You've got 170 kilometres to eat your carrot's so chew!

There's been a bit going on since I last wrote. Sara had a birthday, I surfed at Cactus beach, we smuggled 4 onions and some pumpkin seeds across the border, and the most exciting of all for the kids, we met Tattoo Dude!

Those pesky Lintons were at Streaky bay which meant planned AFD's were thrown out the window. Streaky Bay has some beautiful beaches. There are sealions, sand dunes, massive rockpools, and a bunch of women who paddle dragon boats and are adept at kidnapping anyone who shows a vague interest in their training and happens to admit that he once paddled outrigger canoes. There is also, to Ned's disgust, a public library where the kids did projects on things they had seen along the way. Oli wrote about Charles Sturt the explorer, Ned did sealions (they can swim faster than a shark which is important), and Ivy told us all about camels, especially their feet.

Sand surfing, note curious stance.

We left for Cactus Beach, a world renowned surfing mecca. I saw the swell and realised immediately that without BF or Presnell to get me out there, I was never going to go close to that reef. It's an amazing coast though, with big swell, and breaks everywhere. The bush camp was a beauty. Once again I got in trouble for mentioning how good it would be to be there for a fortnight with your mates and your dog. Wake up, surf, fish, eat, surf, drink, sleep, repeat. We found a beach break I could handle, and again, all the kids bounced up. Nothing difficult about standing on a board. Sara gave it a brief shot too, before saying that her legs simply couldn't get into that position. I was just stunned she'd even made it into the water, again!

Cactus Beach campsite

It was of course, Sara's 43rd birthday on the 25th. She'd had a week of presents, and the kids did some beautiful cards. She was rapt with her present of a 5 pack of Rio undies in a variety of colours. Hopefully I'll never have to hang those old, holey grey things up to dry in a public place again. We had a couple of gins, a good bottle, a seafood extravaganza (read prawns), with melted chocolate Lindt squares for dessert.

The Nullabor loomed large. This was especially exciting for Ivy who for some reason just loves to say "Nullabor". The main topic of conversation was not the treeless plain itself, but the quarantine at the border into Western Australia. Sara had taken precautions and cooked up a two dollar bag of potatoes, and juiced three dollars worth of lemons. We'd learnt from Tanya, and had no honey anywhere. Then we realised that there were two massive tubs of seeds for our muesli underneath the seats. This was a potential disaster. A plan was hatched. No mention would be made of the seeds. We would offer all our banana skins and nectarine pips as proof we were law abiding citizens. Sara would mention the potatos and the lemon juice now in the freezer. We'd be fine.

And it worked, almost. The fruit bats in the back seat were on glucose highs having munched their way through everything including the carrots. Sworn to secrecy, they smiled at Bubba the nice customs man. I said, as blokes do, "Dunno if we've got anything mate, you'd better talk to the chef..."and Sara opened up the van to show Bubba around. Then an onion rolled out. "Oh, how ever did that get there?" said our innocent heroine blinking her eyes ever so rapidly. Bubba was won over, and left the van oblivious to the 4 other onions and muesli seeds right under his nose. Lucky it wasn't a quarantine stop for bacon; we'd have been stuffed then.

Nullabor Road sign

The cliffs of the Great Australian Bight

We'd caught up with the Lintons by the border. They'd had a fun day of punctures, deflating tyres, and lost golf balls. We all decided to call it quits and pulled into the caravan park at Eucla...and so did Tattoo Dude. Ned and Ivy almost had caniptions. I said hello again, and then, with a slight stammer in my strine, asked if I could get a photo of him with the kids (for future reference). Tattoo Dude said yes, and I took the shot. We met Tattoo Dude at the pub later and had a beer. Peter, his real name, is a great guy. He has been on the road since October, loves cricket, running, and things with big engines. He's off to Kalgoorlie after this, and because we are heading to Esperance we may not see him again, but you never know.

Tattoo Dude

H

Ed's Note / Disclaimer: The onions were a genuine error and we were pretty sure the seeds were permissible. Facts have been embellished to make this story seem more exciting than it actually was.