When the Cat's Away...

November 13, 2017January 19, 2023

Day 167: 13 November – Yet more stunning turquoise waters

Author: Mrs A

Location: Coffin Bay National Park

Distance walked: 5km

After a couple of humid and overcast days, Monday morning dawned with blue skies. Following breakfast and some exploration time for Miss Tassie, Mr A and I drove into Coffin Bay National Park.

We had heard many great things about the park, its stunning scenery and plentiful wildlife, and we were looking forward to seeing it for ourselves. It didn’t take long for the wildlife to emerge – a group of emus crossing the road in front of us, a fair reminder why there is a 40km/hr speed limit.

A cute family – this will be a male looking after his charges

Our first stop was the Templetonia Lookout, providing views across the sand dunes, over Thorny Passage Marine Park and over to Mount Dutton in the distance. Wispy clouds raced across the sky, reminding us that a change in the weather is approaching, with storms and showers due tomorrow. The flies were out in their hundreds as well – attempting to get into every orifice!

Magnificent views and a change of weather on the horizon

From there, we headed over to Point Avoid, with lookouts over Golden Island and the Whidbey Isles Conservation Park. Lovely views across stunning turquoise waters and pristine sandy beaches. Looking out at the water I was reminded of the powerful dangers that lurk beneath, and wondered where our nearest great white shark might be…the warning signs on the cliffs advised us of everything but!

Thankfully in this direction there was a gentle breeze which saw off the swarms of flies and made life outside of the car a little more pleasant.

One thing we found intriguing (and somewhat sad) was the lack of recognition of the indigenous residents of this area. From our travels in Western Australia we learned that every bay, cove and island has already been named, often for thousands of years, and yet all we see here are the names provided by explorers in relatively recent times. There is barely a mention of the aboriginal population, other than to say they found food here. I am certain they had much more fitting names for the likes of ‘Misery Bay’, ‘Sudden Jerk Island’, ‘Seasick Bay’, ‘Phantom Cove’ and ‘Dead Man Corner’ – all locations within the park.

Still, the scenery did take our breath away, despite the fact we have been very much spoiled over the past few months with incredible locations. We walked down onto Almonta Beach for a walk along the water’s edge, recognising this is probably the last deserted beach we will be on for a long while.

Fly net at the ready but not needed in the coastal breeze

We returned to camp for the afternoon and spent it in the shade, reading. We are really not used to these temperatures – it’s very warm 31 degrees – this time last week we had our heating on, and now we have the air conditioning!

I guess we ought to enjoy it while we can – it’s meant to cool right down after a day of thunder storms and showers tomorrow, and no doubt we will be complaining of the cold again.

We enjoyed a final serving of freshly harvested and shucked oysters, before whipping up a chicken Pad Thai for dinner.

November 11, 2017January 19, 2023

Day 165: 11 November – Emus and Oysters

Author: Mrs A

From: Port Lincoln

To: Coffin Bay

Distance driven: 44km Cycled: 13km

We farewelled our camping-cat neighbours and Port Lincoln this morning, and after a brief bottle-shop (off-licence) run we headed for Coffin Bay. We were actually backtracking a short way, having bypassed the oyster Mecca in favour of sharks, but it was not to be missed.

We arrived around lunchtime, and after a bite to eat jumped on our bikes for an explore. Our first stop was the oyster sheds, an industrial area consisting purely of various oyster farm factories – where they clean and prepare the freshly farmed oysters to send predominantly to Sydney and Melbourne for sale at fish markets and in premium restaurants. We have often dined on these succulent molluscs back in Sydney and really enjoy their flavour.

Being Saturday, most of the sheds were all locked up, but as we reached the final one, a tall man popped out and told us he was open for business. We headed down to his Shellar Door (ha ha) and after our long oyster drought in Western Australia we decided to treat ourselves to two dozen. Given Mr A had cut his finger on a pair of scissors this morning (don’t even ask!), we opted not to learn how to shuck our own and had them opened for us instead.

After popping them in the fridge, we continued our exploration. Coffin Bay is a small settlement with around 600 permanent residents and lots of currently unoccupied holiday houses. It’s a very sleepy coastal village with a pub, a couple of small cafés/takeaways (which don’t serve food beyond 6pm!), a yacht club and pharmacy. It has been farming and selling oysters since the late 1800s, and probably has changed very little in that time.

Other than oysters, this area is famous for its national park which we plan to visit over the next couple of days. We rode around the Oyster Trail, a pathway which followed the coast, leading right up to the entrance to the park. It gave us lots of information about the native flora and fauna, as well as a taste of the history of the area.

Love our bikes – perfect exploration transport

After about an hour of riding we came across an unusual sight – a male emu with his four young charges walking along the street! Emus are interesting birds – the female lays an egg, but immediately abandons it, leaving the male to incubate and hatch it. The male does all the parenting from that point onwards, usually adopting other young emu chicks and keeping an eye on them, teaching them how to find food and stay safe.

It was great to see the chicks being so well looked after as we watched the male calling for the strays, ensuring he knew where they were at all times.

We returned to camp for cold drinks and showers – despite being overcast it is extremely humid today and in the late 20s temperature wise – quite steamy. Oysters accompanied by an Eden Valley Riesling came next.

We attempted to get local fish and chips for dinner, but at 6.30pm were MUCH too late for that (by an hour!) so will be cooking instead. Welcome to country Australia!

November 11, 2017November 11, 2017

Day 164: 10 November – A clean up day

Author: Mr A

Location: Port Lincoln Tourist Park

It’s not all shark diving and/or relaxing on this trip you know. Some days you just have to buckle down and clean up. Today it was time for the very dusty truck and the Zone to get a spruce up. Mrs A even managing to look glamorous with a mop in her hand posing on the roof. Why aren’t I up there you might ask? Well…we decided not to get the ladder fitted to the rear of the Zone (mistake), so the only way we have worked out to get up and clean the solar panels, is for the dinky Mrs A to sneak up through the skylight.

We had new neighbours pull up in their motor home today, and out on a lead comes another Burmese, cool as you like! They have been travelling with prince Simba since leaving Sydney in May, and it was great to swap stories over a few glasses about life on the road serving our respective furry masters.

A final look around the neighbourhood on foot completed the afternoon. A very picturesque location.

For dinner I cooked up a bit of storm on the BBQ. None of that fancy foreign spiced up food on my barby 🙂

Nothing wrong with meat and three veg you know! All this was washed down with a bottle of Mudhouse Pinot from Central Otago, awesome. Tomorrow we leave Port Lincoln and head for oyster heaven at Coffin Bay – mmmmmm.

November 9, 2017January 22, 2023

Day 163: 9 November – Great White Shark Cage Diving in the Neptune Islands

Author: Mrs A

Location: Port Lincoln & the North Neptune Islands

Distance: 60km as the crow flies – about 2.5 hours by boat

The day began early with a 5.45am alarm. Of course it had begun multiple times throughout the night, as is often the case when you’re excited and don’t want to miss waking up in time! Today Mr A and I went separate ways for the day as I was ticking off a bucket list item – cage diving with Great White Sharks.

A bus collected me from the campground at 6.15am and took me to the harbour where I met my fellow divers. We were provided with tea, juice and breakfast before boarding the Shark Warrier at 7am and heading off on our adventure.

Our wildlife spotting began early, as we were invited up on deck to see a pair of ospreys nesting on a barge in the harbour. This barge cannot be used now until the chicks have flown:

From here, it was a 2.5 hour journey out to the Neptune Islands – a group of islands at the entrance to the Spencer Gulf…

We were soon joined by dolphins which abandoned their fishing to ride the bow wave of our boat

A couple of hours later, we arrived at the islands, and selected a spot beside one where we could see plenty of fur seals (shark food) and also see some Great Whites on the radar, settled on the sea bed. The cage was lowered into the water, and we got changed in to our 7mm wetsuits, hoods, boots and gloves in anticipation of the 16 degrees centigrade water.

The company I had chosen to dive with was Adventure Bay Charters. Unlike their competition, they do not entice the sharks with blood and fish berley (chopped up fish), rather they use vibrations from music and the slapping of ropes and rattles to mimic the sound of a distressed animal, piquing the shark’s curiosity. This has the result of keeping the interaction more natural, and doesn’t send the sharks into a frenzy – associating humans with food.

We jumped in to the water…16 degrees is rather fresh (much like the English Channel I am guessing!), and given you are moving very little in the cage, you can only last in there for about 20 minutes before you begin to feel numb. On my first dive, I saw lots of silver trevally fish, but unfortunately no sharks. We could still see the sharks on the radar, but clearly they had already filled up on a seal pup and were not feeling peckish.

Our skipper continued working hard to try and entice them over, but to no avail. We settled down for a delicious lunch and the boat was moved over to another island to try again.

The afternoon warmed up and it got quite steamy in the wetsuit. I decided to go in for another dive in anticipation of success. Just as I was climbing into the cage, the cry went out – ‘shark!’. Usually this means get out of the water, but I sped up and climbed on in. And there he was. A three metre male, many nicks and scars, gracefully cruising around the cage, wondering how he could reach the tasty looking morsels inside. He was soon joined by a female. Incredible. Swimming along with their mouth open teeth always ready to chomp, they do look strangely serene and peaceful. You half forget they have the power to tear off a limb and end a life in seconds.

This shark is checking out one of the rattles, attracted by the splashing

What a rush, seeing this beauty approaching

Imagine the adrenaline at seeing this magnificent creature coming towards you

I lost track of how long I was under water this time, but was ready for a hot shower by the time I climbed back out on to the boat. What a fantastic view of some incredible creatures. Apparently they have very poor eyesight and their only way of testing their food is with their teeth. They don’t actually eat humans once they have attacked. We are much too bony. They far prefer the fat and blubber of a seal.

Unlike in the movies, this is what a great white looks like cruising past a boat – just a dark huge shadow, no fin

Research has shown that the majority of taste-tests on humans have occurred when the light is weak – when it is overcast, at dawn and dusk. Few happen when the sun is bright and the water clear. So don’t go in the water at the high risk times, I say!

Once dry, everything was packed up and we set off on our way back to Port Lincoln, with a few diversions on the way. First of all, to Memory Bay in the Lincoln National Park where we called in on a New Zealand fur seal colony, their fur blending in nicely with the granite rock:

From there we continued around the coast, spotting a white breasted sea eagle nest and another osprey nest, both with chicks in.

We were joined by more bottlenosed dolphins as we headed back to the harbour – finishing off an amazing day out.

It’s very hard to take photos of dolphins – a bit like photographing lightning or fireworks!

The bus dropped me off at around 8pm – the end of a long but incredible day – Definitely worth doing if you are out this way.

Mr A had kindly prepared dinner for me too after his day of exploring the Port Lincoln area on bike. It doesn’t get much better than this! Awesome!

November 8, 2017

Day 161: 7 November – Locks Well Beach and its natural treasures

Author: Mrs A

From: Streaky Bay

To: Locks Well, just south of Elliston, Eyre Peninsular

Distance driven: 145 km. Distance walked: 3km. Flights climbed: 30 floors

We farewelled Streaky Bay and continued our exploration of the west coast of the Eyre Peninsular. The drive south took us through fields of corn and abandoned cotton farming villages, the scenery stark yet beautiful. Our destination for today was Locks Well, basically a beach and a free camp above it. We pulled in, wowed at the stunning view across the wild southern ocean, a pathway down the cliffs literally starting at our front door.

After lunch we decided we ought to get out and see the beach, a 1.5km walk down the cliff below us. We followed the path down which eventually led to a lookout and a staircase of 250 steps down to the sand below. I felt very grateful I could breathe as we hiked down.

The beach was only short (a half a kilometer at most), but the scenery breathtakingly beautiful. Strolling along the warm sand, sheltered from the wind (of course it was still breezy here!), we spotted a flock of crested terns resting on the waters edge, and a pair of Australian Kestrels swooping in and out of their nest, a hole in the cliff walls, where we could see three Kestrel chicks looking out at us with curious eyes. A fantastic afternoon was whiled away watching the beautiful birds as they worked hard to feed their family, disappearing over the coastal scrubland and returning with mice, crickets, lizards and snakes to feed their hungry brood.

We eventually tore ourselves away and climbed back up to the mobile apartment for hot showers and to cook dinner – tonight a Beef Rendang curry accompanied by a Plantagenet Pinot Noir – one of our purchases from Mount Barker in WA. Delicious. The evening was topped off by a fine view of the sunset and an incredible clear starlit night unspoilt by any man-made light.

Chatting to friends on the phone this evening we felt a whole world away from Sydney. Today everyone is celebrating the Melbourne Cup, as we too would have done for the past 18+ years. No sweepstake here, no bets on random horses, no bubbles and fancy clothes…we have no idea which horses ran let alone which ones achieved a place or won! I wonder where we will be this time next year?

November 5, 2017January 22, 2023

Day 159: 5 November – …Or as the locals call it ‘Blowvember’!

Author: Mrs A

Location: Streaky Bay

Distance walked: 4km

Distance cycled: 7km

We finished our final veal, cranberry and chestnut sausages from the Margaret River region, served with eggs in a herb focaccia. Not too bad for Sunday morning breakfast, cooked up by chef Mr A on the Baby Q – delicious!

After breakfast we jumped in the car for a tour of the nearby Cape Bauer – an uninhabited headland jutting out in to the Southern Ocean. We’d heard it was an important breeding ground for the Southern Osprey, White Breasted Sea Eagle and Peregrine Falcon, so were keen to try and spot those.

The wind was strong and chilly off the ocean, but we were rewarded with fabulous views of the rugged coastline. Apparently this area is frequented by endangered sea lions as well, but we couldn’t spot any from the lookouts.

We did see a kestrel however, as it managed to maintain a hover over the sand dunes before diving down to catch its breakfast. How it managed to stay so stationary in the strong wind, I will never know, but they are incredibly skilled.

The photo below shows a sea stack – right on top of this (seen through binoculars) was a White Breasted Sea Eagle nesting – the female sitting on her nest, the male nowhere to be seen. We failed to see any Pereguine Falcons but two out of three isn’t too bad.

We returned to Streaky Bay via a car wash (shining again now!) and woke Tassie up for an explore.

The tide goes out a very long way here – she was not impressed by all the space

Much happier among the shadows and a bit of tree climbing

As the afternoon passed we decided we ought to do a little more exploring ourselves, so jumped on our bikes. By now the wind had reached strong levels at Streaky Bay as well, so it was a little challenging at times to cycle in a straight line. We checked out the jetty as we had heard there were often dolphins fishing around there in the afternoon. Not today though – hold on to your hats!

This is what those fat tyres are made for!

Our Sunday concluded with the cooking of one of Mr A’s old favourites – Shepherd’s Pie, accompanied by the best part of a delicious Brash Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.

Watching the sun set as the water comes back in to shore

November 4, 2017January 22, 2023

Day 158: 4 November – A taste of Streaky Bay

Author: Mr A

From: Penong

To: Streaky Bay

Distance driven: 184 km

Distance cycled: 12 km

We left Penong and headed down the Eyre Highway, a road we were dying to see the back of, and were soon pulling up at the quarantine checkpoint for our fruit and veg to be inspected. We only lost a few items to the big veggie bin and were soon on our way to our next destination – the Eyre Peninsula and its regional centre Streaky Bay.

We had booked ahead for a waterfront site, paying a few extra dollars for the privilege. After some tight manoeuvres we were settled in with a bay side view. Unfortunately we were sharing that view with thousands of flies, our first taste (literally) this trip of the little buggers which want to crawl into every facial orifice. Ah bless Australia.

A quick trip into town (a row of 5 outlets) bagged us the last half dozen Streaky Bay oysters remaining in the fish shop. Six is better than none! We have had an oyster drought since leaving Sydney, refusing to pay the crazy WA prices ($36 a dozen seemed to be the norm!).

Back at camp we set off for a bike ride along the foreshore, a lovely ride, apart from the flies which sadly took the shine off. We headed back into a strong headwind and I thought ‘Option A – flies – Option B wind (but no flies) – I’ll take the wind’. At least they weren’t the biting March flies from a couple of days ago!

With the wind at your back there is little need for pedaling!

Back at camp, Tassie was strongly encouraged to leave the caravan and take some air. Not sure she will become a beach bunny – she didn’t waste much time leading Mrs A back up the beach and up the steps into the mobile apartment! At least she knows where home is.

It was time to break the self imposed ‘Nullabor Drought’ and have our first glass of wine for a week, a lovely Clare Valley Riesling to show off the oysters. Superb

After dinner we took a stroll along the beach and watched a full moon rise up over the water. The ‘staircase to heaven’ phenomena, as they call it in over-hyped Broome. This was way better as we were the only ones on the beach.

Can you see the stairs? Or just the refection from a huge orange moon?

November 3, 2017January 22, 2023

Day 157: 3 November – Into our fourth state of the trip

Author: Mrs A

From: Mundrabilla, Western Australia

To: Penong, South Australia

Distance driven: 485 km

It was an early departure this morning, the wind continuing to whistle and the skies grey overhead. The road didn’t change though – long and straight, stretching into the distance. It wasn’t too far after Eucla that we caught our first glimpse of the Southern Ocean again, at a very chilly lookout.

We continued on, crossing over the border into South Australia. We celebrated with a photo before putting our watches forward by 2.5 hours…our body clocks are all over the place now!

Great sign! But we didn’t see any of the animals (except as roadkill).

It was a gusty drive, Mr A wrestling the steering wheel along the treeless plain.

Even Tassie is over the same-same scenery

The wind was even more challenging when one of these beasts (below) rushed past. Fortunately we worked out the road trains use channel 40 on the radio, so we now listen out for their arrival and have a brief chat before they overtake.

It was nearly 6pm South Australia time when we pulled up at our campground in Penong.

We decided to go for an explore. It’s a tiny settlement, with a store, a fuel station and a pub. Most of the houses are very run down, once beautiful gardens now very overgrown and neglected. Despite a feeling of poverty, there is also some investment here, with a new sports centre and skate park. It is also the site of the windmill museum.

We returned to cook dinner and relax while the sun set. Tomorrow we slow down again and begin to enjoy South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. Next stop Streaky Bay (…I always think of bacon for some reason)…

November 3, 2017January 22, 2023

Day 156: 2 November – The Nullarbor

Author: Mr A

From: Fraser Range Station

To: Mundrabilla Roadhouse, Mundrabilla, WA

Distance driven: 545 km

We planned to get a few ks under the belt today – 545 in fact (around 340 miles) so we decided to skip brekky and get on the road early. The road stretched in front of us another 1,300 kms before we would pull off to head to the coast. We came to the sign that announced the longest straight piece of road in Australia was starting, 90kms later I would turn the wheel slightly to the right and it was over.

I had had a good sleep so easily chewed up the miles until lunch, a delicious sandwich and a quick break to look at the limestone blowhole and I was back in the saddle.

This is the blow hole – not much happening today but when the ocean is rough, apparently a different story

Classy sign directing visitors to the blowhole

We listened to a heap of interesting podcasts and were soon pulling into our camp for the night by a roadhouse. We had planned to go for a walk, but it was cold, dusty and windy and not very inspiring so gave up that idea. What a desolate place. It was so tempting to say lets have a glass of wine, but had promised ourselves we would stay dry across the Nullabaor. We had been having a glass of wine nearly every night since we left, so probably time to give our livers a break!

Tomorrow we cross into South Australia. As well as being a big milestone for us (as the fourth state we had driven into on this trip), the boarder restrictions mean veggies have to be topped and tailed, and some cooked, frozen or discarded in order to prevent pests and disease being spread interstate. That task preceded dinner preparation – a chicken red curry with a lot of vegetables, accompanied by a fine glass of sparkling mineral water!

November 1, 2017January 23, 2023

Day 155: 1 November – Giving blood on a sheep station across the Nullabor

Author: Mrs A

From: Gibson’s Soak

To: Fraser Range Station

Distance driven: 283 km

Distance hiked (at high speed under great duress): 6 km

March flies fed: 200+ (estimate)

After a poor to fair night’s sleep at Gibson’s Soak, we were on the road bright and early to head up to Noseman. The main downside to our free camp was its position – right in between a rail line sporting freight trains hooting their horns from 4am and the main road north, sporting roaring road trains. Not the best combination for relaxation.

We headed first to Norseman, an old goldmining town, and what we expected to be the last frontier before commencing our crossing of the Nullabor. What we found was far from our expectations. Mr A had a nap while I popped to the local chemist and IGA supermarket for some final bits and pieces. Every shop and building was heavily protected with bars on windows, often no windows at all, replaced with shutters. Many shops were long closed and boarded up, the paint peeling and a strong feeling of deprivation. It was very sad indeed. We had intended to find a cash point, but alas there was none – I later discovered the bank closed two years ago.

Just over an hour beyond Norseman was our stop for the night, a sheep station on the Fraser Range. The station was originally settled in 1872, and was the first on the Nullabor. Its located in the Western Woodlands, and with its granite hills apparently looks little like the rest of the Nullabor Plain.

As we called in to announce our arrival we were surrounded instantly by flies, many of them biting March flies. Ouch. We were not impressed. The temperatures here are up in the late 20s, the warmest we have felt in a long while, but we were forced inside behind the safety of the flyscreens for most of the afternoon.

As the day wore on we decided we ought to try and get out. Mr A attempted a cycle but found few tracks to explore, so we decided to head up to the summit of the range on foot. We mistakenly thought the March flies would be preoccupied with other campers, but found there were plenty to go around.

Despite being bitten frequently on all limbs, tap dancing our way up the hills over granite bolders, we did manage to see some incredible scenery. It took some skill to stop for the minimum amount of time to quickly frame, focus and shoot photographs while sustaining the fewest bites, but we did it. A few looked vaguely ok even!

Can you spot all the biting March flies on the backs of my legs? Ouch!

On our 90 minute high speed dance up and down to the summit, we failed to see a single sheep. We did spot a baby camel, a calf, several red kangaroos, a pair of shingleback lizards, and a wild goat.