After packing up in the rain we were off, bound for Cactus Beach, only 210 kms away. We farewelled the Ellis's as they were going to be staying in Smoky Bay for a few days for work. Was only a short drive when we had to pull up to a toilet in Smoky Bay. Knew Matty was busting when he started doing his turtle dance, lol..... We continued on after the kids had a play in the playground, stopping at Ceduna for food supplies, water, a shower and fuel. Ceduna is also famous for being the end of the line for the "dog fence", which is the longest man made fence in the world! Driving into town we didn't actually know that their was a huge population of aboriginals in Ceduna, felt like l was back in Alice Springs but the town was more tidier!! We flew through the supermarket stocking up on necessities, lucky didn't need a big shop done as it was fairly pricey. We got they the register for nothing less than $120 for stuff all!! We unloaded the shopping in the vans and had lunch. Whilst he boys headed to the bottle 'o' for supplies, Nikki had a visitor stick their nose in the van. She was unpacking the shipping when an aboriginal man walked in, looked at her then turned around and walked out. Totally classic moment, would have scared the s*** out of me, but totally hilarious. Don't know whether he was drunk or a bit simple, we were also parked out front of Centrelink so wonder if he just took a wrong turn off the path!! Lol..... We then drove to the BP to get diesel and to have a shower. Well we had to forgo the shower as they wanted $5 pp!!! They said they'd let the kids go free, but $10 for a shower, piss off!!! Whilst filling our water up we had the pleasure of the familiar sight of many aboriginal women and men walking along the rode into town yelling and cursing. Such a shame that people have to only see the bad side of them, lucky l know that there is more to his race. Plus, they were speaking in language for some of it, and l know that they speak loud as a race, so to me it wasn't offensive as l understand their culture more than some. Anyway, our girls didn't react too much, but the Cronan kids who hadn't been around it much were more fascinated to watch.
After restocking all supplies we took a turn off on the highway towards Sinclair Point. The road was dirt and bloody corrugated. It felt like forever to so the 25 kms to Cactus Beach. We had heard from many travellers about this place and how great it was meant to be. Well when we arrived we were a tad disappointed. The weather was crap which didn't aid to the ambience if the place. Don't get me wrong, it was nice, but for $25 pn, it was a rip off! All you got was a cold shower and a flushing toilet. But anyway, we decided to camp there for the night and continue on tomorrow. After setting up we took a look around. There was a really cool looking camp kitchen that the surfies used to hand their wetsuits up on a hand made clothesline. In the camp kitchen hut there was a surf board nailed up with a list of rules written in texta. Was pretty cool and the rules were fitting for the place and the hippies that used it a lot. For instance, no binge drinking, drugs, swearing, plus no shell collecting, photography prohibited, no flower picking, etc!!! Quite unrealistic and hippie spirited really, and with the clientele l saw around, all rules were in total alignment with their lifestyle!!! We took a stroll down to the beach to check out the surfers, seeing the place is rebound for the best surfing in Australia. The beach was disappointing as it was lined with sand and sharp rocks, which almost looked like bee hives. When l say the beach was disappointing, it was mainly due to the weather being so cold and that the water was too rough that if we wanted to stay the kids couldn't swim there anyway. The kids took off when we got to the beach, exploring the rock holes and climbing over the rocks. Here were copious amounts of blue star fish and coral lying around. The waves were huge as we watched surfers take hit now and again. We even saw some massive crabs in the rock pools, kids were ecstatic! We headed up after a bit to brave our cold showers. There was no way the kids would have a go, no need even trying unless the whole camping area wanted to here kids squealing. So Nikki was up first. Now l think l forgot to mention that this shower was outside as well as had cold water only. So along with the cold water we were going to freeze with the cold and fast wind that was breezing thru as well. Marty, Mat and l laughed hysterically as Nikki screamed and jiggled about frantically washing herself with soap. Totally hilarious! Regretfully l was next up, wish l had gone first so l didn't know what to expect. I must first try and describe this shower structure. It was outside, on a slight hill, made with limestone rock to form a circle. It also had a wooden door with a lot of big gaps in it. The shower was formed from a metal pipe with a cup on the end of it to be the shower head. Quite quirky and unique really. As l stripped off l noticed that there was a bloke sitting next to his van up on a hill and l reckon he would have had a good view!! Oh well, l couldn't worry about that at the time as it was bloody refreshing list say, but not as bad as l had expected. Was good to feel clean, been a few days in between showers and there was no way l could last another day. Matty and Marty followed suit, with Marty squealing the most!!! L stood watching him freeze his nuts off literally, taking photos and laughing my ass off!! At least he had his beer whilst showering, l think he hoped it would warm him up....lol.
We were greeted by the caretaker who was a creepy looking bloke. You could tell he was an ex surfer dude with his long white hair, but he had this weird creeped out manner about himself. Gave me the beegeebies!!! The reason l mention him is because he had his dog following him around and the dog was another animal joke between us all. The dog was a white wooly haired looking thing. Marty was sitting in his chair giving him a scratch when Matty piped up and called him the cactus beach Himalayan sheep dog!! If you saw it, you too would have wet yourself laughing at the made up name from Matty. Is starting to be a regular joke between us two couples.
The most magical thing that happened to us on this day was witnessing the most amazing sunset. Now l know l go on about sunsets all the time, but they never get old and everyone is different. The sky was cloudy and as the sun set, the sky turned this amazing deep orange/pink color which was then reflected on the water. So hard to describe, but believe me when l say it was magic! After watching this glorious sunset, we put the kids in one van and us adults in the other and enjoyed a peaceful evening. We drank wine and beer and chatted without interruption whilst the kids watched a movie. Everyone was happy. Too happy that we didn't notice that it was 11pm! Oh well, what's another late night???
Tomorrow we crack onto the Nullabor, very excited!!!
Bell Xxx