Little Dip Conservation Park

On Tuesday 15th April 09 we left for Little Dip Conservation Park. The crew was Louie & Nic in the 2.8D 4Runner and Gary & Luke in the GU 3.0 Patrol. The trip had only been planned a couple of weeks ahead although we had planned to go somewhere. The two boys (Nic & Luke) are our 14 year olds who are very involved in football, and this time of the year it consumes most of our time - 3 training nights per week + games on Saturday and some Friday nights.

So over Easter we organised the camping gear and packed the car, ready for an early departure. On Monday night Gary rang to coordinate a time to leave. "How about 7:30" he said. 7:30? That's half the bloody day gone man. "Yeah, alright, I'll meet you in the main street at 7:30". So a quick duck into the Foodland for Iced Coffees and some chewies and off we go.

Our route was;

Home to Nairne via the back road - no dramas so far
Nairne to Callington via Kanmantoo and the Old Princes Highway
Callington to Tailem Bend via the Southeastern Freeway



A short stop at Tailem Bend for brekkie. The bacon & egg sandwiches were pretty good, even with BBQ sauce. Luke had bacon, eggs & tomato - he's a growing lad. Grabbed a coffee as well and off we go again

Tailem Bend to Meningie, and a quick stop to go to the loo. The boys had a quick kick of the footy and off we go again. I was amazed to see that Lake Albert had more water in it that what gets shown on the news, but the shoreline had receded some 30 or so metres from where it should be.

On to Kingston via the Coorong and Princes Highway. We detoured for a quick trip over Tea Tree Crossing as Gary had never been there. We crossed the crossing - bone dry. A quick look up the top of the dune for him (I stayed at the bottom) and then back down. Another time - another trip. Stopped for an ice block and a yarn, then back across the crossing and off to Kingston via the Loop Road. Half way across the crossing the tide was coming in quite quickly. Somewhere along here we also went out to The Granites.



Yep, we did! Found a little blue toy man there, stuck him on the windscreen wiper, and he stayed there until we stopped at Kingston again on the way back. Then he just fell off... A quick stop at Kingston to get a couple of indicator bulbs for the Toyota and "Oh, can you direct me to the Fisheries office please?" Oh yeah, that's in James Street. Turn left here, turn left there and go down there for a while and turn here and you're there". "er, Gary, did you get all that, coz I sure as hell didn't". While we were inside the servo the boys had a quick kick of the footy. We drove around Kingston looking for the damn PIRSA office and got really lost till Nic said "dad, why don't you use the GPS". No one likes a smart Alec! So we drive right up to the door with the aid of the Garmin only to find the place was closed.

Anyhow, on to Robe via the main road and hazaah, we're here. It's about 12:15 in the arvo.

We headed straight for the info centre. The lady in there was pretty helpful. They have sort of display inside which I forgot to look at. We got our 4WD packs and headed back to the cars. While we were in there, yep you guessed it, the boys had a quick kick of the footy.

We headed off to grab some lunch and have a quick look around. Found a fish & chip shop and bought some lunch. Nice big piece of Butterfish and the chips were pretty good. We procrastinated for a while, solved a few of the world's problems, the boys kicked the footy for a while, then we headed off to Little Dip. This is when the real trip starts. although the trip down was great. It's nice to just spend time with your kid, listening to music, talking, checking out girls, etc.

We entered Little Dip via Robe Street, intending to head for the Stony Rise campground to check it out. Well, we missed that track and ended up at Gum's campground. Not a bad start. We deflated our tyres (and our 4WD egos by missing our turnoff) to the recommended 15 - 20 psi. I was running 16 psi in all tyres and it seemed to tread very lightly for the whole trip. We continued on to Back Beach and further. The tracks here are really interesting, a combination of dune driving and beach driving. The landscape changes quite often depending on how far back from the beach you are. I really enjoy the dune driving, particularly when you drive through the sand dune cuttings. On to Queen's Head Beach, through the dunes again, and down to #17 - Great Photo Spot. They're not kidding! I got s few really nice shots from here.














We progressed further south until we reached the Long Gully campground. We decided to make this our base, although we were only staying for 2 nights. Before unpacking and setting up camp we headed down past Little Dip Beach and down a section that was quite stony. The map suggested Low Range Required. It wasn't that steep really although it was easier to just crawl down & up in low range rather than trying to control the throttle over the bumpy ground.









We headed down onto the beach again then into the dunes turned around and headed back towards the campground. We went straight on where there was a guy in a Pajero. He turned around, obviously deciding not to go down to the beach by himself. "Good decision" I muttered to myself. Doesn't pay to put your family or your vehicle in a risk situation.










We headed back to Long Gully where we found a really good campsite. Some nice sheltered spots, a long drop toilet and 2WD access to the campground. We found a nice sheltered site that was kind of like a turn around between bushes, just big enough for our 2 tents and our cars. While we unpacked the cars the boys kicked the footy.

We got the tents up by about 4pm and things were looking cosy. " Stewie, want a beer?". What kind of question is that? Course I want a beer. So after a few beers, and a bit of kicking the footy with the boys they decided they wanted to go fishing. It's nearly 6:00, we need to start thinking about dinner. Well, the boys wanted to go fishing, and we didn't hear the end of that for a while, till they decided they would go kick the footy.

We cranked up the barby and started to get dinner organised. "Gary, want a beer?" I had a can of Draught Guinness in my hand and Gary said "no, not a Guinness for me". That's OK mate, It was for me! Then disaster struck. Oh no! The bag of coleslaw mix had frozen in the car fridge and defrosted again. Anyone who knows anything about coleslaw mix knows you can't freeze it. I said to Gary "don't worry, I'll cook it on the barby. It'll be like sauerkraut". I've done this before, at home, and it tastes really good, especially when seasoned with some salt & pepper. So for dinner we had lamb chops, chevvies, spuds & onions on the barby, fried coleslaw mix and some fresh pineapple. And it all tasted a treat.

After dinner we did the dishes and tidied up while the boys kicked the footy - in the dark. The Nic & I threw the Frisbee for a while - in the dark, while Gary & Luke did their father/son thing. I have an old glow in the dark Frisbee that is about 35 years old. It still glows OK but loses it's glowability(?) fairly quickly these days.

Then we settled down with a drink, some nibbles, and played Yahtzee for a couple of hours.

We generally head off to bed around 9:30 so we can get an early morning start. There's nothing like a coffee in the bush at 6am. So off to bed we all went. It seemed like the night went forever. I had been awake for 15 minutes or so and it was starting to get quite windy. Then a few spots of rain on the canvas. I don't mind that - it's all part of the camping experience. Then Nic woke up and said "dad, what's the time?". I grabbed my mobile phone and looked at the time. It was only 12:45. You gotta be kidding me, I thought it was more like 4:30 or something. We tried to get back to sleep but the with the wind, the crashing of the sea, the squeaking and flapping of the tent, and the rattling of the zip toggles, we had zero chance of getting back to sleep.

Then it all happened. It started to blow an absolute gale. The tent was flapping around big time and the windward corner had lifted the peg out of the ground. I said to Nic "you stay there and try to go to sleep, I'll sort the tent out". I no sooner got out of the tent and it bucketed down. I yelled out to Gary to put some extra guy ropes on his tent and I grabbed the bucket of sand pegs. We battened down the hatches like you wouldn't believe. After we had sorted the tents out it must have beena sight to behold, 2 40+ year olds standing there in trackie dacks and thongs, with head torches on, soaked to the bone. We should have had a beer there and then. We climbed back in to our respective tents and went back to bed. I dried myself off and climbed in. Nic was fast asleep, probably dreaming about playing footy or something wholesome like that.

I think I must have dozed off pretty quick because I no sooner woke up and it was 6:30. Up, dressed, kettle on and having a coffee, while hanging clothes up to dry on a makeshift line. We sat around and talked a bit of rubbish for a while till the boys got up. Then I cooked some of my famous Oles Home Brand pancakes. The boys had their breakfast and went off to kick the footy while we did the dishes. Then we packed everything away and headed off for a day of fishing and 4WD'ing.

Some of the steep dunes were a bit of a challenge for my underpowered 4Runner, bit I eventually got through everwhere we went. I really enjoyed the area and we plan to return, next time taking the wives as well. We headed out of the dunes at one point. Gary was leading the way in his Patrol. He headed down onto the beach instead of taking the high track. I stopped and thought "don't go there". Next thing he was down to his running boards in wet sand. We tried to dig him out but I ended up snatching him out at a 45° angle. It took 3 tries. He assured me he wouldn't have gone there if he was by himself. More like he wouldn't have gone there if his missus was with him! Back on track again...

We found what we thought looked like a sheltered spot to do a bit of fishing. But there was heaps of weed and some submerged rocks. This caused a bit of frustration so we headed off in search of a better spot. We parked on a headland where there was a small cove which we fished for a while, but again with it's fair share of weed and more submerged rocks. This is where my new reel decided to give up. I didn't notice that it wasn't spooling the line properly and on the next cast, BANG, a massive birds nest of line. How frustrating. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to untangle my line and get it spooled back on properly. All without a beer.

Bugger this we said, so we headed back to the car for lunch.



After a few sandwiches and a beer or 2 (Pepsi for the boys) we headed to the northern side of the headland for a bit of fishing. You'll be surprised to hear that the boy's didn't kick the footy here until we were packing up to head back to camp. We had a few nibbles here, but nothing of any value. All in all our fishing was a disaster. As we were packing the cars to leave a couple of cars pulled up for a chat. The guy & gal in one of the cars said they had been there since the previous Thursday and not caught anything. It sounded like they had fished the entire length of the beach. So after a bit of a chinwag they headed off and we headed back.

We decided to head down to the boat ramp, where the boys did a bit of fishing. Gee it gets dark quick this time of the year.



We had a beer and headed back. Driving through the dune tracks at night is something else. You get a whole different perspective of the environment. A night walk is on the agenda for next time. As we were heading in to camp there was a dead Wombat on the road. I didn't know there were Wombats in this area. Then again, I haven't been to Little Dip CP before.

Back at camp we flashed up the barby for some chops and sausages.



A few beers, clean up, a coffee, yahtzee and then off to bed again by 10pm. Yes, the boys did kick the footy for a while! Tonight we'd set up our cars, cooking & eating area under a couple of tarps to keep the due (and any pending rain) off and I had the flood light on the back of the car shining straight onto the area. It was great to sit under cover, warm and cosy. What we didn't realise, until Luke yelled out, was that we had set up near an ant nest. And these ants could climb table and chair legs, and fast. And these ants were 3/4" to an inch long, with pincers the size of a scythe. Luke had been bitten on the hand, not once but twice. So we spent the rest of the evening in a paranoid stupor hoping that these ants didn't take us in our sleep.

That night seemed to fly by. The tent was as solid as the Taj Mahal, although it was reasonably windy. I had bought new sleeping bags for our Flinders Ranges trip last September. I can't sleep in a sack! I sweated like a pig all night. Next morning we were to be heading home. The plan was to be on the road by 9 and back home by 3pm so we could unpack (we didn't have Friday to unpack as Gary was heading off for work on Friday morning for a couple of weeks & I was back to work for the day) and get the boys to football practice for 5. I think we hit the track by 10:30. It rained every time we went to pack something away. I unpegged the tent around the floor and left it standing until it stopped raining. As soon as it dried out Nic & I packed it up. Then it rained again. Then it stopped. Then it rained again. I don't mind camping in the rain but there's nothing worse than packing up in the rain.

We headed off through the dune tracks towards Robe. One of the steep dunes that I had conquered with ease the days before was quite difficult as it had loose sand blown over the track. In fact, you couldn't tell there was a track there except for the lack of vegetation. It took me 4 go's to get up that hill. Each time I gained more distance because I was packing the sand down. On the 4th go I was up and over.



We traveled back to the park entrance, taking it all in. It was a lightning trip but it was great to get away for a couple of days with the boys. They grow up too quick and if you're not careful you haven't spent quality time with them.

Gary stopped at the park entrance to pump his tyres up while I headed back in to Robe slowly and pumped mine up at the servo. I couldn't be bothered getting my compressor out. So we pumped our tyres up, bought an icecream and a drink, got rid of our rubbish and waited for Gary and Luke to come into town. Quick bit of shopping and we're off home. I stopped at Kingston to double check my tyre pressures and off again. A quick stop at Meningie for a visit to the bakery then express to home.

The entire trip was uneventful. I was a little concerned about my front end as it had suffered a small amount of damage during the Flinders trip last year and I hadn't got around to fixing it. At one stage, coming out of the dunes on the last day, we went through a puddle. The puddle was about 10" deep and the car launched itself 2 feet in the air, coming down with a thud. I said to Nic "mate, if it's not broken now it's never gonna break". While driving through the area, and feeling the need for more power, I've decided I'm either going to put a turbo on the 2.8 or chuck in a 3.8 Commodore motor on gas (maybe a supercharged one).

Trust us to pick the wettest, windiest day to go. During the wild and woolly weather they recorded 10.8mm of rain and 52kph south westerlies.

We got home at 4pm.

Well, it's now 9:40. I'm off for a game of Yahtzee then off to bed. Fortunately Nic's not allowed to kick the football inside the house.....

Louie

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There is a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.