, kangaroos, bettongs and bilbies.

An informative night time Southern Skies stargazing tour is a great way for groups to learn about the constellations in the southern sky, the indigenous stories behind the Milky Way like the old man emu in the sky, the signs of the zodiac.

The Eyre Peninsula is more than just a destination, it is an outdoor classroom the likes of which you are unlikely to find elsewhere. From oceans to deserts, forests and rolling plains, the Eyre Peninsula has it all.

Craig Haslam owns Coodlie Park Farm Retreat – a YHA and youth hostel centrally located on the western coast of the Eyre Peninsula. His family also operate the tour company Nullarbor Traveller and he is keen to develop the Eyre Peninsula as a learning and adventure destination for school groups.