Coffin Bay & Streaky Bay - 18th-21st April
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| From Coffin Bay & Streaky Bay |
Coffin Bay was somewhere we had been looking forward to going since we started our trip. So after a quick stop at Tourist Info we headed on out to the National Park. We didn’t actually realise that only 4x4’s could access most of the park and part of this involved a short drive along the beach. We were getting a bit late in the day and close to high tide so we decided to go as far as we could to one of the campsites after the beach stretch.
If the beach was impassable we would head back to the campsite at the entry to the park. Due to the beach being on the sheltered side, it was easily passable. The 4x4 track was good and great to do some 4x4 driving, involving soft sand and some small dunes. After 40 slow kilometres, we arrived pretty late at the camp site, which wasn’t the nice beach setting we had imagined, but decided to stay the night and go to another campsite the next day.
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| From Coffin Bay & Streaky Bay |
We explored a bit the next day and saw the beautiful scenery we had heard about, we had lots of fun 4x4 ing made our way to Sensation Beach to camp the night. The beach was reached by a pretty soft track that went up the sand dune and turned a corner half way up. H was driving and determined to get up the dune as Carl had done Big Red. I gave it a good go but panicked a little as I got to the corner and never made it up. After 2 attempts I let Carl have a go who made it on his second attempt. Typical!! But it was worth feeling a little envious as the beach certainly lived up to its name, just gorgeous.
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| From Coffin Bay & Streaky Bay |
We had a little play on the beach but the sand was getting softer as we drove further so didn’t want to go too far. We were looking for the campsites believing they were behind the dunes. We couldn’t find them so decided the sites must have been on the way down to the beach and we had just missed them. After a play on the beach we headed back looking for camp, but still we couldn’t find them.
So in the end after all that searching we decided to head back to a site near the entry of the national park instead. As we got back to the start of the 4x4 track and a very soft sandy section, we came across a group of travellers towing trailers heading into the park (It was getting late). One of them had got bogged just around the corner from where we were. We spent the next 20 mins spectating as they towed the 4x4 out, only for it to get bogged again 200m down the track. After another tow they were through and we were on our way. (They then thought it would be a good idea to lower their tyre pressures! - Bit late)
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| From Coffin Bay & Streaky Bay |
We again missed the turning for the campsite and had to turn back (Not having a good day!) only to bump into the same trailer towers as the first 4x4 was bogged 1k or so down from where we had left them. We went on down to see if we could help, but we were too heavy to tow them and their trailer, we were having problems ourselves getting going after stopping on the soft stuff. Again we were unable to find the camp site so just gave up and went back to the one at the very start of the park (navigation was awful today!!).
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| From Coffin Bay & Streaky Bay |
The next morning we headed to Streaky Bay intending to get to a campsite about lunch time and just relax. We also thought it would be a good idea to try out our newly purchased camp shower in a bid to not stay on so many caravan parks just for a shower. Again we couldn’t find the camp sites around the headlands (we really aren’t having much luck with these bush camps!!) so a quick call to tourist info put us in the right direction. We eventually got there just before dark, we quickly got dinner organised before the sun went down and decided that we could shower in the dark later. We were treated to an amazing sunset as we ate.
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| From Coffin Bay & Streaky Bay |
So next we attempted the shower. We brought with us a pop up ensuite tent, that we have nick named the divorce maker, as the bloody thing is more difficult to put away and could cause some serious relationship issues!! When we first brought it we almost had to drag it back to the shop to get them to show us how it went back in its bag, when all of a sudden it just folded and twisted back together. After finding a suitable container to put about 3 litres of water in, Carl was first up. After stripping off so fast so that the mozzies wouldn’t attach fresh flesh, he was in the tent awaiting water which I had control over. Now water is very precious to us as we haven’t got an endless supply so this was a quick shower, which involved a quick splash, lather and rinse. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much as Carl gave a running commentary and I was running around getting shower gel, towel, clothes etc. The shower itself was pretty good and we were quite impressed with its power. Next up was my go. It was definitely an experience in the pitch dark and the quickest shower I’ve ever had. The tent did its job and we even managed to put it away and still be friends after. It was great to feel clean again though, but something we might attempt in daylight next time!
The next morning we headed down the coast line a bit to see a colony of Sea Lions at the only place where they breed on the mainland. Next we head westwards across the Nullarbor.
