A Breath of Fresh Ayre - Day 5

Day 5 Wednesday June 15th

Around 1:30am we both woke up and wanted to go to the loo, so out we climb from our comfy warm beds and off we trekked to the toilets about 50 metres away. It was so cold outside that I was shivering by the time we got back to our camper. The next time I woke up it was already 7:20am and still quite dark outside, but the dogs were up and eager to get out for their wee walk.

 

There was a gorgeous sunrise today which I braved the cold to go out and capture with my camera. Once the sun was up and drying off our canvas, we had breakfast and then packed up our camp as we were leaving to go back to Ceduna today. It took us a little longer to get the job done as we wanted to reorganise things a bit. Then when it came time to fold up the tent section the wind decided to blow and fill up the inside making the task very difficult, but we managed in the end.

 Our campsite at Nullarbor Roadhouse

Before leaving, we took a few photos and bought a couple of souvenirs including a wooly cap for me to keep my head warm and stop the wind from blowing my hair all over the place.

We had only driven about 20 kilometres from the roadhouse, when I spotted an eagle sitting on a stump about 15 metres off the side of the road. James stopped the car while I got out and took a photo trying to get as close to it without scaring it off. I'd only wished it did take off as I'd would have liked to see how big its wing span was.

About 80 kilometres further along the highway, we stopped at a rest stop to have some morning tea of coffee and date loaf as I was feeling a bit hungry. James eyes were sore from the wind, so I took over the driving. Our next stop was at Nundroo Roadhouse to fill up with petrol which was 47 cents a litre cheaper than the Nullarbor Roadhouse. The weather today wasn't the best as the sky was covered in a thin blanket of cloud making the landscape look very dull and dark.

 Every where we travelled we passed this sign, "Stop Creeping" which I thought could have lots of meaning with a little imagination. I guess they have a real problem with impatient drivers tailgating.



As we neared Ceduna, the sun finally shone through the hazy cloud warming us up and giving the landscape a bit of colour.

Ceduna Foreshore  Image via Wikipedia

 Our campsite at the caravan park

After a quick drive around Ceduna to get our bearings, we bought fish and chips for lunch and ate it in the car on the waterfront as it was still a bit windy and cold.  We weren't very impressed with Ceduna so decided to only stay for one night instead of the two we had planned. The Shelly Beach cavaran park cost $29.50 for a powered site for one night. It was a lovely park situated on 55 acres of natural coastal reserve next to the high sand dunes that lead onto the beach. Each site is fairly secluded by trees and fencing and all are close to the ensuite amenities.

Once we set up camp we pocked up a self drive tour map and spent the afternoon seeing the sights around Ceduna, following the coastline around Thevenard to the slipway where we saw some pelicans and fishing boats. 

We then drove on to Pinky Point platform which had a lighthouse and views out to a group of islands said to be the same islands referred to in Jonathan Swift's classic book "Gulliver's Travels" except he named it Lilliput and of course in reality there aren't any small people living there.

As it was after 4pm we headed back to camp where we relaxed outdoors while I typed up our travel diary until the sun started to set and it turned a bit chilly.

Animal tally:

1 eagle, 1 dead skink, 2 pelicans, several water birds

Another day of touring over for the Short & Sweet Tourists. See you again soon....