Day 27 - Tuesday 24 January - Bush camping

DAY 27

TUESDAY

24 January 2017 – 

Streaky Bay – Port Kenny – Venus Bay – Coodlie Park Camps 8 Ref# 532 SA

Finished the book Starting Over. It was an easy read, but a little predictable with its plot.

A gorgeous day today; weather cleared overnight and I didn’t have to get out of bed to know that it would be wonderful outside. The wind had dropped and the light was coming in through the vent, that was all I needed to encourage me out of bed. Paul soon followed and together we undertook the usual pack up routine.

With everything in its place we made tracks out of the park and onto the road.

Our destination was Venus Bay, about an hour further south, down the Eyre Hwy.  We passed through Port Kenny along the way, but didn’t see anything of interest, so we continued on to Venus Bay. What another glorious spot.

We found a place to park, grabbed all we needed and then headed out on the South Head Walking Trail. The aquamarine waters dazzling below. It was so clear I could have easily jumped in with my snorkel for a paddle around. Paul though, soon spotted a good size, maybe 50cm long, fish and then there was another and another. He didn’t need any prompting; he was back to the van for his rod and reel while I continued on the walk.

I made it to the dolphin lookout and kept my eyes peeled, but sadly saw none today.  The rugged coastline was being battered by the surf below, making it interesting viewing. The warning signs at the start of the walk, cautioned the walker of unstable cliffs and I could see the signs of previous falls along with the fragility of the areas I was yet to reach.

Interested to see if Paul was having any luck, I opted not to complete the walk but return the way I had come. Plenty of bait was being thrown in, but the fish weren’t interested, either high tailing it when it dropped in the water or swimming straight past, wrong bait I guess.

With Paul satisfied, but disappointed we moved on, taking the van to the boat ramp where we could have lunch before walking out on the jetty and watch some having better luck. Paul looked for the type of fish we had spotted and figured it was some sort of Wrasse.  

I then led us up a hill, following a sign to a lookout. This gave us a good vantage point looking over the cliffs once again and out to sea. The wind was howling and I needed to concentrate on staying anchored on the ground.  We returned to the van shortly after, glad for the stretch of legs and continued on our way, this time to Coodile Park.

I had checked this camp spot last night and it seemed interesting, a camp ground on a farm. We made out way on the dirt road to the entrance, then I saw the owner received the directions and we made our way through to the camp ground. Paul chose a spot to pull up and we made our way through the parked up routine.

Once organised we walked about 2k’s back to the house to pay the $15 for the night, before returning to the camp ground and checking out the facilities. The interesting bucket shower block had us impressed, along with the ample camp kitchen.

The afternoon was spent relaxing and enjoying the quiet of the area, before we made our way out for a walk out to the Talia Caves Road, if we felt like walking an extra 4k’s we could have made it to the caves, but it was cold and time for dinner so we returned to the van to cook up the evening meal.

Paul wasn’t feeling the best so he made a retreat to bed, reading while I stayed up watching the sun go down and darkness set in. I wanted to check out the stars and take some pics. It wasn’t until 10pm that I was able to play.

The night was clear and the carpet of stars laid out before me. I used my phone app to help locate the Milky Way and then got busy, trying out a few things and different spots. It was fun just looking up and soaking in how small we are.

With my shots taken and the wind setting in I called it a night and joined Paul in bed.