DAY 39: Smoky Bay to Streaky Bay

75km @ 17.8 km/hr
very little wind at all
very warm, mostly overcast

I awoke to the Galahs circling and screeching overhead, and having left off the outer shell of the tent I could lie in my sleeping bag and watch them for a while. It was just light at 0605 and I was quickly up and breakfasting on muffins spread with crunchy peanut butter and raspberry jam and coffee.
Last night I tried to see how the new dictaphone worked but it didn't - dead as a Dodo with new batteries. It will have to go back to Ceduna grrrr! Denise and Graham Wood, fellow campers that I met last night at dinner were I knew heading back west via Ceduna, and when asked they very kindly offered to pop it back into the shop for me, save me having to risk posting it. I will ring the shop later on this aft to explain. Not happyt at all about this - mental note to get the assistant to check that something is actually working before I buy it. They are a very nice couple - the ones I was chatting to about Ned Kelly, and I received an invite to ring them up and stay when I get back around the northern WA, where they live, next July ? August whenever. I have a few of these invitations now - everyone is so friendly here.

I rang the electrical shop and as it happened they had a sister shop here in Streaky Bay! Too late now, it will be dropped off by Denise and Graham on Friday.

The tent site I have here is right on the beach just 20m above the strand line. Hopefully there won’t be an extra high tide tonight (!) but I’m sure I will hear the waves crashing onto the beach. The bay itself is well enclosed and the water within is very calm. The afternoon turned out to be very hot (30+) and sunny - very pleasant. the flies are still a pest though, and mither you if you stay still for more than a few seconds. i cooked myself sausages for dinner and wanted to get out of the hot campers kitchen to eat on the cooler patio, but the flies put an end to that unfortunately.

I’m typing this sat in my Thermarest chair and it is almost dark (2030) and the flies have gone to bed at last. It’s the turn of the starlings now apparently - a gang of them come to life around this times, wheeling around the trees rapid style; however they are considered to be a bit dodgy because of a disease contained in their excretions - what this is I don’t know - but enough for the Park to have a bird scaring system to try and deter them