Heading east along the straightest piece of road 146kms dead straight, we stopped at
Eucla for the night, which is 12kms from the border. We drove down a gravel track which headed out towards a beach called
4 mile, setting up in behind the dunes.
The beach was very weedy with bits and pieces of driftwood and rope. Then in amongst the weed there he was, Buoy, Wilsons (Castaway) son. Took Buoy back to
camp and cleaned him up.
Bouy Wilson
Leaving before 7a.m we were aiming for
Fowlers bay. Decide to take a different track from
the beach back up
Longest Straight Road
to the highway which turned out to be a big mistake. Got bogged and had to unhitch the camper and drive the car out then follow another track until I could get around behind the trailer. Using the snatch strap and shackles we managed to pull the camper out and turn it around and hook it back up. End result was 1 1/2hrs lost time but I did get to use the recovery gear.
Morgan our youngest said “let’s stick to the tracks we know eh dad” Due to the atmosphere and tension no photos were actually taken of the bogging incident!
Beach Camp at Eucla
Crossed the border and got our first view of the
Great Australian Bight, awesome sight and you could see for
miles. Driving this stretch of road is very scenic as you can see the ocean for a fair bit of the drive. Didn’t make it to
Fowlers Bay due to getting bogged and putting the clocks forward because of the time difference so we stopped just passed
Nundroo in a road side stop. Fuel at Nundaroo was $1:40 Diesel.
Road Side Camp at Nundroo
Great Australian Bight
Hit the road early again this time is was black top so no chance of getting bogged! Drove through the
quarantine station at
Ceduna and checked into the
Streaky bay Tourist Park for the next 3 nights. Great Caravan Park with good facilities and great location. Went fishing at Halle’s beach and
Morgan caught his first salmon, watched a pod of dolphins playing in the surf, saw the Dockers beat Geelong, had a picture with the biggest great white ever caught by rod and line(a massive 1520kgs) and celebrated Harrison’s 11th Birthday.
Morning at Streaky Bay
Stopped off and had a look at Murphy’s haystacks which were very interesting on the way to
Port Lincoln. Checked into the
Port Lincoln Tourist Park and set up. Great spot overlooking the water, the park is
well laid out and the sites are very big. Had a walk down to the Jetty and went out for Tea at the Marina. Next day we went out on the Swim with the Tuna tour boat, this was amazing. The big cat took you out into the bay and moored up alongside the pontoon. Wetsuits and snorkels were put on and we first went into the inner area which held Pink Snapper, Morwong, Herring,
Port Jackson Sharks,
Mulloway and Nannygai. To say the water was cold is an understatement. Once everyone was numb it was into the outer
pool which held the Southern Blue fin Tuna, they range in size from 15kgs up to 80kgs. Once in the water the tuna were darting in and under and around you so fast. The guide was on the pontoon throwing in bait fish and the Tuna where like Missiles snapping then up. We also fed the tuna while swimming with them. Great day and would definitely recommend it, the crew were great and very informative. AS always
Morgan had a thousand questions for the captain and he was great in answering them and talking with the kids.
Murphy's Haystacks
Port Lincoln Tuna tour
Morgan feeding the Tuna with the Chicken stick
After the Tuna tour we headed into town and picked up the key for our 3 night stay in the Lincoln Nat park at Memory cove. It took 1 1/2hrs to get to the site via the
well-marked track even though it was only 30kms off the highway. Had a great spot (
site 2 of 5) overlooking the ocean with
the beach only 30 metres away. Unfortunately the rain had finally caught up with us and it rained from the time we arrived until midday the next day. Done some fishing and caught a couple of sand
mullet and done a couple of bush walks. Had a lovely couple camping next to us who were from
Sydney and had two
young lads of similar age to ours they just played together the whole time. Buoy
Wilson loved playing in the sand it was although he had been here before! The rain did stop for about 24hrs and it was lovely but then it came in again. This place is very unique and only has 5 camping spots which have to be booked and you can only stay for a maximum of 3 nights. It would have been better if we had more sun but that’s the chance you take. Travelled 3000kms so far.
View from our Memory Cove Camp Ste
Memory Cove
Bouy Wilson Enjoying the Sunshine