Coffin Bay – Romance. Oysters. Nature.

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Destination Coffin Bay. This was the perfect location to relax for a few days and to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
Coffin Bay is a short 30min drive from Port Lincoln. If driving straight here after checking out of the CP in Port Lincoln, you can be set up and out enjoying the delight this town has to offer by lunchtime on the same day.

The small rural town of Coffin Bay is located on the picturesque and calm waters of Coffin Bay. It is surrounded by the Coffin Bay National Park. Beyond the bay are the wild, energetic beaches facing the Southern Ocean.

A thriving oyster farming industry is located in the bay offering a variety of industry immersion tours and sales of fresh oysters straight from the sea. Many culinary delights abound locally, mostly featuring oysters and local seafood. These cater for all budget levels. We have experienced every level during our 4-night stay.

Arriving early on Thursday, we were very happy to find that 1802 restaurant had reopened just the day prior. This restaurant had come highly recommended to us by the owners of the White Cedar restaurant in Burra. Checking it out before we left we were disappointed to find it was closed, but apparently it is closed every August as this is their least busy month. Any restaurant where the choice of food is difficult to make because it all sounds so good, is a place worth a visit …again and again. This menu was one of those. From the Oyster menu we chose 1 doz oysters half Thai and half Japanese style. Stunning! Then a dish of Wild Caught Tuna, beetroot, horseradish mayonnaise, cured yolk, pickled shallots & dill and a dish of baby octopus with Chorizo, gnocchi, tomato, chilli, spent bread & smoked sour cream, plus a side of charred Brussel sprouts and speck lardons. All was pretty special. Oh … and then …just because someone else said how good it was … we had Spiced Apple Souffle with a salted caramel sauce. OMG it was soo good, as was the glass of D’Arenburg sticky we had to accompany it.

Later we headed to Oyster HQ to book a tour for the following day … and a few more oysters. So many oysters, and all so good.

Friday was our wedding anniversary. Perhaps another Blog just for that day.

We have experienced a lot of different things here, including the weather. It has been warm. It has been hot. It has been calm. It has been windy. It as been really windy! It has been gusty! It has been blowing a gale!!! It has been sunny. It has been cloudy. It has been drizzly. It has been rainy! But none have stopped us having fun. Nor stopped us enjoying more oysters!

Saturday was National Park and fishing day so we packed a picnic lunch and headed out with our fishing gear to Coffin Bay National Park, which also gave access to some surf fishing beaches.

At this time of year, the national park is especially beautiful as there are many wild flowers to be seen. Wildlife abounds. Much due to its camouflage colouring is hard to spot unless lurking on the road way ready to surprise the unwary visitor. We were fortunate to come across a creche of emu chicks in their characteristic stiped pyjamas, being guarded by a proud dad. They were not the least concerned about us and in no hurry to remove themselves from the roadway.

We pulled in to a number of beaches hoping to find somewhere suitable for a bit of surf fishing. The beaches are all vey beautiful, but signs at every beach warn of the rugged nature, dangers and unpredictability. The very name ‘Point Avoid’ should have been enough to send us packing, but no, we trudged the beach, found a promising fishing spot only to catch large lumps of sea weed … no fish! So, we packed up and moved on to Almonta Beach. What a perfect beach! Still no fish, not even a nibble … but at least no seaweed.

So, it was home to the caravan for a few more oysters. Greg is certainly getting the hang of shucking oysters at this stage.

After all that fresh air and beach trudging, we both slept really well.
Sunday was to be a chill day so waking up to gale force winds and intermittent showers made the hardest challenge of the day leaving the caravan for whatever reason, without getting wet.

By now you must all know the mantra. ‘Sunday is omelette day’. Only we are in Coffin Bay so it is not Greg’s usual omelette, but … you guessed it … oyster omelette! Simon used to serve these on occasion when he still owned Walkerville Chinese. We loved them. So, with the help of Google Greg served a rich delicious Oyster omelette for breakfast.

The rain continued all morning so it was relatively easy to catch up on blogs and Greg’s weekly TA note.

The wind eased and the showers more or less cleared by mid-afternoon so we took a stroll along a section of the Oyster Trail. No oysters consumed … that was later once we returned to the caravan. There were just 6 left to consume before we move on tomorrow. There are just a few days left of our trip.

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Photos

How many times do you have to hit your head on the light shade before
… you get a hole in your head? The owner comes running? Or you remember it’s there.

Warning. OK we get the picture.
These beaches can be dangerous.

Almonta Beach.
Pristine. Beautiful. Peaceful. Dangerous? Absolutely could be!

Point click and look later to see what is there.
That’s Joan motto when she can’t see. This one was worth it just for the photo.

Cocky tongues flowering everywhere.
In and out of the Coffin Bay National Park.