Day 211 Streaky Bay, SA

Philip and I both woke this morning feeling a bit shell shocked after a very disturbed night of very little sleep.  We thought the winds we had experienced up until last night were bad but that was just a prelude for what was to come.  The winds blew all night with wind gusts up to 100kmh.  The gusts were the worst.  They shook the van from side to side and we wondered if we would start moving sideways on the cement slab.  The wind was relentless and even though the BOM forecast that the wind would ease in the early hours, it didn't happen.

People all around us this morning were shaking their heads and looked a bit dazed.  There was damage to some of the vans but thankfully we got away without any.  I was more concerned about the trees falling on top of us but they stood up to the howling wind.  It was like a mass exodus from the caravan park this morning and it seems that everyone was heading to Streaky Bay.  I would like to say that we have left the wind behind us but unfortunately not.  It is blowing a gale here also but it is 4.30pm and the wind does look like it is easing a little.

It is around 100km from Ceduna to Streaky Bay and we called into Smoky Bay on our journey along the Eyre Peninsular.  It is a very small town with a very long jetty (no we didn't walk it!) that is a Fishermans haven.  I couldn't see any shops here so I guess the locals travel to Ceduna or Streaky Bay for their supplies. We didn't stay long.

The drive is uneventful. We are still seeing the huge paddocks of wheat on both sides of us with the sheep grazing on fields that have been harvested. We are driving very close to the coastline and we wondered how these grain crops coped with the salt that would always be in the air. We see large sand dunes as we draw closer to Streaky Bay and we are looking forward to the three scenic drives that will take us past these dunes.

We are staying at another of the G'Day Parks. The ten percent discount on each stay has certainly covered the cost of the three year $20 membership!  It is situated right on the foreshore and is close to the town centre. Once we have unhooked the van and had a big bowl of soup for lunch (temperature maxed out at 16 degrees today) we drove back into town to top up our meat supplies.  We had heard good things about the local butcher and we weren't disappointed in his vast array of quality meats.  It must be a popular place because there were four butchers behind the counter.  That is always a good sign.  We took a little tour of the Main Street and were quite impressed.  The pub apparently is the place to go with good sized meals and situated in a prime position on the waterfront.

The receptionist at the caravan park handed us a very good map of the area when we checked in and we are looking forward to the three scenic drives.  Tomorrows forecast is looking a little brighter and by Thursday we may even see the sun.  Philip is looking forward to the drive that will take us to see the Sea Lions and I am intrigued by Murphys Haystacks the 1500 million year old granite rocks that look like miniature wave rocks.  I was lucky enough to get an appointment with the local hairdresser on Thursday afternoon so I have that to also look forward to.  

I took this photo from the bedroom window last night at 8.30pm.  You can see how high the sun is in the sky.  Damn this daylight saving.  The old saying "that you can't cut off one end of a blanket and sow it onto the other end and think that you are getting a longer blanket" seems to be a good reminder of just how stupid daylight saving really is.