Coffin Bay NP to Venus Bay

Yangie Bay – Point Avoid – Wangary

Fri. Feb 4^th

A lovely sunny morning and a gentle breeze at last. We drove the 6km across to Point Avoid, a limestone headland with spectacular views of the sea. Warning signs about everything indicated that this would not be a good swimming site but GVS took out the fishing rod and set to work! (Only after he had dealt with some waste water overflow issues that were causing the shower/toilet area to flood – phew!)

We spoke to Phlip who had set off at 4:30am on the road to Canberra. She was travelling well, had seen little traffic and Luis was sleeping most of the time, so she was pleased with the journey to date.

Coffin Bay

We returned to Coffin Bay for more oysters and brunch on the waterfront. It is a pretty holiday town, a little like Paynesville and the lakes area of Victoria. 

Oyster boat at Coffin Bay



Farm Beach

Tractor paddock

We then headed off to Wangary, Mt Dutton Bay and Farm Beach – so called because you need a tractor to launch your boat here! There was a paddock full of old 1950s tractors now used to launch boats. Graeme conversed with a fisherman bringing in his boat and Aldo invited us to his ‘shack’ for a cuppa. He and Ann were wheat and bean farmers from near Cummins, about 70km away, and they were enjoying a 4-day fishing break after a bumper harvest. They were extremely hospitable and interested in our travels, as they have been keen travellers and crossed the Tanami, Simpson, Birdsville etc. Much to our surprise, they had a photo of Minterbie on the wall – Steve Bradbury’s home for a few years and an opal mining centre west of Coober Peedie. Aldo and Ann had once had a couple of mining leases there and they obviously loved their time working their leases .... they each bought a bobcat and made money from the opal, not as cutting stones but for ornamental use as it was vertical opal. Before we left they insisted that we fill our water tanks from their rainwater and Ann gave us some whiting fillets to take as she had listened to GVS’s hard-luck fishing tales with sympathy! We had decided to visit and stay the night at Sheringa Beach, our 1^st real Southern Ocean beach, but it was a disappointing stay as the wind was too strong to go to the beach and the toilets were not clean-not $10 value! However, the view from the top of the road allowed me to see small sharks surfing in the waves and have a beautiful view of the long beach and the cliffs.

Sheringa Beach – Venus Bay

Colton Bakery - wood fired oven and delicious bread
somewhere between Elliston and Venus Bay in a town with
1 house and a church!

The Tub

At Woolshed Cave

Pelicans at Venus Bay

Saturday, Feb. 5^th

Up and off early (for us). We stopped at the salt lake which had plenty of water in it and we surprised a flock of ducks and saw a pair of black swans on the water. We reached Elliston, another little fishing village with a very long pier and a couple of huge grain silos, Viterra owned, of course. We enjoyed chatting to the fisherman on the pier and learning about some of the fishing places at which he had experienced some good catches. Guess where we headed next? J After buying petrol at $1.51l, even more expensive than Canberra, we drove on and passed Lake Hamilton, an enormous inland salt lake where we enjoyed the beautiful views of the coast from one headland where the little white terns frenetically flapped their wings as they flew from the lake to the cliffs and all around. Then we passed Lake Newland, some 20km long. We also took the Talia Beach drive and saw 2 great caves, the Woolshed and the Tub, and the scenery was spectacular as the cave and the tub had been carved out of the limestone by the wind and the surf.

From there we came into Venus Bay, yet another fishing village and holiday spot for the inland people. Straight to the caravan park as we had been without showers for 8 days so some re-entry into civilisation was welcomed. We had been told that if we couldn’t catch fish at Venus Bay then we should give away the rods, so imagine Graeme’s delight when he brought back 2 beautiful whiting. It made his day. The caravan park here had extremely friendly people and we were invited by John & Val to join a sing-along in the camp kitchen area. We cooked dinner there and listened to the music and spent some time talking to the 8 people who have been coming here together for over 25 years. All dedicated and well-travelled caravaners from Adelaide.

Venus Bay walking trail views.

Venus Bay crayfish boat

Sun. Feb 6^th

When can I stop mentioning the wind? At least we are not flooded or affected by cyclones, as they are in Queensland and Victoria. We did make the right choice in turning west. Too windy to be on the pier, on a bike or a kayak, so we set off to explore the South Head Walking Trail and enjoy the spectacular rock formations and rugged scenery, although we kept as far back from the cliff edge as possible as the cliff ledges had obviously broken off frequently.
The swell, the furiously fast-paced outgoing tide and the crashing waves made it a great sight. A cappuccino at the store was my first for a long time. Because of the wind, the day was spent planning our next days and relaxing in the shade. Thank goodness we have a long time frame to work with and can spare a day or two waiting for better weather.