BACK!

Well, since my last post was New Year's Eve not much exciting has happened, but I'll see what I can come up with anyway.

Lets see. The washing machine, Joe, did not consume me, but after Ceduna I couldn't get back onto the internet. We found that Port Augusta was the last telephone reception I (on Vodafone) had, and Ceduna was the last Fluffy (on 3) had. We still had Telstra (Fluffy's work phone) at Streaky Bay, though, but it was patchy. Then nothing for any of us at Coffin Bay.

New Year's Eve started noisy, as there was a Yacht Club about 400m down the street, and the wind was blowing our way. A live band was playing too, which didn't help. But, as it had been terribly hot, I had a headache, so yay for pills! Slept like a log!

As mentioned, there was not a lot except for Aboriginals in Ceduna but we were unable to book into Streaky Bay any earlier as they were full. And when we got to Streaky Bay, we were just a little glad we didn't. The locals at Ceduna were friendly enough. Everyone waved at you, but you could hardly find the white people. They were the tourists. Interesting to sit at the beach and wave to the carloads of aboriginals driving by. Everyone waved. Black, white, no matter, they all waved! We made friends with the couple next door too, as they were from Mount Compass, just south of Adelaide, and had a little dog called Max. Lovely people. But we were still happy to continue our adventure to Streaky Bay.

It was a tiny little coastal village, quite a pretty place, but the park was terribly crowded and only a few showers to go around all those people! Sand, water, toilet paper seemed to rule. And, as we were only there for two nights, we woke up both mornings to the lovely smell of sewerage. Don't know why, maybe it was the beach at low tide? It went out a long way there...

It was interesting to see that the pelicans knew to hang around the fish cleaning areas (there wer several along the beach front, at the back of the park). There were boats everywhere in the park, and it was hard to find the cars which were not 4wheel drives. Everyone on the Eyre Peninsual fishes. Nice spot though. For all our love of water, Dobby only went swimming once, at Point Turtin, and although we were on beachside caravan parks for the most part, we just didn't go in the water. And my dream of fishing got no further than the rods actaully being loaded in the van. Probably only then because they are always there. The reels weren't even attached! Strange how things work out, hey!

When we arrived in Streaky Bay, there was a storm on it's way. Now, being a dog, and a nervous dog at that, Oz didn't like that storm one little bit. He shook and panted all afternoon and didn't settle till the storm was well and truly passed. I think this holiday has made him a nervous wreck! Haha.

For entertainment we were forced to just go into the township and look at the couple of stores that were open over the holiday period, then drive around some of the neighbouring areas.

This trip, we seriously just did a heck of a lot of sitting and reading. And eating. I think I have added two or three more kilos to those five I already had! Sigh...

Anyway, after Streaky Bay, we moved about 250km south to Coffin Bay. That's a lovely part of the world. Again, the caravan park was full, and this time only 3 showers and 3 toilets for hundreds of people! It didn't matter what hour of the day or night you went up there, there was a queue for the amenities. Seriously strange. The site was a drive through, so plenty of room. Our neighbours were lovely too. They had a little Maltese Schitzu cross named Billy and he spent all his time playing with Oz. Lovely! We were at Coffin Bay for 3 nights, so one day we drove into Port Lincoln for the day. We seemed to get smaller as our trip progressed.... Port Augusta was small, Streaky Bay was tiny, and Coffin Bay was minuscule! Mind you, at Port Lincoln I did have phone reception! But still no Vodafone store so I can get my phone set up properly... bummer.

There were two take away shops at Coffin Bay, one of which closed about 3 minutes before our arrival, and the other was jam packed with hungry people. We ate out a lot, so we were used to waiting... They had a mini fair thing going outside, with live music and a few stores of local crafts. I didn't buy anything.

Actually this trip, I didn't buy too much at all. A couple of stubbie coolers, two shirts, Dobby got new skate shoes as the pair of shoes she had with her, had worn holes in the soles, and then at Port Lincoln, we found a tiny little jeweler, and bought two lovely necklaces, an anklet, a little frog on a stone, all for about $100. The old man behind the counter, who did a great job of talking up his little store and handmade jewelery, also gave me a little gold frog trinket thing, which I keep in my purse for luck.

The last night of the trip was at Whyalla. Finally, phone service and civilisation! Yippee! Not a bad little spot really. Tidy. There was a mix up with the bookings though. Fluffy booked the trip way back in July and paid deposits. We were booked into one park at Whyalla, and missed the turn. So when we were outside the other, we phoned and got directions back to the proper one.

Only to find out we were not booked in there, but in fact the first one we had parked outside! Duh! Funny. While there, Fluffy did what he always does, and wandered off to find someone to speak to. The people behind and one over from us, had Queensland plates on their Jeep. He asked where they were from.

Well, they were from Gayndah and around that area. Oh, then you'd know my father-in-law, says Fluffy. Yes, in fact, she was my dad's cousin! Tiny, tiny world! They were lovely people and quite happy to swap addresses. Pop was happy to know they were around as well.

Just goes to show, you have to be careful! You never know who you will meet!

Got home today safe and sound, and my darling little Dodgy has been so attentive, purring and meowing all over us! Very unlike him... and I think the dog is happy he is back on stable familiar ground too!

I'll put up some pictures separate for your perusal too. Hope I didn't bore you!