Giving into technology

Our weekend hikes, mostly hunting orchids, seems such a long and distant memory and it is probably fair to say we haven’t done a huge amount together since then.  As such this was the weekend that Lisa and I decided it was time that we went away for a night to do something together.  In fact the idea sparked from Lisa’s covert inspection of a camper trailer, as she is keen to get out and about more.  It started a rigorous debate between us.  And while we didn’t get the camper trailer it did result is us heading away for this weekend, which was a good thing:

We headed south to the Flinders Bay caravan park in Augusta.  A short hour and half away, and is a place which we have many fond memories of.  It is a spot we came to several times when we used to head away camping with Elseya.  This time it was just Lisa and I and we managed to snag our favourite camp spot, bay number nine.  It is tucked under the peppermint trees right next to, the above footbath, that leads to the beach.  On arrival we didn’t go to the beach, instead we drove out to Skippy Rock:

I had intended to take my snorkel gear, but the forecast didn’t look all that great.  Strong winds and an undesirable swell made me think twice. Despite what the images show, I’m glad to say the conditions we were greeted with backed up my decision.  Lisa and I did however go for a bit of a wander following the Cape to Cape walk trail.  A lovely track in dense vegetation, so dense that for most of the walk it obscured any view of the ocean.  This included when we got to a lookout, and we felt a bit silly sitting on the bench with no view but vegetation:

We were never intending going for a big hike but it was still lovely to be outside.  We also didn’t spot much, other than some weirdly speckled coloured flies, a very well hidden cricket and the dried up stem of a spider orchid from last season.  I got a bit excited by the last find, but Lisa was in walking mode and I failed to get a worthy image.  On our return and to get a bit of an ocean fix we next wandered along the coast, giving a great above view of the Skippy Rock pool.  Here the landscape changed a lot.  And we came across a patch of rhizoliths, fossilised roots, something we came across on our hike round Mount Duckworth (https://sandbagged.blog/2021/09/26/the-south-african-pest/):

The difference being the rhizoliths on the previous walk were spindly small roots, whereas some of the ones on this trip looked like they had come from sizable trees.  After all the walking and fresh air we had worked up an appetite, so it was of the chippy for fish and chips.  It was a bit fresh outside and it even started to rain a little, so when we got back to the campsite with our food we didn’t fancy being outside.  Instead we sat in the car and had a TV dinner, taking advantage of the technology that has come with Lisa’s Tesla:

Yes it did feel a little naughty watching TV while out camping, but it was much nicer inside than out.  I might add at this point that we didn’t actually bring a tent or any camping gear, having decided that for just one night we would sleep in the car.  There is just enough room for us shorties to stretch out in the back, with the back seats down.  But before we got the sleeping bags out, there was time for another wander along the beach.  Watching the clouds turning from a light pink to a bright red, as the sun slipped towards and eventually below the horizon:

We didn’t have too bad a night’s sleep, all things considered.  It is however not something we both felt we would do too often.  Come morning I pulled out the only real camping gear we had brought, the tea kit.  There was no way we would be going away without the ability to make a cuppa.  Lisa had some of her first cuppa while still in her sleeping bag, but we then went for the same walk, as the night before, along the beach.  This time gulls, petrels, cormorants, and other birds were using the rocks as perches surrounded by an ocean that was still looking too choppy for a snorkel:

We also came across quite a lot of giant sea hares, washed up overnight.  We had certainly not seen them the night before.  If you would like to see one of these gentle giants when they are in the water, check out this post: https://sandbagged.blog/2022/03/09/kicking-goals/.  There were lots of people out walking their dogs, off the lead.  Hopefully none of the dogs got too close to the slimy bodies littered about, the reason being detailed in this post: https://sandbagged.blog/2021/04/18/the-glass-house/:

We hadn’t taken our poodles on this trip, but seeing all the other dogs Lisa now has it on her mind to return another time with them.  But, for now it was just us and we reminisced past trips having fun with Elseya, rock hopped and checked rock pools, and sat at the campsite with a second cuppa playing games overlooking the ocean.  Eventually we started to journey back, stopping in a café for a late breakfast.  Getting home just in time to have to head back out, for a reason that I won’t mention this time: