Sunday 6th January

We drove to Port Lincoln via a couple of small port towns & a small town called Elliston. We decided to do the scenic drive into Elliston & it didn't disappoint. The views over the bay were incredible, the waves here were as big as we've seen too. Lots of signs warning about the dangers of sharks & overhanging cliff edges!

We arrived in Port Lincoln early afternoon, asked about the Great White Shark Cage Dive & then booked into a really nice caravan park on the sea front. We didn't fancy the cage dive purely on the basis that it costs $499 each & if you don't see a shark then tough luck! Doesn't seem as though the company is risking anything so why would they make a genuine effort to get the sharks to you?

We got all our washing clean & dried thanks to an elderly lady called Mavis. She loaned us her pegs as the campsite don't provide them. When our washing dried Carly took the pegs back to their cabin & I wondered if she'd been abducted because she was gone so long. I found her in their cabin chatting! I was introduced to Mavis' husband Harry & we ended up chatting for hours about Australia, New Zealand (their home country) & the UK. Carly really is a sucker for the older generation, her reward was potatoes & a bag of salad!!!

Port Augusta, Australia

Monday 7th January

We woke early this morning, washed, ate & cleared out of the campsite at stupid o'clock.

Our first stop on the way out of town was the Forest Hill Lookout, it gives great views over Port Lincoln & inland too. It's used in emergencies mainly. Unfortunately, the view wasn't great because of a strange haze all around in the distance.

We carried on from here to Tumby Bay which is a gorgeous little seaside town on the East Coast of the Eyre Peninsula. We had lunch on the beach, took a long walk along the front & grabbed an ice cream each on the way back to cool down because the day was getting hotter by the minute.

We made a few other stops along the way up the coast to Port Augusta & each stop brought higher temperatures. By mid-afternoon it was so unbearable we stopped at a place opposite a crude oil & LPG refinery just to get out of the car. The flies were the next problem so after 30 minutes I'd had enough, ordered Carly back in the car & headed back out to the highway for some more roasting. Without exaggerating it was the exact same feeling as having a hair-dryer on its hottest setting & it hitting you at point blank range all over. We eventually arrived at a campsite, any campsite we could find the quickest. The receptionist said it was unusually hot that day, we figured it topped 45 & I, at least, have never felt heat like it anywhere other than my Mum's kitchen. We put the haze this morning down to the imminent heat. In a couple days times we discover that the temperature was 51. Even hotter than Mum's kitchen.