I like travelling around Australia, more than living in my house- Abbey Linton

Our arrival at Fitzgerald Bay near Whyalla was somewhat sticky - and it wasn't the weather. We missed the turnoff to the campground (because the sign had been taken down) and had to do a U turn on a dirt road with soft sides. Nick thought he could bush bash a bit but one of the back wheels hit soft sand and started spinning. We tried jacking the wheel up and putting chocks under but we ended up needing to unhitch the van in order to get out and push the van onto the road and hitch it back on. Apart from quite a few prickles which left us itching like crazy it was all ok in the end.

Finally we found the campsite. It is funny how you have preconceived ideas of what a place will look like. After reading the camp books I was imagining camping on a sandy bay, although very picturesque the beach was grit and the water was only a few centermetres deep for at least a kilometre before reaching deeper water.

After setting up the kids went for a bit of an explore and came back with a bucket full of little crabs - pets they said. After another blustery night we awoke to lovely blue skies and the far off water beckoning us to come and snorkle and explore its sea bed. We had fun finding more cockles, shells, razor fish shells, a blue swimmer crab (which the boys caught and ate), schools of bait fish and interesting coral and rock features. Unfortunately Matts underwater camera came off his wrist and after a long search we decided it has become a treasure of the sea. Matt was bitterly disappointed and went snorkeling each day and walked on the beach in the hope of it being found.

Apart from snorkeling we spent our time here getting some schoolwork done, visited Whyalla, flew kites and met 3 other people staying near us who had some great travel and fishing advice. The kids even laid to rest one of their pet crabs making a grave and head stone complete with citronella candles.

Unfortunately while we were out snorkling the winds were so strong we came back to find the tent had blown
over, 2 of the Fiberglass poles had been split causing two tears in the tent fly. Dripping wet we unpacked the tent then dismantled it, sorting through all the contents and packing what we could in the car. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the phone trying to find somewhere to get new poles and repair the fly. Luckily we found a place in Cleve only a short detour on our way to Port Lincoln which could do it.

Lying in our bed watching the stars one night Nick and I commented to eachother that with the exception of watching DVDs in the car on long distances and Josh watching a bit if cricket none of us have watched any T.V since we left home and none of the kids have even asked to watch it or have missed it.

As we were leaving the campsite, which had no amenities except a toilet Abbey said to me "I like travelling around Australia, more than living in my house". It seemed that the freedom to explore and find crabs, shells, sea glass, fly kites, gaze up at the stars and counting the shooting stars, had something very special almost magical which couldn't be found at a caravan park. All that aside I did enjoy a nice hot shower upon arrival at Port Lincoln and caught up on 4 loads of washing.