Penong, SA
Penong was
our base for a couple of weeks at the start of December as the kids and teachers from Oak Valley school
have a camp once a year at Point Sinclair / Cactus Beach which is about 20 kms
south of Penong when the weather at Oak Valley is at its peak during summer.
Penong is a very small town on the Nullabor Plain and as it is about 75kms west of Ceduna, the caravan park here is often very quiet … in fact, most nights we were the only guests here! Apart from the pub and roadhouse, there isn’t much at Penong at all which suited us just fine!
Here we are
at the Penong Caravan Park where we scored the sheltered annex which provided
excellent relief from the sun and wind.
Deb was the medical officer on camp and I was granted permission by the school to be a volunteer for the camp and we chose to stay in the van in Penong and make the 20kms drive rather than sleep in swags at Port Le Hunte.
On the dirt
road from Penong to Port Le Hunte is the Pink Lake which is adjacent to Lake MacDonnell
…
Port Le Hunte is an ideal location as it is very quiet and has great facilities for these kids including a shark net to protect a swimming area, a large shelter and toilets and it was good that some of the adults and parents from the community also made the journey to the cooler seaside.
Sadly, the
shark net was erected in the 1970’s after a young boy was tragically attacked
and killed by a shark in port whilst swimming.
The area is dedicated to him and it is a reminder to all of the dangers of the sea.
The pic
below is one of Deb’s awesome panoramic shots showing the port, the jetty and
the shark net with the kids enjoying the sea in safety.
The white sand dunes in the background are truly spectacular and turned a brilliant white in the afternoon sun ... and they are huge, in fact you can see these dunes from back on the highway as you drive into Penong!
One of the unique features of Port Le Hunte is the ship wreck of the Cecelia which is located to the left of the pic above and at low tide, you can walk around to see it close up as per the pic below …
Over three
days down here, the kids got to experience firsthand many different aquatic
sports with supervision, education and equipment provision from a team of great
people and professional instructors from Eyre Peninsula Aquatics. They provided wet suits, surf boards,
flotation devices, canoes, kayaks, snorkeling gear and they even had a wet
suit big enough for me to wear!!
Activities
were spread out across the days at Port Le Hunte, Caves Beach and at the Blue
Lake.
Here are all
the Toyotas lined up at Blue Lake as a storm rolls in …
Deb and I had to venture into Ceduna the day the storm rolled in and on the way back to the highway, we stopped at the Pink Lake to watch the lightning strikes and I managed to catch this pic …
Even far more impressive was Deb’s footage of a massive strike which she took on her camera in movie mode. I used video editing software to find the frames as the strike was less than half a second in real time …
The kids got to try their hand at surfing at Caves Beach and they all gave it a go …
Wipe Out!
This is 4 year old Celina riding the surf in her own special way …
Even Blade made a new friend on camp …
I had to include the pic below of the clouds above the Pink Lake ...
The school camp was
great fun and very well organised and then the kids and teachers headed back to
Oak Valley and it was now time for Deb to have a very well earned break.
On their
return to Oak Valley, the kids camped at Watson overnight as the “Christmas
Train” was due there early the next morning.
The Christmas Train travels across the country and stops in remote areas
where Santa hands out presents and a pop star sings songs for them too. This
year, the pop star was Rikki Lee Coulter.
We decided that the distance up to Watson was too far so early in the
morning so we did not make it this year.
During her 6
week stint in Oak Valley, Deb had the opportunity to manage the Aged Care
facility and she did an awesome job resurrecting it from the poor state it was
in to something the community was proud to have. In fact, her efforts were rewarded as the
community management based in Ceduna offered her an extension to her initial
contract to manage the Aged Care facility for a few months with the aim to maintain
the facility at a high standard for the residence.
So we
decided that she would accept the offer and Blade and I would return to Oak
Valley together after she had had a week off to relax and recharge her
batteries.
Whilst we
relaxed at the Penong Caravan Park, Thomas Laucke, the Oak Valley Operations
Manager came to visit us for a couple of days after he had stalked Rikki Lee at
Watson! It was great to see Thomas again
and we all had a great time together. We
went fishing and swimming down at Port Le Hunte and spent most of the time just
kicking back and chatting over a few drinks. Thomas camped in his swag outside the van ... lucky for him it didn't rain!
As I would
be returning to Oak Valley with Deb, I was asked if I could manage the community
store again over Christmas / New Year so Barb (the store manager) could return
to family in Adelaide. I was also
offered work in the community office as well and hopefully to drive the store
truck to Ceduna each week to gain some HR truck experience.
As the
employment policy in Oak Valley is 6 weeks on, 1 week off, we plan to store the
van in Penong instead of in Ceduna and then travel around to the many bays and
picturesque coastal areas on our breaks.
This time I got to drive my Land Cruiser up to Oak Valley and thankfully the dirt road had been graded since I had been on it last as my Land Cruiser only has road tyres and not the thicker and wider tread suitable for dirt roads.
There were a few interesting moments along the way and I managed to take this pic on the dirt road between Maralinga and Oak Valley ...
Deb is some where behind me (eating my dust!) as she drove a community 'troopy' (Land Cruiser Troop Carrier) up from Ceduna.
After a 5 hour drive, all 3 of us arrived safely in Oak Valley ...
As the weather up here was very hot and due to get even hotter over the next couple of months, most of the community had already left Oak Valley and headed towards the coast.
The heat up here is a very dry heat and the winds are often very hot too which makes life difficult for the native animals and the camp dogs whose owners had basically abandoned them when they left town.
One day, not long after we returned to Oak valley, the mid afternoon temperature was ...
And on another day it got even hotter ...
And then a day or so later ... it rained! ...
And a few days later at Christmas ... the heat was back!!
It was so hot that the over night temperature did not drop below 30 degrees!
To brighten up our yard, Deb created an outdoor area next to the carport and we managed to find some plant stands as well as a few foam boxes. We got some potting mix brought up and she planted some seedlings under the shade cloth. The wire is needed to keep the dogs out of the yard and away from Blade and Betty.
Deb found this baby lizard in our back yard so we had to release it away from the dogs into the bush.
Just before Christmas, Thomas' teenage kids Gabby and Tristan came up to stay with him in Oak Valley. They caught the train from Adelaide to Perth and had arranged for the train to stop at Watson as it was not a designated station. So very early one morning, Thomas left and went all the way to Watson to meet his kids.
Christmas 2013 was a quiet time as it was only me, Deb, Thomas, Gabby and Tristan in the community. We had dinner together on Christmas Eve and then we had Christmas lunch on Christmas Day together and it was definitely a unique Christmas for all of us this year!
There were only 3 aboriginals in the community at Christmas only because they could not leave as their car was broken down and could not be fixed. A few days after Christmas, Deb and I drove them down to Yalata (another Aboriginal community on the highway) where their family were staying ... a 650 kms round trip and approximately 500 kms on dirt!
On Boxing Day, I got to drive the water truck out to a water bore approximately 50 kms from Oak Valley towards WA and it was so hot during the day that we decided to leave at dawn.
The truck carries around 22,000 litres of water which is pumped from a holding tank at the bore into and out of the truck. The truck is an old Mack, it has 10 gears and weighs around 40 tonne when fully loaded. It was very difficult to drive at first as it is very heavy and the gear changes needed make it a real challenge. Here we are at one of the remote bores filling up with water from the tank which can be seen in the pic below. SA Water own the tanks and bores including the water infrastructure in Oak Valley but it is the responsibility of the community to cart water from the bores back to Oak Valley.
We leave some water out for the wild animals when we leave each bore and here is a white dingo that is often seen around the bores. Water is so scarce out here, especially in summer that even the wild camels have been seen at the water left at the bores.
One of the many challenges Deb has taken on out here is the management of the community or camp dogs. Unfortunately, when the community left Oak valley and headed to the beaches, they abandon their dogs and let them simply fend for themselves. So Deb created a dog programme to ensure that, as best she can given that she does not own them, the dogs are fed and watered, have basic flea and worming treatments and she has taken a particular interest in removing ticks from them! It is amazing just how neglected these poor animals are and as they were left to fend for themselves, their pack instincts meant that there are often fights and even deaths between them.
It soon became our routine to drive around the community each evening, throw dog food (which we had to buy at first!) out of the window where the dogs have their own territories, ensure they have sufficient water and generally try to keep them apart as they become very hostile when they fight for food.
We did witness a couple of brutal dogs attacks where a couple of "Alpha Male" dogs killed a couple of other camp dogs so we had to call in the Police from Yalata who drove the 300+ kms up here to shoot and kill them for us. Luckily, they were able to get permission from their owner who was in Yalata at the time, otherwise they might not have been able to shoot them ... legally!
In the pic below is a fox terrier we rescued from one such attack and he recuperated in our back yard for a few days with Betty (left) and a curious Blade (right) looking on. We named the fox terrier "Timmy".
As the dogs had become familiar with the vehicles we used to drive around the community when delivering their food, they soon decided to all follow us all day, every day which was a little concerning at first as many of them were very feral looking and they were very aggressive, but they soon understood that when Deb ... "the new Alpha Dog" was around, they needed to behave or they would be growled at! Trust me when I say that you do not want her to growl at you!
Even thou at feed time they can be aggressive towards each other, we have found that most of the camp dogs are friendly and all want some attention ... which unfortunately is simply not the case when their owners are around.
Over time, we gave each of the dogs a nick name like "Miss Scruffy", "Dumb" and "Dumber", "Dobbie", "Tigger", "Rover", "Simba", "Mrs Timmy", "Muttly", "Roo Girl", "Lady", "Lucky", "Patches" whilst "Bella" and "Toby" live at Christina the Nurse Manager's house and "Betty" lives with us and "Blade". There are other dogs that we have not named as yet ... but I am sure Deb will name these for her "Doggie Profiles" she has created to manage each of their health with.
Here they are under the community ambulance at our house, in the shade and out of the hot afternoon sun. They dig holes to find cooler dirt.
New years Eve 2013 was another quiet event, in fact Deb and I were watching a recorded TV series when midnight struck!
Oak Valley is very very dry, dusty and extremely hot, but the wages they pay and the opportunity to learn new skills and experience another world make it bearable.
There were a few interesting moments along the way and I managed to take this pic on the dirt road between Maralinga and Oak Valley ...
Deb is some where behind me (eating my dust!) as she drove a community 'troopy' (Land Cruiser Troop Carrier) up from Ceduna.
After a 5 hour drive, all 3 of us arrived safely in Oak Valley ...
As the weather up here was very hot and due to get even hotter over the next couple of months, most of the community had already left Oak Valley and headed towards the coast.
The heat up here is a very dry heat and the winds are often very hot too which makes life difficult for the native animals and the camp dogs whose owners had basically abandoned them when they left town.
One day, not long after we returned to Oak valley, the mid afternoon temperature was ...
And on another day it got even hotter ...
And then a day or so later ... it rained! ...
And a few days later at Christmas ... the heat was back!!
It was so hot that the over night temperature did not drop below 30 degrees!
To brighten up our yard, Deb created an outdoor area next to the carport and we managed to find some plant stands as well as a few foam boxes. We got some potting mix brought up and she planted some seedlings under the shade cloth. The wire is needed to keep the dogs out of the yard and away from Blade and Betty.
Deb found this baby lizard in our back yard so we had to release it away from the dogs into the bush.
Just before Christmas, Thomas' teenage kids Gabby and Tristan came up to stay with him in Oak Valley. They caught the train from Adelaide to Perth and had arranged for the train to stop at Watson as it was not a designated station. So very early one morning, Thomas left and went all the way to Watson to meet his kids.
Christmas 2013 was a quiet time as it was only me, Deb, Thomas, Gabby and Tristan in the community. We had dinner together on Christmas Eve and then we had Christmas lunch on Christmas Day together and it was definitely a unique Christmas for all of us this year!
There were only 3 aboriginals in the community at Christmas only because they could not leave as their car was broken down and could not be fixed. A few days after Christmas, Deb and I drove them down to Yalata (another Aboriginal community on the highway) where their family were staying ... a 650 kms round trip and approximately 500 kms on dirt!
On Boxing Day, I got to drive the water truck out to a water bore approximately 50 kms from Oak Valley towards WA and it was so hot during the day that we decided to leave at dawn.
The truck carries around 22,000 litres of water which is pumped from a holding tank at the bore into and out of the truck. The truck is an old Mack, it has 10 gears and weighs around 40 tonne when fully loaded. It was very difficult to drive at first as it is very heavy and the gear changes needed make it a real challenge. Here we are at one of the remote bores filling up with water from the tank which can be seen in the pic below. SA Water own the tanks and bores including the water infrastructure in Oak Valley but it is the responsibility of the community to cart water from the bores back to Oak Valley.
We leave some water out for the wild animals when we leave each bore and here is a white dingo that is often seen around the bores. Water is so scarce out here, especially in summer that even the wild camels have been seen at the water left at the bores.
One of the many challenges Deb has taken on out here is the management of the community or camp dogs. Unfortunately, when the community left Oak valley and headed to the beaches, they abandon their dogs and let them simply fend for themselves. So Deb created a dog programme to ensure that, as best she can given that she does not own them, the dogs are fed and watered, have basic flea and worming treatments and she has taken a particular interest in removing ticks from them! It is amazing just how neglected these poor animals are and as they were left to fend for themselves, their pack instincts meant that there are often fights and even deaths between them.
It soon became our routine to drive around the community each evening, throw dog food (which we had to buy at first!) out of the window where the dogs have their own territories, ensure they have sufficient water and generally try to keep them apart as they become very hostile when they fight for food.
We did witness a couple of brutal dogs attacks where a couple of "Alpha Male" dogs killed a couple of other camp dogs so we had to call in the Police from Yalata who drove the 300+ kms up here to shoot and kill them for us. Luckily, they were able to get permission from their owner who was in Yalata at the time, otherwise they might not have been able to shoot them ... legally!
In the pic below is a fox terrier we rescued from one such attack and he recuperated in our back yard for a few days with Betty (left) and a curious Blade (right) looking on. We named the fox terrier "Timmy".
As the dogs had become familiar with the vehicles we used to drive around the community when delivering their food, they soon decided to all follow us all day, every day which was a little concerning at first as many of them were very feral looking and they were very aggressive, but they soon understood that when Deb ... "the new Alpha Dog" was around, they needed to behave or they would be growled at! Trust me when I say that you do not want her to growl at you!
Even thou at feed time they can be aggressive towards each other, we have found that most of the camp dogs are friendly and all want some attention ... which unfortunately is simply not the case when their owners are around.
Over time, we gave each of the dogs a nick name like "Miss Scruffy", "Dumb" and "Dumber", "Dobbie", "Tigger", "Rover", "Simba", "Mrs Timmy", "Muttly", "Roo Girl", "Lady", "Lucky", "Patches" whilst "Bella" and "Toby" live at Christina the Nurse Manager's house and "Betty" lives with us and "Blade". There are other dogs that we have not named as yet ... but I am sure Deb will name these for her "Doggie Profiles" she has created to manage each of their health with.
Here they are under the community ambulance at our house, in the shade and out of the hot afternoon sun. They dig holes to find cooler dirt.
New years Eve 2013 was another quiet event, in fact Deb and I were watching a recorded TV series when midnight struck!
Oak Valley is very very dry, dusty and extremely hot, but the wages they pay and the opportunity to learn new skills and experience another world make it bearable.
In December,
(the Land Cruiser) travelled ... 2,084 kilometres,
Cheapest fuel was in Port Augusta,
SA where it was $1.549 / litre
Dearest fuel was in Ceduna, SA where
it was $1.589 / litre
So far, we have travelled 14,461 kilometres which does not include all the travel we have done up to and back from Oak Valley in community vehicles.
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