The Eyre Peninsula

Our first stop in South Australia, after crossing the Nullarbor, was the sleepy fishing village of Fowler's Bay. We arrived late in the afternoon, with the steely grey water and blustery winds making the place feel rather bleak - we wondered if we should have pushed on. That was until we discovered a sight that makes every child's eyes light up with joy and wonder....sand dunes! The biggest we had ever seen. We trudged up and had a go with Tom's skim board, but the action was rather tame. We were then joined by a friendly local grandpa, who seeing our frustrated efforts, drove up the dunes to meet us bringing with him a home made toboggan and the secret to record breaking (and possibly bone-breaking) speed - cooking oil spray. Fowler's Bay had redeemed itself, and we had a fabulously exhausting evening running up and flying down the dunes.

Fowlers Bay

Friendly grandpa's friendly dog.

Our next stop was Streaky Bay, where we enjoyed a fabulous spot right on the beach. The only downside was the minor birds, who made a home (or rather, large township) in the tree above us, using our van as their "dump point". Poor John had to take the car and van off the next day and spend 2 hours at the car wash trying to get the poo off, which had covered them both like a thick blanket of snow and set like tar in the baking sun.

Once cleaned and repositioned, we were able to better appreciate the charms of Streaky Bay. The weather was lovely and we enjoyed a few days down time after a tiring week of constant driving. We were camped near our trusty travel companions, the Brewers, and the kids had fun for a whole day making puppets out of socks and wooden spoons, and rehearsing in the puppet theatre/annexe.

The waters off SA enjoy a rather infamous reputation as home to large numbers of great white sharks, a fact that was never far from our mind. Shark phobias are NOT helped by a visit to the local service station, where they have displayed a model of  a 5+ metre, 1.5 tonne shark, that was caught in 1990 with rod and reel by a local 19 yr old. We all had turns posing for the obligatory head in mouth shot.

Thomas also had the unfortunate fate of being bitten by a local pelican, the ungrateful bird's response to his feeding it a fish head. He was shaken, but not stirred, and hopes his scar will last until he gets back to school.





Mum always on hand for the action shots.



The main highlight of our time at Streaky Bay was an opportunity to swim with the local sea-lions and dolphins in their natural habitat. We caught a small boat out of nearby Baird Bay, out to an offshore island, home to a large colony of sea-lions. As soon as we arrived in the protected waters of the reef (safe from those pesky sharks) four or five of them came up to meet us. We quickly jumped in the freezing water (two wetsuits and we were still cold!) and spent  nearly an hour with these gorgeous creatures. They were just like puppies, swimming amongst us in a whirling display of inquisitive playfulness. If it wasn't for loss of feeling in our extremities, we would like to have stayed all day. Even Georgie had a go, until she got too cold and enjoyed the rest of the time on the boat having hot chocolates.

After that, we went out in to open water, where we came across a pod of local bottlenose dolphins. We were very careful to stay close to our guide who was wearing a shark shield around his ankle (supposedly providing a 10m safety zone) - giving John a huge shock when it brushed him on the back of the head - said it felt like he'd been whacked with a cricket bat. The dolphins were extra-ordinary, swimming under and around us, only centimetres away. An unforgettable day - a bucket list item checked!

How cute is he!

Not to mention him (or her).



Enjoying a reviving hot chocolate post swim



Our next stop was to Port Lincoln, on the tip of the Eyre Peninsula. Again, in our ignorance of our own country, we didn't know what to expect. We were not expecting a thriving, bustling town, with a Gold Coast style marina development, set on what is apparently the second largest harbour in the world (Rio's the biggest if you were wondering). Apparently Port Lincoln has the highest number of millionaires per head of population in the country, thanks to the booming tuna industry. With 95% of product being sent to Japan for between one to five thousand PER FISH - the flash houses and Ferrari's start to make sense. One operator we met worked for a company who turned over $70 million in tuna sales a year! It was refreshing to see a thriving Australian town whose fortunes were not based on the back of the mining industry, although we did question it's sustainability. Hopefully the tuna barons are at least planning for the continued profits of future heirs, if not the survival of the species.

After so enjoying our Baird Bay experience, and wanting to learn more about this fishy business up close and personal, we signed up for the "swim with the tuna" tour. We caught a boat out to one of the many tuna farms out in the bay, where the tuna, once "herded" via a complicated system of baiting and netting, are kept in a large circular net enclosure to "fatten up". Or more correctly, "marble up". Apparently the Japanese like their tuna the same way they do their beef - the wild ones (ie. caught on the traditional rod and reel), are worth a fraction of the farmed ones, as they are not as flavourful.

Once there we donned wetsuits and jumped in with them - it was amazing! The larger ones weighed up to 60kgs, and they were, as you might expect, extremely fast. Thank God for the gloves and boots we wore - especially when a bucket of pilchards was thrown in with us, creating a rather disconcerting "tuna spa" (ie. feeding frenzy). Georgie had a cold, so decided to sit this one out, having a lovely time instead with Ivy and Grace Brewer, playing with starfish, hermit crabs and seahorses in the touch pool.



Getting ready to swim with tuna





Hard to get an idea of scale - this one's about 150cm



Perusing the countless fishing boats in Port Lincoln marina.
Port Lincoln has the largest fishing fleet in the world.

  Inspired by tales of millionaire fisherman, we decided to have another go at fishing ourselves, off the jetty at the caravan park. Thomas at last broke the drought, and was so excited to haul in his first fish.

Success! (the fish was too small to see keep)