Day 1,766 of Traveling the World | Port Lincoln, Australia | December 7, 2022

Jan and Mike

Port Lincoln is the kind of small town anyone would want to visit, or live in. It is located approximately in the middle of the southern coast of Australia. Located on Boston Bay and in the Great Australian Bight, the water is a dazzling array of different colors of blue. We suppose it depends on the sun’s position at any given moment. But the people! Oh, they are wonderful. Everyone was very friendly, ready for a chat. Two different times we had children run up to us, asking if we were on the cruise ship, what were our names, where were we from. When told that we were homeless and just traveling the world, we got more excited questions – and assurances that now they knew what they wanted to do with their lives!

At any rate, there is a boardwalk along the bay, running through the whole town. Port Lincoln had quite an array of retail shops, bakeries, restaurants, churches, grocery stores, and cafes. Two venues – Hotel Boston and St. Thomas Anglican Church – provided crafts markets because a cruise ship was in town. We saw some beautiful items, and were a little sad that we couldn’t purchase some of them. But we did buy the best coffee we have had in all of Australia from Tim’s Coffee Cart. And we also purchased a jar of homemade Quandong Jam from a lovely woman named Lindy. Right – we had never heard of Quandong, either. Look it up to see what it looks like! It is a delicious fruit, and tastes nothing like any other fruit we have ever had. It is hard to describe, with a texture like peaches (it is called the Native Peach), but a bit more tangy. A few hours later, and one-quarter of the jar is already used up!

The most fun we had was watching some school children doing Bubble Sports – putting on blown-up costumes and spheres, then knocking each other down. It turned into a roly-poly lawn game, bumper cars without the cars. We also then met two of our favorite crew members, Meredith and Gracie, whom we had never seen outside their ship uniforms, with their hair pushed up under their caps. Seeing them as they really are, and their gorgeous hair, was a treat – they were so, so beautiful. We told them to stop talking to us and go see the town, so they said, OK, one last group hug before we go! Guess what? There were seven last group hugs before we parted! They are quite affectionate and adorable. So – we had a great day. Great people, great small town, great food, great coffee, great scenery. Delightful all around. (We kind of pitied people who had taken tours today!)

Port Lincoln is on Boston Bay, one of the world’s largest, most protected natural harbors. It is over three times larger than Sydney’s Bay, and the water color changes every few minutes!
Kayakers out in the bay.
There is a long boardwalk all along the bay in the downtown.
This bird had views all to herself until we came along,
The water on the other side of the bay, away from most of the downtown, was this glorious dark blue.
They are just getting ready for Christmas.
We asked two friendly children who ran up to us asking where we were from and what our names were: “What are they supposed to be?” Answer: “Sumo wrestlers, of course!”
Later, we passed by the same field, and these kids wearing spheres called Bubble Sports were having a blast. The teacher/coach held a ball that was never used. Instead, the children would run at each other, like bumper cars, and try to knock each other over. You can see the girl in front was knocked upside down. They didn’t have this fun stuff when we took Phys Ed!
Not “grab bags,” as in the US, but Lucky Dips!
Meet Lindy, the owner of The Mulberry Tree. She makes jams, sauces, and chutnies to sell as well as other handcrafts. This is where we bought the Quandong Jam.
A permanent installation on St. Thomas Anglican Church grounds, all made of mosaics. The sofa has a quilt and doilies, the flowered area rug has cute fringes, and the table has a scrabble game in progress. Very clever.
Tim sold us the best cup of coffee we had in all of Australia!
What a lovely idea! It was empty, though, by the time we peeked inside.
The entire Esplanade was planted with these majestic pine trees.
As you can see, this building dates to 1905, and now houses The Ethical Kitchen. It looks like an old American West building!
A fun name for a women’s clothing shop – Call Me the Breeze.
The Grand Tasman Hotel has its own beer in this part of the world.
If you can see the hours on the right, Mantra Tattoo is open most days. The hours? – 10ish to 6ish. We love it!!!
And (Christopher) Walkens (walk-ins) are most welcome.
Late afternoon in Boston Bay, as we departed this glorious place.

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