Then What?

I have to admit, trying to recall the sequence of events following our time at Smoky Bay almost 4 weeks later is quite difficult, bear with me whilst I try and get this in chronological order, I'm making no promises.

We woke up next to such a beautiful view but due to all our mishaps Adelaide was calling and we had to get a wriggle on.

Surprise, surprise, Marco wanted to find somewhere to fish. I think he was trying to get some practise in as he wants to do fishing to qualify for his 2nd WHV (Working Holiday Visa). We went somewhere he thought he may be able to fish and had breakfast, it wasn't a convenient place to fish but it was a beautiful breakfast destination.

We decided to hit one of the bays and so we drove to Venus Bay, there were only ordinary roads for this, I say ordinary... no 4wd tracks like we were used to in WA that's for sure. 


Every time we tried to hit an off-road track we would get so far and come across a no entry... no entry... NO ENTRY. Why we can't be informed of these things BEFORE even getting on the track I don't know. South Australia, you are such a tease.

We hit Venus Bay and I had to play on the swings and the slide, it was completely necessary. I cooked the fish Marco had caught and it was delicimouse. Another one of those outdoor hotplates which wouldn't heat up if you set the thing on fire! 

Once we consumed fish, Marco wanted to go and get more fish, so he headed off to the end of the jetty and I followed with my book. I sat reading for a while but I was starting to feel unwell, being sat on my flip flops as I had my feet dangling over the edge and didn't want to lose them or have them fly away because of the breeze. I got up and got a huge splinter right through my big toe, Marco got his pliers and helped me pull it out with much effort, but there was still a small piece stuck in there and no way of pushing it out. 


I went to the car and lay down, the sun had got to me and the splinter wasn't helping. I plastered it up and hoped the lack of air getting to it would draw it out. When Marco came back with 3 fishes (one he caught, two he was given - sorry Marco, we can't pretend) we decided to move on. We took the scenic route, our destination aim was Port Lincoln.

One our way we went around and saw some more beautiful views and some statues around the route. We came out (pretty much on the road we went in to the scenic route) and saw a road train with all it's lights on. ALL IT'S LIGHTS ON. It was barely even dusk and Marco and I were cursing at this moron for blinding on coming traffic (namely, us), parked or not! Then a guy came waving his arms like a lunatic just as we saw a car smashed up just off the road. 

We ran out of the car quick to see what had happened, turns out the woman was hit by a 'roo and it sent her careering off the road through the bushes, the car was pretty mashed up. Luckily the woman was perfectly ok and the truck driver (who waved us down) had been waved down by the woman initially. We established there was nothing we could do so we got on our way. (It wasn't us for a change!).

Once in the car, Marco and I realised we had the same thought, our stereotyped assumption of truck drivers was not one of handsome gentlemen, he didn't fit our expectations, what a treat on the eyes. 

Given we took the scenic route and spent time fishing, then being pulled by the crashed Bandicoot we thought it best to find any destination to settle for the night. 

We pulled up on the edge of nowhere and Marco very kindly cooked dinner and let my unwell self take a lie down, what a gem. 

Let's hope tomorrow is better. 

Smoky BBQ

They're clean!

The day in Ceduna was finally a chance to wash clothes and stand still for a few hours (sort of). The first thing we did was breakfast; with limited supplies it was toast with tomatoes and olive oil. Continental.

I wanted to go to the beach and film a little video clip of me writing a message in the sand for my beautiful niece for her birthday. So after breakfast we walked down to the beach and took a look at the clear water, had a little paddle, obviously. Then I wrote the message. We used the showers, beautiful hot showers! 


Whilst waiting for the washing to do I picked up a book, just to have a nose, and my nose got stuck in the book. Once the washing was all dry and clean, Marco washed the car... the muck that came off was immense. Dirty car. 

With a semi-clean car it was straight to the shops for supplies, we wanted to treat ourselves to a BBQ. We did our shopping, without a list, we're mad like that! After which we headed towards Smoky Bay. 

I have to say, I do enjoy the names of the places around here. Smoky Bay, Streaky Bay, Anxious Bay, Coffin Bay; whoever named these must have had a nervous disposition. 

Once we got to Smoky Bay 
along the almost perfect bitumen road paths (lies 4wd map! LIES!). We stopped and set up the stove on top of the BBQ area (we weren't paying for the expensive hot plate). It was time to cook some sausages and have a sausage butty. About time we remembered lunch for a change... wait, where's that sundial gone?


Once we had happily stuffed our faces we went for a walk down the jetty to check it out. Marco wanted to do some fishing so we walked down to the rocky area for Marco to precariously dig around for bait. Once we had some bait we went back to the jetty and I completed some blog writings and Marco, as always, pretended to catch some fish. 

It was clearly quite promising when they have to section off a caged area for humans to swim in "No Shark's Allowed." I thought we were against discrimination these days? Surely there's space enough for everyone?... 

Ok maybe not. 

After heading back to the car because I was particularly uncomfortable leaning on the wobbly rail of the jetty (that meant if I leant too far to either side I would have gone in backwards!) I sat in the car and finished up my blog writings.

Once finished I got a jacket and headed back to the jetty, where, you would never believe it! Marco had caught a fish... WHAT? A real life fish?! Well I never. He had in fact caught two and used one as bait. I missed all the action! 


Content with his achievement and with the sun beginning to set it was time to head off to find a spot to sleep for the night. With little to no plan we caught the sunset and headed off in the ever increasing darkness to a Wikicamps location and stopped near the sea. 
When we woke up the next day we were treated to a beautiful view that we weren't expecting. For all the mishaps we have had on our journey so far, sometimes you truly appreciate why you are doing this and what beauty you can experience 













Good Morning, Australia!

The $16000 Picture

Written in pen and paper, 25th February 2015

From the gravel pit where we had slept we cruised on to the Nullarbor, with a little bit of off roading. Ok, you got me, we didn't cruise - what's a Marco and Becca adventure without a moment that almost makes you want to merda?

We tried a precarious route which followed a track up to the cliff, it was going ok until we understood the severity of the steepness, and the fact that the car angle almost had it tilting. We got out and I hatched a plan with Marco to reverse the car and gently take it back down the steep incline; this required extreme concentration, intense listening and precise directions. 

I stood and directed whilst Marco eased the car back. Let's not consider the language barrier, or lack of understanding, or how poorly we'd managed to communicate directions previously, luckily we didn't have to, we managed it. No worries! 

Once the car was in a safe position I got back in and we drove on to the Nullarbor roadhouse, the easy way. 

Prior to hitting the roadhouse we stopped off at one of the look outs at the Great Australian Bight and decided it was time for a good pose or three at the beautiful cliff top.

Before we reached the lookout point there were a few warning signs, obviously due to the nature of nature... Marco caught me completely unawares, asked me to stand still whilst he took a picture, isn't he a gem, he's not wrong though, I should come with a Warning, a Morning Warning.

Ok, that's enough of those pictures... back to the journey.

Once we got to the roadhouse we got some breakfast... no, lunch... maybe it was brunch... I don't know, I still don't have a sundial. 

We spent some time trying to work out the route to take as we hadn't really planned this far ahead in the journey. We also had a theory about the burst tyre, so we got some help from the kindly mechanics to pump up the not burst burst-tyre. We were right! It seemed the low pressure had knocked it off its wheel, adding pressure popped it back on, so now we have a spare, not that we want a repeat incident!

Back on the road again with a slight feeling of extra security, slight.

Unsure of the route or the way, we headed onto a track following the memory map. Private property? No gate? Ruined building? Hmmm something wasn't adding up, but the thought was soon forgotten when we were driving so close to the cliff edge that 'tense' was an understatement for how I was feeling.

We eventually reached a building and a fence right across the track... we were on aboriginal land without a permit. Merda!

I chose to stay in the car whilst Marco, the rebel, went for a walk to see the view; carpe diem. He came back for his phone to take a picture and I refused to leave the car. Moments later a guy came and the jist of the conversation was "get the hell off" this land or pay an $8000 fine, each! We got the hell off that land, pronto! (Even though it was only $7 to enter that part of the Bight).

With a sigh of relief at not being $8000 poorer we got back on the highway.

At Penong we had a quick toilet break and checked the map; out of the aboriginal $16000 land we decided to off road again to Point Sinclair. 

On the way there we got a little lost but came across a large blow hole, Marco told me to take it easy walking over there because it went in to an abyss. I almost slipped and went down the hole but Marco thought I was kidding. He kept telling me to "pay attention" which we established he was trying to say "be careful".

The off roading to Port Sinclair wasn't quite like the off-roading we did in WA, SA seemed to be making all these paths in to real roads. It was quite a relief that we didn't have to moves any branches for a while. 

At Port Sinclair we reached 4wd only sign and Marco deflated the tyres - 100m later we reached the car park with a very unamused Italian; for the effort, had we known, we could have walked! With a brief mooch on the tiny beach and lots of pictures, we headed off-road to Ceduna, kind of; the roads were wide and used by locals who lived sparsely over the area. 

(I think it was a day of posing and seeing what pictures we could come up with.)

We hit the highway, and for a thrill, we went off road on the 4wd track to see if we could manage to avoid the quarantine check. 

A $1 bet was made and the challange accepted. We reached Ceduna, I was $1 poorer (nothing compared to $8000!) and we still had una mela, no questions asked. 

When we got there and stopped at the 'servo' (Australian for service station) for some food we looked up some caravan parks. We decided to camp in Shelley caravan park, a beautiful camp on the doorstep of the beach. It was time to sleep, tomorrow was another day.






Ok, ok, I know you've probably just thought "hang on, what about this $16000 picture?" Here you go, you can have 3 for the price of one. Limited offer.