We were up early to ensure that we got Helen to the bus station to get her bus up to Perth, she will fly to Darwin tomorrowher where she will make her next guest appearance!  Having collected her coffee and dropped her off, we returned to Kitty Kat Lane to do the final packing and close down the house.  It was odd with no Helen!  It was also extremely windy outside, although quite bright. 

Having packed all of our luggge into the back of Apollo and made a wrap for lunch, we were off.  It was back to Caves Road only this time heading south as we had decided our first overnight stay would be at Augusta, only just over 50 k away but on the most south westerly corner.  There is a walk which sounds very attractive from the lighthouse we visited yesterday to Augusta. The Two Capes Walk.   It sounds delightful and tempting but not logistically possible on this trip.  

The road had very little traffic on it.  The sign posts would indicate that there are caves all along this area.  We decided not to stop at them but passed a wonderful stretch of trees which caused us to pause and wonder at their beauty……

We also marvelled at the effort it must have taken for those early settlers to clear the land, given the prolific tree growth.  Talk about daunting!

Given the rough weather, 50 mph winds were predicted for the day, I decided it would be nice to get out to look at the sea as it was so near.  We parked just yards from the beach, the trees in front of us were waving furiously.    Keith got out first but the wind was so strong he soon got back in again but not before he managed to get a lump of sand in his eye.  Luckily it was not far to Augusta from there, but by the time we had visited the tourist information office and found a campsite he was in real distress.  The whole situation was made worse by the fact that by now it was pouring with rain.  

As nothing seemed to wash the offending sand out of his eye, we went off the the local hospital who had it out in no time.  Very much restored we adjourned to the camp site after a quick shop for supper, to wait out the torrent.  A couple of hours later, the sun was out and we were able to go out to explore our surroundings.  

The campsite is very well equipped and looks very orderly and is adjacent to a waterway called Seine Bay.  We are parked quite near to the cooking and ablution block, so it is all very satisfactory.  We decided our cooking would be done there tonight rather than tackle our own on board facilities.  Apollo is parked amidst the trees which is a bit noisy in the high winds and occasionally ducks waddle past, a new development in our flora and fauna experience.  

We went out for a short walk but it came on to rain again, so we returned to the van and got ourselves together for transporting our equipment to the communal cooking area to make our meal.   This has a seating area at one end and it was all very social by the time we arrived with lots of wine and beer drinking going on.  A group ofelderly gentlemen were having great fun outside barbecuing.  One chap inside was obviously fascinated by Keith doing the cooking!! It was obviously something of a new phenomena for him.  Supper was good, the cooking area pristine and we did not have to spend the night with the smell. 

All in all, apart from the eye issue, a good first day on the road.  We have booked into the campsite for two nights, so as long as the weather improves and we don’t get get blown away in the night – we will explore Flinders Bay and another lighthouse tomorrow.