Farm Beach – total 38 nights - till 15th Jan 2011
A few days after Christmas the park started to fill up with people and it turned in to Feral Beach. I don’t like to say bad things about other people, but really, many of our neighbours were ugly, noisy dicks. A family of ferals parked up right next to us with a POS van, a big noisy boat and a generator which they an all night. We still tried to be nice and say hello when we saw them but they just replied with awkward looks and grunts. Eventually they left only to be replaced with a stranger mob with a van that looked like a horse float. They came and went at strange hours of the night and grunted a lot also.
One other weirdo worth mentioning was a guy who arrived with his wife and two kids. From the moment he stepped out of his car, all he did was verbally abuse his kids. We listened to it for several days and it really got on Terris goat. One night we heard him say angrily ‘goodnight kids.’ Terri yelled back, ‘goodnight Dickhead’ !!
Early January and most of the ferals had left. We had the park to ourselves for a few days and then the grey nomads started arriving, the place turned into old Fogey Park.
One day we went for a drive and had lunch at Coffin Bay Hotel. We were enjoying a few beverages and a feed. Then a girl with a camera came up to us, took our photo and our names and said we might make it into the local rag. The next week one of the fogeys came up to me and said, ‘is your name Paul? There is a big photo of you in our paper.’ I checked it out and there it was, a big colour photo of me and Terri, half pissed, dominating the social pages. We are famous !!
The next week we spent a lot of time in Port Lincoln, sorting out our resumes and applying for jobs. We were pretty keen t top up our fumds before we moved on. After a few days we hadn’t heard back from any applications and were starting to feel a down about the situation.
We knew we shouldn’t be spending money on beer and pub meals but we did anyway. Back to Coffin Bay Hotel one week after our photo. As soon as we walked in the staff pounced on us. Where are you from? What do you do? How long you staying? Do you want some work? We can give you plenty of work! And so our visit to the pub payed off. For Terri anyway. She started working in the kitchen the next day and has been there nearly every day since. Impressing everyone with her culinary talents.
They kept promising me work behind the bar but never came through with it. So I would just sit on the fun side of the bar while Brucey, the bar manager, poured me drinks. I'm not a huge drinker, so after a few pints I would have to sneek off before he poured me another one. Otherwise I would be stuck there all night waiting for Terri to finish so she could drive us home to Farm Beach, 20kms away. I did get drunk and stranded a few times. This is when I would ring all of you people and have a drunken chat.
So, Terri was working heaps, and loving it. We were spending a bit on diesel, driving to and from every day so we decided to pack up and head to Coffin Bay Van Park. Walking distance to the pub and everything else in town.
Coffin Bay – 16th Jan till now
We moved from Farm Beach and are now staying at Coffin Bay Caravan Park. Its about 20kms away from Farm Beach but this is a real caravan park. We are enjoying such luxuries as 240v electricity, running fresh water out of a tap, hot showers, non smelly toilets and tv reception!!
The first day we stayed here was very exciting. I never thought I would be so excited about a tap. I stood there for over an hour filling up water containers and charging cameras etc. Terri raced off and had her first hot shower in nearly two months. While she was away I tried the TV reception on the laptop and OMG it worked!! I knew this was going to be a big deal for Terri. She has been fantasizing about Neighbours since we left civilisation. Terri returned from her hot shower with the biggest smile on her face and then I showed her TV. She ran outside and did cartwheels, for real !!
Terri is working up to 12 hours per day and getting paid well The pressure was on for me to start making some $$. A few locals had said that I should try the oyster farms. One farm in particular was recommended to me, Pristine Oysters, apparently the boss provides free lunch every day. Did somebody say free lunch? I made my way to Pristine Oysters in the industrial area, walked in to a loud, smelly shed and found the boss. I told him my story and he said, “Yes, I will give you 2 weeks, we are busy right now, right now, you need to start now!”
So, I rushed home, got changed, told Terri, and 10 minutes later I was filling nets with baby oysters. 2 hours later, I was riding on an oyster punt (boat) out to the oyster lease (farm).
The next day, I spent 5 hours at the oyster shed and 5 hours splashing about in crystal clear, waist deep water. And that has been my typical weekday for over 3 months now.
It is a strange job, but can be interesting. We wear several layers of wetsuits in the water. When fully suited, there is over 1 cm of material wrapped around us. It keeps us warm in the water but equally important is protection from barnacles. Razor sharp barnacles coat everything at the lease like a layer of crushed glass. You wouldn’t last 10 seconds wearing regular bathers. You would be mince meat.
The water depth ranges from knee height up to about 8 feet. When the weather is good, its like we are working inside a postcard. Flat glassy water which is see through, even at 8 feet deep. Dolphins, seals and fish splashing about and picturesque mountains in the distance.
When the weather is bad, the job is unpleasant and dangerous. Cold wind, icy, dark water and big swells. Trying not to get washed away or smashed by a barnacle covered post, hold on to a basket full of oysters and throw it on to the deck of a 5 tonne boat which is bouncing around on the waves a few feet away from your head. On top of that you need to keep your head above the water, breathe and look out for flying, barnacle covered baskets which the rest of the crew are also trying to land on the deck of the boat.
That last bit makes the job sound pretty shit, but generally it is not that bad. Thankfully, I showed up at the right time of the year and will only hear stories of what oyster farming is like in the winter.
A couple of weeks after I started working at Pristine, nearly the whole crew resigned or was fired. Already I was one of the more experienced workers. We had Dutch and French backpackers working with us for a while. The French lived up to their stereotype. Tight, arrogant and unappreciative of foreign culture. The dutchies were much more friendly and loved Australia and Australians. They have left now, but we agreed to meet up in Holland one day for a nice big cup of dutch coffee.
As well as the backpackers, we have two Thai ladies who are wives of some local aussie blokes. With so many foreigners, broken English became the official language at work. I found it quite amazing how well a group of people can communicate without a common language. Lots of hand gestures and body language. You have to put a lot more effort and thought in to getting your point across but the result is a heightened appreciation for each other as we learn from each other and transcend regular verbal communication.
I've eaten some interesting animals (raw) while out on the lease. Obviously, we eat lots of oysters. We have to test the product before we sell it. There are lots of sea anemones growing on the posts and we smash them open and eat the orange roe out of them. Yummy. Occasionally, a scallop can be found sitting on the sandy bottom. We shuck them and eat them up raw. They are my favourite. Sometimes there are tiny shrimp bouncing around on the deck of the boat. Chew them up whole and they are surprisingly sweet. When we bring the baskets back to the shed and empty them, there are crabs running around everywhere. The thai ladies started collecting them for their dinner and then started eating whole, raw, mini crabs. I had to try that. Also surprisingly sweet but a little sharp on the tongue.
So, everything was going pretty smoothly at work. I was fitting in well, getting heaps of hours (50 – 60 hrs / week ) and enjoying the novelty of the job. Then one Thursday in February, everything changed. It was a dark, cold day and we spent quite a few hours in the water, doing maintenance in one of the deeper areas. It was not much fun. Then on the rough boat ride home, smashing in to one wave after the other, a big shark fin popped out of the water right in front of us. Lutty (our foreman) and I looked at each other with mouths wide open. “Did you see that?” we both said. I wish I hadn’t, but I did.
I went home that night with sharks on my mind. While sitting in the van we heard sirens rushing past which is uncommon in small Coffin Bay. The next morning the news started spreading, an abalone diver had been eaten alive by two great white sharks. Holy Shit !! That day at work, for the first time, we didn’t go out on the water. The boss said it was because of the weather but I think it was really due to shock of how close to home this attack was. I spent the day sitting in the shed, fixing baskets, thinking, “I have to quit this job, this is crazy.”
That Friday, I went home with a lot of things running through my mind. I was on to a good thing. Mostly enjoying my job, getting heaps of hours and saving heaps of money. But was it worth the risk of getting eaten by a 20 foot fish? I was confused and had to get some opinions. I rang my good friend, scuba man Sutto, expecting him to tell me that I was over reacting and that the odds of an attack were very low. Not the case. He was like, “get out of there man. Even a little nibble will take chunks out of you and wheelchairs are not cheap. Quit !” Not the reaction I was expecting but I was grateful for his advice. Then I rang my mum, expecting her to demand that I quit also. Again, not the case. “all jobs have their risks, driving to work is risky too.” What the!
I was even more confused after all that. I spent the weekend changing my mind about the situation every 10 minutes. I’ll quit, this is crazy. No I wont, I'm over reacting. It was doing my head in. I ended up speaking to a heap of locals and fellow oyster farmers and convinced my self that id be ok. The water where the abalone guy was eaten was deep, open water in shark feeding grounds. The oyster farms are inside the bay and in relatively protected waters.
Terri has been killing it at her job in the hotel kitchen. The chef loves her and they have become good friends. Terri’s love for food and cooking is blooming and she impresses herself, her colleagues and patrons everyday. We aren’t sure how they managed before Terri showed up. She also gets up to 50 hours per week. Until late march, when she took some time off to recover from her surgery.
Terri has been suffering from an ingrown toe nail for ages and finally got booked in to sort it out. I had to take her to the hospital where they removed part of her toe nail and her nail bed. On top of that, the night before the surgery, she sliced the top of her finger off with a sharp kitchen knife. The poor girl was in agony for a few days and struggled with life in a caravan and walking to the toilet block etc. All good now though. The finger has recovered well and her toe is getting there. Still a bit puss and smelly but getting there.
Our next door neighbour at the park, Wayne, also works at the oyster farm. We get along well and a few weeks ago he took me out on his boat for a day of fishing. Yes, I finally caught some fish. It was a perfect morning for going out on the boat and it was nice to be out there and not working. We scooted past the oyster leases, out past the bay entrance and in to some deep water. We caught a heap of whiting, some little herring, a snook and a leather jacket. So, we have been enjoying some tasty fish dishes. Yum!
In early April, we crossed something off of our to do list. Attend a JJJ One Night Stand. We were hoping we would be in the right place at the right time at some stage of the trip. And bang ! Tumby Bay was announced. Just 1 hour from Coffin Bay. Yay!
After boycotting festivals in perth for a couple of years, (so we could save $$$) it was nice to be at a gig on a big oval in a foreign land. Something I had been looking forward too. Very refreshing. There was about 10000 people there, so, big but not too busy. The only problem was the police presence. There where cops and sniffer dogs everywhere. We had nothing to hide from the law but it does spoil the mood a bit, when youre trying to watch a band and there is a dog sniffing your crotch and 10 cops standing around watching.
Anyway, the bands were good. Especially Birds of Tokyo. Their sound quality was awesome and the lead singer has a good stage presence. Terri was stoked to see her old school mate playing lead guitar too. We were standing right at the front on the gate but to the side a bit. So we had a great view and room to dance.
A couple more weeks and it was easter. A few days off work and a visit from my Mum and Dad. They flew over and stayed in a room at the pub for a week. It was a good time for them to see how nice Coffin Bay is. The town filled with tourists, there were markets and the sun came out for most of the week.
On Easter Saturday, Mum, Dad and I went to Swim With The Tuna. The must do tourist attraction in Port Lincoln. The weather was perfect, we had a 15 minute ride on a massive luxury boat and arrived at a huge floating pontoon. For the next couple of hours we swam with a few hundred great southern tuna during feeding time. What an experience. They are big fish and they are fast. More acceleration than a Ferrari. There were also some little sharks and other fish to swim with. And a touch pool with some weird little critters in it. The scallops were especially funny. Opening and closing their shell and flapping about in the water like little butterflies. So cute, yet so yummy. Oh well.
Already, two weeks have passed since easter. Mum and Dad have gone home, ive finished my job at the oyster farm, Terri has 2 weeks left of work, i have a list of things to fix before we drive again and we have to figure out where to next.
Coffin Bay has been a very positive experience and has given us so much confidence to continue on our journey. It will be wierd to leave because we have been settled for so many months. But we are both keen to see whats next.
Hi to everyone out there. Thanks for reading and for your kind comments.
Paul and Terri
P.S.
If you ask for a polony sandwich in SA, you will get a funny look.
They call polony - Bung Fritz. For real.
