Perlubie Bay was incredible. $5 a night on an honor system. There was a little camp ground at the top of the hill but most of the vans parked right on the beach. We had taken a good look round the day before and had decided to do the same. We pulled onto the beach at about 10 am. There was another van in front of us and thinking they were going to pull in we pulled over to waited before passing them. When the van didn’t move we investigated. The new van was waiting for an old van to pull out.   The old van was local people (not far to travel so could take their time) and they were waiting for the men folk to come back from their last day of fishing. We started to talk to the people in the waiting van and the people around the area. We had coffee, talked and waited. We had lunch, talked and waited. We had more coffee, talked and waited. We could have gone up to the other end of the beach but at the time the idea didn’t cross our minds. We talked and waited. It was about 3pm when the old van pulled out and the new van pulled in. There was enough room for us as well. Bonus.

The person next to us was Keith, he had been on the beach for 4 nights and took us under his wing. He showed us how to pick razor fish. We had never heard of razor fish before. It was great to know you don’t need any fishing skills. At low tide you walk along the seaweed line, carefully shuffling your feet forward because you will bump into them. Then with gloves on as they are razor sharp, you pull them out of the weeds. It wasn’t long before we had a basket full. Keith showed Adrian how to knock the end off the fish and then cut the muscle inside so the shell would open up making it easy to get the flesh out. The whole basket of razor fish shrunk to a little tub of meat. The flesh is like a scallop to look at. After the men had gutted the fish they threw what was not needed back to the ocean. The local gulls were very happy.

We were told to bang the flesh before cooking to tenderize it and then cook it in a little butter and garlic. Mmmmm nice.

Keith talked Adrian into going squiding. He even lent him a squid lure to try his luck with. Adrian parked the canoe next to someone who was fishing for squid as well and did what he did. After spending most of the afternoon fishing the man caught 10 and Adrian caught ….. nothing. The squid guy was nice and felt sorry for Adrian so after he had cleaned the squid he give use 4. That is the best why to catch squid.

While we stayed at Perlubie Bay we toured to Wirrulla. Wirrulla is world famous for it’s inland jetty. It is said to be the only inland jetty in the world. I know it is the first one I have ever seen. It is also the 18^th hole for the local golf course. (I don’t know if anyone got a certificate of completion like the Nullarbor.) The jetty is a real jetty, which has been relocated to Wirrlulla.

From there we drove onto Poochera where we took a look a Peter’s Humpy. Who was Peter? He was born in 1870 (the 8th child in the family) and never married. His call to fame is he built his house when he was fifty from flattened kerosene tins and poles from the local pine trees. Most of his furniture was made out of kerosene boxes and he had wheat bag mats for the floor. Peter lived in his house into his eighties. Next to Peter’s Humpy was a building made out of 44 gallons drums. We looked at the building and could only wonder about how harsh the conditions of the times must have been like. I had been complaining how bad Telstra phone coverage was. Looking at the building did bring it home to me how lucky we are to live in this time (but Telstra still has bad phone coverage.)

We had thought we would get lunch along the way but both towns were small with almost nothing open. We continued back to Streaky Bay for a late lunch. We chose the local pub and ordered 2 fish and chips with salad, one battered and one grilled. I left Adrian dealing with the order and went and found a table. After ordering Adrian sat at the table and said “Boy that was hard going. I don’t think he was all there.” It did seem something when amiss when the waitress came out with one meal with both fish on it. The waitress did offer to put the meal onto two plates but we said no. We had waited just over an hour already. If they got the simple order wrong what else were they going to get wrong? We shared.

 

We walked around town and sat at the park in front of the jetty. A seal lion has made himself at home beside the jetty’s pylons. We watched him go about his business.

For one of the afternoons we took a walk up along the hills. From there we could see the bay. We had been told the locals used to have horse races every new years day along the beach. It was a big event with people coming from afar to join in with the fun. At the top of the hill we encountered a blue tongue lizard and found a plaque dedicated to those who shipped wheat from the top point of the cliff. I couldn’t see how they did it, as there didn’t seem to be a place to moor a boat.

 

We got to know our neighbors and spend every night having happy hour around an open fire watching the sunset. Some of the sunsets were breath taking.

One of the group had a foldaway fire, It was 6 sided and folded away to not much more that a laptop size. He paid about $500 for it and said it was worth every penny he spent. They were camping and did most of their cooking on the open fire. I am now looking for an open fire similar to it (I whished I had taken a photo of it as I haven’t seen one like it again.) It was nice to sit back and relaxes at Perlubie Bay for 6 days. We would have stayed longer but our neighbors were heading off and we have places to go and new people to meet.