Stranded in Ceduna

Our journey westward continued to Fowlers Bay, however, about 20km from Ceduna, cruising along at about 85km/h we heard and felt what we thought was a blowout. The driver’s side seemed a little saggy, so we pulled up to take a look, but no blowout. So on we went, although things just didn’t seem right. Aha, perhaps one of our rear suspension inflatables had blown - yes, it was the overnight, good news hopefully it’ll only be one night. Our part had to come from Adelaide by road and if we order by 2pm, 99 times out of 100, it’s there the next day and we can be on our way. 

Ceduna is the sort of place you pass through on your way east or west, not much to do. Our caravan park isn’t much to speak of, we’re camped next to some cyclists making there way from Geelong to Broome to raise money for a village in Uganda. We met them in Streaky Bay - hopefully they won’t beat us out of here. 

Our car left at the mechanic and us praying that our parts arrive, we set off to do some shopping. A pair of long awaited shoes for Jem and a much needed replacement pair of thongs for Rubes. A walk along the Jetty and all are ready for a milkshake or cool drink - coffee here is out of the question. Not that it can’t be purchased, just that neither of us is game to try. Instead we decide to wait till we return to the caravan to grind and brew our own. My good friend Jonnos and family, purchased for us, the Aeropress and a grinder, and I have been trying to perfect the brew. It’s definitely getting there. 

An early phone call from the mechanic to say that all was done and I was on my way there. We were back on the road, and in less than 24 hours.

Water creatures round Streaky Bay

Next planned stop was Streaky Bay. With fair weather on the horizon, we were hoping to continue a bit more swimming and fishing. Streaky Bay was the biggest town we had come across since Port Lincoln, even two supermarkets. Since we were running low on a few supplies we decided to lunch out, but being Easter Monday, there wasn’t much open. The Shell servo was our only option given that the Pub had stopped serving lunch already. Reasonable burgers and nuggets and also a full scale replica of the largest white pointer caught on a hand line, you guessed it, right here in Streaky Bay. A 1500+ kg, 5 metre monster - not really a confidence booster for our fledgling swimmers, especially since the next day we had booked in to swim with dolphins and sea lions at Baird Bay, a short drive away. 

We had been looking forward to it for some time, all of us, but unfortunately with all the talk of sharks, Rubes had begun to get cold feet. It was a little overcast when we set off, most of us excited, others a little apprehensive. After a wetsuit fit out, it was onto the boat. 

We met Alan who had been running these tours for over 20 years. No swimming toward the dolphins, no reaching out to touch the seals - remember these are wild animals. And stay close to Mick (one of the guides), cause he’s wearing the shark shield. First it was a swim with the dolphins, a pod of about 20. Jem donned a mask, as did Rubes with snorkel, OJ, of course is an old hand at snorkeling. Both Jem and Rubes hopped into their own float ring and in with the dolphins. It took Jem a little bit of time to work out that he had to put his head under to see the action, but he got it. Trace was a little concerned about the sharks, but swimming with dolphins within arms length, wow!! Needless to say, we stayed close to Mick. 

Amazing how dolphins seemed to have an interest in us. They engaged and played, swam about us, with us, almost as if we were part of the pod. The water was cool, but it didn’t seem to matter. We were in and out a few times with the dolphins, OJ keen to get back amongst them every time we left the water. He was really enjoying it. 

Next to the sea lion colony. Lots on the rocks and the sand, but not too many in the water. Alan decided we should be patient and just watch from the boat for a while. One of the guides got into the water and attempted to coax some of these gracious animals in to play without success. As we motored close to shore, Alan recognised a young female sea lion, known as Psycho, on the beach. In went Mick and out into the shallows came Psycho. We all followed in to the water for a session of play with Psycho, who spent about 25 minutes frolicking with us. Her beautiful wide eyes fixed on us curiously as she glided effortlessly through the water. Watching her at such close range, still on the bottom and then blow bubbles out her mouth as she floated to the surface was an unforgettable experience. OJ’s appetite whetted, now he’s talking about swimming with humpbacks in Tonga.  

Back at the caravan park, whilst Oscar did some school work, Rubes and Jem disappeared to the games room with a wad of cash, in coins. Rubes has very responsibly been making careful and considered decisions as to how she spends her money. After a period of absence, Dad thought he’d better investigate what the two were up to. Both were discovered playing the ‘claw and dump’ which involves dropping an open claw into a mountain of mini chocolate bars and then deliver the catch onto a ramp which has a sliding platform which then pushes the sweets into a chute. Rubes had inserted $10 into the machine and had, so far, only gathered a couple of bars. Of course, no explanation from me that she could purchase far more chocolate bars with her $10 than she could ever hope to win in the ‘claw and dump’ could convince her that the thrill and fun of challenge wasn’t worth every cent. 

Oscar was snowed under with work that afternoon, and so the rest of us had a cycle/walk into town before dinner. On the way we caught up with a couple who were camped next to us in Elliston. They had lent us a few DVDs that we needed to return. 

Our last day in Streaky Bay was a little cool and overcast, so we decided to take a drive to one of the neighbouring bays and to Murphy’s Haystacks, some rocky outcrops amongst the wheat farms. Sceale Bay was accessible via an unsealed road and we had considered free camping there as it had sounded like a good spot and it wasn’t bad at all. A short walk along the beach and Rubes collected a few small, but pretty shells. Then we carried on to Murphy’s Haystacks, narrowly missing a shingle back crossing the road. 

Elliston suprise

Another hop along the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula brought us to Elliston. Tracey in her wisdom thought that after a few days without a shower and  the Easter long weekend fast approaching, we should book into a caravan park to freshen up and avoid missing out on a site. Chance would have it that not only was Elliston a really pretty little town, but the van park we stayed in had both thick green grass upon which to lay our feet and wonderful shady trees as well. 

We landed an excellent site at which to spend the busy Easter weekend. Situated on Waterloo Bay, nearly two thirds enclosed with a reef at its mouth and a long jetty opposite, the surrounding coastline is just how you imagine the Bight to be - tall steep, stony cliffs rising out of the frothy seas of the Southern Ocean. A drive along the cliff tops was followed by a rather unsuccessful fishing expedition off the jetty. 

The peddled go-karts at the park were a huge hit with the kids as was the jumping pillow. And the abundance of other children on their Easter break made for some competitive cricket. Oscar was popular with the boys and rallied them to the pitch in front of our van for several sessions before tea. Jem made himself a little friend who was also interested in Lego with a Star Wars theme. 

Saturday morning markets were a hit with Rubes and Trace who both got a hot henna tattoo. A visit to the op shop, where Josh picked up a jacket and Jem scored a shirt, followed by a play at the playground and a short spell of rain saw us ready for a dinner of crumbed calamari and BBQ squid (bought not caught) - not a bad day all up!

Oysters and matzah balls in Coffin Bay

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. 

Itching to leave Port Lincoln

So another week without Josh had come around quickly. Port Lincoln is quite a big seaside town with a surfy small town feel. The weather was not looking good for the week in-fact we had four seasons in one day most days of the week.

There was not a whole lot to do around Port Lincoln, we rode our bikes into town, had a few shopping expeditions, visited an animal park with some strange but interesting animals and completed our school work.

 

Oscar, and Rubes in particular got a very nasty case of sea lice. Ruby was up for a few nights, a visit to the doctor confirming that I was doing everything I could, a few bottles later of Phenergan, clean out of beds, washing of sheets and they are still with us and bothering her slightly still.

The kids were happy to play with the kids they had met in the Flinders Ranges for a few days before they too were on their way. Luckily, there were some more kids to play with for the week. 

A couple of very windy nights and thoughts of moving into a hotel whilst Josh was away did enter my thoughts. Particularly when the lady next door to me got robbed in the middle of the night by men who came into her caravan and stole her handbag.

Let’s just say we were happy to have Josh home.

Happy to be leaving with Josh in tow, we headed for Coffin Bay National Park.

 

 

Opal Fever in Coober Pedy

So, onto Port Augusta we drove. It was once again a hot, long drive, but the kids continue to amaze us by not complaining and just enjoying each other, their movies and the interesting and somewhat tacky music which is often played by DJ Jeremy. A couple of nights in Port Augusta allowed us to visit a fantastic Indigenous Interpretation Centre called Wadlata Outback Centre. It was not only very impressive visually, but was a great place for the kids to gain a small insight into Aboriginal Dreamtime, the geology of the South Australian mountain ranges and the first explorers of the area. It was really a wonderful place to visit and has won many awards for its uniqueness.

After a swim with the locals in the river and a jump of the jetty (Rubes and I somewhat apprehensive to jump) it was off to Coober Pedy the following day.

With the blink of an eye we had already passed Woomera and on the long 540km drive to Coober Pedy. Thank goodness the detention centre no longer exists out there. The area is barren, the road is flat with nothing but dried out river beds full of salt and the odd homestead 100 km down the road. No wonder they blasted a rocket out there. We were quite excited about our stay in Coober Pedy, as we had left the caravan behind and were staying in the very upmarket Desert Cave Hotel.

 

Driving into Coober Pedy there was a feeling of Opal fever coming from the back seat. It was Oscar. He was there to make his fortune.

Coober Pedy is a strange, interesting and somewhat depressing place as well. There seem to be a lot of very eccentric people who live there and it seems like you need to be slightly mad as well. Take for instance the guy who cares for orphaned kangaroos that we met, feeds them Wasabi peas and Twisties and wonders why some of them don’t want to sleep outside. Go figure??  Oscar and Ruby were not quite sure whether they remember mum telling them that this junk food was their staple diet???? Or, perhaps the junkies outside the chemist waiting for their Methadone fi x for the day.  All a bit strange really.

Nonetheless, we visited some very interesting museums and particularly enjoyed the Old Timers Mine where we did a self -guided tour. The mine was a very clever recreation of a miner’s life and although not an active mine today, there is still evidence of large amounts of opal present in the mine, now converted into a museum.  The kids enjoyed “noodling”, the word they give to fossicking through left over miner’s rubble. Oscar, once again confident that he was going to make his fortune.  

 

The landscape around Coober Pedy is very unique. Lunar in appearance, with miner’s claims dotted around, signs warning of danger and abandoned machinery, form the perfect backdrop for a movie. It’s no wonder Mad Max was filmed out there.  

An “interesting” visit, one which we put down to another opportunity to see how other people live within Australia. As we left the hotel we decided to let reception know that Oscar had been bitten by some kind of small bed bug all over his body. Not really expecting anything in return, just more to let them know. Unfortunate for Oscar, but lucky for us they rang us a day later to see how he was and offer us a reimbursement of our stay. Thank you very much!

On a 40 degree day we made our way back to Port Augusta only to find the pool was closed at the caravan park and they were doing road work right outside our caravan. The next day we pulled out.

A beautiful drive along the Eyre Peninsular took us to Lipson Cove.  A free camping area on the beach, with only a toilet and a beautiful view.  Just what we needed! There were only a few caravans that had pulled in so it was lovely to be in a more remote area. Although it was slightly windy and overcast, it didn’t stop the dolphins frolicking in the water nor the abundance of sea birds that have made Lipson Conservation Park their home. We spent 4 nights relaxing, playing on the beach, homework and a visit into the local town Tumby Bay. There were also, if I remember correctly a number of bottles of wine drunk as well. We were all very ready though for a hot shower and clean clothes when we left (Josh especially).

Although the kids didn’t know it, this was to be the beach they were to pick up a nasty case of sea lice, now causing havoc with their bodies, in particular poor Rubes.

The Eyre Peninsular is known as the seafood capital of South Australia. So far however, we are yet to indulge and hope that our time in Port Lincoln will prove true to its name.

 

 

 

Fabulous Flinders

Sunday, and from Kangaroo Island our journey continued northward. After the morning’s reverse digestive activity, and their feet on solid ground, the children’s bellies began asking for sustenance. So we picked up the van which had been in storage for the week and planned our lunch outing. Only problem was our fridge had gone off, with all our frozen food well thawed and the remainder of it’s content somewhat on the nose. To add insult to injury, we had a nail in one of the van tyres that needed repair. Once we had cleaned up the fridge and fixed the tyre, it was onto Subway and some air conditioning to recharge, before a long car trip. 

We decided to get to as close to the Flinders Ranges as we could and drove until we had all had enough. Port Wakefield was as far as we could manage, nearly 100km north of Adelaide. Thankfully after a long hot drive, we very pleased to cool off in a small salt water swimming hole, right in front of the van park.

We set off early the following morning for the Ranges via Port Augusta to stock up on supplies. Leaving the tip of the Spencer Gulf, we began our ascent into the Ranges which, since mid-morning, had lay to our east. Once we reached Quorn, the road had flattened out but the Flinders surrounded us to both the east and west. The landscape was scattered with stone ruins, the remains of early settlement history, emus, roos and sheep. We were driving into a strong northerly head wind which hampered our progress, but which made for impressive air currents upon which enormous wedge tail eagles soared over the landscape. Trace spotted a wedgie on a fence post by the road side that must have stood a metre high. 

Our destination was Wilpena Pound, all via sealed road. As we approached, the rugged bluffs of the Pound towered over the surrounding land which was surprisingly green with vegetation and dominated by thick pockets of white cypress pines. With the afternoon light throwing warm light on the rocky mountains, we arrived out our camp surrounded by pines and the walls of the Pound. We were impressed not only with the stunning scenery, but also with our campsite, which was pleasantly quiet.

During the first night, the rain came down and down - not what we expected. By morning it had ceased and although a little humid, the cloud cover made it comfortable and perfect for a morning walk. We drove to place called Sacred Canyon, where a collection of Aboriginal engravings were easily accessible by foot. Jem was our self-proclaimed guide through the Canyon and was a wealth of local knowledge on the landscape, geology and also the aboriginal significance of the site. He claimed to have previously guided none other than One Direction and Justin Bieber through the Canyon. We tipped him handsomely for his excellent service.  

The afternoon was spent mainly doing school work. Always a pleasure! 

Day 2 at Wilpena started in a similar way, this time with a walk up to some Aboriginal rock paintings up the lower slopes to just under one of the large bluffs on the outer perimeter of Wilpena Pound. The walk was up the slopes was blessed with a generous cover of flora - very pretty. The paintings were well preserved and quite impressive. 

The kids had met another 3 kids of similar ages from Melbourne who were also traveling around Oz in a caravan. So after more school work in the afternoon the kids played most of the afternoon. Before dinner we took a stroll around environs of the campsite and Trace spotted our first echidna, followed by a second seen by Ruby. Both were wandering in a dry creek bed looking for their evening meal. A real treat for all of us.

By the evening the clouds had cleared and, given the moon was rising only in the early hours of the morning, the kids suggested a bit of star gazing from the roof of the Beast (aka our Landcruiser). We all climbed up and were spoilt with the clearest skies imaginable. Just to the north of Wilpena are located some observatories for the very reason of the near perfect extraterrestrial viewing conditions - a clear atmosphere and almost no light pollution. We spotted, what we thought, was a satellite moving across the night sky and also a shooting star - claimed by Oscar to be very good luck.

Another morning in Wilpena was spent inside walking to a lookout inside the Pound - different and once again very pretty. Once again the kids were content to play with a few children the same age experiencing similar things to them and we didn’t see much of them for the afternoon, so Trace and I got planning what the next few days had in store for us. 

Thursday we headed further north to the historical town of Blinman (population 18) for a tour of the, long dormant, copper mine. Work had started in 1851 and ceased in 1907. The mine was predominantly worked by Cornish migrants, with mining in the blood. The tour proved very enlightening, and Jem was particularly chuffed with having to don a hard hat and head light. Oscar, Ruby AND Tracey found it also amusing, when one of the old timers who was on our tour let off a long and rumbling fart which kept them laughing for some time (so immature, but very funny)The mine had shafts up to 167m underground where, apparently, upon recent surveying, all mining equipment still lay as if it had been downed only yesterday. Unfortunately, we were unable to go down to these depths due to health and safety restrictions, but we did get far enough down to appreciate the dangers and harsh conditions that the miners faced on a daily basis. 

Following a lunch of homemade beef pies a the general store in Blinman, we took an unsealed road to Parachilna through several gorges and some of the most impressive Flinders scenery that we had come across so far. Dry creek beds, rugged ridge lines and beautiful vistas. 

We shot out the other west side of the Ranges hungry for more. So our intention to return to Port Augusta that day was shot. I knew that we needed to go back in for another day. After a cool drink at the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna and some local advice about some more scenic drives and a nearby livestock station where we could stay the night, we hurtled down the road before dusk and roos on the road to Merna Mora Station. 

We took a 5 hour loop drive on some unsealed and 4WD tracks back into the Ranges and we were not disappointed. A lunch picnic within Brachina Gorge in the dry creek bed topped off a fantastic day through some spectacular scenery made me reaffirmed that the Flinders is a must see for anyone coming to SA for a visit. Port Augusta seems rather plain in comparison, but a trip to Coober Pedy and a stay in an underground hotel commencing tomorrow is sure to be some fun.