Tues 13/05/14 Easy drive, 415km, 6 hours, sunny 25oC. Rest stop at Elliston and then at Streaky Bay for fuel and lunch, where Michael tried out the famous local oysters - delish! Lovely, clean town on the edge of a beautiful bay .... could have stayed here a bit if we had more time. Went to check out a display of the largest great white shark caught in the area, 5mt & 1520kg; very striking pics on postcards...refer kids journals. We rounded a corner into the exhibit, which was dark, and Brodie nearly walked straight into its mouth, as a life sized model was suspended from the ceiling and the room lighting 'activates' as you walk in ... what a scream she let out!

Upon advice from other travellers , at Ceduna we are staying out of town at the Shelley Beach Caravan Park which should help us avoid the night antics of 'the locals'. Kids very excited to meet some buddies, Parker, Poppy and Jett Fawcett from another travelling family from Ouyen, VIC. They have a massive truck and trailer/caravan combo and are travelling Australia for 3 years! Wow! Mum, Jak, is really nice and joined us for happy hour drinks.

Up the Dunes to watch the most amazingly pink and red sunset. Kiddies befriended a border collie named Shyla and spent most of their time throwing the ball for her while we chatted with her owners over a wine and watched the sun down.

Wed 14/05/14 Headed into Ceduna for a look-see today. Brunched at the Blue Dolphin Cafe, visited the Indigenous Art Centre - lots of canvases for sale. LB&A observed and repeatedly commmented on the many groups of indigenous folk congregated along the streets. So after showing kids through the art exhibit, it was challenging explaning the not-so-motivated groups - looks like some interesting discussions ahead on cultural and socio-economic differences. Took a drive to Denial Bay and signed up to play the Nullarbor Links Golf Course, which begins here in Ceduna, SA, and ends in Kalgoorlie, WA. M&K played the first two holes (kids laughed and heckled alot), Brodie & Lukas caddied and Lex was"pin" girl and "greens leveller" - the greens are sand and have to be flattened between ball and hole before you putt....lots of fun... had our score card officially stamped....16 holes to go! Back to the park and the kids hired the go kart jeeps and buzzed around with their mates having a ball and totally destroying any serenity our fellow campers may have been enjoying. Sunset dinner on the dunes of fresh, local oysters and fish (& chips) - yummo. Lukas tried his first oyster au naturale - words said he liked it, facial expressions tended to suggest the opposite! Girls took one look and said no thanks!

Thurs 15/05/14 Mikey made pancakes for breakfast in the camp kitchen, then we had a bit of a cleanup in anticipation of our long drive tomorrow. Car wash, van clean, laundry, bit of home school then relax day. Chatted with Jak (mum of PP&J) for a while and she marked up a map for us recommending some stops as we cross to WA, which was very helpful. 28oC so hit the beach for a while in the arvo. Lots of birds - large brown and white gulls and many other varieties; they seemed to be feasting - cracking open small crabs and pippies (or cockles as they are called here). Kids played & rode their bikes with PP&J. They had several unpleasant encounters with 5y/o? indigenous boy. We had tolerated him wandering in our camp, checking out Michael's watch & chain, sitting in our chairs, eating the kids snacks and trying to enter our van for several hours thinking he just wanted to play/join in with the other kids....but ended up having to make complaint to the managers office after he repeatedly swore, spat, kicked, wee'd, flashed, chased, grabbed, took balls and then slapped poor Brodie in the face when she wouldn't give him her bike. Earlier intervention will be excersised in future! Kids are quite affronted and not wanting to interact with any more aborigines....shame....hopefully will have more positive experiences in the future.