We have just returned from a camping holiday over at Cactus in the state’s west. One of the world’s best surfing beaches!
It was a “Down Memory Lane” trip for me and my good friend Marina. In 1977 we both taught at Koonibba Aboriginal School. I continued to teach there for another year after that and then had 3 years at Ceduna Area School, so Cactus was one of our favourite haunts.
The camping ground has changed considerably and even has flush toilets which I find hard to come to terms with. Not sure why composting or long drop toilets couldn’t have been possible. Seems such a waste of the precious water, which has to be pumped from underground. Surely the new breed of campers and surfers haven’t demanded it???
While there this trip we fished and swam at Point Sinclair, went to Shelly Beach, and walked along the beach from Cactus around to Caves. One day we drove up to Fowlers Bay for some fishing off the jetty but had no luck.
We called in at Koonibba on the way back to Ceduna to find many changes since we were last there. The school still looked very familiar but both of our old houses had been demolished and new houses built in their places. A new Community Centre is the hub of the settlement but the old store is no longer a going concern.
At Scotdesco we caught up with one of our former students. She was about 10 when we last saw her. A huge surprise to see her and her family.
Tried our hand at squidding a few times over the days at different spots but to no avail.
It’s a long drive across to Ceduna, especially when in an old 4WD towing a camper trailer. Next time we will definitely go for longer.
