Blow-outs, Beaches & Baileys

We were all a bit sad to be leaving our beautiful , private campground at Fishery Bay, but at the same time we were excited to be meeting up with Ang and Rob for New Year’s Eve celebrations.  We were on the road at 8am, destination Streaky Bay.

About 40 kms from Port Lincoln we passed through the small fishing town of Coffin Bay.

Situated on the western tip of the Southern Eyre Peninsula, Coffin Bay is surrounded by beaches and National Parks.  It is the perfect place to try out some local seafood, local catches including crayfish, abalone, octopus, scallops, crabs, whiting, garfish and of course the famous Coffin Bay oysters.

While none of us are really that into oysters, we thought this might be the place to try them out.  The 1802 Oyster Bar had been recommended by the locals and the menu was varied and very tempting.

Along with the standard chilled natural and Kilpatrick options, 1802 Oyster Bar serve some of the following variations -

Oysters Asian - natural oysters topped with a caramelised chilli +ginger sauce

Oysters Icey-Spicey - natural oysters topped with house made jalapeno sorbet

Oysters Japanese - natural oysters served with a soy + wasabi dressing topped with pickled ginger

Oysters Pinot Noir - natural oysters topped with an icey Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir sorbet with a hint of cinnamon

Oysters Russian - natural oysters topped with sour cream, caviar + a splash of vodka

Oysters Thai - natural oysters topped with a mirin, garlic, chilli + herb dressing

 Oysters Blue - oysters topped with a blue cheese dressing then grilled

Oysters Macadamia - oysters coated in macadamia crumbs then deep fried + served with a housemade dill aioli

Oysters Olive Salsa - oysters dusted in flour, deep fried then topped with an olive and thyme salsa + sour cream

Oysters Rockefeller - oysters topped with a spinach + hot pepper sauce mixture, sprinkled with  parmesan cheese then grilled  

Then there's the Oyster Shooters -  

Bloody Mary Shooter (tomato juice, vodka, Worcestershire + Tabasco sauce + black pepper)

Japanese Shooter (Mirin, Sake, soy sauce + wasabi)

Oyster Bellini (peach juice, lemon juice, white rum + a splash of sparkling wine)

Alas, a missed opportunity.  We passed through Coffin Bay just before 9am.  A little early for oysters in anyone's book.

We moved on. As we made our way north, the scenery became rugged and spectacular.  Our next stop was Cummings Monument, 60 kms south of Elliston, where we found uninterrupted views from Point Drummond in the south to the coastal cliffs of Sheringa in the north.

Here we experienced our first flat tyre in over 35 000 kms.

But what a beautiful place for a blow-out!

 

Somehow, while Bruce was changing the wheel, Fletcher managed to slam three of his fingers in the car door.  Ouch! 

The damage to the fingers was minimal, the tyre was terminal.  Once the first aid and the wheel changing was attended to, we walked out to the point.

 

Here we found a family of osprey, which nest on this craggy pinnacle adjacent to the lookout.

 



Here's a close up.

After a quick picnic lunch at the playground in Elliston, we took the Elliston Clifftop Drive where we were once again spoilt with rugged coastal scenery and breath taking views.

He just had to wee off the edge!

 

Problem was, about 10 seconds later there were three little Johnstons teetering at the edge of this 50 metre cliff trying to do the same!  Gross AND dangerous!

 







This 12km coastal scenic drive between Anxious Bay and Waterloo Bay includes stretches of rugged cliffs, islands and spectacular views of the Great Australian Bight.  There are many look-outs along the way including Salmon Point and Blackfellows, which allegedly has one of the best surfing waves in Australia.  Our favourite bit, however, was the Cliff-top Sculptures.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much information available about the history or purpose of these sculptures, but I believe that they are part of a local biennial event, where some sculptures remain on permanent exhibit.  Here are some of our favourites -

 The great Aussie Icon

The Surfer

King Neptune

The four windmills

The four scarecrows

 The four Egyptians

 

 The four Moons

(photo withheld due to possible incrimination)

 

We arrived at Streaky Bay by 3pm and headed straight to Crowders Tyre Service.  Bruce had barely reversed the caravan into the workshop before a whole crew of fellas got straight to work.  It was just like being in a pitstop at a Formula 1 race.  Both sides of the caravan were jacked up, wheels removed, two new tyres replaced on rims and wheels replaced, in a matter of minutes.  Perhaps they were in a hurry to get to their New Year' Eve celebrations?  No matter the reason, the service was brilliant!

 

The culprit (the tyre that is!)

The tyre was well worn on the inside edge, right where the sharp edge of a rock decided to penetrate.  Closer inspection revealed that both tyres also had significant chunks taken out of the inside wall (see photo). Scary stuff but it was all sorted out rather quickly.

We reunited with Ang & Rob who had arrived at Streaky Bay earlier in the day.  They had spent some time checking out the local campsites, so we followed them the 20 kms north of town to Perlubie Beach.

It was a great choice.  We drove right onto the beach and parked just metres from the gently lapping waves.  We unpacked and cooled off in the calm, shallow and surprisingly warm water.

 

Unfortunately, the wind was crazy, and we had to wait a while for it to ease off before we could truly relax with a cold drink and some twilight snacks.

 



Crackers, hot salami, cashews, double cream camembert & Christmas M&Ms.

We had plans to head back into Streaky Bay this evening for the New Year’s Eve carnival and fireworks, but soon enough we were all enjoying ourselves so much on the beach that we couldn’t drag ourselves away.

The boys soon made friends and disappeared up the beach with their new inflatable boat. 

We enjoyed the sight of locals launching and recovering their boats -
with tractors worthy of heritage listing.

 

And our New Year's Eve sunset was gold!

Just after dark some neighbouring campers set off a display of small fireworks just a short way up the beach, on the outgoing tide. 

We enjoyed the show while munching on our snags in buns.   It was a great effort and almost as soon as this intimate show was over the main Skyshow event  at Streaky Bay began.  We had a great view of the fireworks from our camp, made even more spectacular with their reflection on the clear, still water.   To our delight, the show continued for another forty five minutes.  Very impressive considering the whole fireworks display is funded by local donations and sponsorship. 

At 10.45pm the show finally ended.  To our delight, our neighbours recommenced their local show, which continued, I guess, until they ran out of shots.  We spent the last hour of 2015 enjoying Cheezels and Baileys under a splendid star studded sky.

At midnight the fireworks began again.  With the blowing of duck whistles and singing of Auld Lang Syne we said goodbye to 2015 and went to bed. 

Fishery Bay

It was beautiful to go to sleep last night with all the windows unzipped.  The moonlight poured in from the east while the crashing waves to the west soothed me to sleep.

Then to wake up to this!

 

This was 6am and I just couldn’t go back to sleep and waste it.  So I made myself a cup of tea and sat outside watching the sun rise, the sets roll in and the surfers roll up. 



I had two hours of peace with my book before the rest of the family began to surface.  By 8.30am the surf was cranking and our little campsite was full of surfers.  Mostly locals.  Mostly old timers.  We were tempted to start selling coffee!

Sadly, this was the site where a young surfer lost his leg (and almost his life) to a 6 metre white pointer last April.  No sign of any white pointers today, but there were still plenty of surfers.

Before breakfast we decided on a walk along the beach.  This time we thought we’d try to climb down the rocky ledge to get there.  Not our best decision ever.  Part way along some big swell rolled in and there we all were clambering over rocks that were getting swamped by waves.  Amidst all the panic Jarrah lost his thong which was swiftly swept out to sea.  Poor Jarrah was more upset about losing his thong than by all the tiny cuts he had on his hands, feet and legs from clinging so hard onto the rocks as the waves hit.  We quickly backtracked and got the hell out of there.

While patching up Jarrah’s scrapes and scratches we got chatting to some South Aussies who were holidaying in Port Lincoln and had popped in to check out the view at Fishery Bay.  They were such lovely people that we were soon sitting around drinking coffee and chatting like old friends.
 

Carol, me, Michelle and Jarrah

The boys were happy to have guests, especially when it meant that the chocolates could come out before breakfast!

After reluctantly farewelling our new friends we finally got around to having breakfast.  The 11.30 pancakes hit the spot! 

By this time Jarrah had calmed down somewhat from his traumatic rock climbing experience and snorted five on his own!

After breakfast we decided to take the sensible path to the beach. 

Here's me still thinking about that 6 metre white pointer.

 

Bruce not so much.

 

Later we headed back into Port Lincoln for a few supplies.  Jarrah was happy to get a new pair of thongs and a new pair of togs.  Bruce was happy to get some more bourbon.  Jack spent some of his birthday money on a new hardcover book of Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone, beautifully illustrated by Jim Kay.  Poor Fletch was asleep.

 

 

After a few more bombies off the town jetty we were ready to return to camp.  On the way back from town we drove around to the other side of Fishery Bay for a different view.

If you look closely you can see our caravan, perched high on the top of the cliff.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying a few cold drinks and a few games of Uno in the warm afternoon sun.  



  Closer to sunset, Jarrah, Fletch and I went back to the beach.

 



Shell collecting,

 



And tanking.

(The art of being a tank)

 



We returned with a bunch of cool shells, and a boat.

 

Tonight’s was an easy dinner of snags in buns.  With just five days left on the road, it’s not lost on me that we’re soon going to have to get out of the habit of having dinner at 9.30pm! 

The day’s tally.  Minus one thong.  Plus one boat.  I think we’re in front.

Love Port Lincoln

It was a bit of a slow start this morning.  I didn’t get out of bed until 8.45am, and I wasn’t the last!  I guess we are lucky that Damian (who runs Modra’s Apartments) is such a friendly, relaxed kind of guy and that he doesn’t charge a penalty for a late checkout!

Eventually we hit the road.  It was just a short drive (less than 50 kms) to our destination of Port Lincoln. 

First stop, Del Giorno’s Café for morning tea. 

Fletcher has turned into a little monster lately.  He was at his evil best in the café.  While we were singing “happy birthday” to Caitlin on the phone, he ate almost all of Jarrah’s chocolate chip biscuit (after devouring all of his own).  Jarrah was Not Happy Jan!

We wandered over to the foreshore area where we found a life sized statue of three time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva.

The super-mare’s owner, Croatian born Tony Santic, is a local fisherman.  The $180 000 bronzed statue (no wonder it said ‘Do Not Climb’) was made by a local artist and funded by the tuna industry and local government.  It’s made from 5000 kgs of plasticine on a steel frame.  Go figure. 

The weather was glorious so we headed to Town Jetty to enjoy the Port Lincoln's new half million dollar swimming enclosure.

Here we partook in one of Port Lincoln's self confessed favourite pastimes - Jetty Jumping.  

Both within the swimming enclosure, 

 And outside it.

 

After picking up a few supplies, we thought we’d better get the kids some lunch.  It was 3pm, after all.  As Port Lincoln is well known for having a vast variety of seafood harvested from the beautiful pristine waters of the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula, we went on a local recommendation and checked out the Fresh Fish Place.

The fish and chips were some of the best I’ve ever eaten, but when did this much fish and chips cost over $30 ?





Fletcher could eat that much just on his own!

We thought about getting some lobster for New Year’s Eve.
At this price, maybe not.

With our tummies (partly) full we followed the ‘tourist drive’ around town.  Apart from the Winter Hill lookout, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the ‘tourist drive’ is sponsored by Port Lincoln Realty because I think we saw every house in Port Lincoln!

 

But it was a good view from the lookout!

 
Lincoln Cove Marina accommodates the largest commercial fishing fleet in the Southern Hemisphere.  It wasn't really evident today.

 

 

To be honest, I’ve seen more fishing boats at Fishing Boat Harbour in Freo.  They must have been out fishing.  Yeah, that’d be it.  The Marina incorporates fancy real estate, hotel accommodation and an indoor pool.  Yup, an indoor pool.  Weird.

 

 

Not so weird is the Fisherman's Memorial, which was established to honour those Port Lincoln fishermen who have lost their lives at sea and were never recovered.

 

After circumnavigating Port Lincoln a couple of times it was after 5pm and well past the time we should have been looking for somewhere to park up for the night.  We headed south towards the Lincoln National Park.

 

 

About 30 kms south of Port Lincoln we found the most exquisite campsite.  We are all alone perched high on the top of an ocean cliff, overlooking Fishery Bay. 



What a view from our camp! 

 We took a pre-sunset stroll on the beach,

 

 Splashing around,

 

And having fun in the surf.



 

Once again we found ourselves eating dinner after 9pm, enjoyed from our own private sunset viewing platform.

We fell asleep under the most amazing star studded sky, listening to the crashing of the waves on the rocks far below us.