Onwards to 80 Mile beach we headed, away from the rain and into the sun. After a quick roadside lunch we trundled in at about 1:30pm to our campsite at 80 Mile CP for two nights. This long stretch of beach is well-known for its shells and fishing. Swimming, well, perhaps not because of sharks. This was highlighted on our second afternoon there when standing a metre or so from the edge we saw a 2m+ shark swimming not far from us in water that was only half a meter deep. I’m sensible enough to think that they are unlikely to attack a swimmer (as there is so much other food out there) but it kinda puts you off going in any further than knee-deep.

Fisherman on 80 mile. None seemed to be having any luck. Our luck was to see a large shark swim past a few minutes later!

The shells were lovely – lots of colourful cockle shells, “coconut bombs” (actually Sea Biscuits, but so named by the boys for their ability to explode if you throw them hard enough onto the ground – although this rule seems to apply to most things), and a few bigger ones. Some nomads are there for months and have some amazing collections. Apparently you need some good swells and rough seas to wash all the shells up onto the beaches. The beach is long (80 miles – who’d have guessed!) and very wide at low tide. Great for driving on. we pottered south about 10km or so and Sam was lucky enough to have a go at steering and controlling the accelerator.

Driving on 80 Mile with friends.

On our second night we were joined by Peta and Darren with their two children.  They are a family from Adelaide we first met at Port Lincoln CP in SA back in February.  We have been crisscrossing paths ever since.  We have shared a few meals since then (Albany and Perth) but not a campsite.  It was lovely to catch up again.

A Red Kite stalking prey near the campsite