9 Eclectic Photos of Streaky Bay

We're still here, waiting for a weather window to cross the Bight. It's quite lovely here. There are definitely worse places to wait, let me tell you. We've been writing, doing chores and repairs. We're all fueled and watered up. We've provisioned and done laundry, but if we stay too much longer, we'll have to do it all over again. The salt water foot pump broke and David's repaired it along with unclogging the intake for the watermaker (grass). The repair on engine required taking apart the day tank and repairing the controller. All done and now we wait. In the meantime, I've taken some photos around town that didn't necessarily fit in with a specific blog post or I found them after the blog was posted. Thought you'd enjoy a little eclecticism while you're visiting Streaky Bay with us.

1. The cormorants and gulls seem to line up on the swimming enclosure rails and spend their days sunning themselves.

2. This “Frogs of Eyre Peninsula” poster reminded us of the “Bridges of Madison County”, but no Meryl Streep or Clint Eastwood. Who could have known there'd be so many different frogs here?

3. The Powerhouse Museum – it's right across the street from the great white shark replica. It's a huge shed of restored, working engines on display that have been working in varied "occupations" over the last 100 years. We gave it a miss though I begged to go. (not!)

4. Crab measurements on display. We keep our measuring tape handy.

5. We've been quite lucky here catching blue swimmers … and eating them, too. (crabs in net)

6. A lone, wooden dinghy anchored on the shore with just a seagull for crew. Can you see the “streaks” in Streaky Bay?

7. These decorated pole sculptures stand in a foreshore park near the jetty. They reminded us of totem poles or native art, but we could find no information about them.

8. Nullabor Crossing … a reminder that the Nullabor Plain is the huge expansive arid country that lies north of the Great Australian Bight. We'd like to drive across this plain at some point if we have the time.

9. Couldn't resist … 50th Anniversary of TimTams … Australia's favorite cookie (I'm an Anzac girl myself.)

Streaky Bay - End of the Seafood Trail

 

We went out to dinner last night. It's not something we do often. We were celebrating just being here, being together, living the good life and also the fact we sold our first article to Cruising Helmsman, Australia's premiere cruising magazine. The dinner probably cost more than the magazine will pay for the article, but let's not get mired in the details.

The Eyre Peninsula is home to the largest commercial fishing fleet in the Southern Hemisphere. The waters here are rich with wonderful fish and seafood: oysters, abalone, prawns (shrimp), rock lobster, salmon, tuna. We've been hearing about Venus Bay prawns, Streaky Bay oysters, King George whiting, Kinkawooka mussels, nannigai (which we thought was Nanny Grey...hmm), and Murray cod. Of course, we've been catching our own blue swimmer crabs which are delish, but we thought we might like to try something that someone else had caught … and prepared.

There's an established Seafood Trail on the Eyre Peninsula and, if we had a car, we might be tempted to drive it and sample the epicurean delights along the way. The trail starts in Whyalla and ends in Streaky Bay, but for our purposes, the trail starts AND ends in Streaky Bay … at the Mocean Cafe (pronounced motion … M-ocean). We might not eat out often, but when we do, we try to find a place that offers interesting menus and makes use of local ingredients.

“Mocean specialises in creative regional seafood with native flavours, using Australian bush herbs & spices to enhance the local bounty from the sea. One of few Australian restaurants to offer abalone year round, Mocean explores the use of by-catch seafood such as the signature sea salt & native pepper stingray.” How can you pass this up?

Mocean came highly recommended by many of our fellow cruisers and it certainly deserves the praise. We loved it. It's right on the waterfront and we had a table outside on the porch overlooking the bay with a good view of Nine of Cups and the jetty. It was a romantic setting. The only other guests on the porch with us were a couple of cheeky locals who insisted on watching us eat.

Margii, one of the owners, offered suggestions, explained the evening's specials and took our order. She was attentive without being intrusive … a true art. She was aware we were from a yacht and midst courses, asked questions about sailing. Another server, Jenny, stopped by to say hello as well. In a small town … news travels fast OR we looked like boat people?

We shared a starter of marinated King George Whiting served with a mustard sour cream and fresh rocket on crostini. We could have stopped right there and just ordered more appetizers, because the fish was melt-in-your-mouth wonderful.

We also shared a saltbush macadamia dukkah. It's not fish, but we were just introduced to it here in Australia and loved it. Dukkah (pronounced doo-kah) is an Egyptian blend of herbs, seeds, nuts and spices and is served with fresh bread, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You break off a chunk of bread, dip it in the oil and vinegar and then dip in the dukkah. It was perfect with a crisp white pinot gris and the King George Whiting.

David ordered a whole baked nannigai as his main which was a special for the evening. It looks and tastes like red snapper and was served on baby new potatoes and stuffed with lemons and an accompaniment of black and green olives. My taste verified it was definitely acceptable.

As for me, I ordered seafood marinara. It was outstanding, chock full of local fish, mussels, prawns, squid and scallops in a tomato-saffron based sauce served on fettucine with fresh basil and shaved parmesan topping. Manna of the gods. I was in heaven.

We watched the sun set. The tiniest bit of crescent moon had risen and it became cool and windier. Margii moved us to an inside table, so we could enjoy the rest of our meal. Most all the tables were full and people seemed to be enjoying themselves in a comfortable setting, the delectable smells of different dishes permeating the room.

No room for dessert. We dragged the dinghy back into the bay, feet all sandy and cold from the sea water. A short, cold dink ride and we were back aboard Cups, warming up with a brandy and savoring the evening. I'm glad we don't do this often; it wouldn't be as special.