Far West Coast - 2016

0735hrs on the road, house and shed secured, retic programmed. Light northerly started just after Wangary and increased all day. Breakfast at Elliston a 28 minute stop, checked wheel nuts on the new rims, just a tweak required on some.

Bypassed Streaky, 1300hrs arrived and refueled Ceduna. STOP at Hwy One – now BP’s On The Run – Eats, Hungry Jacks and Subway – walked out only one staff on at Subway with a lady whom had order 4 footlongs, and EAT’S did not have what we wanted – as it happened it was a pre-made double egg and bacon roll in the warmer – yuk!! 

Only 146ks to Scotts Beach, we trucked onto the Crane track, 17ks past the Fowlers Bay turn off, just past the 20k Nundroo marker – the track pretty daggy – 14ks to the turn off, and another 7k’s into Scotts even worse – 40 minutes – arrived 1640hrs = 7hrs 12 minute drive time, 80+ average to the dirt turn off, overall 76kph, and 24lhk  pushing stiff head winds all day!!- 549ks' to be exact 

1800hrs all set up – a goods days effort, and the sat. dish set up for the NRL Preliminary finals – Cowboy’s over the Bronco’s in a extra time thriller.

Sue’s getting a COLD coming on = Bugger!!

Wind and light shower overnight.  Rain on and off all day, finally got the rods sorted and rigged up.

Out for a quick drive between showers to check out the lay of the land – no changes, blowing 30+k’s. 

Sue’s off to bed after a warming noodle soup.

This should help fortify Sue - Pig chops, bbq veggies and spud wedges – yummy!!

Calm 

Treasure's - cleaning up the camp sites

More fortifying foods - no excuse Sue, okay just in case your wondering, there's at least two meals on that bone!!

It's 4 degrees on the reef, with the sun just starting to warm things up. Good size snook off the reef at low tide.

Transferring rain water to the Non-Potable tanks - 60+ ltrs 

Salmon on fly

Sue's coming good after 5 - 6 days and in ACTION!

Salmon soon to be Mullaway bait - filleted, sliced,  diced and then frozen 

The OFFICE!! 

More FOOD!!

Clouds and Rainbows

Yep! it's chilly- that's a wind chill factor of (minus) -3.5 degrees at 0608 hrs a cool 10.3 in the van. 

Cold front clouds before the storm

You have been warned

Heading up the sand hill, I check around the van constantly to ensure he has not slithered into our warm annexe- 

South Australia blackout: Once in 50-year storm lashes state

The entire state of South Australia was without power for several days, with the region in the grip of what could be one of the most extreme weather systems to hit in 50 years.

• All of South Australia and its 1.67 million residents lost power about 3.45pm 28th Sept.
• Power is not expected to be fully restored until 4.15am on Thursday 29th. Actual for Port Lincoln 1800 hrs Friday 30th Sept.
• The storm damaged power infrastructure near Port Augusta, causing the entire power network to shut 
• down "to protect itself"
• We were already out bush camping thus fully contained, just lost phone coverage, as the phone tower back up battery system only last about 4 hours the entire mobile phone system shut down also. We were fine behind the sand hill once the wind turned to a more Southerly direction - Max. 103 kph

It's cold and windy still, check out the erosion caused by the storm 

Even a KGW got washed up

All Terrain vehicle pasted thru here earlier in the year and installed this marker on the bluff at Scotts Beach

Treasure at low tide on the reef

More storm erosion

A mountain of weed on the beach

Another beanie in progress

The dark mass in the foreground = salmon

visitor's

launched their jet ski's off the beach, to surf this reef break off the head land

more tackle buried in the sand and on the reef

my hair stylist in action

CSIRO - doing their annual beach surveys, decked out the GPS and plotter, marking low and high tide and any trash finds and specifically looking for any oil slick globules   

skirmish formation down the beach for 2k's

Chook and TJ arriving for a couple of days before we head further up the coast

Mexican Hat - appropriately named

Paris - not well!!

Time to start packing as off in the early AM for Geuse

We are on the track by 0720hrs – after final pack and helped Chook with his awning. Road to Hwy in great nick, 50 minutes or so dropped rubbish in bins at Nundroo. 

Chook n TJ – stopped at Nundroo for a salt water shower - $3ea. We trucked onto Yalata to fill up with water. 

Bugger the tank tap internals 

have been removed = no water. 

Went around to the dongas and a fellow in the laundry. I was looking for water etc. Help yourself as he unlocked the laundry, filled up- 3+ tanks. Interesting fellow- started farming at 56, invested his super, and will reap approx. 1 million this year. Jeff farmer from Wirrilla, doing some fencing at the community, whilst waiting to harvest his crop. Also has a shack at Fowlers, and in fact camped on Scotts beach the day before. 

Also yet another traveler almost out of fuel, came over in a panic to beg for some petrol – just a well we had some for our generator and could spare 5 litre's or so, they even had an empty 10 ltr jerry.

Chook arrived and topped up with water.

Walked into the camp site to check vacant and no surprises with folks coming out on the single sand track, as we have to hit the sand hill at pace.

Coombra gate at 1030hrs – no trees to cut, one pee stop and 2 treasure stops – rope tie downs for tents, both missed by Chook and TJ. 1240hrs -  2 attempts to get over, did not gun it the 1^st time. 2nd attempt with more pace and a few more RPM.

beauty a THRONE seat 

camp set up and good to go - fishin!

salvaged the aluminium angle, 
come in handy one day!

 a camp 3 find, how could they miss 
this when packing

The beach and hole looking in good shape, with some good gutters to the left. Quads have been on the beach, but to windy to fish today with a stiff southerly into our face – 20+ knots.

Chook and I went back to the tight exit bend to reconnoiter a new track 

This is the tight exit corner, even on entry it's tight but we have room to steer left. 

Then a quick tour to check out the other camp sites, only, one at Jaxson and three camped at Bob's - all out fishing in the wind.

Winds dropped, a few hours on the beach before tea! It's okay the pre-dinner beer can is MT, just in case you noticed

Before!

After - sliced and good to go with all the trimmings, none of that canned goulash stuff some folks tried to eat on our 1st trip to Geuse 

Well there's Mullaway here, just need to twice as big

The office

More bait

Getting organised complete with ironing board

No shortage of the aussie salmon

Sue's into it - smallest fisher person landed the biggest fish - 11.15# just over 800mm.

View from Telstra hill

Checking our e-mails etc.

As the weather improved the worse the fishing got

No time to head back to camp for breakfast, no bait soaking = no fish!

Very small Gummy shark

Not even the Flathead is legal

As the hole had weeded up - back out to drive our new track - Cowley 2

Here's Cowley-02 track with pre-trip track straight track and actual ,showing tight exit bend

Cowley-01 track was even tighter 

Proposed track

Cowley-01 track now in place, with sand hill encroaching the original track and bushes

More pruning of this gnarly scrub

Less than 1/2 size - 750 mm to be a keeper

Ready for Action!

Yeah! my weed fish!

Left my rod holder at camp - improvise

Checking out Titchy - another camp site

Beach erosion after the Sept. storm

Pizza night, and no big fish stories except Sue, demonstrating size does matter!

Yep! the scruff is coming off soon!

0720hrs on the Combra Track – no sweat getting up the sand hill slope, even Chook managed in 3^rd with 20psi. On packing found the van left front tire deflated, how ever holding over night only 5psi over 9 hrs.

39k’s to Combra Gate – 1 hour 36 minutes, much better ride at 20psi. Pulled up at Yalata Servo – inflate tires on Troopy, van later down the track. 

 Chook & TJ off home - 650ks or there about's, home 1800hrs or there about's . 

Refueled at Shell Ceduna, Foodland for some bananas and fresh bread, ice creams at Caltex on our way out of town.

As it was a stinking hot nor-westerly we by passed Smoky Bay and at 1445 hrs camped up at Haslam – it was still a hot 39 degree nor-westerly, by 1630hrs it was blowing a cooling 20+ degree southerly. 

Interesting set up and legal - 'I PAINT STUFF'

It read's  'The Debt Propelled Turtle'

Got your attention = Clever advertising

Resident goat 

On the road early with the South Westerly pushing us. Keep moving to Elliston for breakfast. September storm damaged house

10k’s down the wet road, a motor homer calls us on the UHF – your van tire's are smoking, all in a paniced voice, not sure what she was on about, as I check out the mirrors and spray off the tire's. Sort of got the gist and started to pull over, what smoke, the lady still in a panic as it's the 1st time she's used the radio – it’s just the wet road and spray from our tires – check out this vehicle going past.

 Oh! Sorry, thought your tire was on fire – well that’ one way to get past us!!

Pulled into Chooks place  - name change to 'HOOK', perhaps it will help next year? – gold coins for the car wash, cuppa and then _______

_____a bubble bath for our BT.

Head winds into Lincoln and fuel getting close the M/T – bugger – ran out of fuel on Shaen St – opp. Garden Nursery, 1k from home, dragged jerry off van in the rain, took for ever to pump up filter bowl. Sure lucky we got off the HWY.

Rain and more rain, parked on the street and our street SIGN gone again!! Open up the house and get organized, then parked up the van, when the rain stopped. All secured by 1400hrs.

After a month away it's 'Great to be HOME'!! 

Out for tea after SHAVING which took 20++ minutes – perhaps a clean skin next season!!

Off to get the tire repaired - with spare rim just in case it's cracked rim (very slow leak).

This is a brand new tire - the one that blew just before Coober Pedy in July - only 660k's

there she blow's - bugger it's side wall

Here's the culprit from the Coombra Track scrub, pushing around a tight corner, as it's side wall, legally not permitted to repair! New tire required just to be safe.

Tubed the old Van spare tire with the staked tire 

As Port Lincoln were with out power for 3 days - a pertinent reminder, with a caveat 'WHEN' it happens AGAIN! + add battery operated RADIO! 

This all FOLK'S