On our slow sojourn around Eyre Peninsula we have been deliberately stopping in at every beach and free camp we can find to see and try some for ourselves. Some have been really easy to access on wide dirt roads that have been well maintained and others, well they take a little more effort to get to.

These roads less travelled often lead to some pretty remarkable spots though, and for your effort you are rewarded with uncrowded places to park a van and enjoy the serenity.

Then there are other places that have you questioning whether it’s a smart move to attempt getting a caravan in. This to me, was one of those places. Point Drummond itself wasn’t too hard to get to and there are places on the clifftop with views over the long white sandy beach below, where you can easily park a van, but they are exposed to any weather conditions that get thrown at you, so there was another area further along a rocky track where you could park and be a little more sheltered.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to towing a van into unknown territory, so a walk to the proposed camping area was our next step. It would take a slow and steady crawl in to manage it, but it was doable. Our favourite word for this trip it seems is ‘doable’!

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We made it, well when I say we – I preferred to stay and not be a passenger down the literally rocky road but the Jayco made it to the campsite and we could settle for a stay on yet another uncrowded heavenly Eyre Peninsula beach.

The site of Point Drummond has an interesting story and a plaque sits at the point to explain its place in history. In August of 1843 two teenage whalers, George Cummins from England and American, Richard Harris, jumped ship at Fowlers Bay and set out for Port Lincoln on foot.

When they arrived at Point Drummond, over 500 kilometres from Fowlers, they were picked up by a survey ship which sailed to Port Lincoln, where they were arrested for desertion. They were however, pardoned of the charges due to their knowledge of the undiscovered farming and grazing land along the way which then led to further exploration and the opening up of land to agriculture.

That was a story worth driving out here to find out about in itself. Once we settled ourselves in at our camp we had the whole white sand beach to ourselves for fishing and exploring and that’s another bonus when travelling with a dog, in that he can run free and enjoy himself too.

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The only other campers we saw were obviously locals who had taken a very steep track down to a tiny sheltered beach to swag for the night.  The ramp to the beach is maintained by abalone fishermen and is signposted to let people know that they can enjoy and use at their own risk, as long as access is not blocked.  This is most definitely, not one for the caravan.

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Point Drummond is an incredible wilderness area to stay but you do have to be completely self contained as there are no facilities at all here, but if you’re lucky, that may just mean you get to experience this lovely spot all by yourself.

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Happy (and safe) exploring

Glenys