Tumby Bay

Bruce and I were keen to get an early start from Coober Pedy, as we had a lot of kilometres to travel to get down to the Eyre Peninsula.  The boys were not so keen.

'Breakfast in bed' with a difference.

 

With the caravan already three quarters packed, this was the only place left where the boys could sit to eat their cereal!

 

By 8am we were all loaded up and ready to pull out of the Op Shop & Clothes Barn campsite.  Only the car wouldn't start.  As it turns out we were out of fuel.  Guess we were lucky to make it here at all!  Thankfully, we carry a small jerry can of diesel so soon enough we were on our way.

The trip south was a long boring drive with nothing to see but scrub interrupted occasionally by large white salt lakes.

And cows.

We finished the shortbread, leg ham and lollipops, and made a good dent in the xmas M&Ms.

We experienced our longest travel day so far – 830 kms in 10+ hours.  Perhaps we're getting better at road trips, or perhaps it's because we're so close to home we can almost taste it...

We stopped briefly along the way for a few wee stops and a couple of fuel stops.   At Port Augusta we had a longer break - for lunch and to purchase a new water bottle (to replace the one I cracked at Kata Tjuta).

We arrived in Tumby Bay at about 6.30pm.  Tumby Bay is a beautiful coastal township with a population of 1200 people.  It was named by Matthew Flinders after the village of Tumby in Linconshire, England. 

We pulled in to Modra's Apartments where we were pleasantly surprised with the relaxed garden setting, the proximity to the beach and the warm welcome we received from owner Damian upon arrival. 

The kids blew off some steam on the swings while we unpacked and threw some dinner together.

It was wonderful to have a sleep in this morning.  Eventually, Fletcher pestered me into getting up, but that was well after 8 o'clock.  We enjoyed a cracking cooked brekky and then Bruce and I lingered over coffee while the boys built the Lego Bionicles that Santa had brought them. 

Fire.  Ice. Earth 

After lunch we headed to the Tumby Bay jetty to do some fishing. 

 

This lovely old jetty, built in 1908, was the site of a community 'call to arms' when in 1970 the township of Tumby took on the Australian Government, and won.  When the Marine & Harbours Department declared part of the jetty unsafe and sent a working party in to begin demolition, they were met with a hundred or so cheerful folk, blocking their access.  Pickets, blockades, town meetings, fundraising and sheer determination on the part of the local folk has resulted in this Tumby icon still being valued and enjoyed today. 

Purchasing bait was interesting.  I was advised that "cockles, bloodworms or gents" are our best bet.  Well, bloodworms sound gross, gents are maggots (I'm serious) so I went for the cockles.  These turned out to be pretty easy for the kids to use, but also pretty easy for the little fishies to bite off the hook.

We didn't catch many fish but we did have fun.  The weather was beaut, I sang "Cockles & Muscles" all afternoon and Fletch had a great time tossing the cockle shells back into the ocean.  Oh, and Bruce caught three fish.

A couple of little ones

And an Australian Salmon

Unlike Jesus I couldn't feed the masses with this one fish, no matter how tasty he might have been.  So we kissed him goodbye and sent him on his way to grow a bit bigger.

We played on the playground

And jumped off the jetty into the cold Southern Ocean

Back at the ranch, we had showers and did some washing by stealth in the caravan park next door.  For the boys, once diaries were done there was time for some fun. 

 

Basketball

And Man-Kinis