TUESDAY 24th MARCH 2009 – PORT LINCOLN TO STREAKY BAY S.A. – DAY 16

We are still having trouble packing up (after 2 years of not travelling we seem to have lost the knack) and it seems to take forever to get back into the swing of things. It is pouring with rain which doesn’t help.

We get away by around 10:30am and decide to drive the 45kms to Coffin Bay. This is a place many people have told us not to miss so we drive the short distance there. The weather is torrential and we can hardly see in front of us. We stop at the local service station/café to fill up and buy some lovely hot grilled butter fish. We find a sheltered spot and park while we eat it and make the decision not to stay here. We are not keen to be setting up in this rain so we head for Streaky Bay further up the west coast of the Eyre Peninsular. Hopefully by the time we get there hopefully the rain will have stopped and it will be easier to set up camp.

Again the journey is monotonous made worse by the weather. It is a long drive and we arrive into Streaky Bay at around 3pm. We drive to the caravan park and there is a big sign on the gate which reads “No Powered Sites Left Tonight”! We are in shock. Nick goes to speak to the owners and they suggest we take an unpowered site and be ready for a powered site which will become available by 10am the next day. After some deliberation we decide we will take this option (we don’t feel like driving back to one of the other Bays or driving onto Ceduna just yet) so agree and pay what we need to stay tonight until Saturday morning.

We drive to the unpowered site area and pick a spot just 30metres from the ocean edge. It is so calm and there are quite a few campers closer to the water so we feel we are safe from the upcoming tide. We meet our neighbor who is a single man and his dog. A bit of a character as he has been travelling for 2 years on his own. We think he likes the ‘red wine’ as he is quite friendly and happy and in a harmless way just wants to talk. He tells us his life story and before dark he has cooked his meal (shared with his dog) and in his camper. It is very quiet and peaceful here and it is lovely to be so close to the still of the water. Tonight I cook the paella!!