Blog 14/ Week 14

The Eyre peninsula! This area is one that prior to the trip wasn’t talked about a great deal, it wasn’t a bucket list item and one that we didn’t have any expectations of. But it’s definitely another Australian gem.
Day 93: We stayed at a free camp at Point Brown. Check out the images of this one. We went a little off road again to get there but it was totally worth it. The night included a fire under the stars.
Day 94: We left Point Brown and headed south towards Coffin Bay. We have changed time 1 1/2 hours in the last few days so we are still all on WA time. First stop streaky bay, beautiful coffee and nice little jetty walk.
Next stop, the sea lion colony at Point Labatt. We were unsure what we would see and if the sea lions were there all year round, but they were everywhere! The kids loved it and it was another animal to add to the long list that they have been lucky enough to experience on the trip. Point Labatt is one of the few Australian Sea lion colonies that breed on the Australian mainland.
Then we visited Murphy’s haystacks and the woodshed cave and found a nice little freecamp in the area. Kids are becoming experts at turning up to camps and taking their first job of collecting firewood in their stride.
One thing the Eyre Peninsula is known for is is amazing seafood so chris is busting to get to port Lincoln to indulge in a seafood platter. We havnt been able to get nice fresh prawns since we left Newcastle!
Day 95: We spent the day dropping into little towns like Coffin Bay on the way to Port Lincoln and Elliston. The Elliston 12km clifftop drive was beautiful and Harry was stoked to see a few surfers catching some barrels at the surf break. Got a lovely spot on the water in the caravan park for 2 nights at port Lincoln.
Day 96: We headed to Port Lincoln’s leisure centre, indoor pool and spa. We were surprising the kids with this as they had had a few big days in the car and the weather hadn’t been great. The kids were onto the scent though, so to put them off we told them we had booked them a great white shark dive, thinking that would quickly shut them up. Well Harry walks straight up to the counter at the front of the ‘leisure pool’ and asks for 1 ticket to the great white shark swim! 😂 Fair to say the lady behind the counter was confused. The kids got a swim in and I even got a few laps in followed by a pub lunch and a seafood cook up back at the caravan throughout the afternoon…..Prawns, oysters and salmon. Luke’s Mornay sauce deserves a 10 for the effort that was put into it, and it was red hot. Yes the scales back home I think may break when we stand on them!
Day 97: Headed north again up the right hand side of the Eyre peninsula. Sunny day but the wind is freeezzzzzing! 4 days left of winter right? So we are hoping for a few warmer days before heading back to the grind in 2 weeks. We did another ‘town stop’ day where we dropped into check out all the sites on the way back up to port Augusta (well cafe/bakery stops) . We have almost done the whole loop back to port Augusta. It’s crazy when you see it on the map. Lipson cove was a favourite little spot of the day. Would be gorgeous in the warmer weather.
Soooooo we found a great little freecamp just north of Whyalla at Fitzgerald Bay. The wind had dropped and it was quite warm. The colours and landscape at sunset was gorgeous. I don’t know if you remember me talking about the ‘staircase to the moon that we have seen’. This happens on full moons between March and October each year where the moon rises over the water and it creates a glow across the water that resembles a staircase. Right from our caravan chairs the most amazing orange moon rose right in front of us. As I do, I had a stab at trying to photograph it, it’s so difficult to do it justice, but I got some nice shots. Chris decided to have a go with the drone (now that he is a bit of a ‘drone expert’ over the last 14 weeks). Now to get the effect of the staircase you need to get pretty close to the water. You all know where this is heading right? It was after dusk and the moon was rising and probably (actually definitely) getting too dark to put it up.
Your not meant to be able to crash this drone because of the sensors, and the controller told him that it was 1 metre above the water, but it obviously wasn’t. So we all know what happened next. Kerry saw the whole thing go down, literally! I was busy doing my own photos.
After being absolutely rope-able with himself and quite a few other explicit descriptions, first response was to start walking out in the water after it (mind you we guesstimated it was about 150metres out in the bay with no idea of depth)
After quickly realising that idea was futile, he took a different strategy which for all of you at home, also wasn’t the safest option. Stand up paddle boarding with a torch to attempt to retrieve it (even if it was just to get the photos off the card). Looking back now this was also a silly move because as you know just this morning we were looking at brochures for great white shark swims in the area. So you can imagine how long the 15minutes for me on the shore was in the dark. Kerry was on the shore attempting to direct by two way where she thinks it went down. I couldn’t believe he actually found it with the torch. It was approx 2 metres down because he couldn’t touch the bottom with the paddle, that’s how clear the water was. Now to get to the thing! After a few dives attempting to hold his breath in the dark, and what felt like 3 hours, he got it! I would have preferred him not to even go out there but you know when the adrenaline is pumping and you are that dirty with yourself you do stupid things.
After arriving to shore, mildly hypothermic, I still don’t think it will be a laughing issue for at least a week (maybe longer). After he agreed to let me put this on the blog he is very well aware he will be copping it from all of you for possibly a long while yet.
Current situation, the drone has been rinsed in fresh water and put in a bucket of rice to sit for a few days to attempt to draw the moisture out. On a lighter note the card and images were retrieved.
The reviews on the drone hitting salt water doesn’t look good for its future. What we have been able to capture with it over the last 4 months will be memories of a lifetime, so that’s the headspace I’m trying to pass onto chris as the drone sits in the bucket of rice!!
Would I recommend the Eyre peninsula? Hmmm if you have the time it is a pretty drive with some gorgeous landscapes and some sleepy little towns along the way. Would I do it again, possibly not but we are still glad we did it. However, It will go down in the memory bank as where the drone went for a swim!