Pt 2 - Day 52 - Exploring the island

After talking to a few people we decide to head for a camping ground on the north of the island at Stokes Bay.  We are surprised by how good the roads are and how we don't feel like we are on an island at all.  At one point, I say to Glen that I feel like I am driving somewhere between Cadoux and Kalannie, as the vegetation is very similar, there are paddocks either side of the road in places, and the roads are narrow.

We arrive at quite an uninviting camp site and an even more uninviting bay, covered with lots of rocks and no sign of anywhere to swim.  The weather isn't very conducive for swimming anyway so we decide it is a good day to jump back in the car and explore the island further.  We are staying until Friday so we have 4 more nights in which to camp, so we want to explore while we don't have the van on the back.  First we take a dirt track over to Emu Bay which everyone has been raving about.  I don't know if it is the dull weather or what, but Emu Bay certainly doesn't do much for us either.  The beach has no waves and is covered in weed and the camp is quite a walk away from the beach, has no trees and only one lone camper parked there.  So we move onto Kingscote, the capital, I guess you would say, of the island.
We immediately notice the machinery dealers as there are quite a lot of farms over here.  Kingscote is probably about the same size as Wongan I suppose.  We have a look down the main street and notice there is pelican feeding at 5pm at the wharf.  For a small fee of course!!!!  Apart from the late time, we aren't keen to delve into our pockets again so soon, and after a chat with a local lady in the shop, she informs us that if we go down to the wharf now, the pelicans will be there and sure enough they were.  We had a great time watching them prune and clean themselves.  After this we called into the local Bee hive.  The island has very strict rules on bringing in bee products as they breed a particular type of "bee" over here, not found in many other parts of the country.  Bee products galore, the kids didn't know where to spend their money first, the only catch being of course, is none of these products can be taken back into WA, so they had to get something small, that could be eaten in only a couple of weeks......easy done!!!!

Next we went to the local Sheep Dairy, just in time for milking.  All the sheep were being herded into the shed.  We go in and sign up for the tour.  We watch the DVD explaining the process they go through to make the final products, then we are ushered into the next room where we are able to sample a variety of cheeses and yogurts and read the informative panels around the room.  Then we move to the area where the milking is being done.  You are able to view it through a window.  All the sheep are head down enjoying a feed and all hooked up to milking machines just like cows.  We learn that there are only 7 sheep dairies in Australia as opposed to 1000 in Europe, which surprised me given the number of sheep we have.  The products are delicious, so we head off with a few purchases under our arms.  They don't sell the milk though, so we didn't get to taste that.

Next stop Vivonne Bay.  We want to find our next camp site as we have decided not to go into either of the caravan parks over here due to the cost.  The Vivonne camp is much better, 3 minute showers, a playground, water available and we can have a powered site for $10 a night.  The river and beach is just over the sand dunes where the kids can surf and we can fish.  We decide there and then that we are moving here tomorrow and just hope there is a spot available.

We head back to our uninviting camp which is costing us $15 a night, no showers, no power, no water!!!!   After talking to yet more people today we decide there must be more to Stokes Bay as everyone raves about it so we decide to explore.  We head down the rocky bay and look closely at the big boulders at the end.  There seems to be a path through them so we squeeze through the rocks working our way up and then down, after a few minutes we emerge out the other side to a beautiful bay!!!!!  Wow, so this is what all the fuss is about.  A small pool is cut off from the beach by rocks which is probably chest deep in places, small fish swimming in it, and beyond this some nice waves, no weeds and a beautiful stretch of sand.  It is only about 22C but Shannae is straight in the water, our little mermaid.  Cody, the beach boy, is digging for water and burying himself, and Tori enjoys a bit of solitude exploring the rocks.
Tonight we enjoy bruichetta and Haloumi from the sheep, for tea and a family game of monopoly.  A big day.