Monday 10th April
Ceduna S.A.
The wind sprung strongly from the North West today, exactly opposite to what it was when we set up
camp last night. It was strong and accompanied by brief showers of rain. Having crossed several claypans on the way in, and knowing their potential to turn treacherous at the merest touch of water, we decided on a quick exit out to
Venus Bay.
Murphies Haystack
It was still 9-ish before we were under way and again slowly ambling south. We considered travelling only as far as
streaky Bay for the day, a distance of some 60 odd km unless an appealing
campsite was found before hand. With this in mind we called into
Smokey Bay to find the caravan park full to the brim. Didn’t win our approval so we continued on to
Streaky bay where the town facilities were again full to capacity with the
grey army (of the keen fishing variety). On to
Ceduna. We called at the aptly named “Murphy’s haystacks” on the way. These outcrops of wind blown
granite do actually resemble the old English and Irish version of haystacks from a distance.
Murphies Haystacks
We reached
Ceduna a little after 1.30 p.m. and in
bright sunshine, the clouds having past. We opted for the Big 4 park and were pleasantly surprised to find new modern facilities. We set up under a couple of small pine trees and then went back into town to use the internet and look around. The National Parks office was unattended so had to make alternate arrangements for our permits. Got some groceries for dinner and then back to the caravan park. I whipped up some hamburgers and we utilised the
camp kitchen for an impromptu BBQ. Had a good chat with a
Perth couple returning from
Melbourne and the Commonwealth Games with their three kids.
Didn’t get much sleep during the night as the mice here are in plague proportions and were intent on gnawing their way through our flooring into our tent.
Well that’s what it sounded like anyway. I got up at 2.00 a.m. to find a thick sea mist shrouding everything. Quite eerie.
It’s on to Goog’s track tomorrow. Let the games begin.