The Fiedlers 2012 Gap Year: Coffin Bay National Park 3rd to 6th April

In Yangie Bay at Coffin Bay National Park.

Were we are camped it doesn't seem to be as pretty as PL but we are assured that a car drive away is some of the most beautiful beaches.

Day One hasn't gone completely as planned. Molly has come down with a virus and a temp of 39ºC. Poor little pumpkin. Even the offer of a lolly was rejected. I knew she was really sick then.

Rasmus took Kasper for a spot of fishing with his new rod, which he got as an early birthday pressie, but they came back rather quickly. Not sure Kasper has the same passion for the sport as his brother. It's pretty cool buying the gear though!!

As Molly couldn't really go anywhere we decided to have a day at home and catch up on school work.

The pattern we have fallen into regarding the schooling looks like this:~

We begin with the usual complaining, whinging and general time wasting
Followed by bursts of pencil using for a approximately 1-2 min
Then comes the 'I'm hungry, thirsty, tired' -slot in appropriate statement
'I can't do it' is interspersed with 'I AM trying' routinely and usually at high sound levels.
Steps 1 through 4 are repeated for the next 4-5 hours until the mother/supervisor wants to ring somebody's neck.

Remarkably, we got through it without me having to resort to violence so, a good day ;o)

The next day Molly had picked up and we slotted back in to tourist mode.

Our Caravan next to Yangie Bay

Rasmus on a hike

The camping-ground which we were staying in-Yangie- was not, in my opinion, of the pretty style. Although strangely, Kasper claimed it was his number one spot. The camping places were undefined which actually made picking a spot more difficult, the trees, despite it being a national park, were quite ugly; spindly and in need of a good drink and the nearby Yangie Bay was muddy and looked like mangroves grew there. Further more, there was more dust than I care to live in.

We had committed to 4 nights in our dust bowl due to Easter.

On day 2 we ventured out to find these illusive magical beaches we had heard about.

Our trip took us through some sandy areas and pools of sea water which was a bit scary for us novice 4 wheel drivers.

It was very cool to spot a mother emu and her 3 young chicks following behind her.

We came, at last, to a lovely area and pulled the car up. The water was clear and blue and very inviting so we all stripped off and made for the sea. Rasmus and the kids donned their snorkeling gear and went to have a look for what was about underneath.

Another family was also there so the kids quickly made friends had some play mates too.

Next to our beach there was a sandy hill which must have led to a camping spot as a number of cars and their camper-trailers came past. Several got bogged and it took them ages to get through. They dug up the previously hard sand which we had used so we were a bit nervous for the ride home.

But it was all good.

It was a great time.

Painting Easter Eggs

In the evening we all sat together and had lots of messy fun decorating the boiled eggs I had cooked that morning. We soon had a basket full ready for the Easter Bunny to hide in the morning.

Collecting Easter Eggs

On Easter Friday Molly exclaimed, “We must do Eastery things today”. Ok, I thought, Eastery??!? We have been a bit slack on doing kinder kind of stuff (and grammar lessons apparently) so I brought out the craft supplies and we got busy making Eastery stuff.

Bunny Ears, egg baskets and colourful easter egg shapes were duly made and stuck to various places around the cluttered (Fiedler style) van.

I made up a batch up Hot Cross Bun dough ready to bake but suddenly we heard some scuffling out in the camp site and Rasmus exclaimed that he had just seen the tail of the Easter Bunny!!!

We grabbed the newly made easter baskets, dashed outside and set to work finding the hidden boiled eggs. It was a lot of fun and a bit tricky too as the eggs had been set into some very secrety spots :o)

Egg rolling

Eventually they were all found. They would be for our lunch later on in the day.

Next on the Easter agenda was the annual Fiedler egg rolling game. It was blowing a gale outside so we had to pull the van apart to fit in the rolling board and a generously lolly littered sheet.

Let the fun begin!

We all took turns rolling the egg down the plank and soon our plastic bags were filled with lots of sweet, sugary goodness.

Oh! Easter we love you.

The following hours were spent eating our spoils along with the boiled eggs.

As we were on an adventure to see our part of the world we thought it only right to take a drive, despite our rolling tummies, along the south-west cost line of the Eyre peninsula. Facing towards the Great Australian Bight we saw some amazing and powerful water. The colour always amazes me, that wonderful blue-green turquoises of the sea-my absolute favourite.

Rough Sea with and windy day

As well as endless landscapes of flat water we also saw, and heard, waves smashing along the rocks at the beach line. We wondered how we could ever survive the rips pulling along side the rock islands just off the coast. I didn't want to frighten the kids but I wanted them to understand the power of the ocean. And from our vantage, on top of the cliff, the view was magnificent and the water undeniably potent.

A beautiful end to a great Eastery Friday.