SUNDAY 11 MARCH ......Today we headed off crossing into Sth Aust, Sandra isn’t feeling well with a sore throat & back. We drive east stopping at a number of scenic spots overlooking the cliffs. The free camp area we choose was vacant but by the time nightfall arrived there were six other vans in. MONDAY 12 MARCH....Happy Birthday to Karen & Sharon. We headed off with our phones changing to SA time which makes us only 1/2hr behind you’s now. Today we stopped at the Head of the Bight where there are walking paths & platforms showing the end/beginning of the cliffs. It is $5 but well worth it.
Rans’s golf has not improved with one shot going 3cm to his right.!! Another shot landing in the top of a grass shrub!!! The boys golfing has been a sight to see with them using plastic bottle tops to hit off as you can’t place a tee in this ground as it is sooo hard, and you don’t want to hit your club on the rocky ground. John has got 1 par whilst so far Rans hasn’t lost a ball which is good for him :) He has had one double figures (11) hole but the rest are not too bad. Sandra’ condition worsened today so we headed into Fowlers Bay, a small fishing village with a van park. After setting up they drove into Ceduna to the hospital where she was given some antibiotics. We in the meantime made some calls as there was no phone service across the Nullarbor. Also congratulations to Toni and the birth of her baby girl, Duskka. Rans meets up with 3 other ex coppers here and has a good talk about the old days. The most expensive fuel was at Nullarbor Roadhouse being $1.99.9...TUESDAY 13 MARCH .... Today is washing etc day as we have dust in everything & we mean everything. The weather becomes very warm & breezy again. It is a very hot day 36deg at 7pm, we went for a short walk along the Jetty with John & Sandra who is feeling slightly better.
We stopped at Pardoo and it was still sprinkling but no strikes so we played the hole with John getting the luckiest bounce off a tree I have seen, we both went OK, a 5 each on a Par 4. We then made it to Ceduna and set up, then heading into town for fruit & vegies as we couldn't bring any into South Aus. The arvo is taken up with paperwork. The weather has come good with sunshine & a nice breeze. We have a wonderful corned beef meal for tea, it was so yummy.....THURSDAY 15 MARCH......Rans goes for a walk along the beachfront & streets. We then did some home duties before heading out to the Golf Course for our last 2 holes, probably our worse 2 holes. I got a 10..par 5 & a 7 for a par 4, but I LOST MY BALL ! which had survived 17 previous holes. I finished up with a 134 whilst John had 117, not to bad for us & especially some of the places that we played. 
The arvo we went for a drive out around the towns foreshore & then out to Denial Bay, where there are Oyster Farms. We returned & purchased some Oysters & prawns for tea. So it was Oysters la Natural, Coconut prawns, Garlic Prawns, Battered & Crumbed Fish, salad & chips how good!!!! ....FRIDAY 16 MARCH ...A small drip of rain during the night, this morn Rans washes the van & car don't know what for as it will be dirty within 24hrs !!! Rans looking forward to watching Footy tonite...League on TV yippie!!!....The boys had Oysters Killpatrick before dinner tonite. So we watched the Broncos v Knights game and then Rans set up to watch the Dragons v Tigers but as the game was about to start Imparja TV went live to the game just as the full time siren was sounding so we saw the score..well done. Anyway he watched it to half time. SAT 17 MARCH.... We headed off this morning to Streaky Bay which is a nice town on the water. We decide to try a free camp 20k out of town, the road was in good nick & the site we had was only 150m from the ocean, also no other vans etc so it was good.
After setting up we then went for a drive following the coastline seeing some wonderful sites, rugged escarpments, fantastic blue waters & beaches. We stopped at places like Smooth Pool,Speed Pt, Tractor Beach & the Granites.
We then made our way into town & out to Cape Bauer,Whistling Rock & the blowholes which although they weren't working they are approx 50m from the ocean and there are a number of them. we also stopped at the Servo where there was a small info centre with a replica of the largest shark caught off the Bay 1500kg.
We then returned for drinks. SUNDAY 18 MARCH....Today we headed off around 9.15am & drove down to Sceale Bay, a nice small town on the water. There is also a good free camp here. We then drove down to the Sea Lion colony at Pt Labatt passing Baird Bay a beautiful waterway with a number of free camping spots on the water. At the Pt there is a viewing platform that looks down onto more than 50 sea lions which are lazing on rocks/sand.
We watched 2 of them having a great time playing with each other in the clear waters, it was great to see. We then made our way inland to Murphy's Haystacks, a group of rocks that from a distance look like haystacks. This was also Amazing to see as there is nothing else around other than these rocks with a convex shape and colours.
We then made our way back into town & had lunch at a nice cafe on the waters of Streaky Bay, then made our way out to Back Beach where it is an area for surfers not swimmers, but the boys jumped into a couple of rock pools which were so clear & according to them a bit cool !! We then returned to our site for arvo drinks & plans for our next few days. At this site we also had a toilet which was up off the ground and if you left the door open you had the best views of the ocean, .....luckily no one drove past!!! 
MONDAY 19 MARCH.....We headed off today towards Elliston, stopping at Talia/Woolshed Caves & The Tub. Here there is a large cave which goes back in under the ground, it looks like one of the caves has caved in, but the coastline here looks... yes again... fantastic.
The beach of Talia also goes for miles and has the best colours & waves. We then continued onto Elliston & set up for 1 nite. After lunch we went for a drive out to Walters Rock and drove along the beach. The waters here were also clear, just a great sight. We then went on the Clifftop Dve around Elliston doing the Northern side. Another area of fantastic views, colours, cliffs, water & also there are a number of sculptors along the way. One is a pair of huge thongs & John decides to lay down on his back & slip his feet in the straps for a photo....only one problem the thong broke so it was a hurried job to try & fix before the next tourist arrives!! Anyway we think it wasn't the first time they had been broken, so it was a quick exit. We then stopped at a number of viewpoints, all just magnificent passing places like Black Fellows, Cape Finniss & Salmon Pt. We drove into town for a quick look before heading back for drinks. Rans not feeling too well with his back/hip out. After tea the 3 go for a walk down to the wharf for sunset whilst Rans listens to Manly getting beaten !( feeling sicker now !) TO THE SHARKS !! oh boy. They get some great photos of the sunset over the jetty. 
TUESDAY 20 MARCH....... Rans is up early and goes for a walk and gets some sunrise photos from the Jetty. After breakie we head off stopping at Lock Well, where you have to park your van approx 1km from the platform overlooking the ocean it was pretty disappointing. We then stopped at Cummings Lookout which was great, it was probably the most scariest place to stand with a straight drop off to the Ocean, plus in a number of places the ground has started to subside.
We then continued onto Coffin Bay. It was very windy driving & it hasn't let off. We have also got a slight shower of rain just after setting up. The Bewells have gone into Pt Lincoln to buy a new battery for their van as the other one is RS. We have given the van a quick clean to get rid of some of the dirt...only some. The evening is windy with slight showers but clears later. WEDNESDAY 21 MARCH....Wake to a cool morning, we do some washing then head into Port Lincoln for the day, we go straight to the servo and get 72lts..it only holds 75! ( we were definately getting low !) We then meet up with the Bewells who have to to take their car in to check the wiring, we do a bit of shopping catch up with the Butlers and have a cuppa. We then have a drive around the Marina. There are heaps and heaps of huge trawlers here all catching Tuna mainly. There are also some very nice, big homes on the canals & waterways. We made our way back into town & went to a Chinese Restaurant which did GF food it was great for Caz & Sand. We returned to the van park and did some work around the van. THURSDAY 22 MARCH.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURPH.....Today the 4 of us went for a drive around Coffin Bay, out into the Nat Park. We first headed out towards Gunyah Beach, which turned into a very sandy road. We stopped before it got bad so John & Rans walked ahead to check on the road. They found a Britz van stuck in the sand, with a couple trying to get out. At the time the boys were on top of a sand hill and decided to run down to where the couple was, with both boys sinking up past their knees. John then went back to the car to tell the girls and move the car, whilst Rans helped the couple get out of the sand which they succeeded in doing. The girls also decided to run up & down the sand hills....you could hear them laughing for miles.
Well it goes without saying we reversed up & headed further into the Nat Park going to Pt Avoid, Almonta Beach Lookout & Golden Is Lookout, all of which were great, even with an overcast day. We then headed over to Yangie Bay where you can camp but sites are small. We didn't venture any further as they had shut the rest of the Park off due to culling of Roos. We made our way back to our vans where we done some repair work . Later in the Arvo John & Rans went & bought a couple of doz Oysters and came back and opened them..with a great team effort & no losing of fingers!! We then had Oys Nat & Killpatrick, very nice. 
After tea, us 2 went for a walk along the foreshore but it was a bit cool so back for a hot shower. Having problems with Tv or aerial or cables...I think rans will throw something very soon!! FRIDAY 23 MARCH......We headed off fairlyy early today as we had things to do in Pt Lincoln, so it was a big drive all of 54kms to North Shields. The Bewells had already left as they had to go into the centre of town re their electrical..we think it was still dark when they left.(8am). We arrived, J & S were already setup. After we set up, us 2 headed off into town (10kms) away for what we thought would be an hr or so....turned out to be 4 & half hrs...Oh Boy!!! The rest of the arvo was spent trying to pack what we had bought & then trying to get the TV to work.....Rans is here now at 9.15pm & has just got it working perfect...their is 6min to go in the Parra game.....yes he was very close to throwing something. We have had some rain this arvo/nite but it is clear now. We can hear the waves splashing up against the rock walls & have a good view out into the Bay. SAT 24 MARCH........Rans had a bad nite sleep with his knees playing up so he stayed in bed this morning until Sandra came a knocking so as to go shopping with Carol....only problem, the stores weren't open yet. ( she had not looked at a clock !) Good thing about holidaying you don't have to worry about dates & time. Anyway the girls went into Pt Linc for some shopping whilst the boys worked on a few things on their vans. After lunch we all went into town to the Fish shop where they had a sale on, with huge discounts so we got some stuff for Easter, ( just in case the boys don't catch anything !! ) not that we don't trust the boys fishing abilities ????.. We then went for a drive north to Tumby Bay a small town on the water, very nice but again the seaweed on the coast is so so much, it is everywhere and at nearly all our stops so far, across the Southern part of Aus.
We returned for drinks/bikkies etc & discuss our plans for the next couple of weeks (as Easter school hols is then) prior to heading North to meet up with the others. SUN 25 MARCH......A clean up day,car..van..washing. A real nice weather day, no wind, not cold so we all did our cleaning today. Rans is still having prob's with his TV looks like an aerial problem. The Bewells came through & he could watch his footy over at their abode. Anyway bye for now hope all of you's are well, Happy B'Day to Murph, Jo Urkie, and of course a big HAPPY 25th Birthday to our Adam. xxxxxxxxxx
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