Advertisement
Published: September 28th 2016
Edit Blog Post
DSC_1394
Looking at all of the safe fish in SA The day started well with a good sleep for me and Suz for the first time this trip. Our kids said we were snoring in unison and kept them awake. Hahahahaha. Serves them right for the sleepless nights we have had worrying about them.
We went for a walk through the scrub and learned about the Red Gums and local water life. I was always taught to look for a tree line if you needed water as there is normally a creek nearby but the info on this walk also said that it is more so the water table underneath that will keep the trees above flourishing through years of drought when there has been no flowing creek for years. Might need to have a whopping great big drill with me if I am to save myself looking for water at a tree line from now on...
We had a look at some local ruins on the way out of the NP, learning that a bureaucrat had effectively ruined years of potential sheep grazing by over estimating (by over ten fold) the number of sheep that could be grown per hectare. The result was that the lease prices went
way up and the subsequent few families that attempted to run the land went bankrupt. Silly public servant...
The drive from there took us through Port Augusta, that had some nice little niches, Whyalla which is a lot bigger than I thought it would be (despite our inability to find a service station for ages :-)) and then through part of Port Lincoln which is also pretty big. Pia has a nephew in Whyalla that they were lucky enough to pass on the road and catch up with so that was great.
Once we got to Coffin Bay NP we found that the usual campground was closed. Dad and Pia, in the Rav, were around 100 km behind us at this point so we thought we would drive into the first 4wd access only camp to see if they'd make it. Unfortunately there were a few quite sandy and rutted parts that don't lend themselves to low slung vehicles.
While that was a shame for us to be split up (Dad and Pia opted for town as it was getting quite late for us to sort out an alternate plan) it was great driving for us. First
time the stubby stick got a work out this trip with plenty of sand, rocks and puddles. Made quite the mess of the new trailer but that is what we got it for.
As I type this we have the campground to ourselves – well us and the kanagroos, birds, emus and other animals/insects that are making mysterious sounds behind my back. It is 20m from the beach but with a little mound to block us (mostly) from the wind. We'll grab Dad and Pia in the morning and head further North into the park and hopefully find some more great sights and challenging driving.
Speaking of which, slight highlight of the day went to my 34 point turn after we went to one of the potential camping spots only needing to turn back from a long and deep river/puddle. OMG! Someone that has been driving for as many years as me should surely be able to reverse a trailer properly. Hopeless goose that I am.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 14; qc: 30; dbt: 0.0314s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Mal & Bec
non-member comment
Snoring
The ear plugs were for Suz but we guess if the kids need them more - then why not!