Today we packed up and headed off again (after a quick game of pool). We
continued our journey east along the Erye Highway. We stopped in Kimba to have
lunch and a look at the silo art, the big galah, and the sign marking the
halfway point across Australia on the A1 Highway.
We then continued through Port Augusta and passed the turn off that took us
north to the Flinders Ranges back in June - and therefore completing our loop of
the middle and west coast of Australia. Rather than continuing to Adelaide on
the A1 we veered south east towards Melrose in the southern Flinders Rangers. It
was a pretty long day in the car, so we arrived at the Melrose Caravan Park late
in the afternoon.
After dinner we had another movie night. This time we picked The Iron Giant.
Today we went on a sea lion and dolphin snorkeling tour! I liked the sea lions
more because they were so playful, like dogs! And when Olivia (our in water
guide - not me) swam around in circles the sea lions copied her! When I was back
on the boat (which was actually quite small) We had Milo and Mum and Dad who
were still in the water found a dead Blue Ring Octopus!! Then we went to find
some dolphins to swim with.
It took a while to find some dolphins and we were just about to give up and head
back when we found some! We all quickly got in the water and were watching one
when it swam away! Luckily, there were some others nearby, but it took a while
to be close enough to see them (you aren't allowed to get closer to the animal
than one metre, but the water wasn't the clearest) There was three of them but
they all lost interest after a while so we headed back to have lunch. On the way
back some dolphins followed us for a bit, swimming under and around the boat!
One of them was called Firefox and he has a hole in its tail! Though they don't
know how it got it. They are actually going to name there new (bigger) boat
after him.
For lunch Theo and I, along with another kid, had home made chicken nuggets
while the adults had a local fish called a Blue Morwong. It was so big that the
one fish fed everyone! For dessert the adults had rhubarb, strawberry and blood
orange pavlova and us kids had an ice cream. Theo and I had a Milo Ice Cream (we
actually also tried the pavlova because mum told the chef I like rhubarb! -
which I was unaware of). The lady next to me was from Canada! And some of the
others were staying at the same caravan park (Islands Caravan Park) as us!
We did a sea lion tour where we got to swim with sea lions and dolphins. It was
really fun. First we went to the sea lions, they were really funny and cute. If
you swam in the opposite direction of them they might follow you. One of them
played with a shell. But if you stood up above of the water (because it was
pretty shallow) they would go away. There was a male sea lion that could attack
you if you stood up. At the end Dad found an blue ringed octopus - we think it
was dead, which is good because it has enough venom to kill a human. There is no
antivenom for blue ring octopus.
Afterwards we went to the dolphin part. They didn't pop up until we were about
to go back. They eventually popped up so we got in the water. But once we got in
the water he went away again. But he came back with some friends. So we got to
swim with the dolphins. I could hear the dolphins talking to each other using
their echo location when it swam under me. The dolphins can get pretty big, 2-3
meters.
Then we got back in the boat and headed back to land. We got to have a hot
shower then we had lunch. The kids lunch was chicken nuggets and the adults had
fish. Afterwards the adults had pavlova and the kids had ice cream. Olivia and I
also had a bit of pavlova.
After lunch Dad and I went down to the beach because there was lots and lots of
crabs. Some of them had arms longer than their bodies.
Today we did a bit more site seeing along the coastal scenic drives. First we
headed back out to see Whistling Rock and the Blowholes to see if they were a
bit more active (it was closer to high tide). The Whistling Rocks was making a
lot more noise, but sadly the Blowholes were still not spraying any water. As a
consolation we did see a few dolphins swim by, and there were lots of lizards
running around on the sand dunes - it was rather entertaining watching the
lizards chase each other around.
Next we made our way to the Westwall Way Loop. Here we stopped at Smooth Pool to
spend time searching the rock pools for fish, crabs, shrimp, seaweed, limpets
and more. Once we had our fill of the pools we drove further down the coast to
Speeds Point and had a quick look out over the bay. To complete the loop we
stopped at Yanerbie Sandhill. We found a good spot to get out and have a play.
The kids did a lot of jumping down the dunes and climbing back up again until
they tired themselves out and it was time to head home.
Today we packed up camp and headed the 70km down the coast to the Islands
Caravan Park in Streaky Bay. We all agreed that the caravan park had the
fanciest toilet and shower setup of any caravan park we have been too.
While setting up camp Theo discovered that Waffle (the crochet whale) had lost
an eye. Until we could find a replacement eye Olivia offered to make him an eye
patch. He looks pretty good now.
In the afternoon we headed out on the Cape Bauer Loop scenic drive. Most of the
drive was on dirt roads, and with the late afternoon heat we saw lots and lots
of shingle back lizards basking on and beside the road.
The main stop was at Whistling Rocks and the Blowholes. The tide was a little
low for the rocks to be doing a lot of whistling, but we did hear it a few
times. We spent a while watching the waves roll in below the lookout and shoot
up through the small holes in the rock shelf. The next bay over from the
Whistling Rocks had the Blowholes, but the tide was too low for action, so we
had to settle for enjoying the view of the cliffs in the late afternoon sun.
We stopped in at the Streaky Bay township on the way home to walk out along the
old pier and check out the cage swimming area before grabbing dinner.
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