My first real experience with Tumby Bay came back in 1977 during my tenure as a teacher in Whyalla. I had arranged a four-day school excursion, to be based at the Thuruna campsite, about 25km south of Tumby, and had planned to buy our groceries en route at the local supermarket. We had 50-odd kids on board a rather well aged charter bus, all of whom were primed and ready to go. I had another teacher and two parents with me to keep the whole camp running and the kids under control, and the mood was pretty upbeat as we rolled out of Whyalla for the 200km trip southward along the Lincoln Highway.
I had phoned ahead to let the supermarket know we were coming and to provide a grocery list we hoped they could fill. I had briefly met the supermarket proprietor, Tom Tierney, a year or so earlier during a fishing weekend in Tumby, and looked forward to catching up again. Tom had already amassed an impressive reputation as a ‘gun’ local angler, and I knew we’d have plenty to chat about during our Tumby Bay stop-over.