Port Augusta Flinders and Outback day cruise 30/6/2011

This morning we went on a Flinders and Outback cruise up the Spencer gulf. We had to meet at the boat ramp at 10:30am but we got there about fifteen minutes early and I am so glad we did. The dolphins (in what we were told was an EXTREMELY rare occourance) decided to come and play under the pontoon style jetty we were standing on. They were chasing a school of large king fish and were ducking and diving everywhere somtimes less than a foot from us and right beneath us. It was absolutely beautiful to watch and Zac was so intrigued and so close to them too.

Once we hopped on the boat the driver played some games with the dolphins, doing "doughnuts" in the water with the boat to create waves for them to play and dive over. He also put a microphone into the water that lead to a speaker which played us the sounds of their squeels of delight as the swam and dove around the boat. They are such beautiful, cheerful creatures.

We then continued up the Spencer Gulf (constantly being followed by the dolphins (I have hundreds of photos of them but I wont barrage you with them all). We got to the part of the Gulf that is known for its beautiful red dirt cliffs. This is the part of Port Augusta I had wanted to see the most and it was absolutely beautiful. Once again my camera could not truly capture ther red of the dirt but I gave it a good try. The Cliffs are such ana mazing site on the edges of the channle but it was quiet sad to see that a few metres of them had already dissapeared into dunes. The edges of the cliffs wear down over the years and slowly the cliffs reshape into simple dunes rather than having those extreme straight edges of cliffs. They turn into slopes and although its still spectacular to see red sloping dunes the cliffs are just brilliant. In front of the cliffs is one of Australias only "red beaches" a beach entirely made of red sand/dirt. Which is also quiet a brilliant sight to see!

We learnt alot about the tides and history of the Spencer Gulf, we learnt that that big shipwreck I posted about on here yesterday (the one I put the photo on here of) was brought in especially to build the bridge, however they parked it (it was a barge) West (inland) of the site where the bridge was being built and used it for the process but once the bridge was finished they realised the barge was too big/tall to bring back past the bridge so they stripped it of any materials worth any money (metals etc) and left the remnants to rot away on the edge of the water.

We also learnt that the moon and the sun (As we all know which are resonsible for the tides) can sometimes become so "in sync" with one another than there can actually be no indentifiable tide for weeks at certain times. This is extremely rare and the Spencer Gulf is one of just two places on the planet that experience this - the other place being Mexico. I think this would be quiet welcome however though because on the low tide hundreds of metres of the gulf dissapear as the entire inalnd end of it empties out and the mangroves and marine life are exposed to the elements which obviously isnt somthing that helps them to thrive.

We learnt alot of local history too about certain buildings on the waters edge and where they came from etc. I find all of this Australian history we are learning about extremely interesting. It's such a contrast from the way I felt about it during highschool when I absolutely hated modern and Australian history and adored ancient history.

Zaccy once again blew us away with his keen interest in the actual content of the tour. He was all for the dolphins and once we were on the boat he was spotting them and pointing them out and encouraging everyone else to look for them. He was asking us questions about the things he saw and what all the creatures would eat/drink/do etc. He gasped when he seen the big red cliffs and the sand banks under the boat. He has been such a good kid the last few days, he is always wonderful but like any other child has his "terrible twos" moments of horror, but the last few days/week he has just been so passionate and interested and inquisitive about everything he is seeing and the originality and thoughtfulness of his questions are just astounding us. I feel as though even though he may be too young to conciously remember this trip around Australia he will gain valuable knowledge, skills and interests from it which will develop beyond what he conciously remembers. Brent and I are lucky to have such a brilliant little boy.

I am still quiet unwell with this chest infection and unfortunately Brent has also come down with it and once again after our morning out we had to come come and put the poor thing to bed for a snooze after some pain killers. I hope he feels better soon, I hope we both do so that we can some energy back to explore more! Luckily we bought Zachery a bubble blowing set and he and I have spent the afternoon outside blowing bubbles and playing with the dirt (quiet a messy mixture). At one point Zac put a handfull of dirt (In one very fast motion, I guess because he assumed we would try and stop him haha) straight into his mouth. His facial expressions were really funny but he must have enjoyed it because he refused a glass of water afterwards haha.

Also - Janet (Brents mum) gave us a pair of binoculars for Christmas and this morning with the dolphins (before they came in close) we were able to use the binoculars to look at them which was absolutely fantastic! We also used them along the boat trip to get a better look at the mountain ranges and cliffs, it was great to be able to see everything so close! Zachery loved having a turn of them too!

Now for some photos, enjoy!



Doplphins swimming at our feet.



Brent and Zachery watching the dolphins (see the fin just out in front of them)

The red cliffs

the red cliffs again

Brent and I on the boat

red cliffs again

Zachery relaxing with a lollipop

Our little family

Dolphins under the water, amazing!

The sky looked really pretty

Little munchkin with his bubble wand

Zac and I playing with bubbles

Chasing the bubbles