The West Coast

A Trip to the West Coast - November 2001

After leaving Adelaide in darkness at 4.15 am, the first stop was for some tucker at Port Wakefield. My passenger then had a 2,5 hour nap until past Iron Knob. We made excellent time due to lack of traffic and leadfoot driving. We noticed that it looked like the farmers would be happy with this year’s crop, as wheat harvesting was in full force.

Upon arrival in Ceduna after lunch we checked into the Airport Caravan Park. We’d stayed there before, and what stuck in mind most from the previous visit in April 1997 was that the place was infested with moths. This time around, it was still as grotty, but there were plenty of bed bugs on the sheet instead. Was I glad I brought my own! There were three beds in the place and all of them were so soft that you nearly slid off when sitting on them. After dropping our stuff off, we immediately drove on to Secret Reef. The first impression is the striking whiteness of the big sand dunes which look like mountains of sugar. When we arrived, the wind was howling onshores. There was still a little wave but it was totally blown out.

I wanted to have a look at another beach around the corner and after a turnoff we reached a little descend which, despite the soft sand, looked like our car would be able to make it. I walked ahead and Ron put his foot down to race through the sand only to find himself getting bogged. After fruitless attempts to free the car in the warm midday sun, I decided to get some help. Because of the heat I took a water bottle with me and walked around the corner where I saw aerials which indicated some sort of accomodation that was inhabited. I called out if somebody was there and after a few moments a figure appeared in a doorway. I explained to the guy that we got bogged around the corner and he just replied, "A lot of people get stuck there". Although he didn’t have a 4WD he was going to drive his station wagon around to see what he could do. Thankfully, another vehicle rocked up shortly after he arrived and with his 4WD had no problems towing us backwards out of the sand hole.

After that we pretty much had enough exercise for the day and visited an old mate of Ron’s called Moose, who lives somewhere in the sand dunes. After doing some long overdue catching up (approximately thirty years worth) we discussed the prospect of a surf for tomorrow (Thursday) and then returned to Ceduna to have a meal. We were back at Caves at 7.30 am the next morning. The waves were coming through about 4-6 foot. I was watching from the clifftop, minding the dogs and next thing I see is Ron going over the falls. When he popped up I held my breath because his board looked like it was broken in half. Thankfully it wasn’t, and I was relieved to see him coming in after that. I must say the paddle out at Caves doesn’t look that appealing to me with the channel and the weed and all that, and I was glad I chose to stay on shore.

While we waited around for our mate, Ron saw something else in the water, close to shore. It turned out to be seal, looking real cute, sticking his head above the surface. I’m sure the toothy fish that might have been following him around thought so too! At one stage I was certain to see a small shark going through the shorebreak amongst the kelp. Eventually it was time to say goodbye and we left at 12.30 pm to catch up with another mate, Kiwi White, at Port Lincoln.

Port Lincoln

Nothing exciting happened on the drive but we did stop at a couple of picturesque places like Purlowie, Streaky Bay (the white pointer hanging from the ceiling at the service station scared the living daylights out of me!) and Elliston.

About 40 km from Port Lincoln we got dangerously low on petrol and, keeping my eye on the needle, I kept praying that we’d make it. We arrived at the service station on the outskirts of town on the smell of an oily rag, phoned Kiwi and were hugging him about seven minutes later. Gee, it was good to see him after more than a year had passed since we last saw him in Adelaide. I could tell that he was exhausted from non-stop travelling and tuna spotting overseas. His hair had grown, was dyed blonde and his vehicle was a beat up little car which didn’t go faster than 80 km/h (by choice) and confused oncoming and following traffic with its malfunctioning electrics. We told Kiwi that we needed to book into the Pt. Lincoln Caravan Park at the other side of town, so he took us on a wild goose chase, ending up in front of the Kurtin Caravan Park. Giggling to ourselves while being hot on his tail we did eventually arrive at the right place. Quickly we dropped our gear off at the cabin and picked Kiwi up to go for a meal. As innocent bystanders it was entertaining to observe him greeting nearly everybody we met along the way. He knew every Pt. Lincolnsider and they knew him. There were hugs and kisses everywhere. After the meal we ended up at his place and got to meet his wife Robin.

Friday morning we caught up with Kiwi around about 8 am and went to town to do some errands. While waiting for Ron outside the chemist and greeting about half of Port Lincoln's inhabitants, I met young Mark, the pilot Kiwi flies tunaspotting with. I noticed a little fenced off area in the water at the esplanade in which some people were bathing. Apparently some areas have been fenced off to protect bathers from sharks that often come close to shore in search of tuna which are being kept in holding pens off Boston Island.

Afterwards we decided to check out the surf but didn’t hold much hope due to the weather conditions. It was actually quite windy and chilly. The first beach we checked out was Sleaford. Kiwi then took us to Lone Pine and told us the story about the inebriated person that supposedly cut off the single pine tree to the disgust of the locals. It was a beautiful beach with the water colour being breathtakingly turquoise. After this we drove on to Fisheries Beach, where Kiwi told us about all the surfs he’d had here. It was a long sweeping beach with very clear water in the shallows. A security guy was occupying the whale centre's admission hut because Channel Nine was filming "Australian Survivor" under a veil of secrecy. I absolutely fell in love with this beach and would have gone out for a wave but it was only a little ankleslapper. So the dogs had a nice walk and did a lot of digging while we just sat in the sun, relaxed for a while and enjoyed the lovely view.

Ron and Kiwi at Fisheries

When we returned to town, our excellent tour guide showed us the Marina and the wharf. It was impressive to see the tuna flotilla, equipped with everything from spotting towers to huge cranes. The wharf is probably Port Lincoln's trademark, as its silos are clearly visible from miles away when entering the town. The wheat arrives in trains, is transported into the huge silos and eventually ends up via a conveyor belt on the ships. We also observed a diving school preparing prospective tuna cage divers by submerging them in the murky waters. These divers will have to inspect the holding pens for damage and also remove dead fish, which can be dangerous as the odd great white has made its way into the pens. Nearby tuna boats were loading frozen bait (sardines) and provisions for the crew, lasting for several weeks at sea. There is so much money in this town, no wonder one millionair built his property as a replica of the TV series "Dallas" Southfork Ranch!

Back at Kiwi’s place we watched some video footage of killer whales attacking sperm whales in the Bight, filmed by Kiwi while out tuna spotting, followed by a tuna fishing film. This footage showed the old-fashioned method of bringing the tuna aboard by manually hooking them with a rod and sending them flying on deck, assisted by an automatic hauling machine. These days the tuna, after being spotted, are put in holding pens and slowly pulled towards Port Lincoln while being fed to put on weight. Most of the tuna is then exported to Asia. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours together, Kiwi and Ron in front of the computer, me looking at surfing books, surfing magazines and photos. Eventually it was time to go for a meal and afterwards we had to say our goodbyes.

Saturday morning we left for Adelaide, nearly running out of petrol again at Cowell. All the while a big menacing dark cloud cover was following us and eventually overtook us. We stopped for a wee-break at a parking lot and let the doggies out of the car. I noticed something next to the rubbish bin and called out to Ron, "Look, there’s a fish head!". No sooner had I finished the sentence, when Rexy suddenly picked it up and chomped it down! I couldn’t believe it! Of course he wouldn’t drop it and we expected him to throw it up later in the car, but he spared us the pleasure.

Outside of Whyalla I saw a freight train on its way to Port Augusta on the side of the road, doing approximately the same speed as us. I thought it would be a good idea to take a photo of it, so I sped ahead, keeping an eye on it in the rear vision mirror. I stopped at a crossing, ran over, positioned myself with my camera and took a shot, while the train driver tooted at me.

That was pretty much the highlight of the return trip. We arrived early afternoon in Adelaide and both got stressed out due to the increased traffic. When dropping off my films at Marion Shopping Centre, I nearly had to climb over people, that’s how crowded it was. Even though we weren't blessed with good surf it certainly was an enjoyable trip because of the people we had the pleasure to catch up with!