Teed off
Mornings in the van are now mostly routine – moving by 7 am, breakfast, puzzles and communications, clear away, and prepare to leave. This morning was like that. The van glass was misted inside and wet outside. It must have rained overnight and there was a thick fog. We could hear birds but not see them.
Soon after 8 am we were on the road with Majella driving. We were pleased we had gone to look at the National Park yesterday afternoon. We would not have seen it this morning.
About 30 minutes up the road the fog was clearing, likely because we had gone further from the coast by then. The sky above was blue with just a few scattered clouds and country around was cropping and grazing land where we could see flocks of sheep. The roadside was lined with trees on both sides. As we approached Elliston we passed through areas where the ground was littered with white rocks.
About 15 kilometres short of Elliston we took a short sealed deviation to Locks Well lookout. A sign just off the main road explained that Lock had drilled a well there in the 1950s and that it was now a popular fishing spot. Larger vehicles were advised to use the top car park. We parked and walked down the steep incline around two hairpin bends to the lower car park. It might have been possible to drive down and back but there was no way to know that at the top. Wooden stairs led down to a platform above the beach and another set led to the beach with warning against swimming or surfing because of rips. Below us we could see a few fisher people trying their luck in the surf.
As she was about to drive into Elliston Majella asked if I could find the location of the Waterloo Bay massacre in which a number of First Nations people were forced over a cliff to their deaths. I googled and found the Wikipedia article about the 1849 massacre and as we parked by the water we could see cliffs across the bay. Majella wanted to drive there immediately but I persuaded her our current location was better for making coffee.
By the time we had finished coffee and cake I had done some more research and found the actual site and a memorial erected in 2017 were in the opposite direction. That had been erected after bitter contestation in the local community. It was somewhat restorative for local First Nations people but the mayor was voted out in the next election. We drove out to see the site and memorial. The cliffs were high and had unstable edges that could give way under load.
On the way out of Elliston we paused at the historic jetty. It was the mainstay for provisions for town and district until the roads improved in the 1950s and supply by shipping ceased only in 1965.
Majella drove us on toward Port Kenny. The country here seemed drier and less hospitable to farmers though there were sporadic patches of cultivation. We were not far from the coast for much of the way and could see high sand dunes. The road was often fringed by low scrub with a liberal sprinkling of a low shrub with a profusion of yellow flowers.
Port Kenny is on Venus Bay, a large expanse of sheltered water with just a narrow gap connecting it to the ocean. We stopped and I walked to the shore for photos of the water and flocks of birds. It was just after midday when we drove on toward Streaky Bay.
We arrived in Streaky Bay a little before 1 pm, parked near the jetty, and walked up and down the street to see what we might find. There was plenty of activity, people eating lunch on the veranda of the pub across the street and at Drift cafe. The IGA was showing closed as we strolled past but when we went around the corner Foodland was still open. We went in and picked up a few things just as it was closing. The young man who served us reminded us of Callum – tall, thin, and with a similar voice and facial expressions.
Lunch, eaten in the van to avoid a swarm of seagulls, was sandwiches with avocado, tomato, lettuce, ham, and cheese. After eating we walked down to and out along the jetty.
The wooden beams down either side had many engraved metal plaques commemorating people and events across decades. One was for someone who died in February this year and another remembered a family that left for Port Lincoln in 1985. Some were advertising local businesses. Birds were making good use of the rails around the swimming enclosure about halfway out.
It was about 2 pm when Majella drove out toward our destination for today, Ceduna. Idle curiosity prompted her to take the short side road into Smoky Bay. There appeared to be not much to the town but on the way out she drove into an area packed with sheds bearing signs for a thriving aquaculture business with a dozen or more companies operating there.
Soon after 3 pm we arrived in Ceduna. Our campsite at Shelly Beach was a little out of town but we went into town first to get Majella set for golfing across the Nullarbor and to fill up with diesel. We found a service station and filled up. Majella checked her notes and found she needed to sign up for golf at the information centre. Luckily we arrived there before they closed and she was able to pay for her registration and buy a 4-iron and a couple of balls. As we left they were closing up so we had just made it.
The first two holes for Majella’s marathon were 1 and 18 at Ceduna. She drove to the golf course and managed to make her way around those two holes in what may have been a course record. We found an extra ball along the way so she thinks she is winning already.
Before leaving town to check in we wondered about dinner. We thought it might be best to save the food we have for the coming days and nights but that would mean driving back into town for dinner. Luckily, as we arrived at the caravan park, there was a mobile pizza van parked outside advertising pizzas from 5:30 pm. It was just 4:30 pm then so we had time to set up, take a walk to the lookout atop the dunes, and settle before going for pizza.
Around 5:15 pm we walked out to the pizza van. The man running it had moved from Logan where he had worked as a boilermaker pre-COVID. He said he was enjoying the new location and seemed to be doing fair business this evening. Our pizza with the lot was hot and spicy. We enjoyed it with a glass of the Taylors BDX.
After dinner we walked back to the lookout for the sunset across the bay. Then it was back to the van to relax.
