Im far from the only person to have travel plans wrecked in 2020. This year I finally got long service leave after 10 years in my job and I had plans for 4 different trips away. The first 2 were scuttled almost immediately once the pandemic hit and #4 is still in doubt. But the third trip was 5 weeks in the South Australian outback, and I was determined to make it happen. In July, South Australia almost opened the border with NSW but as they had no cases and Sydney had a small but persistent number of daily cases, that didnt happen.
I was left with two choices – cancel another holiday or cross the border and do 14 days of quarantine. As Ive been working remotely for months, I figured I could do two weeks working remotely in South Australia, so I booked an apartment in Port Pirie on AirBnB and packed up the car. Crossing the border went smoothly and thankfully, so did the quarantine. Two negative Covid tests and a lot of tv streaming later, I was free to go.
filled up on fuel, grabbed a fly net and headed down to Port Lincoln. I had lunch at the Pier Hotel where I ate nearly 12 months earlier on my way to Western Australia. After ducking into the local supermarket to buy some supplies, I was off to Coffin Bay National Park.
I had originally planned to visit Coffin Bay last time but decided to skip it so I could return later and do it justice. And Im glad I did.
I reached the park at about 4 in the afternoon and it was a quick drive on a good sealed road to Yangie Bay. I stopped to let air out of my tyres because from that point on it was only and I knew some of it was sand. I also attached my new sand flag. Although not needed in Coffin Bay, I thought it might be useful as the track is single lane. I cant say it was because on my way in I did not encounter another the other way, but I did encounter a number of trees overhanging the track. The flag did survive so it was a good test for
I arrived at the Black Springs campsite and drove to the spot I had booked. On the way I passed a bunch of young people with their tents pitched not too far away and I was dreading a long night of drinking and music blaring instead of the peaceful camping I was after. Not to worry though, they may have been too young because I didnt hear a peep out of them after 9:30!
I set up my camp and had a look around. A short walk took me to a nice beach, but the wind was cold so no swimming. There was also a short walking track (about 1.5km) to Black Springs so I grabbed my camera and headed out, even though darkness was already falling. After 14 days stuck in an apartment and unable to even go outside for a walk, I needed to stretch my legs. I was smart enough to bring my headlamp, so I arrived safely back at camp in the dark. The marker posts were highly reflective, so in a way it was actually easier to follow the track in the dark.
arrived. It was light as I was cooking breakfast, but as I sat down to eat it began to pour. Thankfully it didnt stay around long but there was more on its way. As I would have to take my awning with me (its attached to the car), I decided to pack up the whole camp so that everything else didnt get any wetter while I was gone. I have a pretty quick setup now, so it was no drama.
I hit the track at 10, which was a bit later than I intended. I wanted an early start because high tide was at 5pm and part of the track became impassable. I wasnt sure how close to high tide that would happen, so I wanted to be on my way back by 3.
The drive from Black Springs to Point Sir Isaac on the northern tip of the Coffin Bay peninsula was about 25km but it was also more fun than the way in. There was a lot of sand and it looked like there were some sand dunes you could drive on. They looked steep and the sand soft, so I gave them a miss and
The best part was the drive along Seven Mile Beach. This is the part of the track that is submerged at high tide and I could see where the tide got to.
