Weekend away at Port Lincoln, SA

Over the Christmas and New Year period I was forced to take annual leave for almost three weeks. I mostly kept myself busy with household tasks that I'd been meaning to do for ages but never had the time. Things like cleaning out and re-organising the pantry and linen closet, painting and cleaning out the wardrobe (which resulted in three bags of clothes being donated to Vinnies). We also went bike riding and swimming and ate out a lot.

It was really hot here in Adelaide during this period, Christmas Day was a lovely 30 degress, while New Years Eve was closer to 40. And with our lack of air conditioning I really didn't do a lot of cooking during this time. My kitchen just gets far too hot and adding a hot oven to the mix just didn't seem like a good idea.

So to finish up my break, JD and I decided to spend a weekend away, somewhere within the state but that we'd never been before. We'd both always liked the idea of visiting Port Lincoln, I'm not sure what the attraction was, it's a good seven hour drive but thankfully only a 40 minute flight from Adelaide.

Pt Lincoln's claim to fame is in its seafood. If you've ever eaten out at even a remotely good seafood place in SA, or even Australia in general, Coffin Bay oysters were probably on the menu. Coffin Bay is a half hour drive from the city of Pt Lincoln. They also boast a large tuna industry, with the opportunity for tourists to swim with the tuna (and seals and great white sharks). Thanks to the windy and sometimes rainy weather, we decided against any water related activities.

Unfortunately, the seafood reputation has developed a little too well in the area as we struggled to find a lot of diversity in the menus at the main restaurants and cafes. I do enjoy seafood, although I don't like to eat a lot of it. It is the only meat I eat but due to my preference of vegetarianism I try to limit my intake of seafood as well. I found at some places, that just really wasn't an option.

 

The first place we ate, and the place we frequented most often was the fairly new Port Lincoln Hotel. This complex has accommodation, a bar and a very nice restaurant called Sarin's. We'd actually been in the bar most of the afternoon watching Soccer so we'd had a few drinks by the time we made it to dinner, and since the wine kept flowing there are no photos of our main courses. 

JD had the Tuna Rosettes and I opted for the Mussel Pot. I have to say, these were the two best dishes we had over the weekend. The tuna was so thinly sliced it practically melted in your mouth and the accompanying wakami salad and wasabi mayonnaise enhanced the flavour of the tuna beautifully. The mussels were sauteed with garlic and onion and cooked in a napolitana sauce with peccorino cheese. For such simple ingredients the flavour of each mussel was outstanding. I would have happily eaten this as my main, and kept going back for more and more.

The following day we took a drive to Coffin Bay. We held off on ordering oysters anywhere else knowing we'd be heading to the home of the oysters where we'd surely find it on every menu. Well there is only one cafe in Coffin Bay so it wasn't hard to find where the oysters were at! We lunched at the Oystersbeds where I ordered a half dozen natural and a half dozen poached in an Asian flavoured broth (the name escapes me). They were tasty and filling.

 

After two big meals in a row of seafood, I was more than happy to head to the reputable Del Giorno's Cafe for a good old veggo dish! I knew they had a few options because I stalked the menu prior. I had an entree serve of the vegetaran risotto and was very pleased. The flavours were rich without being too sickly (which I find with a lot of cream based risottos). Mind you the entree size was definitely more of a main size portion!

We decided to head back to Sarin's for breakfast on our last day. The breakfast menu was just as appetizing as the Restaurant menu so I knew we couldn't go wrong. I actually struggled to decide what to have. I ended up with eggs benedict on english muffins with spinach. The eggs were poached just how I like them, all runny and gooey so the yolk spills out and creates a sauce of its own. Yum!

If you're thinking about heading over to the Eyre Peninsula, there are some other fun things to do. We visited the Lincoln National Park, as well as the Glen Forest Animal Park which was my favourite place. I'm a sucker for animals, especially when you can feed and pet them. It's $12 per adult to visit and $10 for children, and there is a picnic spot to take your own lunch if you want - very family friendly. There's also putt putt and a load of water related activities like fishing charters and tours in the area.

Just a note if you do plan to visit the Eyre Peninsula, you'll need a car as the towns and tourist attractions are all quite spread out around the area.