After nervously sticking our
heads in the model of a great white shark at Streaky bay (biggest ever caught) and buying completely flavourless rainbow ice-creams (I’m not kidding it was really
weird, they were brightly coloured but completely without any taste - serves us
right I guess for choosing rainbow flavour), we drove onwards and upwards to sunny
Ceduna. We stayed at Shelley Beach Caravan Park where we unpacked our 700 pet
beetles (probably causing an infestation in Ceduna – sorry guys...) and enjoyed
our first showers in a while. The place seemed to be teeming with children and
soon the kids had happily joined a gang that ruled the caravan park on foot and
bikes. We met some other families travelling with kids (hats off to the De
Sliva family travelling with their 4 boys!) and it was great to compare notes as we ate our dinner in the faux Hawaiian grass hut camp kitchen.
Next day we drove into
town and visited the information centre, which was manned by possibly the most
unfriendly person we had ever met. When Kate asked whether there was any whales
to be seen nearby he looked at her incredulously and asked scornfully where we
were from. Whales are never seen, he informed us, before June (idiots). Kate pointed out
that all the literature said the season started on May 1 (a few days away) but
he was scornful of the literature too. So we just listened obediently while he
gave us a fast-paced and snappy monologue on things to do around Ceduna (although we
hadn’t asked him about this) while he kept a close eye on the children to make
sure they didn’t breathe on any of the souvenir junk for sale.
Next day, we visited a
wombat sanctuary where a woman and her daughter care for a menagerie of
creatures that have been injured or orphaned. They do a great job and it was
cool to see the wombats – including a pair of rare white-haired wombats and
some tiny pink babies. Bit depressing to hear some of the stories of
mistreatment and cruelty but heartening to witness the passion and commitment
of these 2 women (who can never have a holiday, even for one night.. shudder…).
Burramundi burgers at
the cactus café for lunch before stocking up on books at the op shop where the
kind ladies praised our two sweet little girls for their quiet attention to the books
(Sash’s hair has grown so long now that he gets called a girl on a daily basis
– worse since B cut his hair in order to get it out of his eyes but gave him a
very pretty little bob!). Zara and Kate visited the indigenous art and culture
centre where we watched some of the local artists at work and where the kind
lady gave us a bunch of wrist bands and posters from Naidoc Week 2011 (posters
are possibly the most useless item for us at the moment, but it was a nice
thought). Next stop, the Bureau of Meteorology (as recommended by our buddy at
the information centre) to watch the weather balloon being launched. It was
somewhat off-putting that the young meteorologist seemed totally bewildered by
the apparent interest of a crowd of tourists but we all ooohed and ahhhhed
appreciatively as the large orange balloon floated away. Then
we left...
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