Only 40km's down the road was the turn-off for Coffin Bay. I had planned on travelling further, but a friend I had met in Arno Bay named Kel had inspired my curiosity by painting a lovely picture of the place. He was headed there also. So I made the somewhat paradoxical decision to travel into a head-wind, 15km's in the wrong direction to the sinister sounding township of Coffin Bay.
The ride in was truly breath-taking, and the bay itself was picturesque, filled with row upon row of oyster beds for local industry. A big red-bellied black snake was posing for me directly in front of the beach which would have made a one-in-a-million shot, but slithered away just as I took the lens-cap off.
After some snooping around and a quick dip in the crystal-clear water it was getting late, so I followed procedure when entering a new town, and went directly to the pub. My plan was to have a few beers and then ride into the national park to set-up camp after dark.
After some lonesome pondering at the bar I finally met a like-minded companion - a guy of around my age bought me a beer and wanted to play some pool.
Max was a 22yr old miner up in the N.T, who was visiting his child-hood home of Coffin Bay for some time off work. He was switched-on, outgoing and ready to have a few too many drinks.
A few beers and some one-sided pool later (I thrashed him), the pub was closing and we were forced to buy some whiskey and hit the road. We visited the jetty where the lights were attracting large squid in numbers, and it was decided: I would stay another night in order to catch these tasty creatures. That night I snuck into the caravan park to sleep and was packed-up early enough to shower and escape.
The next day I stowed my bike at the general store and Max and I took his 4WD for a spin in the National Park. The beaches were like nothing I had seen, with towering sand-dunes and endless, deserted white-sandy beaches overlooking fish-filled pristine waves.
4WDing is permitted on S.A beaches, and I took the time to enjoy being towed behind the vehicle on a sand board. Gliding over the soft sand on a board was very exhilarating, although my every orifice was filled with gritty sand.
Soon after -inevitably- we were bogged. And how! Max and I tried in vain to dig our way to hard ground, but soon gave up. Luckily we had a fresh bottle of whiskey and a fishing rod in the car, so we poured a few stiff drinks and hit the surf. Max shot the lure around the waves for some time, and upon my turn with the rod, I managed to snap the line (and our only lure) first cast.
When we arrived back at the Toyota Troopy we found a large crowd of fellow 4WDers admiring the depth at which we were bogged. They were willing to help us out. It took many hands and some V8 power to pull us out... while I sat back with a delicious drink!
After a late afternoon oyster lunch Max and I waited until dark to prey upon the jetty squid. After dark it didn't take us long to bag some table-size calamari. I had envisaged that we would buy some oil and use the public bbq to cook our feast to perfection. But Max was not one for waiting, and after cleaning, they went straight into his gob. He ate the entire squid (minus the beak and tentacles) raw as though this was common practise. Max insisted I eat mine raw also, but I gave up after a few chewy mouthfuls.
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