From: Wudinna (SA)
To: Ceduna (SA)
Via: Point Labbatt Seal Colony and Flinders Highway
Distance: 326km
Highlight: Not only sea lions, but also many dolphins playing in the ocean at Point Labatt
Low: Such a strong wind at point Labatt that we could not stay outside the car for long
Statement of the day: By a fiherman on the Ceduna Pier "I've been standing here for four days and the only thing I catch is a cold"
Animals: Sheep (many), Dead Kangaroos (7), Cows (12), Sea Lions (32), Dolphins (5), Pelicans (17), Birds (many kinds), Jelly Fish (13), Magpies (7), Water birds on rocks (many)
Surroundings: Bushes and mainly grainfields, farms and grain silo's. Salt transport to Ceduna by long trains and road trains.
Cars: 5/hour (up to 15km from Ceduna)
Giant animal statues: None
Colours: Green grain fields, dark green bushes, black and red tarmac, blue blue ocean, blue blue sky, colourful coast towns (Streaky Beach)
Average day temperature: 9C in the morning and night frost, 22C in the afternoon very sunny no clouds.
Wudinna early in the morning.
Some exercise before we move on....
Where are we?
Sea Lions! Sunbathing.
Dolphin spotting.
Ceduna, a bit of Dutch history.
Industrial Ceduna.
Ceduna beach.
Ceduna Pier.
View from the foreshore, opposite of our motel.
It was decided that we would have breakfast in the Wudinna playground so everybody could have a go on the jumping pillow and get some fresh air before heading to a sea lion colony in Point Labatt. We have stale bread because the bakery only opens at 9am and we are up and running at 7.30h. Wudinna still seems asleep. Our rescue Nutella and peanut butter make up for everything though, so nobody notices it was maybe not the best breakfast ever. It was the best start of the day so far, so it obviously did not matter.
Driving down to the coast from Wudinna is easy. After that things become a bit harder as we take the wrong turn and drive on unsealed roads through beautiful farmland for many more kilometers than planned. We do our "favourite song hour" when everybody gets bored and we all take turns in choosing our favourite song. Bink likes "Where is Molly", an upbeat rave song. Simon chooses Hole with raging guitars. Tom is into the Ramones with Rock Away Beach, Bud chooses Husker Du, I like Coldplay with the Scientist, and Isis of course chooses her old time favourite K3 with Billy Billy. Every day we do a crazy hour like this and we sing and dance until our voices are hoarse and our arms are sore. No wonder we see so few animals......
Point Labatt. The sea lions are there. Sunbathing deep down on a rocky beach. We can see them but they can't be bothered. It is time to sleep. They are bog and beautiful. Far out in the ocean a small group of dolphins are having a ball and play in the waves. The kids fight for turns holding the two binoculars we own. It is a spectacular sight. The storming wind though, prevents us to take photo's or hold the binoculars still. It was a thrilling experience and even though we did not stay for hours, we were all sun burnt, cold and full of adrenaline by the sight of the animals, ocean and cliffs.
The next stop is Ceduna. A big town with a port, huge grain silo's and an important salt transport hub. As we arrive relatively early we take time to explore this town with a rich Dutch history. Walking the historic trail we learn all the ins and outs of the Dutch who arrived here in the 17th century.
Of course we check-out the playground and we walk the long pier.
And then everybody is tired. We do some shopping for the next few days in remote Australia, eat as many carrots and mandarines from our groceries as can. We cannot take any fruits and veggies to Western Australia.
The plans for tomorrow have been made. We can't wait to move on. Nullarbor plains, here we come.
The plans for tomorrow have been made. We can't wait to move on. Nullarbor plains, here we come.
