Kerry had been told by her brother that the Wadlata Outback Centre in Port Augusta was really worth a visit so before leaving to drive to Broken Hill, we went to have a look.

The centre is a museum and interactive centre which goes through the history, culture and other information about outback Australia.

Once inside we entered through the large reptilian mouth into the self guided display of the history from pre-settlement through to indigenous then early explorers.

The exhibits were really well done – great bush tucker information….

There was detailed info on the 4 main early explorers Eyre, Sturt, Stuart and Giles….

Eyre came to Australia as a young man keen to make his fortune at sheep farming but soon changed his mind and determined to make an honourable career as an explorer. He undertook 3 explorations in 1839, 1840 and 1841 the 3^rd of which crossed the Nullabor from Port Lincoln to Albany in WA.

Sturt was a British Officer who came to Australia for adventure. He explored into the harsh centre of Australia in his 1844 expedition where he, amongst other things, brought a rowing boat for the large inland sea he was sure existed in the interior. The expedition was costly and futile as no sea was found and they had to return to Adelaide.

Stuart was a Scotsman who had been a draughtsman on Sturts 1844 expedition – he set out and finally made the crossing from Adelaide to Darwin from 1860-1862.

Giles was an experienced bushman who did several east -west expeditions through the interior in the 1870s….the last of the “Great Explorers”.

In the display walk through was a Trans Australian railway carriage set up as it would have been in the early days of the rail link between Adelaide and Darwin.

There was a Royal Flying Doctor service display with the history of the service – photos and info. In 1912, Rev John Flynn a Presbyterian minister who rode by horse and camel through the outback preaching the gospel was stuck by the plight of the outback dwellers who had no medical service when sick or injured and so he came up with the idea of a small plane and radio service that would allow a doctor to be called for and transported to where required. The idea was dismissed by most people as the dream of an impractical visionary, but Flynn persisted and managed to establish the Australian Aeromedical Medical service in 1933 which later became the Royal Flying Doctor Service….and the rest is history!!

After spending considerable time looking at the displays we had coffee and scones for morning tea then set off towards Broken Hill…

The drive up the mountains of the Flinders Range was slow as we were stuck behind a semi all the way but the view was great towards the mountains….

We stopped at Peterborough for lunch hoping to go to the bakery we had been to previously but it was not open – lunch at another café was delicious although Trev did snag the last chicken on Turkish….leaving Klaus out in the cold…

It was a long drive to Broken Hill over mostly arid plains with only the odd goat clan sighting creating interest. Finally reaching Broken Hill Regional Events Centre and Racecourse we checked in and set up – the sites were grassy and very large – it felt very luxurious in comparison to our last couple of camp sites….

As it was Gordie and Kerry’s last night with us we went out for dinner to the restaurant at the Hilltop Motel…

Everyone was up early packing up for the long drive to Port Augusta today…. Dave and Rose had been having radio issues – crackly reception and the range was hopeless…so Dave got onto cleaning the aerial in the hope of improving the reception….. Branch was no where to be seen – he had slept in and was now madly trying to get himself sorted for the journey….

We left Penong and not 5 minutes into the journey we heard an urgent call from Klaus to Dave to pull over as his caravan wheels appeared to be smoking…..could he have left the handbrake on accidentally??? Branch was frothing to get out and see when we all pulled over but alas – everything appeared OK with the van so we continued on….

Almost immediately another worried cry over the CB to Dave to stop as this time there was loads of white smoke coming from what now seemed to be the Pearl…. We all pulled over again and a concerned Dave called his son Aaron to ask his advice…. Branch felt fully rejected so refused to come out of the Ranger…..

Aaron solved the mystery of the smokin’ white Pearl – seems it was just a burn off to do with the particulate filter in the Landcruiser – nothing sinister and according to Aaron should burn off within 10 mins or so…. So we continued on again with no further smoking episodes from the Pearl.

It was a long day of driving over vast plains and a variety of landscapes.

We pulled over at Wudinna for a “stretch the legs” stop (aka toilet break) – Gordie could not resist the green grass – first lush grass we had seen in ages!!

It was at this point that Dave realised his van fridge was not working…. although they had parked a distance away??? to avoid detection??? – after closer inspection it was discovered that his Anderson plug had disconnected and was dragging along the road – all that was left was some mangled wires….. Anderson plugs are Branch’s favourite so he was really excited…. “Not the Anderson plug????” was the famous cry…. Fortunately Klaus had spare bits that Dave could utilise when we were at an appropriate campsite so a repair was in order…

Meanwhile in the Loveday van not only was the left caravan blinker STILL not working, the van frig connection had seemingly given up the ghost as well…. Reason undiagnosable at this stage as all connections were in tact….

We had planned to stop for lunch at Kimba – home of the Big Galah who looked like he had been given a makeover… unfortunately he made a big galah out of us as nothing was open for lunch in Kimba (Sunday arvo) and Gordie had been hoping for a bakery…. So we made lunch in the vans..,

A quick photo of the painted silos at Kimba and we were on our way….

The afternoon wore on as we drove past Iron Knob, the large mining complex where iron ore is mined.

In the distance the Flinders Ranges came in to view.

We arrived in Port Augusta and headed for the Sports Club Motorhome Park where we free camped for the night…

Branch got stuck in to repairing Daves Anderson Plug……

After setting up we had happy hour – Klaus produced the biggest bag of Costco chips we had ever seen.

That night we listened to the next instalment on Titus and enjoyed some time in discussion before  hopping in to bed….

Today we had planned a relaxed day at the beach – surfing, swimming, and enjoying the sights at Point Sinclair and Cactus Beach.

Gordie was keen to go back to the point he had surfed at the day before, Klaus was going to the jetty to see if fishing was a good option, and Trev was hoping to fit in a surf, swim, fish, and drone fly….

We decided to try putting the drone up first to get some pics of Cactus Beach, the point, and the surf so we stopped just near the track down to the point that Gordie had driven down for a surf and put the drone up. We got some good pics of where Gordie was going out … and his lonely Titan…. And then the wind was too strong to complete the flight, so we had to abort….

Kerry, Rose, Dave, Trev and I then went to Cactus Beach – Trev had a quick surf, but the wind was by now blowing a gale, so the surf was blown out… we had a swim and sat on the beach for a while but decided to move on to the jetty to see how Klaus was going with the fishing….

We had been talking to a couple of people who had camped at the Point Sinclair campground the night before and they told us that the mice were horrendous – getting into caravans and campers, eating food – pretty much unstoppable so they packed up and are heading for Penong Caravan Park where we are for the next few nights…. we were then so thankful that we had not been successful getting spots there yesterday – very providential – no mice problem in Penong Caravan Park!

Arriving at the jetty we noticed that Klaus and Beryl were no longer there – we had a walk along the jetty and Trev jumped in for a quick swim in the netted area – but the wind was still howling so we headed back for Penong and lunch…

After lunch we relaxed in the camp kitchen area, Trev did some more work trying again to release the cutlery drawer in the Weiss Lotus…finally giving up and going to look for Gordie who still had not come home from his surf…. Trev hoping for a surf/swim if the wind had abated….

We walked up and looked at the Penong Windmill Museum which had some great examples of different windmills used in Australia – including the largest windmill “The Comet” which was 35 foot!! There were only 15 ever made – and only 2 of those outside Queensland – and this was the only one in South Australia.

There was a Southern Cross “Les” which had 6 foot blades but a tower that was 60foot (18.29m) high!

Kerry had cooked a healthy fruitcake while waiting for Gordie – so we all enjoyed some for afternoon tea….

Trev and Gordie arrived back at close to the same time – Gordie having been out all day but not having a fantastic surf experience due to windy conditions….or was it age creeping up on him….

Klaus managed to bang the cutlery drawer and finally free it…. without Branch’s assistance!!!

As we had a long drive tomorrow to Port Augusta (over 500kms) we did some packing up and got an early night….

Everyone was up early to pack up to get to Cactus Beach in the hope of getting spots at the Point Sinclair Campground.

The morning was very misty as the sun was coming up and strange noises were coming from behind the hedge near the Wells rear end…. Trev looked like he had spied something…and I heard Rose telling Dave to stop…he had the water hose in hand and I thought he may have been ??cleaning the van exterior or adding water to his tanks….all was revealed later in the day….

The campground had the most salubrious amenities, so I had to go and take pics – a great place to stay if you are ever in Streaky Bay!!

As the caravan park ran their own desal plant and water was scarce – they requested we do not fill our tanks at the campground, so we went back into Streaky Bay to fill the tanks before leaving as there was no water at Cactus. Maintaining an adequate water supply is so challenging for those living in isolated arid areas…. Something that we on the East Coast take so much for granted.

As we were filling up our tanks I noticed an old wooden cross in the local church ground – apparently originally a tree planted by a local man Albert Cotton and his wife in memory of their 2 infant children May and Joseph who died in May 1922… now formed into the cross with the timely message below it,,,

After filling our tanks, we went and bought a bun and coffees for the road from Elliott’s Bakery – the very helpful staff we had met the day before were there again….

Leaving Streaky Bay we headed north and made a beeline for Cactus Beach passing through Ceduna and turning at Penong to head out along the dirt road to the coast. The road was in fairly good condition with just a few rough spots. On the way we could see the salt and gypsum mining activity….

Lake MacDonnell was not as spectacular as the last time we came this way due to the fact that the area is in drought. The water levels were so low on both sides of the road that the pink lake was mostly white, and the blue lake was dark and muddy. We were disappointed as both Klaus and Trev were planning to put up their drones to take some of the legendary twin coloured lake shots intersected by the road….

Huge sand dunes glistened on either side of us and the landscape was still beautiful despite the dryness.

We drove in to Point Sinclair Campground which was looking pretty full…and drove around for a while trying to find spots for us all – to no avail – not even 1 spot for 1 van…. A bloke came up to us and introduced himself to Trev as the camp commandant – the guy who Trev had spoken to was on holidays and he was here helping people find sites. He suggested we go to the “overflow” area and find a place just down the road – as long as we did not block the road, he said it was fine to find a spot on the side that our 4 vans could get in to.

We drove a little way back and found a couple of spots we could fit the vans into off the road.

We carefully drove in – Gordie coming in last – just as he was turning in a rude local guy drove past and yelled “you can’t camp there” …. Trev went to investigate but by the time he arrived the guy had driven off after some more yelling. Another guy drove up, so Trev spoke to him – he was more reasonable and said he had never seen anyone camp where we were and advised us that some locals were pretty nasty so he wouldn’t camp there…. So, we made the executive decision to drive back the 20km to Penong Caravan Park and stay there the 2 nights as the drive in without a vans was less than 15mins to get to the beach etc…. This proved to be a very providential decision as we were to find out later…

Gordie stayed for a surf and we drove back to Penong. Rose and Dave went ahead but the Weiss’s and Trev and I stopped near Lake MacDonnell to put up the drone to capture some pics of the lake and surrounding dunes – a very unique landscape!

The caravan park at Penong was run by a lovely couple, Mick and Jenny, who had only been there a couple of years. They owned it independently and had bought it just before COVID hit so times had been quite hard. The place was so clean and neat with a great camp kitchen and level sites. We were fortunate to get 4 sites for the 2 nights. They were cheaper than Point Sinclair Campground with better amenities and power and water – the short drive in for a surf was worth it. They told us that COVID had hit Penong very hard due to the fact of border closures and no one was travelling to WA – so no one was stopping in Penong. The pub had also been hard hit, so we decided to go across there for dinner to support the local economy.

Dave was in dire need of a couple of screws for his microwave – Branch tried to assist but Mick came to the rescue….

Once set up, Trev and I drove back to the beach for a swim and possible surf while the Weiss and Wells crew relaxed in their vans…. Unbeknown to us Branch had some work to do in the Weiss van….

While we were away, Dave was relaxing on the bed in his van and Rosie jumped on to join him when there was a loud bang… and the caravan moved…. Klaus, Beryl and the Wells went out to investigate only to discover that Dave’s jockey wheel had fallen off and the caravan draw bar had dropped to the ground – Dave had not got around to putting up his stabilisers so the van was nose down!!! Branch was disappointed to have missed the event but caught up later…..

Rosie was busy washing all their towels…a mystery again as she had just washed at Streaky Bay…. and then we realised that the incident we witnessed early this morning at Streaky Bay was Dave hosing out his “cassette area” at the rear of the van under the toilet…resulting in the now familiar incident of an inner van flood…one per trip it seems!!

Cactus Beach was beautiful – there were quite a few surfers out, but we could not locate Gordon and Kerry – so we went for a walk and jumped in for a swim.

After failing to find the Hunters we drove down to the JETTY at Port Le Hunte to have a look and see if they were there. The jetty had been built in the 1800s for loading gypsum from the local mines onto ships for export. The area still has the largest gypsum mine in Australia supplying gypsum for all Australia’s needs as well as exporting some overseas. These days the gypsum is railed or trucked out to Port Augusta.

The beach at the jetty had a netted swimming area with a pontoon which had been built in memory of a local 11year old boy, Wade Shipard, who had been taken by a great white shark there in 1975 while swimming out to the lobster trawler.

We arrived back at the caravan park and Gordie and Kerry were back – Gordie having had a surf at a location around the point from Cactus. Kerry had cooked a dessert for us all while waiting for Gordie….and Branch had been playing havoc in the Hunter Lotus with the toilet roll holder, dislodging screws and making a mess…..

Branch then got to work in the Weiss van fixing a broken table leg and attempting to open the cutlery drawer which was firmly jammed shut despite efforts from Klaus and McGyver it was not budging!! The microwave had also fallen out – there seemed to be a lot of work required by Branch in the Weiss’s place as he disappeared a number of times unbeknownst to his owner!

The dinner at the local pub at Penong was second to none – the cook did an amazing job pumping out well portioned delicious meals – Trev and Klaus had the beef schnitzel which could have fed an army – unbelievably they both finished it!

Beryl and I had delicious fresh salt and pepper squid – tender and tasty, and Rose and Dave had Cactus Chicken and calamari. The side salads were delicious with a blend of fruit and veg – watermelon balls marinated in mint, orange and a variety of salad vege plus crispy beer battered chips….

Back in the vans we had dessert at the Hunters – apple crumble freshly baked by Kerry…. Superb!

The day started out clear but still a bit windy. As I had to do a work ZOOM meeting at 1145 I had to check to see if the camp Wi-Fi was adequate as Trev and I had no phone reception.

Not unexpectedly the Wi-Fi was no good. Everyone was planning to do their own thing a bit today as my day was broken up with the work issue. We decided to head into town to locate a Wi-Fi hotspot so I could do the meeting. Klaus and Beryl were doing one of the loop drives and the others were planning to go in to look at the town.

Trev and I drove in to town and stopped at Elliot’s bakery and café to ask re Wi-Fi – they were extremely helpful – they did not have Wi-Fi but directed us to the other café Bay Funktion that did. We thanked them and said we would return to buy come  coffee a etc later.

The staff at Bay Funktion café were also great – when we explained what we needed they were more than happy to let us use their Wi-Fi and gave us the password. We bought coffee and sat down and I tested the connection etc – all worked fine thankfully so everything was set for the 1145 meeting.

The café was very unusual with several rooms decorated in different themes…. And a clear message in the toilet about a revolutionary new installation!!!!

As we had plenty of time we went to IGA to do some groceries and met Rose and Kerry on the way – who had been doing some retail therapy! Gordie had gone back to camp with Dave to pick up his wetsuit so he could go for a surf at Granites after lunch if it was OK conditions…

After getting the groceries Trev dropped me back at the café to get set up for the meeting and the others came in for lunch. Beryl and Klaus still hadn’t returned from their drive. I set up in the blue room and was all ready to go when 5 mins before the meeting their internet dropped out!!! I raced in to borrow Rosie’s phone to ring my manager as I had no reception… and then borrowed Gordies phone to see if I could hotspot from his phone…. And amazingly after a quick prayer it worked and I got on to the meeting.

The meeting lasted quite a while and the others left after eating lunch to go back to the shops… Trev arrived back from camp, my meeting finished and I returned the phones to the others….glad that was over!!

Trev and I then had lunch in the Bay Funktion café – delicious homemade sausage rolls with a mango chutney – then left to go out and do a bit of exploring – just as Beryl and Klaus arrived – they went in for lunch and were doing groceries after….

The Westall Loop covered Tractor Beach, High Cliff, The Granites and Smooth Pool ending up at Yanerbie Beach. As there was potential surf at Granites plus places to swim along the way we decided to drive the loop,

Tractor Beach was obviously named….

At High Cliff the spectacular headland and steep cliff faces dropped down to a beautiful white sanded beach – a bench seat right on the edge of the cliff was positioned to capture the full view – a bit precariously!

Arriving at the Granites the surf was small and blown out – the wind was strong and so not really inviting for a swim – a pretty location nevertheless…

Smooth Pools was on the lower headland which was full of rocky granite boulders and many rockpools that you could potentially have a dip in but again a howling wind made outside an uncomfortable place to be…

We went on to Yanerbie beach for a quick look and then stopped at the sand dunes behind to climb up to the top for a spectacular view of the massive sand dunes – despite the wind it was beautiful – South Australia not only has lots of JETTIES – it has sand dunes everywhere along the coast!

As we were leaving the dunes we heard Gordie on the CB – they had been to Granites but no surf and so were heading back to camp – we drove out of the sandhills carpark, and they passed by – we all then drove home.

The caretaker at the caravan park had mentioned that 2 days ago there had been a 4 metre Great With shark sighted swimming in the shallow channel between the small island directly out in front of the caravan park. The channel is so shallow that you can walk to the island at low tide (only a short distance) and people snorkel around the island – you would never imagine such a big shark coming in that far into the bay…

Trev had seen dolphins there earlier and so we went down for an afternoon beach walk hoping to see some marine wildlife… but only saw human and bird life much to everyone’s disappointment…

The water was crystal clear and the wind had started to drop finally!

Happy hour together at our place followed by dinner and a somewhat early night as we were planning to leave early to arrive at our next destination Cactus Beach as early as possible. You could not book campsites at the campground there so we hoped to get their early to secure 4 sites as it was a Friday leading into the weekend and possibly may have been busy…..

We survived the wild and windy night and awoke to a sunny day – and no wild things in sight. Early morning sun rising over the beach was beautiful!

We did not have to be out of the campground til 12 so we took our time packing up and went for a long beach walk to the dunes to see just how magnificent they were close up.

The Hunters enjoyed a romantic moment….

Debate raged as to whose legs were bandier – Trev’s or Gordies – a photo decided the answer….

The beach was so wild and deserted – we were the only ones on it….

The sandhills were huge – it was like walking through the Sahara Desert.

Gordie, Trev and I climbed to the top and the views from there were breathtaking.

No doubt about it – sand dunes brought out the kid in some people……

The drive to Streaky Bay was just under 2 hours and so we had planned a couple of stops along the way to see some of the local attractions…first stop the legendary Elliston Bakery for lunch – pies according to Gordie that give Hayden’s pies a run for the money!!

The Talia and Woolshed sea caves were next on the list – we were unable to locate the Talia Cave but saw “the Tub” instead – a sea cave whose roof had collapsed forming a rough bowl 60-70 metres deep. The coarse-grained sandstone at the base of the cliffs has joints that allow the waves and wind to erode the weak spots forming the sea caves over time.

The Woolshed Cave was easy to locate, and we walked down the cliff face steps to the cave – another spectacular natural formation….

The road out to the caves area was unsealed and rough…. more Branch events in the Weiss van with the microwave on the move….

Our next destination was Murphy’s Haystacks – some more Inselbergs like the Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo Island…. at this point a strange event occurred ???Dave coming in hot and missing the left-hand turn despite radio instructions passed on by Rosie to Klaus who was behind the Wells…. We all ended up at the Haystacks but Rose and Dave were nowhere in sight…. they apparently turned around but failed to locate us and so decided to drive on to Streaky Bay…. After waiting a while Gordie and Kerry took a quick pic of Murphy’s Haystacks and went on to try and find the Wells while Klaus, Beryl, Trev, and I enjoyed a stroll through them…

Branch got out to stretch his legs and Trev tried his hand at rock surfing….

Gordie and Kerry never found the Wells and were first to our destination – Streaky Bay Islands Caravan Park – where they set up. A bit later, the Weiss’s and us arrived just as Rose and Dave arrived…. ’twas a mystery what had happened to them but nevertheless we were all reunited!!

Our sites were beachfront and so after setting up we sat and watched the sun set over the bay….

The pack up at Coffin Bay began early for Rose and Dave who were rustling around before the rest of us – Rosie determined to repair the dust covers for the bikes AGAIN – this time with the blue painters tape usually reserved for covering the vents and cracks before hitting the dirt roads….. We all struggled somewhat as it was raining so packing up was not as pleasant as normal!

As we only had just over an hour’s drive to Sheringa Beach, Trev cooked his gourmet berry and banana pancakes for everyone for brekkie. We then finished packing, and left the caravan park to drive just up the road for a barista coffee due to the fact we could not get into the beach camp til 12 and there was no coffee shop between Coffin Bay and Sheringa…..

After driving up the highway for about an hour, we turned onto Sheringa Beach Road – an unsealed road out to the campground which was in pretty good condition – just a few corrugations….that did play a bit of havoc in a van or two….. Branch was kept in the dark by some of the crew but I am sure all will come to light after a bit of snooping around!

On the way out the huge sandhills of Sheringa came in to view – massive silky golden drifts intertwined with green shrubs – the Eyre Peninsula seems to be home to many Sahara like sandscapes….

The rain had stopped but it was still overcast and windy – the campground at Sheringa was great! Hard level sites easy to access right on the beach but protected by shrubbery. The amenities had a couple of outdoor showers and a flushing toilet (very unusual in a “free camp” ) which were clean and well maintained by Elliston Council.

Gordie exhibited expert parking (as assessed by Branch) by touch parking the Lotus to ensure his fencing was as tight as a drum!!

The beach was wild with the wind but still stunning with white sand and the backdrop of the sandhills, and rugged cliffs at each end.

A quick walk determined that the surf was a bit blown out so Gordie hopped into the Titan and drove the short distance over the point to the other part of Sheringa….he came back hugely excited as the surf was AMAZING….. waves 6- 8 foot and no one on them!! A couple of guys were surfing closer to the point, but Gordie was keen to surf the centre area…. We decided to go down to watch….and take some pics. It was still windy and overcast and no one wanted Gordie out there on his own.

The surf was indeed big and we all watched the surfers get some great waves…. A friendly campers pup made friends with Rosie and loved coming and annoying me while I was trying to take pics of Gordie in the surf….

Kerry was much relieved when Gordie and board came in in one piece – he decided to go for one more wave but the swell was too powerful and Gordie was by this time a bit spent…. So he changed his mind and came back in…

Gordie got changed – Klaus “supervising” somewhat……and we headed back to camp for an afternoon walk on the other beach.

Just before dinner the sun came out and the dunes shone like gold! A beautiful rainbow arched across the bay to the headland – magnificent! The sun began to set and we raced up to the headland for some spectacular sunset views!!

My toe was looking worse again with all the walking…..

That night revealed a different Sheringa Beach….it was a place of wild things that came out after dark!! Huge spiders carrying a myriad of babies on their backs, big scorpions under the Wells and Weiss vans, a large wolf spider enjoying the Hunter’s outdoor mat….and tiny native mice jumping around the place – on the Hunters Engel sampling the oyster leftovers…..on our chairs….don’t leave the van at night without boots on and a good torch!!

We awoke to another glorious day…Branch came in to inspect my toe which was looking colourful and feeling very ordinary….

Gordie had cooked his famous scones, so we had an early morning tea. The scones were, as always, delicious!! Rose and Dave were planning to set out for Port Lincoln and the Toyota dealer who was going to fix the Pearl’s little issue… After calling the dealer they had a 2 o’clock appointment so decided to come with us to Greenly Beach and rockpool that morning before heading to Port Lincoln.

The Greenly Beach Rockpools have been made famous by posts on social media – they are indeed beautiful, and we enjoyed swimming there and taking in the scenery. Greenly Beach is a surf beach right next to the pools and again is another stunning beach which you can camp right next too. 

The water in the rockpools was fresh and clear, and there was a myriad of starfish of different colours in the pools – the most spectacular were the bright orange ones.

Trev and I had a snorkel and Klaus and Rose went in for a swim… Gordie went down to the beach for a swim. After a time Rose and Dave decided to leave for Port and so we all walked back up towards the carpark.

Suddenly Kerry disappeared – she fell down a rocky area and all we could see were her legs up in the air – we all rushed over fearing the worst but amazingly she was unhurt – Trev checked her out and helped her up – we were all so thankful she had no injuries other than a scrape on her arm. God certainly was looking after her!

When we got back to the cars Trev put the drone up and captured some great footage of the area.

Gordie and Kerry decided to stay on for another swim at the beach and we drove back with Klaus to the caravan park for a quick lunch and to pick up Beryl who has stayed behind to get some things done. We drove out to show Klaus and Beryl Golden Island lookout and Almonta Beach that afternoon….

The views from Golden Island lookout were still breathtaking the second time around…..

Walking in to Almonta Beach Trev located the culprit rock that had nearly annihilated my little toe. The sandhills were bringing out the kid in Trev!!

Klaus noticed a huge school of large Australian Salmon in the surf just floating around…. Difficult to capture in a pic but there must have been thousands of them – Klaus was itching to throw in a line!

After taking some pics we drove back to Coffin Bay – Rose and Dave had just arrived back from Port Lincoln with the Pearl as good as new after her quick “service”…

That night we enjoyed a tapas style seafood dinner at Oysters HQ, a local restaurant across the road – a great location on the waterfront at Coffin Bay with some delicious and unique items on the menu!

The area around Coffin Bay was beautiful with so much to explore – we will have to come back to the Eyre Peninsula! Tomorrow we head for Sheringa Beach campground……..

The plan for the day was to explore Coffin Bay National Park and its famous beautiful beaches. After doing some research it was determined that we would head straight for Sensation Beach as it was very remote and required a specific time frame due to the beach drive that was impassable at high tide. We set out early to ensure we had enough time to get to the beach and have about an hour there for lunch before driving back – high tide was at 345pm, and we needed to get back over the beach well before then.

Most of the drive was 4WD only, over very rocky and sandy tracks and a long beach drive along the full length of 7-mile beach. The distance was not that great, but the drive time was estimated at about 2hr one way…

Entering the National Park we drove at the speed limit 40km per hour which also slowed the journey and arrived at Yangie Campground – the end of the tar – and stopped to let down the tyre pressure on our vehicles.

Once sorted, we started out and realised straight away that the track was indeed pretty challenging – but a great 4WD!

The track became very sandy so we stopped to drop the tyre pressures further….

Not too far into the journey we rounded a corner and stopped for a 4WD coming in the opposite direction. They had stopped too, but after we indicated for them to go ahead they didn’t move – it was then that I realised there was no one in the driver’s seat. We assumed they were taking a toilet stop, but after several more minutes and no movement, I got out of the car and went up to the passengers’ side and spoke to the woman sitting there – she apologised for not getting out as she was holding her young baby. It turned out that the car behind them (which had her parents in it) was bogged and they were trying to get them out – she reassured me they would be out in about 5 mins, so I went back to the Ranger and relayed the message back to the others. We waited a bit then Trev got out to go and lend a hand…. It turned out to be more difficult than expected – the extraction finally worked when the guy winched them out…. They were eventually on their way after spending about another 10 mins trying to find the MaxxTraxx which had been buried deep in the sand.

This delayed us about 45 mins, so we were a little concerned with the time of the tide but continued on….

We finally arrived at 7-mile beach and got onto the sand – the beach was beautiful – white sand and the bay waters were turquoise – no swell as it was part of Coffin Bay – but gorgeous, nevertheless.

We drove along 7-mile beach – it was deserted – a huge whale skull was washed up on the sand…

About 2/3 the way along we came upon the dune area where the sand dune comes sheer down to the beach close to the water – at high tide this section is impassable as the seawater meets the steep face of the dune…. We got passed it with a metre to spare but the tide was now coming back in so we knew we would only have time to have a quick look at Sensation Beach before having to turn around and come back.

So, we decided to risk it and pushed on over the cross-country track to the other side of the peninsula. The drive was certainly worth it – Sensation Beach was breathtaking – huge white sandhills and sparkling blue waters – do remote and deserted – we were the only ones there.

After some pics and a few bush toilet visits we started back along the track, reached the beach and flew along it as we could see the tide coming in.

As we rounded a curve in the beach the huge dune came in site and the water was almost up to it. We raced along the beach and just made it past – partially having to drive through the water – but made it!!

At the end of 7-mile beach we stopped for lunch and a swim….as Dave pulled up he was not happy as the Pearl had gone over a bump at one point, setting off an alarm in the car – the crash avoidance system was alarming and telling him to go to the nearest dealer…. Sometimes cars can have too many fancy techno systems that drive you nuts!!!! Anyway, after much googling, reading of manuals and disconnecting the battery nothing solved the issue. Even Branch checked the sensor but to no avail!! The car was perfectly drivable – and probably just needed a computer reset.

Gordie found an “old mate” to talk to while we all ate lunch…

Everyone enjoyed the time on the beach – the day was warm and the water lovely and clear for a swim….

Gordie got out his portable shower and had a rinse off after the swim….Klaus assisting to a certain point with Gordie finishing off the job…

We started back, hoping that no one got bogged where we had stopped as the sand was pretty soft… despite the sign, we had no issues and Dave did not need to engage the famous “Crawl”.

The drive back along the rocky, sandy track was still over an hour in length so I did a bit of driving for Trev – great fun over the rocks, holes, and sand…. It was a tight squeeze for the Titan in some bushy areas… resulting in a few scratches…

When we reached the spot that the people had been bogged in Trev stopped to have a go at finding the MaxxTraxx that had been buried – the others went on back to the caravan park. Trev actually found one of the 2 MaxxTraxx buried deeply, and we brought it with us planning to give it back to the people if they were in the same campground as us.

Once we reached the tar, we decided to go on to Golden Island Lookout and Almonta Beach which were the last stops planned for the day – the delay earlier in the day had put us behind schedule somewhat and the others were happy to go home.

The drive to the lookout was only 20 mins on tar and we were so glad we made the effort – the views were amazing over to Golden Island and the cliffs and rocky outcrops were spectacular. Another wild and captivating vista!

We drove the 500m dirt track to Almonta Beach which was as beautiful as Sensation Beach!! The huge sandhills surrounding it were pristine and glittered in the afternoon sunlight. We walked over the dune and down onto the beach – the surf was great, and, in the waves, we could see huge schools of large fish!

After taking some pics we walked back to the car, and I stubbed my little toe a beauty on a piece of limestone jutting out from under a bush in the sand – ouch – no blood but it really hurt!!

Arriving back at camp we found Rose scrubbing the Pearl clean after her dusty trip…. Dave then appeared a bit later to take the blower to the inside and blow the sandy dust all around the inside and outside of the car…. The Pearl gets treated like a Queen (or should that be Princess??)

I iced my toe which was looking pretty swollen and feeling sore…

That night we had our service at the Hunters as it was Sunday and did the 4^th sermon on Titus Ch 2 11-15 – God calls us all to follow Him – and He gives us the grace to do so – we cannot do it ourselves…

The destination for the day was Coffin Bay down the south end of the Eyre Peninsula. We were on the road early planning to have morning tea at Tumby Bay to take in the famous “artwork” in the town.

The Iron Duke Mine at Moonabie was easily visible on our right as we drove south.

We spotted a painted silo in Cowell so stopped to take a pic – The star of the silos is local identity Lionel Deer and his camel Diamantina. Mr Deer is most known in the Cowell community for bringing his camels to the Cowell Christmas Pageant for over 30 years. The mural also features a Port Lincoln Parrot and a nearby farmhouse ruin.

Gordie and Kerry took the opportunity and went in search of a loo – they disappeared for a while and Trev went looking for them….

Tumby Bay is home to a JETTY and a lot of street and silo art…. we did a walk around the town and took in the beautiful artwork…and had a coffee in the local takeaway.

On the way out we stopped at the silo art at the entrance to the town. Argentinian mural artist Martin Ron was commissioned to paint the mural. During his time in the town, he watched the locals jumping off the JETTY – which is captured in his mural representing the towns past, present and future…The mural was finished on 12^th April 2018 and has been cleverly painted to be viewed from a certain angle creating a complete view rather than a view disjointed by the gaps in the silos – very clever!

Our lunch stop was Port Lincoln – with its huge grain loading dock and JETTIES…. And beautiful sculptures including one of Makybe Diva on the foreshore.

It was quite difficult to find caravan parking for all 4 vans together, so we split up, grabbed some lunch, and supplies and then headed out to meet at Coffin Bay Caravan Park. Trev and I had a great fish and chips lunch from “The Pantry” – very fresh with great chips and salad….

We arrived and set up in Coffin Bay Caravan Park….taking a leaf from Rosie’s book and adding ambiance to the van with some local foliage…

….. then went for a bike ride along the Oyster Walk…Gordie getting side-tracked by an old mate who also owned a Titan camping in the Caravan Park…. Meaning he was still talking to him when we arrived back from our ride!!!