Blow a Brown Dog off its Chain

When you are snug and secure in your own home, the weather is fairly unimportant. Travelling, and especially camping, makes you extremely conscious of even minute changes. The past three days have been delightful, warm and sunny until now when I was told that it is windy enough to blow a brown dog off its chain. I've never heard the expression before. Is it a South Australian thing or have I just been talking to someone with a talent for words?

From Friday through till Tuesday morning, I stayed in Port Lincoln. Two nights were spent in a caravan park only steps away from the water. It is quite a large park, with perhaps 30 cabins, 50 powered sites and a large unpowered area which I mentioned in my Unanswered Questions blog. Around me were the usual mix of tents and campers. Once again there was a cyclist, this time from Switzerland, planning to ride completely around Australia in twelve months. As he has only come (only!!) from Melbourne so far, it looks to me as though he will be in Darwin by the middle of the wet season. But who am I to discourage anyone! I wish him luck.

Friday night I stopped in a motorhome parking area. A woman at the information centre was very definite that it was for motorhomes only. I pointed out that it was the Campervan and Motorhome Association (which I belong to) that negotiated with councils for parking areas and I left her to draw the conclusion that perhaps she was wrong. However, I did drive up to look at it and it definitely said that it was for motorhomes only. I can justify my existence in a place like that. After all I am in a motor and for the moment it is my home, ergo a motorhome. Unfortunately the sign was very specific, no caravans, campervans or tents and I really have to class myself as a small campervan, not a micro motorhome.

She suggested a free camp called Fishery Bay which she told me was on a good dirt road and a nice quiet area. That was half right. It was not a good road, very potholed in places but it was quiet. It was so quiet that there was only one other person there, a long term camper with a stack of lobster pots and a dog as big as a shetland pony. I braved the bad road again and went back to town. Feeling like a criminal, I had dinner in town and waited till after dark and crept out to the parking area, where I squeezed myself in among several caravans (yes, lawbreakers!) and motorhomes. I even woke early and left while the dew was still on my windscreen. That's when I booked into the caravan park.


During the next days, as well as visiting a winery and a museum and a very well stocked Aboriginal Art Centre, I found another area also designated motorhome parking. It looked a little more secluded, with one rig already set up there.  I think it is important to have more than one person parking even in an approved area, just for safety and security. So I conveniently parked my conscience and my van there ovenight. I was actually doing a civic service.


I pottered northward along  the gulf today. After a good hour on the road I called in to Tumby Bay and then stopped at Arno Bay for lunch - just a coffee and a muffin. I had a huge plate of veges last night and I don't want to overdo the healthy eating bit. I might get a taste for real meals. I have once again settled into a small caravan park, quite near the ferry that I've booked on for tomorrow. There are a lot of permanent or long term caravanners here. I was invited to join a big group tonight having a bbq to celebrate the owner's birthday. I don't think I will bother. I can't believe I even said that!  Me, the Silver Socialite! But it is windy and it is cold and I've put my bedsocks on. I really don't want to socialise with a big group who all know each other. It's not like going to a Toastmasters meeting or a Red Hatters lunch where I have a common interest. I know it wouldn't be a problem. I can fit into any group but I am going to be unsociable tonight.

Playing Ladies

Once I settled into the caravan park in Elliston, put up my awning and set out my table and chairs, I had a couple of days just to rest and ramble. Unsurprisingly I wandered around the very small town and checked out the coffee shop and the bakery. Decisions! Decisions!

I had lunch at the cafe one day and shared a table with a couple of the local ladies who were part way through their daily walk for fitness, stopping for sustenance along the day. They said that sometimes there were a whole stack of them walking, six or seven when they were all there and they spread out right across the road. I thought that was a pretty safe place to be most of the time.

Eventually I settled on the bakery where they do a good business and have the people skills to bring their customers back. On my second visit, Ros knew my order and just about had it ready for me. By the third day, I was a regular for brunch. Ilona was interested in my van and talked with me (oh well, listened to me) about my travels. They deserve to have a good business. If they are so friendly with people who will be gone in a few days, they must have a very loyal clientele. And they do have the best vanilla  slices in the southern hemisphere - or maybe in Australia - or at the very least, in South Australia. I am a connoisseur. You can trust me on this!

From the lookout

Sunset, Coffin Bay from Kay's verandah

My hostess Kay in Coffin Bay

Baby Jumpers for Zambia Mission

Still playing ladies, I went on to Coffin Bay where I had arranged to meet Red Hat Queen Kay at her home for coffee. I ended up camping in her driveway when we had talked into the night. I will add Kay to my People of the Journey South Australia which I update regularly with some of the fascinating people I have met along the way. Kay's husband is at a mission in Zambia at the moment so I passed my knitted baby jumpers to Kay. (For those who donated wool to get me started on this project, I have attached a photo of the almost finished products, some needing to be stitched up but the knitting completed.) The big diaappointment with Coffin Bay was to find out that Matthew Flinders named it after his friend Isaac Coffin, a naval officer. I had imagined a more macabre origin to the name of the bay.

Christine, Oriel and another Red Hat doll

As they say, too much of a good thing is never enough. Today I drove across the peninsula, about 70km, to Port Lincoln where I met up with the Lincoln ladies for their Red Hat get-together. It was hosted by Christine who showed her collection of more than 600 dolls, including all her own from her childhood. The photo show Christine with Queen Rose (Oriel) and in the background, the Red Hatter doll that Christine had made.

Fresh Eyre and Sunshine - the Eyre Peninsula

 As I drove along some long empty roads in the last few days, it struck me how deserted they are and how isolated a driver can be. In some cases it was almost an hour before I saw a vehicle approaching. In my best Kath and Kim impersonation, I wanted to call out ‘Look at moi, look at moi’, wave hysterically and toss streamers or balloons from the car. But what did I do? I raised an index finger laconically from the steering wheel and received a similar acknowledgement from the other driver. In seconds we were out of sight of each other, facing the deserted road again. Contact made! It can be interesting. If someone doesn't wave, I tend not to wave to the next driver who invariably does. So I get back into the swing, waving to  the next car who may or may not acknowledge me. I think there should be a rule that if you are driving east or north, you should raise the index finger first. That frees up the decision making for those travelling west or south.

One of the challenges of living cheaply on the road is finding a good camping site. On my way east from Streaky Bay I detoured twice to look at bush camping. On one road the corrugations were so bad that the fillings dropped out of my teeth before I hit the sandy stretch where I slewed around so wildly that somehow the fillings got thrown back into place. I gave up before I got to the camping spot. (I should have read my Camps book more carefully and I would have known that there is a world of difference between a camp spot and a camp ground.) The next spot I managed to get to but found three small turn-out areas. There were two vans in one, and nothing and nobody else in sight. I gave this one a miss too.

 The previous night I had had a similar experience. I had my Camps Australia book and found what seemed like a good spot a few kilometres south of Streaky Bay. I followed the signs, found a small settlement but with no sign of the toilets and showers promised in the book. Going on a bit, finally I found the sign to the bay I was looking for.  The road was an adventure in itself. Occasionally the track divided into two.  The one I took invariable ended in a soft sandy bog or a washout and I had to reverse to try the other. I don't often (I should say, I don't always) talk to myself but I was questioning my wisdom for quite a while before I had the sense to turn around. Two other tracks failed to take me to a camping area. Then, just as I was about to give up and head for the town again, I saw two vans parked  just off the road and there it was, the sign saying this was free camping. When I went to the other drivers and inquired where I should get my certificate for finding the place, it turned out that they were also expecting some reward. Two other rigs arrived shortly and we had quite a comfortable stay. There was a toilet, a hybrid which I have got used to. There was a shower, a hose hanging under an almost empty tank. There was also a great sense of camaradie as we all set up and then shared a drink. The view along the way had been worth detouring for but it took a while before peace of mind kicked in.

Elliston Child Care Centre

Along this stretch of the road, there are really very few camping grounds (as distinct from camping spots) so I have been forced into a caravan park for three nights. As it happens, it is one of the few that I have seen that caters for solo travellers. At $20 a night, it is not much more than some of the camping spots which often charge $10 plus a permit for camping in a national park or conservation area.

 I am in Elliston which calls itself the Salmon Capital of Australia. It certainly seems to be a fisherman's paradise as most campers here come just for the fishing. They go out for a couple of hours and come back with a dozen or so fish, many of which they give away so they can make room in their fridge for the ones they are going to catch tomorrow. 


I stood on the jetty for ages waiting to see a small penguin that people had told me about. Then I thought I saw it on the rocks and watched intently for ages so that I'd know when it was swimming towards me for a photo. But when it flapped  its wings and flew off, I gave up on it! Who wants a flying penguin! I went for a drive along the cliffs to look at some sculptures which survive the ravages of the wind and rain with varying degrees of success. Apparently I was too early for this year's new sculptures but it was interesting to see the variety of subjects covered. If it doesn't already exist, there should be a law, The Travellers' Law of Local Events and Exhibitions i.e. it happened last week or it won't happen till the day after you leave!

Yesterday my neighbour Marco had been fishing with his young son and, after he had cleaned and filleted his fish, gave me a few fillets of either whiting or tommy ruffs. I am not sure what I had as I have been checking with a few of the fisher folk as they cleaned their catch and the fish look the same to me. I had assumed they were whiting because of the size. Last night I went to the bbq area and cooked them in breadcrumbs. Lovely! I had a few chats with two older fellows in a tent on the other side of me. I was trying to get a peek into their tent to check on the sleeping arrangements as they seemed to disappear into their tent early in the night. However today one of them managed to drop the phrase 'My wife and I' into the conversation about every two minutes of so. Perhaps he could read my mind. This evening I've had happy hour with three groups who have just arrived for up to six weeks camping and fishing. It was probably a good time to meet with them as they will be a tight knit community within a few days, as long time residents.

One lazy soul, thirty steps down to the lookout

Two hardy souls part way down the 284 steps

This is a very quiet little town probably made up equally of residents and campers as both caravan parks are apparently popular for most of the year. There is the usual bakery and cafe, an IGA and not much else. The past two days I have just walked close to home. Today I did the cliff top drive to look at sculptures. These are replaced regularly as most things don't survive nature's force for long. I also went to Lock's Well, the main feature of which is a 284 step staircase to the beach. I could have camped there free as there are two vans that have been there for a fortnight as well a few that have come and gone.

1500 Hits

Thank you to all my faithful followers who have chalked up 1500 hits to my blog. I think I have finally got everything up to date but will check again right from the beginning. I expect to be sitting around for a few days so, as long as I have internet coverage, I'll check all my blogs. I have just got to the coast again in time for wet weather to start. Since leaving Adelaide, I have overnighted at Dublin beach and Port Augusta (both free camps) and am now moving down the Eyre Peninsula in the rain.


I know when to come in out of the rain. It is bucketing down, almost like a north Queensland downpour. Tonight I am staying at a motel in Tumby Bay. I have showered (and after two days, I really needed that), washed my hair, rinsed out some clothes and turned the heater on in the bathroom to dry them. I have the TV on in the sitting room. The owner put it on for me, so I've just turned off the sound and will turn it up for the news and weather - saves remembering what to do! I've sent off some emails, had a coffee and read a bit of my book. Having updated this blog and checked the new photo of Oscar on Facebook, I will put my feet up and doze. Life is tough!!