7/10/21 The Sorry Case of the Neglected Mattress: Streaky Bay to Kiana Park

Roger's self-inflating mattress is getting tired: when it has been rolled up for a couple of days it doesn't inflate properly for the first night, leading to a very uncomfortable sleep for the poor man.

"We must remember," we said, "to unroll your mattress every night, even when we're in a cabin."

Then we forgot all about it and spent three nights in the cabin in Streaky Bay, leaving Roger's mattress rolled up, squashed in its bag, and packed in the car. Oblivious to our guilt in the case of mattress neglect, we tootled back down the west coast, stopping at any attractions that caught our fancy along the way.

The whistling holes: cracks and fissures in the rock 'breathe' as the sea surges in and out of the underground caverns, and in the right conditions blowholes occur.  This effect is best seen at high tide and with an on-shore wind: we should have been there a day earlier.  As it was, with low tide and a very light breeze, there were no blowholes.  There was still some impressive 'breathing' though.

One of the many 'breathing' holes.  A rock nostril?  A mouth?

Eventually those breathing holes fall in and that gives you tah-dahh! The Tub.  In keeping with SA's cavalier approach to public safety, a small sign tells you not to fall in.  Or else.

And some of the caverns become accessible caves, complete with a beehive in the roof and annoying tourists with drones.

Tiring of big limestone cliffs and lollipop-blue seas, we turned inland to what was billed as one of the great natural wonders of the world.  Now hold onto your hats, I don't want excitement to get the better of you, but let me introduce you to...

 

Murphy's haystacks!

How often do you get to explore one of the great natural wonders of the world?

Although to be fair the view was surprisingly beautiful with rolling paddocks of wheat and the hint of huge sandhills on the far horizons.

And the haystacks, of course.

But wait, there's more!  We didn't think the natural wonders of the world could get any better than the Haystacks, but then we went to Luck's Well. Luck's Well just begged for some sneaky camping what with its stunning view, perfectly placed picnic table, and accommodating amenities.

Yes.  I think I'll stay and have breakfast here tomorrow.

Unfortunately we weren't the first to think of sneaky camping at Luck's Well, and the Elliston District Council had put up lots of signs telling us we couldn't do so, and assuring us that penalties would be applied should we take liberties. Being law abiding citizens we sadly returned to the highway and camped instead at Kiana Park which is a working sheep station/wheat farm with a little camping area complete with hot showers, a camp kitchen, and a communal fire pit with lots of firewood.  The farm sits at the end of Lake Hamilton, a very large saltwater lake that contributes approximately a million mosquitoes to the ecosystem of Kania Park and ensured that every camper there got into a tent or a caravan very quick and smartly once the sun had set.

 

This was when we discovered that we had forgotten to provide requisite TLC to Roger's tired mattress, motivating Roger, in between killing mosquitoes that had snuck into the tent before we zipped it up, to look for a camping store which can sell him a new mattress. In the meantime he had to inflate his mattress by old fashioned lung power, which is harder than you'd think for a self inflating foam mattress. I encouraged him with the thought that adversity builds resilience, and he would therefore be very resilient tomorrow after sleeping on his semi flat mattress. He seemed to think that resilience would be spelt 'stiff' and 'sleep-deprived', but I'm sure he'll appreciate the sunrise more than usual if that's the case.

 

Home for the night: Kiana Park.

Campfire neglected due to too many mosquitoes.