Port Lincoln

Mid March has a long weekend here so we drove south 3 hours to a beautiful spot called Port Lincoln. It looks like it may be the furthest point on the south coast of Australia. Apparently, because it is so remote, the Survivor Outback show was filmed nearby. Port Lincoln is known for the Tuna fishing. They have tourist attractions like swim with the tuna or sharks, we didn't take part in either! Some scenes from Jaws were also filmed in this area.
About a month ago a diver was attacked and killed by a shark about an hour away near Coffin Bay (nice name for a place isn't it?) Needless to say I wasn't too disappointed that it was a bit cool for swimming in the ocean while we were there but it was beautiful and we are glad that we went.

Whaler's Way is set along private property that runs along the coastline. It has gorgeous views, just like this one. The road is basically sand and runs 14 kms with lots of places to stop and get out and take a look. To keep the kids happy we called each stop an adventure and they both loved exploring and looking for treasure!

This was our first adventure. There was a beach just out of the picture in the background that was beautiful. People were surfing and paddle boarding. Miles got a kick out of climbing down crevasses.

As many of you know my mom is visiting us for a few months and she joined us for this adventure!

This was such a nice beach. It was very windy and kind of cool but the kids and the adults all enjoyed it. We had a picnic lunch and then let the kids run around for a bit before heading back to our cabin.

Later that night we went out for dinner and had some delicious seafood and pasta dishes followed by gelato, which is very popular around here.

On Monday morning we went out to Glen-Forest, an animal park. There were kangaroos to play with, a koala sleeping in a tree, some gigantic pigs, an ostrich, emu andsome dingoes and camels.

Of course feeding the kangaroos took top spot in the kids agenda! Clint and I enjoy it just as much though!

Miles was even into feeding the kangaroos from the first minute and Izzy still can't get enough!

The same food you use to feed the kangaroos is used to feed the birds, but no one was expecting the birds to land on them. Clint was the first and he started freaking out which scared Miles who wanted to leave the enclosure immediately. Clint tried to follow but the birds wouldn't get off him!

I was the next to be a standing post. There were five birds on me at once!

Izzy was just minding her own buisness when a bird decided to land on her head. What a trooper, she didn't react at all, just stood still and let us take pictures!

We had a great time and the kids slept over half the drive home so overall the weekend was a complete success! Here are a few more animals that we saw!

Crabbing at the Shacks

One Sunday morning in early March we got a call from our friends the Kitchens to join them crabbing at the shacks just outside of town (what we would call a cabin or cottage). We quickly got dressed and drove the 15 minutes only getting lost a bit! It is blue crab season here and it seems everyone is catching and eating lots of them.

Izzy and Clint took the first turn out in the boat with Ben and his son Angus. They were out almost an hour and caught one crab! Miles, mom and myself stayed back and looked for seashells. This is Miles favourite pastime when we go to the beach now!

This is a view of the shack from the water when mom and I took a turn at crabbing. Unfortunately we didn't catch anything as the tide was going out too quickly and the nets weren't hitting the bottom. On the good side, Ben's father in law came over in his boat and told us they had caught two and a half bucket fulls of crabs!

You can see how they get their name from this picture. They are cooked the same way lobsters are and then frozen or pickled to eat later. They catch so many at this time of year that there is no way they can be eaten fresh.

By the end of the weekend the freezer is full of trays just like this one. Mom and I were lucky enough to get to eat one. It tasted good but was a lot of work, just like eating lobster. The claws and arms are the best part but can be tricky to get at!

We had a good time, the weather was once again hot and sunny with very little breeze coming off the water. We did get to see some dolphing swimming by the shore while Clint and Izzy were out so that was cool, hope you can see their fins in the picture! Apparently sharks can be in the area at times because fish like the warm water that comes out of the coal plant on the other side of the shore and sharks have been known to come close to the plant to eat the fish. We also saw jellyfish while we were out on the boat so I wouldn't plan on swimming there!