With the forecast being for around a week of cooler weather I was up early and ready to hit the road towards Port Lincoln finally leaving the YHA which had been my second home for the past week while getting things organised and waiting for the hot spell to pass.
I headed out along the Port Wakefield Road/Princes Highway then turned off along the compacted gravel back roads at Bolivar among the olive groves and some commercial rose gardens, then a short stint on the highway until the turnoff to Middle Beach situated on the Gulf of St Vincent.
On the gravel road to Middle Beach the flies were out in full force and there was much blowing of air out the side of my mouth and I was kicking myself for not buying a fly net. I was looking forward to the caravan park on the beach at least, but when I arrived I was disappointed to find a collection of fishing shacks, mangroves and a very run down and deserted looking caravan park with no beach in sight and a store that looked like it had not been open for several years! There wasn`t really anywhere suitable for a tent so Janine the owner offered me a cabin for $10 a night which was a bargain with a queen sized bed and a fridge, even if the door had no handle. To stop it banging in the wind all night I reached around and dragged a chair up to it which seemed to do the trick. Janine did explain that they had recently taken it over and were busily trying to get it into shape with the help of some travellers under a scheme like WWOOFas and that the movie Red Dog had been filmed there.
I did locate the beach when the tide came in and went for a swim in the nice, warm water. The other bonus was that I got to meet Anne and Ray in their fifth wheeler (large caravan), who kindly gave me a tube of paw paw cream to help with some scratches on my legs from my pedals, and father and son, Kel and Al.
