Thevenard

Thanks to some fellow travellers that woke up at 5am local time and started discussing the day ahead (must have been Victorians - for all of us coming from the west it was still the middle of the night) we got on the road early for another big day's drive...not helped by the fact that only 12km down the road we lost 2.5 hours crossing the border back into SA!
The forecast blue skies appeared on cue and made a perfect back drop to the spectacular cliffs along the Great Australian Bight. The viewing spots were so close to the road that we checked out a number of them. Despite protests from the kids about having to get out of the car/interrupt the audiobook/etc etc, they were suitably impressed when they did bother to do the short walk to the edge. They all agreed that they really do look like a giant has taken a big bite out of the side of the country (as suggested by "Are we there yet?"). The only disappointment was not getting a chance to see whales at Head of Bight. The official "season" finishes next week but we'd heard reports that only one or two had been spotted in the last few days and the locals confirmed this so it didn't seem worth the detour (and $35 entry fee). Another spot for the next time list?!
On and on we drove, through much greener countryside than we experienced 19 years ago, and the "treeless plain" didn't seem quite so long and arid this time around. As we headed out the other side, we decided to bypass our original planned stop at Fowlers Bay and push on to Ceduna, a couple of hours further down the road. With the help of a riveting audiobook we arrived in Ceduna mid afternoon, dumped our fruit and veg at the quarantine point and drove further south to the Shelly Beach Caravan Park. We opted for a dune-top site, well aware that windy weather was forecast for Friday but deciding to risk it for the sake of a great view. There were only two campsites up on the dune (with some cabins nearby) so it almost felt like some of the beach front camping we'd done in WA...except with flushing toilets, hot showers, laundry and games room just down the hill - perfect!
We enjoyed a couple of great sunsets and spent a relaxing day (mostly) out of the car and down at the beach. Roy tried out some local oysters in town (the kids declared them all disgusting - even though Marley ate two of them!) and we restocked the fridge with SA fruit and veg.Read more