My must-do list for our journey included visiting the 'Whyalla' ship memorial, saved and placed on the hard by the City Council with quite a lot of difficulty, well away from the water in that town. Scratch number 1 off the list.. and well worth the stop-over!

HMAS Whyalla was one of 60 Bathurst-class Australian Minesweepers (corvettes, based on a British type) built in Australia during WWII, 39 of which were for the RAN. They were used mainly for patrol, escort and survey work and served admirably and with distinction during the conflict. 'Whyalla' was present in Sydney Harbour at the time of the Japanese midget submarine attack. She came under air attack a couple of times during the war but suffered only minor damage. All of the Bathurst-class ships worked hard through the war. 'Whyalla' was paid off at Brisbane in 1946 and was bought by the Victorian Public Works Dept. as a lights maintenance vessel. When about to be scrapped in 1984, the Whyalla City Council stepped up and saved her to be set up as a museum. She is one of only two Bathurst-class vessels preserved to recall the great service these little ships gave in time of crisis.

The tour of the 'Whyalla' is comprehensive and interesting. Most parts of the ship are viewed, and the lady guide is pretty much full-bottle on the details. Here, the ship's whistle is about to be blasted across the surrounds by virtue of an air compressor. The kids love it!

Whyalla's history has always been about .. STEEL!, although the industry is struggling these days with so much competition from Asian makers. Surely our sometimes feather-brained government must see the vital strategic need to keep this place and its industry alive and well .. and this from a WA-ite! During WWII Whyalla produced only four of the Bathurst-class ships. But it also produced numbers of much larger vessels to assist with the war effort. The place and its industry was vital. It still is! 'Nuf politics.

Although Whyalla was a long way from the heat of war in the '40s, protection of these great assets was vital. The high point of Hummock Hill was an ideal place for anti aircraft installations. One has been preserved.

This image is a blow-up from the previous and a little hard to read. But a pocket history of Hummock Hill's WWII installations  is here.

Your correspondent can't often pass by without a visit to a jetty where anglers are in action. This one below Hummock Hill was entertaining, as much because the pelican was trying to snitch a feed from the fishers by terror tactics. I had to show them how to get the better of these con-artists by giving as good as you get - spread arms and roar at 'em while advancing on the enemy. My bailiwick has plenty of these feathered larrikins. It's really all about bluff.. as long as you have a bit of respect for that bill.

Locals can't resist dropping bits of tucker from the jetty to this dolphin mother-and-child. And the pair know it!

Whyalla Marina Fishing Team resting up for the next assault. Room for one more.. one good tern deserves another.. or something..

We stayed at the Foreshore Caravan Park at Whyalla, in a site right on the waterfront. It would have been ok, excellent in summer. But the springtime easterly was quite blowy and nippy. Otherwise, a neat park, one for the warm weather holidaymakers if you end up next to the beach. Good value meals are available at the sporting club right next door, but we didn't sample them.