A new house

The builders accepted our offer and the local credit union gave us the go ahead too, so we'll sign contracts etc early in the new year for our new home. I'm so excited as it's just perfect we think.
Here's a link if you want to check it out-ours is second from the left in the group photo. You need to copy the link below and paste it into the url address thingy at the top of your page.

http://www.stockdaleleggo.com.au/details.asp?internetid=176260&OFFICE_ID=70

Christmas eve, Blair, Leah, Russ and I went down to the Merrijig-Ryan and Kirstyn's restaurant-for a lovely dinner. It was a great, but late night.

We had nice family Christmas day with Ryan, Kirstyn, Blair, Leah, Mick and Hayley at lunch and then we all moved out to Koroit and Kirstyn's mum Jill's for our evening meal. We all ate too much and got lots of nice presents, so it was a fun day.

Today (Boxing Day) has been very relaxing. Mick and Hayley headed home earlier, Chief and Suz called over, Ryan and Kirstyn are working and now we (Blair, Leah, Russ and I) are about to get dressed and go to the Greyhounds then on out to dinner in Warrnambool. A friends dog is running so it'll be fun to go after all these years.

Tomorrow it's off to Portland for lunch, then out to the Merrijig again for dinner. Sunday, Russ and I are off to Melbourne and will stay at Blair and Leah's a night or two before heading to Traralgon for New Year's Eve.

Kobie's First Visit to Port Fairy

Dan, Verity and Kobie left this morning after a coupld of days here in Port Fairy. It was lovely to spend some time with them and show them around here and Warrnambool. We managed a lunch and breakfast out,and cooked a curry (Dan's request) for them here.



We also took them to see the NEW villa we have put an offer in for in Warrnambool. It overlooks the second Brierly cricket pitch and on to the racetrack. It's gorgeous and will be perfect to leave (or come home to) when we travel each year to warmer places in the winter.

Port Fairy

We arrived in Port Fairy on Saturday 6th of December. It was great to see Ryan and Kirstyn after 10 months and we certainly had lots to catch up on. Sunday they had their staff christmas party at home-it was fun to be there for that.

Monday, we went to Warrnambool to do a bit of shopping and catch up with neighbour David (and our mail), Tuesday, Kirstyn was off work with a tooth ache which she's since had a temporary filling put in and Deb and Pete came from Portland for lunch so another very social day.

Wednesday we went down to my sister's in Traralgon and visited Kobie and Verity at her parent's house. It amazed us to see how much Kobie has changed in the few months since we saw him last-I guess that's what babies do. Verity already had a couple of trials at various hairdressers in Traralgon, so that's good. Dan and his mate Taz left Perth on the Monday in the car with a fair amount of furniture in a trailer and arrived in Traralgon on Wedenesday too. We caught up with them on Thursday. On Thursday arvo, Russ and I went around to see an old friend of mine Chris-it was amazing to see her after about 7 years!!!!

Friday night we had Dan, Verity, Taz, nephew and niece-in law (Marcus and Fiona) and kids over for a BBQ.

Saturday we drove to Melbourne to stay a few days with Blair and Leah. We had dinner at Woody and Sophie's on Saturday night after a few drinks with Dan and Taz (Dan's Brazillian kitchen hand) at a pub where Mick works near here. Caught up with Barbs and Pip as well, so it was a bit of a reunion.

Sunday we were having Mick and his girlfriend Hayley over for dinner so Russ, Leah and I walked over to the South Melbourne markets to do our bit of shopping for the meal. The markets are great and so convienient for Leah. They really live in a great area-our car has only left its parking spot once in the few days we've been here! I was pretty proud of myself spotting an old friend of Blair's at the market. Leah didn't know him and Russ was having trouble recognising him after about 7 years. He and his wife Suz had just land4ed from London two hours before we met them. They came for dinner too.

Yesterday (Monday) Blair flew out to work in Tasmania leaving Leah, Russ and I home alone for a couple of quiet days before Holly turns up from Geelong for the night with us. We left Leah working and took Mick out for lunch, then drove over to see Mick's house and the new Bunnings store he's working at. Last night we had a quiet night and delicious soy braised chicken salad with Leah.

Mildura

We arrived in Mildura on Wednesday after calling in at Renmark Club on the way to see Glen Jones-a primary school mate of Mick's. It was great so see him-he looks well and happy and is going really well in his position as head chef at the club.

The weather warmed up as we travelled, so it was a bit of a worry to find our air conditioner smelling and crackling as we set up. I like to turn it on the minute we arrive anywhere as that's one of the times the van really heats up-must be the bitumen roads and the fact it's closed up for X amount of hours.

A visit from a repair man yesterday confirmed that it was stuffed. It has apparently fused the condenser and was going to take a day or so to get the spare part and was covered by our insurance according to him. It tuned out it WASN'T covered and with the factory closed until Monday, it started to look like we'd be here until Thursday. It's too hot to sit around here with no air conditioner, so we called him, cancelled the job and we are moving south to cooler weather as fast as we can. We plan to be in Port Fairy tomorrow and a Port Fairy refrigeration crowd will look at the van for us early next week and get it fixed.

I was really happy when the park gave us back our money for the extra days we paid for and even hppier when the repair man wouldn't take any money for the call out yesterday. It's a bummer it's not covered by our insurance policy as the guy here quoted $1200 to fix it. We live pretty tightly these days and that's an expensive have to have!

Last night we went over to our friends Julie and Geoff (Glen's parents) for a BBQ. It was terrific to catch up with them after a few years. I love the sort of friends you don't see for ages, but are just able to pick up where you last left off. They have been good friends to us for a lot of years now.

Today we've been over at the Centro Mall enjoying their air conditioning, buying a few clothes for us and Kobie and having a bite of lunch. It might be time for a swim in the pool here now.

We picked the park nearest the Jones's and it's turned out a great choice. There has only been 3 vans in and we were told to use as many of the nearby sites as we wished as they wouldn't put anyone near us. The site we chose for the van is well shaded which is lucky although it is still 32 in the van right now.

Berri

We made it to Berri on Saturday-we had planned to stop a night in Nuriootpa then come on, but arrived there round 1.30 and figured another 1 1/2 hours would get us here and we'd stay four nights instead of three. This is a huge caravan park , but once again it is really quiet-according to the cleaner I was talking to, it will go nuts on Boxing Day and stay like that for a few months, so she is enjoying the quiet like us. The road between Port Wakefield and Nuriootpa is THE worst sealed road we have ever taken the caravan on. It was so bumpy we travelled most of it at around 60km per hour.

I got my rabbits in Ardrossan (and a few more!). A friend suggested I wouldn't be able to leave the two we bought alone until we got them home, and I thought about it so bought another fresh one to eat on the Sunday. That left two in the display cabinet which the butcher offered to me for $8.95. When I refused, he knocked them down to $5 each so I took them too. Last night I cooked the fresh one in mustard cream and I have to say it was the best rabbit I have ever cooked or eaten. It was moist and tender and delicious.

Yesterday we took a drive to Loxton and Renmark stopping at fruit stalls and a church fair along the way. We stopped at the Berri shop as well, so are stocked with avocados, pumpkins (big butternuts for $1 each) jarred peaches, fruit juices, tinned tomatoes etc. Today is haircut day and then out to the other side of town here to more fruit stalls and wineries. I'm trying to track down an asparagus grower as I saw local stuff in a shop. If not, we bought it cheap in a 5 kilo bag in Mildura a few years ago ( we go to Mildura Wednesday morning).

Southern Yorke Peninsula

Yesterday we left at 10am and did a big drive around a fair whack of the southern part of the Peninsula. We headed from here (Marion Bay) to Hardwick Bay and Port Minlacowie, then on to Minlaton where we had lunch in a great pub. They had rabbit on the menu but I couldn't bring myself to pay $23.95 at luch time so did without. I was really greatful when the chef told me where he gets his rabbits though!

After lunch We drove out to Port Rickeby then right back across the peninsula to Stansbury down to Edithburgh (the first settlement in the area) on to Port Mooworie and home by about 6 pm. It was a huge day out as we stopped at lots of beaches and bays and lookouts between towns. It's a lovely area, but sadly lacking in facilities in a lot of the little towns. I think the nearest decent shopping would be in Kadina a couple of hours away. Anyhow, nice to visit.

Today we slept quite late, did a load of laundry, called the butcher in Ardrossan and ordered two rabbits, then headed out after an early lunch. We drove North to Corny Point and The Pines stopping at beaches and bays and lookouts along the way. At one lookout over a beautiful bay, we saw a pod of about 12 dolphins surfing in on th waves. We watched as they played in the shallower water after that for quite a while before moving on. We were able to drive a lot of the way along the coastal roads in 4WD so it was a great afternoon out.

Tomorrow I pick up my two rabbits on our way to Nuriootpa-I don't think I'll sleep with the excitement of it!

Marion Bay

Stenhouse Bay Jetty is almost 100 years old


Yesterday we drove just out of town to Innes National Park. It's not a big park, but it's lovely. We thought we'd spend 3 or 3 hours there, but wound up stopping and starting, walking out along boardwalks and good tracks to look at beaches and lighthouses etc and spent 6 hours doing it. Russ often says the Yorke Peninsula looks like a foot and if it does, we were right out on the toe nails at times. The coast line was quite spectacular in places with big cliffs and long white beaches. There are 40 ship wrecks around the coast and some of them are quite visible.

Chinaman's Hat


The park has three "towns" inside its borders-Stenhouse Bay which has a trading post and tavern and Inneston which is in ruins apart from some restored homes available for hire for short stays. There is a crayfishing fleet which operates from a small fishing village (Pondalowie) within the park too. It's a great place to fish for whiting amongst the moorings according to this CP manager but paying $6 park entry each time to get to it would stick in my throat a bit.

West Cape



We saw lots of emus and chicks as we walked, some very big kangaroos up close, and heaps of lizards, snakes and birds. The park has some lovely wild flowers at the moment too.

Dad and the Kids Inneston


The Old Post Office Inneston


Lake Inneston

Last Day in Wallaroo

Yesterday was our last in Wallaroo. We got out crabbing for an hour or so before the wind blew up (got 6 crabs and two squid). Then it was home for lunch before packing up the boat, trailer and fishing gear. We figure that's almost the last time we'll fish until we get to Tassie. We might find time to get out in Port Fairy, but there doesn't seem much to catch there.

The wind dropped in the late afternoon and the beach out the front was like a mill pond. It was amazing to see 7 of the ten prawn trawlers right out front (about 300 metres from shore) working. They have mostly sat in their pens for the two weeks we were in town so there must have been a huge school of prawns go by. They were actually trawling where we'd been crabbing in the morning and were out there amongst other tinnies enjoying the clam conditions. I always imagine any fishing boat out in huge seas, in all weather, and there they were.

I really enjoyed Wallaroo. It was a nice friendly town with beautiful old homes and public buildings and had enough services to satisfy anyone. If they didn't have it, Kadina was only about 8ks away. The beach out front the caravan park was lovely and just great for small kids and perfect to launch our boat from.

Today we drove to Point Turton intending to stay about 3 nights. I felt sick when we saw the crowded park and was thrilled when we were told they were booked out. It's only happened to us once before and I was happy to have it happen again. We drove on about 40ks to Corny Point and found they had no TV, phone or Internet reception, so drove on another 50ks to Marion Bay. The caravan park here is lovely-really nice clean facilities and almost empty. We haven't stayed in a busy park since we left Coral Bay on the Ningaloo Reef in WA in August and prefer not to if we can help it.

Wallaroo

The past couple of days have been super windy, so we had to take the awning down and cook inside which feels odd. We've been unable to crab, so have gone out for a couple of drives which has been good-especially with the price of diesel dropping even more. It doesn't hurt quite so much to see the gauge go down now!

On Friday we drove out along the coast road to Tickera-it's not far, but the road is right alongside the sea the whole way and there were a number of shacks and pretty bays and inlets to stop and look at on the way. Tickera itself is a little town with 70 residents. You can see it's been bigger by the number of old, closed shops, school, post office, and couple of pubs that once were.

Yesterday we drove to Port Wakefield which is North on the Other coast. It's a bit bigger -600 people, but you can see it's also been bigger with its old pubs, railway station, and shops that are now homes. It's only 98ks out of Adelaide and I really would have liked to keep going to Port Fairy (we'd have been there in time for dinner!). We had a good look around a caravan builder's yard while we were there (he builds new and sells second hand) and came away thinking we still like our layout the best with our centre kitchen over the wheels. It certainly has worked well for us.

Today we got out for an hour and a half crabbing and brought home a big whiting, 1 squid and 7 crabs. We are going to turn that into a seafood platter of crumbed whiting and calamari, crab sushi (with extra meat to freeze) and garlic prawns (we bought just over a kilo from a fisherman in town yesterday). We'll be eating that while I watch the final of Idol.

Yorke Peninsula

Lunch in Ardrosen Overlooking the Cliffs


This morning we got up and did our laundry, changed sheets and had a general tidy up, then made ourselves some cold roast lamb and beetroot jam sandwiches and headed off for a drive to the other coast.

We stopped in Kadina and bought ourselves some more beautiful tomatoes, cucs and eggs, and finally tracked down a stainless steel bolt we lost while travelling here from the Flinders Ranges. It's pretty important as it's one of two that holds the boat trailer onto the van as we travel. It took three shops to finally find it so we bought two!

We stopped in the very pretty town of Ardrosen for lunch-it was lovely sitting at a picnic table overlooking the jetty and a view of the beautiful red cliffs and sand. Then it was on to Port Vincent stopping off in tiny little beach side villages with shabby old holiday shacks (just the sort I'd love to own). It was great as we had the coast right beside us almost all the way, and it was even closer on the old coast road-a gravel road between Port Julia and Port Vincent. I really loved Black Point about 15ks out of Ardrosen and would like to go stay there in the little caravan park.

Port Vincent had some of the most beautiful old homes I've ever seen and the town is so clean and tidy-and they'll tell you too. The road into town has countless signs telling you they've won Australias tidiest town, SA tidiest town, SA best small town and won them all a lot more than once. The gardens with their roses, geraniums, oleanders and bougainvillea were all looking very good too

On the way home up the centre of the Peninsula, we stopped in Maitland to buy a lime for dinner tonight. We ended up buying two kilos of bacon for a price we couldn't refuse and a chunk of lovely leg ham.

Crabs and a shark

We caught 6 crabs this morning and a dog shark in one of the nets. The dog shark will be a nice feed of flake tomorrow night (roast lamb tonight, from a half side we bought today). I've had to visit a local chemist a few times as I've waited for a prescrition to come from my doctor inWarrnambool and have struck up a bit of a friendship with him-he is a keen crabber (and talker) too. He was suprised to know he could eat the dog shark and has thrown 3 back lately. Russ gave him detailed skinning and filleting instructions today.

Tomorrow we are taking a day off from the crabbing to take a look at the Eastern side of the peninsula.

More Crabs

Although it was cool and overcast, we decided to slip out the front for a couple of hours this morning. We brought home 11 good sized crabs and two squid, so it was very worth while.Some of those crabs are going to find their way into Crab &Preserved Lemon Risotto tonight.

Crabs

The Port Hughes Jetty


While there is a definate shortage of fish in the bay here, there's no shortage of crabs. We zipped out on day one and caught 5, day two 6, and day three 10 and a squid, so we are stockpiling a nice lot in the freezer. As far as fish, we have caught 3 puffer fish, one sand whiting and one undersized king george whiting. The place is well and truly fished out. Russ seems to have more luck fishing off the rocks for crab bait-we can't identify the fish he catches, but that isn't worrying the crabs.

The Beach at Balgowie


Today we decided to skip crabbing and go for a drive. We headed to Port Hughes where we walked out to watch people squidding and fishing very successfully, and Moonta, then on to Port Victoria for lunch, back to Balgowie, across to Kadina and home. We took another walk out along the jetty, then had lunch in a little cafe nearby at Port Victoria-they tried so hard to sell us the local delicacy whiting, but with a freezer full of our own, we settled on a burger for me and a steak sandwich for Russ.

We were amazed at the amount of wheat and other grains ready for or being harvested and saw some beutiful stone buildings in most of the towns. South Australia really knows how to build beautiful stone buildings!

Walleroo

North Beach Walleroo


We've been four nights now in Walleroo on the Yorke Peninsula and are really enjoying it. The North Beach CP is great-cheap, clean, relatively empty, our site is right by the ablutions block and the path to the beach. It's about 300 metres by road around the park perimeter to that beach so launching the boat is easy. The beach is long, wide, shallow and weed free-it almost reminds me of Cable Beach in Broome but with whiter sand and minus the camels.

Walleroo is a lovely little town with a great shopping centre and 6 pubs. It's busy at the moment with trucks delivering different grains to the silos, but that doesn't worry us. Kadina 9ks away is bigger and has an excellent shopping centre although IGA here in Walleroo seems to be cheaper than Kadina's Woolworths.

We shopped in Kadina the other day and got ourselves lost on the way out. We ended up in a back street where we found a house with the most beautiful tomatoes, cucumbers and eggs for sale cheap. We'll be back over there in a day or two for more. Here in Walleroo, we saw they had fresh ducks for sale. We wanted one, but waited until the use-by date on them was up, and then got ourselves two big ducks for $9.99 each! I marinated and oven roasted one (maybe THE best duck I've ever cooked I think) then made stock from the carcass, and froze the other one for later on.

It's been windy-one night we were out after midnight securing our awning as it had blown out at the ends-I've never heard wind like it, but we survived. The last two mornings, we've got out in the boat for an hour or so crabbing, but have had to come in as the wind blows up. We've managed to bring home 6 and 5 crabs on those days though so have been very pleased with ourselves. Last night we had our favourite Garlic Baked Crab-it was delicious.

The park is cheap, the shopping seems cheap and best of all, for the first time since about April we are paying under $1.50 per litre for diesel. That's over $60 a tank full compared to the $2.35 we were paying in the WA goldfields. It makes a big difference to our budget.

Flying Over the Flinders Ranges

This morning we went for a 30 minute scenic flight in a 6 seater Cessna over the ranges from Wilpena. It was stunning-terrifying for me, but stunning. We flew around and over the pound, along various ranges and out towards Lake Torrens. I can really recommend doing it if you ever visit the Ranges. They had to chase a pair of emus off the runway before take-off which impressed a few foreign visitors. Wilpena pound (it's the second photo) is 17kms long, 8 kms wide and approximately 58kms around the outside. Mary's Peak is the highest point at over 1100 metres. It was a sheep and cattle station originally and you can see where they've attempted (but failed) to grow wheat in the centre of the pound. The only way to see the pound is by foot or flying over it.



It was a brilliant morning for flying and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again (although not tomorrow morning). Russ said he could tell I was nervous because every time I handed the camera forward to him, it was all hot and sweaty from me clutching it.

Bunyeroo Valley Lookout


After our flight, we headed home through Bunyeroo Valley, along the Brachina Gorge Geological trail and then finally the Moralana Scenic Drive and back to Hawker by 3pm. I have tried to take photos, but they don't do the scope of the place and the amazing colours any justice. I think you have to see it to believe it. It's teeming with wildlife-kangaroos, emus, lizards and huge numbers of birds, so is a great place for visitors.

Brachina Gorge

Hawker

Shearer's Quarters Kanyaka Homestead


On Thursday after arriving here, it got hotter and hotter (35c) then we got a wind change. The lightening started and was really spectacular across the night sky. Next the thunder came and lastly the rain. It bucketed down. Fortunately we were able to get everything we leave outside into our very large en suite so all was OK. It rained on and off all night with the town eventually getting the highest rainfall in the state-25ml or an inch in the old measurement.

Friday, it rained until about 2pm, so apart from a drive around town and out to an old cemetery and railway station ruins, we had a very quiet day.

On Saturday morning we went and visited a local couple Hazel and Bernie. They have lived in Hawker all their lives and at 75 and 76 have been married for about 59 years. They were lovely and a real wealth of local knowledge. They took us for a drive round some of the back roads and showed us the damage done by a flood nearby two years ago.

In the afternoon, we took a drive out to the amazing ruins of Kanyaka Homestead and Woolshed. It was built about 130 years and has been deserted for about 120 years, but is in amazing condition considering.

Jarvis Hill Lookout


On the way back we stopped and saw some Aboriginal art in Yourambulla caves near town and then drove up Jarvis Hill for beautiful views over town and on to the hills.

Miner's Cottage Blinman


Today we drove out to Wilpena, Blinman, Parachilna, through Glass George, Parachilna George, visited Rawnsley Park Resort, stopped off at some amazing lookouts and just had a fantastic day. The weather was gorgeous (not too hot) and the crowds of early spring have disappeared-we are the only tourists in a huge caravan park in Hawker with a few semi-permanent Telstra workers the only other guests.

The Road to Parachilna


The Road From Parachilna to Hawker



Tomorrow, we're driving out to Wilpena again for a flight over the ranges at 9.45, then we'll drive on to some other spots we missed today.

Glass Gorge

Port Augusta

Yesterday we went out to the Arid Lands Botanical Garden as it had been recommended to us. We were very disappointed with the place as it has really suffered with the drought. I would say 60% of the plants are dead (not just resting) and about 25% of the remaining ones were in flower. We filled in a couple of hours with a visit to the Matthew Flinders Red Cliffs Lookout that's in the park and a walk around the gardens. I can imagine it would be beautiful in better times.

Matthew Flinders Red Cliffs Lookout


I was a bit put off by signs advising what to do in the case of snake bites (King Brown and Black live in the park) and the fact that every time we stopped to read a sign, we had hordes of ants crawling over our feet, up our legs and biting us-not nice at all.

After lunch, we drove out to a couple of lookouts. One wass in an old tank and you had to climb about 80 steps to the top. I got half way up and started to panic as I could see through the very old wrought iron rungs and didn't like it one bit. I couldn't go up or down. In the end I went up slowly with Russ just ahead of me.

Water Tank Lookout


Next we took a drive out of town along Blanche Harbour which is at the top of the Spencer Gulf. It was so beautiful with the clear blue sky, bright blue water and the mountain ranges behind that. There would be well over 200 holiday houses along the road- tin shacks and mansions side by side on tiny blocks with jettys out front over the mangroves or tractors to launch their boats. What a magic spot. The houses were at the end of "courts" that came off the main road for just under 20ks and were identified by clusters of very imaginative signs up on the main road.

Today we packed up and drove just over 100ks through Quorn and out to Hawker where we'll stay for at least 4 nights. We are almost the only people in a huge caravan park and have a big en suite site for the time we are here. Tomorrow, we'll get out and have a look at the Flinders Ranges. It's a lot warmer here than anywhere else we've been for a couple of months-it's great, but the flies are pretty fierce so out have come the fly veils.

Port Augusta

Yesterday we drove from Coffin Bay to Port Augusta (actually for some reason I drove the whole way) stopping for a counter lunch in a pub down by the jetty at Port Neill. It was another lovely drive with the ocean on our right a good part of the way and wheat and canola about to be harvested on our left. We were tempted to stop and stay in Tumby Bay, but decided we can do that next year. It looks really beautiful.

We booked 3 nights in Port Augusta (an all time record for us) as we want to do some laundry and watch the cup today, then shop and visit the interpretive centre and arid dry land gardens tomorrow. I am the only one who sees the funny side of us not revieving channel 7 so not getting a cup coverage-something we would have been able to get in Coffin Bay! It's amazing how the tables have turned when Russ wants to watch something-he's out there twirling the antenna and trying it in vertical and horizontal positions-now he's off to the rec room to check that TV out. If it was me wanting to watch Idol.............

After we arrived and set up yesterday, Russ went to town while I played with my new internet dongle (faster and cheaper Yay!) to shop. He came home with a nice bottle of NZ Sav Blanc and nibbles for our cup watching and now we can't see it!!!!

Thursday we are off to Hawker and the Flinders Ranges for a few days.

Coffin Bay NP

Thursday (yesterday) we packed our lunch and headed out into the national park for a drive. We did about 60ks in 4WD along rough bush tracks, over dry lake beds, through the sand dunes and along 7 mile beach. We only gave up at the end of 7 mile beach when we couldn't see any other vehicle tracks-travelling by ourselves, we'd have hated to end up axle-deep in soft sand unable to get out!

Leaning on a "Road" Marker

7 Mile Beach


I especially loved being able to get out on the sand dunes and know no one else had walked on them (at least that day). I laughed when an emu and his 6 chicks ended up on the road in front of us at one stage. We were in a paricularly sandy spot where we couldn't stop and the bush either side was so dense he couldn't get off, so we all had to keep going at about 20ks ph until he and the kids could get off the track about 400metres later.

Coffin Bay Week 2

I've been a bit slack with the blogging, but Coffin Bay has been a really quiet time for us.

We booked for a week originally, but extended that to two . We now leave here on Monday 3rd of November.

The last 9 days have been spent fishing (not too successfully though) and relaxing. We've been twice into Port Lincoln to shop-it's a good shopping centre. We've been out for drives to various beaches and bays, did the Red Hat Societies car boot sale and the local market on Sunday, and today went out to check out the Coffin Bay National Park.

On one of our drives, we came across a tree heavily laden with quandongs, so stopped and picked a heap. I tasted one to see if they were OK and while they were tart, I figured they were ripe. I got home, spent ages finding a chutney recipe on the internet, then started to take the fruit off the seeds. I'd done a heap when I noticed all the fruit was infested with tiny maggots. Yuk, yuk, yuk!!!! So all my hard work went straight into the bin.




The national park today was stunning. It's only a couple of ks from town to the park gates, so we drove out for a look at all the stuff on the sealed road today. We left here round 2pm and were home just before 6. Next time, we'll go out and do the 4WD stuff. I didn't know the park existed before we got here anwas suprised at how beautiful the bit we saw today was. We saw lizards (blue tongue and goannas), emus and kangaroos, quite a few wild flowers and some lovely birds.

Coffin Bay

We drove from Venus to Coffin Bay this morning. I think it was about 250ks so just a nice drive really.

Actually, it's a lovely drive with views of the ocean, a number of salt and fresh water lakes, tiny towns, deserted stone cottages, dry stone walls and good and bad farm land along the way. We both really enjoyed it as we can't remember coming this way 6 or so years ago.

After partially setting up, we drove 45ks into Port Lincoln to do some shopping and collect some mail David had forwarded on to us. It was good to get into a Woolworth's and do some serious food shopping as we were completely out of fresh fruit and veg. We were pretty excited to buy a fresh duck and he'll be dinner tomorrow night. I love South Australia as they have great turkey and duck in the supermarkets.

Coffin Bay is beautiful. It's famous for oysters and the farms are within wading distance from the shore. Oysters are around $5 per dozen so we better have some while we're here. I'm not fussed on raw ones, but don't mind them Kilpatricked and my mate Peter has a smoked oyster recipe I'm keen to try. It looks like there is lots of water for us to explore and Russ has the trailer, boat and motor all sorted and ready to go in the morning. We've booked for a week with an option to extend.

Venus Bay

Full Moon Over the Mud Flats

I quite liked the park and little town on Monday, but by Tuesday with the wind blowing and the fish not biting, I took a real dislike to it and wanted to move on. I don't often get like that but I got like it bad!

Town Jetty at Dusk



On Wednesday, the wind eased we went out fishing and I caught three big whiting while Russ caught a good sized flat head.l It cheered me up a lot and I'm enjoying the place once again.

Southern Ocean from Woolshed Cave Talia Beach



Yesterday after a drive around town and then out to Talia beach and caves and Camel Beach, we went fishing for a coupld of hours and brought home 6 big whiting again. Russ caught 5 of them, I only caught one, but it was the biggest at 38cm! I also caught a really big salmon (the biggest I've ever caught) but we don't eat them much except to smoke them, so we let him go.
Back at the fish cleaing table here in the park, it seems we had a pretty good day and Russ had to chuckle to himself when the man opposite us stated that squid is no good for bait!

Southern Ocean


The town is situated on a narrow neck of land with the Southern Ocean and its big cliffs on one side and the large, shallow, peaceful bay on the other. It's really beautiful.

Venus Bay

Venus Bay

Today we left Streaky Bay and moved about 80ks to another little bay on the Eyre Peninsula-Venus Bay. It's quite a pretty place and we were here and set up early enough to get the boat out for an hour. It's literally a one minute drive down to launch the boat off the beach. We caught a trevally, a salmon and heaps of annoying little sand crabs, but didn't spot a whiting. Our neighbour across the way has given Russ all the info though so we'll see what tomorrow brings. We have the biggest site we have had ever which is a luxury.

Who Forgot the Bungs (Again)?

Yesterday (our last in Streaky Bay) the wind started up at 3 am (no sleep after that)and blew non-stop until 6pm. It didn't gust-it just blew. It reached speeds of 7okm per hour and was one of the most horrible days I've spent on this whole trip as it rattled and shook the van and filled it with dust. It was awful. Today is beautiful once again.

More Fishing

It was an even more beautiful day today so we got out bright and early (for us). We sat, and sat and sat and moved a few times before the tide changed and everything woke up. We wound up coming home with 7 big whiting, 7 crabs, 4 tommy ruff and a squid.

The water clarity was amazing today so the crabs didn't stand a chance as we could see them when they went into the pots. We could also see the cormorants diving through the water for fish beside us, a seal who tried to get our crab bait and two sting rays that tried as well. The dolphins were out feeding and a mother and her tiny calf spent quite a while near the boat. An wonderful day.

Then it was back to shore with fish to fillet and freeze and smoke, and crabs cook and pick. Todays catch will give us about 6 meals.

Crabs

I'm happy-we caught 4 crabs today. I hated seeing the last pack in the freezer get used up. Frozen crab is especially good in the enchiladas and Thai style crab cakes we make.

We also brought home 4 big whiting and two salmon and caught a couple of garfish that we used for crab and fish bait.

The weather has been beautiful today-about 24c and a light breeze.

Fishing

We've been able to get out fishing the last two days-it hasn't been warm, but the fish don't care.

Yesterday we caught (actually I caught) 3 big whiting which we turned into a tasty Layered Fish, Potato and Saffron Cooked Leek pie. Russ found the recipe in a New Idea he got from the laundry yesterday and cooked it up for our dinner last night. It was great.

Today we went out again and I'd caught 6 big whiting before Russ managed to catch a fish he could bring home. He went on to catch 3 more whiting, 2 salmon and a squid so it ended up a pretty successful few hours. Whiting was selling for nearly $60 per kg in Shark Bay at the fish shop and it wasn't as beautifully filleted, skinned and deboned as our are after Russ finishes with them.

We had 8 dolphin playing around us for a couple of hours while we fished. A lot of people think they scare the fish off, but I think fish are too stupid to care.

Lucky we are very careful with measuring of our fish as the Fisheries inspectors met us on the boat ramp and took a look at our catch. Yesterday it was the police checking boat trailer regos.

It was nice to get home and have a hot shower, but my hands feel like sandpaper (it happens catching whiting). I just went and booked an additional 4 nights here-the fish are biting and that will see the end of the school holidays which is always good.

Streaky Bay South Australia

It's lovely to be here our of season. This place is nuts in March/April, but the park is almost empty now and very nice.

We've been here 4 nights and managed to get out in the boat twice (to windy on the other days). Day one we caught two King George whiting and a few Tommy Ruff, yesterday we caught 6 whiting, 3 tommy ruff, a flat head and a squid. That squid is the first we've ever seen here and one whiting was 37cm which is quite big for one of those. I caught a crab on my line that we have never seen before. We think it's some type of spider crab but aren't sure-anyhow, we let him go.

Just as we finished fishing yesterday a light wind blew up, by the time we got back the couple of ks to the boat ramp it was a howling gale that hasn't let up all night! It's eased this morning a bit.

Fowler's Bay

Cliffs of the Great Australian Bight


We left Ravensthorpe on Monday morning and drove to Norseman. It’s a nice little park for an over night stop and it was much cooler than last time we were through here. I reckon it was over 42c when we arrived there around 6pm in March earlier this year.

Tuesday we drove about 540ks to Madurah Roadhouse, stayed the night then drove on yesterday to Nundroo Roadhouse. After just under 600ks with a strong side wind almost the whole way, we were exhausted, so it was a bit disappointing to find out they didn’t have a site left. We were thinking of staying two nights and driving out to Fowler’s Bay so it seemed a good idea when the woman at the roadhouse suggested we stay out there the night. It’s 32ks of unsealed but good road and we were lucky to get the last site here. We booked for two nights. Remind me never to stop at Madurah again-it was expensive at $24, they forgot to give me a token for the hot water in my shower (Russ didn’t need one) the sites were really uneven and there was no drinking water that we could find.

Fowler's Bay

Ruins of Yalata Station


I have been past the turn off into Fowler’s Bay a few times now and always wanted to see it. It’s one of the oldest settlements in SA and is the first or last (depending on the direction you’re travelling) “town” on the Nullabor. It’s got about two dozen houses, an old hall, a B&B, rental house, 2 blocks f flats, kiosk, caravan park and a long jetty that they seem to catch plenty of fish and squid off. The town is in danger of being buried under an amazing set of sand dunes-one house is about to be swallowed up and I’d think twice before signing a lease on the kiosk near by (it’s for sale).

A Portion of the Magnificent Sand Dunes at Fowlers Bay


We are really eking out the last of our fresh fruit and veg as we cross the border check outside Ceduna and have to hand over any left overs. I hate to give them anything and have squeezed lemons, deseeded chillies and caramelized onions and frozen them all!

Yesterday drove to Scott’s Beach and back across the birrida for great views of the dunes. Then we stopped at the extensive ruins of the Yalata Homestead-a station that once reached from the Head of the Bight to Streaky Bay.

Last night a family turned up quite late (after 7 and in the dark). It sounded like they were building a second caravan as they clattered and banged until almost midnight. I won’t miss the crowded park.

Windmills of Penong at the Eastern End of the Nullabor

This morning we drove to Streaky Bay stopping in Ceduna to shop and have a counter lunch. It was a lovely windless drive and lunch was good. Groceries seemed very, very cheap after the small towns of SW WA.
917