So our month of work has finished and we are back into holiday and camping mode!! Saying goodbye to Andy and Teresa we met up with Marcus and Hayley and their little girl Gabbie who had driven from Sydney to Adelaide to spend Christmas with family and then over to the West Coast to come camping with us. They had picked up our mate Steven as well. As with this entire trip so far the plans on what to do and where to go were changing on an hourly basis, however we did finally agree to stay down at St Marys Beach, around 70km south of Ceduna. It’s a great spot that Andy had taken us to previously, so we set up camp right along the beach, Jamie and I in our rooftop tent on the trailer and the others sleeping in swags. We decided to get straight into it that afternoon so went down to the beach and met up with Jamie’s cousin Corey briefly and then had a swim in some beautiful rock pools. I was the one to have jumped into the rock pools first and shortly after Jamie spotted some jellyfish in the water. Needless to say no one was then game to go for a swim there anymore and I decided it was in my best interests to get out as well. Instead we drove up the beach a little where the waves were crashing in search of salmon and it was while we were slightly bogged in soft sand that we spotted a huge school of salmon and a group of people reeling in a bunch of them. We hurried to let the tires down so we could keep driving and then we rushed to get the rods in the water and Jamie managed to hook onto one big one before the school disappeared. We vowed to be a bit more prepared when the school returned, so I become the spotter standing up on the sand dunes, Jamie and Marcus were the fishermen as they were the only ones with beach rods, and Steven got the job of unhooking the salmon, killing them and putting them in the bucket. This worked well, and as I was shouting to the boys where to go to cast into the school they hooked onto another 3 salmon each. We decided that was more than enough fish for us, given only 3 of us actually ate fish so we headed back into camp to scale and fillet the catch. Fish burgers were on the menu for dinner and they were delicious!!! We spent the afternoon drinking beers on the beach while watching the sunset and then had a fire under the Milky Way and a heap of shooting stars. The weather was perfect and it was a great start back into camping. And then we went to go to bed and that is when we discovered that most of our bedding was wet and also covered in mould. There had been a small tear in the cover of the rooftop tent and with some of the crazy stormy weather, rain had gotten in and gotten everything wet and then had gone mouldy. It’s always a great thing to discover just as you are about to go to bed. Luckily our mattress had plastic on it and we had one dry pillow and one spare blanket and sheet that we could use.
The next day we met up with Andy, Teresa and Summer and went to Pt De Mole to do some fishing. We didn’t have any luck at all and it was fairly windy so we gave up fairly early and decided to try Acraman creek for fishing and a bit of wind protection. Jamie, Marcus and I baited up and started fishing in the creek and caught about 6 “shitties” or trumpet fish each. Disheartened we again gave up and headed back to camp.
When we got back to camp, the wind had picked up considerably and our trailer had somehow fallen forward and the wheel jockey had come out of place. The tent was flapping all over the place and our campsite which had been perfect the night before, was now just way too exposed to the wind. So we moved to a spot fairly close by that was within the sand dunes and much more protected from the wind and had some drinks around the fire after dinner.
Day 3 we had changed our plans again and having looked at the weather report we decided to go to Davenport creek for the next two nights. First we had to head back into Ceduna where we could fill our water supply again and go to the laundromat to take care of all our mouldy bedding. When we arrived we did quite a bit of driving around in the dunes looking for a good, protected spot until we eventually found a great one with a wide sandy area, out of the wind and with plenty of firewood around.
The boys started up a big fire, because Marcus and Hayley had prepared a camp oven roast and we needed the hot coals. While the roast was cooking we went for a walk to the beach, which turned out more to be a bit of a bush bash through scrub and sand dunes. The beach views were definitely worth it though, as was the amazing roast beef and vegetables that were ready as we got back. We had another beautiful night by the fire with a clear sky of stars before getting into our now mould free tent!!
New Years Eve day we met up with Andy, Teresa and Summer again and did some more fishing off the rocks and this time we caught a KGW, a few salmon trout and some tommys. I also went for a swim and yet again had to get out pretty quickly as I spotted some jellyfish nearby. After our fishing session we went around the headland to the mouth of “the creek”. It is this gorgeous area with stunning blue water that rivalled the blue lagoon in the Cook Islands. We were all able to have a nice jellyfish free swim there and then headed to another beach spot for lunch and to explore. Steven and Jamie played piggy in the middle with Pumba and didn’t let him get the ball once. On the drive back we went up to the top of a giant sand dune and let Pumba have another run while we jumped off the edge of the dunes. The views from the top took in Davenport Creek on one side and the ocean on the other. It really is a stunning spot.
We had a great fish curry for dinner and made a bonfire to sit by for our New Years Eve drinks. We saw out the very end of 2016 sitting amongst the sand dunes, stars and a roaring fire with friends and some cold bevvies.
It was time to say goodbye to Marcus, Hayley, Steven and Gabbie who were heading back to Adelaide a few days early and so we decided to stay another night at Davenport and go kayaking and fishing at the Creek. Andy and Teresa were going up to Cactus to camp so we decided to join them there so Jamie could get some surfing in. The campground is a cool spot in yet more sand dunes and right there at the surf breaks. It just so happened that I bumped into my friend Nat from Adelaide who was there with a whole crew for surfing. Jamie got in 3 surfs at various breaks the next day and we decided to give cliff fishing a go. Within 20 minutes we had reeled in a huge 60cm salmon, which was more than enough to feed us. I even decided to give surfing a go in the afternoon as the swell was a nice, manageable size. I mainly got rolled by waves but managed to stand up a few times and ride them in. I tired out quickly though and had to come in after about an hour. We spent the afternoon watching the surf and having a few beers with Dan, another mate from Adelaide that we had bumped into. We had a good night spent with Nat and crew, drinking beer and cooking a late dinner and then chilling out by the fire. From here we have gone back to Ceduna to get the car to a mechanic to sort out a possible suspension issue and then we are finally starting out for WA.
