Our departure from Port Lincoln was preceded by a visit to a local seafood market where we stocked up on tuna steaks, calamari, and prawns. The drive to Coffin Bay was an easy one in good weather. Coffin Bay was a welcome sleepy seaside town after the “big smoke” of Port Lincoln. The calm waters of the bay, dotted with sand islands, small boats and yachts moored about the bay and oyster leases all held great promise for our stay. A quick stop at the general store and half a dozen freshly shucked oysters, given their high repute, and we made our beyond town to the National Park.
The National Park mostly comprises a coastal landscape. High, windswept cliffs, massive dunes and pounding surf beaches of the Southern Ocean contrast with sheltered bays. Away from the coast there are sand dunes and limestone pavements. Patches of sheoak and low-lying samphire swamps. Our campsite was located by a small shallow bay, unfortunately, not so great for swimming due to its soft shores in which we quickly sank to our mid-calves. The campground, however, was virtually empty apart from two or three other caravans. We had brought enough water to last us for a few days due to the lack of running water here. Thankfully, pit toilets meant we didn’t have to crank up the van latrine, which is yet to be broken in.
Our first night in Coffin Bay was the first night of Passover, so we celebrated with the traditional reading of the story of Pesach, probably the first witnessed by the kangaroos of Coffin Bay. Tracey made a superb chicken soup replete with excellent matzah balls. Our seder (ceremonial) plate was complete with all the usual suspects except for the lamb shank, which was replaced with a paper namesake. Dinner was comprised of tuna steaks seared on the BBQ.
The only small hitch was the swarms of bees attracted to our sweet feast, that forced us to seek shelter indoors. The bees, in abundance, were to be a constant feature at our campsite, to the point where we simply accepted their presence and carried on with our business.
Dad’s trip back to Sydney had resulted in a few drop offs and pick ups and the blog would not be complete without mention of Jem’s new fashion accessory purchased by mail via Nanna. Now Jem had been asking about his jacket for weeks prior to my departure for Sydney and I was given strict instructions that I was not to return without 2 important items: one being the jacket, the second being a Lego set which was also due to arrive via mail. Despite its formal appearance, Jem has not missed an opportunity to don his navy sports coat complete with gold buttons and hence it must be included here for posterity.
The following day was fine and warm (which didn’t stop Jem from wearing his jacket), so after a bit of schoolwork we set off to look for a suitable place to wet ourselves in the clear blue waters around Coffin Bay. We drove the southern shores of the park and found the spectacularly inviting waters of Almonta Beach.
A large pod of about 25 dolphins were swimming in the shallow waters made us even more eager to get wet. Refreshingly cool, clear water and the gentle surf made this one of the most memorable ocean swims of the trip so far. The beautiful blue skies, warm autumn sun, soft white sand, off shore islands, azure water with dolphins, and later solitary sea lion, azure water made this magic afternoon a benchmark for all of us.
During the remainder of our stay in Coffin we hoped for a similar afternoon, but it wasn’t to be.
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