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I think it’s time for another story ,
This one is about one about one of our trips away .

Ten years ago Blackie had a yacht moored at
Coffin Bay in South Australia and we discussed doing a road trip together to check out and scrape the weed and barnicals  off the boat and  to check the mooring.

So the scene was set
We were going to travel in Blackies car which was a tiny little Mazda 121 bubble hatch and it was always in general so full of stuff , and when I met Blacks at San Remo to begin our adventure , the car is already so full of stuff and supplies for the trip , and it also including a blow up rowboat tender in the boot and Blackies  swag and his clothes bag  stuffed in and I had to try and fit in my swag and bag somewhere there also .

Blacks decided to take his girlfriends two fox terriers with us for the trip ,
Chillie and Sari just to squash things up in the car more.
And we set off then for an incident free run to Adelaide , although in the end we limped into Adelaide with no fuel , In Blackies words on the way into the city that it’s all downhill from here , and literally it is just that with a massive downhill windy section of road on the outskirts.

We then changed drivers and we continued heading out in SA toward Cummings , as Blacks has a cousin Julie and her husband Bob that live there , on a farm just a bit out of town , so we brought a few beers and some food and headed to their farm .
We got the warmest welcome there and had a great night before hitting the swags for a well earned rest after the long drive

The next morning we went down to Coffin Bay and we set up camp on the site of a future boat hire that was a flat commercial empty block for sale that backed right up to the water , and it was directly opposite a caravan park across the road ,

So , because Blackie had been there a few times he knew lots of the locals and that evening we headed for the pub where I was introduced to to the unofficial mayor of Coffin Bay ,
Cactus or Cackie 
who was drawing the raffles at the pub and he was a man who loved and respected by the whole community.

Blackie had also told me about a bloke that made wallets out of tanned skin , he then introduced me to Lance and we had a chat as strangely Lance has to like you to make you a wallet ,
We got on great and we discussed the design of my new wallet
Lance was a quite unique character as he told me that he stopped at roadkill on the hwy and he would take sections of skin off the bodies to dry out and tan at home to make his wallets
He told me that the local bylaws officers were trying to stop him from doing this but to me it made perfect sense and was just a case of opportunistic recycling.

So by the end of the week Lance handed me two wallets
The first one the outer cover is Mako shark and the inside is made of nannygai
 and barramundi fish skin.

It has lasted me ten years now showing signs of wear but I have got it wet quite a few times which tends to want to make the shark skin shrink
The other wallet is made out of kangaroo on the outside leather and barramundi inside it’s still new .
So we left the pub and went to our camp it was pouring torrential rain so it was straight into the swags as the only other option was the cramped car ,
I made the mistake of getting undressed .
The heavy rain continued all through the night in to the morning and then it was coming down so hard that I needed a pee and I had to just hang on in the rain sound because l couldn’t get out of the swag , in the meantime I battled in my tight single swag to get dressed again and in the end I had to pee just out of the swag opening, and I still got wet .
The rain eased off later in the morning and we could get up , we then found and took shelter across the road in the caravan parks amenities block to try and dry out and cook some breakfast .
It was good to be able just to stand up .
I was a bit stressed that we would get caught and I cant remember but I think we did just that , and got caught by management and that we ended up the next day paying them ten bucks each to use the facilities but it was certainly well worth it  ,

When the rain stopped Blackie went for a wander along the shoreline where there were a lot of fancy houses and lots had their own private wharves and jetties, I didn’t go I stayed at camp,

When he returned he had a big black mesh plastic sleeve in his hand and I asked  him what it was ?
He replied it’s an oyster cage used to grow the oysters hung up on a wire clothes line ,
That’s so that they will come in and out of the water twice a day with the tide variation as they can’t stay that long in one without the other.
Blacks said it had been washed up on the beach and the best part it was chock a block full of oysters, but strangely enough they weren’t from this area and they were flat like a plate and I belive that they were pacific oysters ,
So he tied them up at the waters edge .

Blacks blew up the tender rubber boat he took out of the  car boot grabbed the paddles and then he rowed out on his own to inspect his yacht before coming back and putting on his wetsuit and then paddling both of us back out there,
It was sorta like a rusty old abandoned ghost ship .

Blackie  took a dive mask and an oar and dived into the water and scrapped down the yacht with the blade of the paddle from one end to the other using the gentle tide to push him along ,
The pristine  clear water around the yacht instantly became murky and dirty and I just climbed up aboard the vessel for an explore ,
It was a steel hull vessel and I felt instantly that it wasn’t in the best condition and this was affirmed soon when the inside of the hull had just developed new leaking holes in the bottom of the hull caused by Blackies barnical scraping effort ,
Blackies lips were  dark purple now as the water was that cold .

So off to town we go to get some bolts to patch the holes and some bedding tape , it’s like a brown thick sticky waterproofing tape that gets put on each side of the washer to seal both washers on the hole when it’s bolt is tightened ,
Then back to the boat and me waiting on the inside of the hull with a piece of tape a washer and a nut ,
poor Blackie had to free dive to that depth , holding his breath , and make the hole bigger so the bolt would fit and then get the bolt into position in the hole and hope I can get the nut started , I think to get up to this stage it took him four attempts and I had to quickly assemble the inside section , start the nut and tighten it up.
Success
So , that was the yacht leak taken care of ,

So Cackie  had earlier invited us to stay and set up camp in his oyster factory and stay out of the bad weather , so we then headed straight there , the area it’s located in has quite a fair few factories near his , mostly they are oyster farmers and they are all are really close to the water ,
Straight away I was interested in absolutely everything and just how it worked , looking at a newly purchased sh octopus arm oyster sorting machine , in the process of being installed and we then set up our swags in the factory

I had asked Cackie if he could please bring me in some oysters from his farm and I’ll buy them . I also asked how big that they grow them to and he explained to me right up to a small bread and butter plate as the Japanese love them , and pay a premium price like $100 each for them but he actually had none , there was a bloke from another shed standing with us at the time of that conversation.

We went out for a look with Cackie to his oyster lease about a ten minute fast boat ride , to see first hand how the industry works .
I had to take my hat off to him working his lease wading in the freezing water in chest neoprene waders , all year round.
I didn’t envy him.
When he finished
we went back to his shed and out of nowhere appeared the bloke from next door excitingly showing me one of these giant oysters ,
It was massive and at least the size of a small bread and butter plate .
He shucked it and held it out and offered it to me , and me not even thinking that they are so big that usually you would probably eat them with a knife and fork , but took  it from him and l placed all of it in my mouth at once.
Then nothing
I couldn’t do anything as my mouth was so full of oyster I couldn’t even move my jaw , a millimetre,
I thought oops there’s a chance I might choke .
But l slowly I eventually managed to chew it down and finish it after probably five minutes,much to everyone’s amusement.

I guess that incident didn’t put me off oysters at all ,as Cactus the next evening came into the factory and dumped a big bag of double oysters on the sorting bench .
They are oysters that have two oysters on each shell , they are not really commercially viable to sell and have no market because of presentation problems, and he said knock yourself out Curly you can eat as many as you want , before leaving.

Well I started shucking like a crazy man possessed straight away and eating those delicious things and this ritual just continued non stop into the late of night ,
I recon Blackie only had a few dozen  , me I’m not quite sure , but in the morning there was about a dozen unopened ones left. I must have eaten the world record .lol
So when Cackie came in the next morning he took one took at the table looked at me inquisitively and said to me did you eat all of them ?, I said sheepishly to him yes and that you said I could .

He was cool about it .
So we organised with him some primo oysters to bring home to Victoria and  we then started packing as it was Blackies fiftieth birthday soon so we needed to get ready to head home for a celebration.

We then went for a half day trip to the
Aire Peninsula which is a big national park like the Prom with lots to explore , the dogs had a run and we were then ready for the trip home .
So we picked up the oyster cage first on the way home and I had just a hunch that they were helped a little bit to wash up on shore , but I didn’t ask any questions . So off we go heading home hopefully for an uneventful trip with the car packed to the hilt.

And this  is where the things start to get really interesting , as I found out that Blacks is just like my Dad , whom when it comes to travelling just doesn’t stop, or maybe it was because it was his birthday that he isn’t prepared to stop the car for anything , and here is what happened next.

We were on the highway heading to Adelaide and we were making a good mile , it was dusk and the car just started to misfire and jerk back and forward , I said to Blacks we should stop at the next town and get it sussed out  but he refused and we drove on .
On dusk we passed on the fringe of a town and I suggested that we stop there as the car was running like a dog . Blacks refused and we drove on towards Adelaide.
Now  it was completely dark and the problem was getting heaps worse.

I told him I think it’s the alternator and to turn the head lights off just to check my theory ,
it worked beautifully and the car then instantly ran well , and he left them off as long as he could and when the next cars headlights came into view the other way he would turn the headlights back on causing such a severe shudder and a jerk in the car , so we were driving  nearly completely blind at 100 kmph in the complete darkness with only a faint flicker of light to go by courtesy of the full moon ,
lucky for us that the roads were dead  straight  and until the next car or truck coming headlights would shine near us , then on went our headlights and this practice just went on for way too long until the battery was completely dead and it had made me nervous and  also made me think that we were in some crazy automobile movie,
but things were going to get a lot stranger as the car ground to a complete halt on the side of the hwy ,

And I was about to learn something else as it seems that vic RACV roadside assistance was valid in SA and they sent out roadside assistance to rescue us that had with them a battery for us to save us and to get us back into town ,

I think it was about 9 pm so they put us up in a unit at Tumby Point , where I then learnt then that it was  actually Blackies 50th birthday ,

 so we had a both had a few beers and oysters to celebrate his milestone before hitting the pillow

In the morning I looked around it was so beautiful a bay , like a postcard and there was a new shark cat parked next door that looked brand new so it was pretty flash , and I checked it out .

We had to meet the mechanic at his workshop, at 9am , he was a really big man with giant hands , we  all agreed that it was the alternator and he looked at me and he told me to pull it off the car ,
I couldn’t believe that RACV were paying him for me to do the spannering  ,
so I grabbed a spanner and got to it and I removed it from the engine and then he then soldered a cap onto a new brush reassembled it and then he handed the alternator back to me to refit .
Once we were done we were off again homeward bound and I was hoping to have a quiet uneventful drive home ,
Everything was going to plan until we were on the outskirts of Melbourne and Chillie was sitting on the console between Blacks and I that was full of stuff , when all of a sudden there was a strange smell
Then the smell hit home and it was really bad dog poo like sickening .

Blacks pulled over  to find dog diarrhoea all through the centre console
I was out at the bonnet of the car dry reaching and told Blacks that he had to clean it
That dirty little dog sat there quietly doing it like nothing was happening

Then it was a nice quiet cruise home and the end to an incredible adventure .

So a big thanks and shout out to Cactus and the boys at Coffin Bay  for the hospitality and the oysters . Lance for my wallet.
They were such a hit with my friends , and a winter Coffin Bay oyster is at its absolute finest  ,
plump  and creamy and of course tasty and the best oyster in the world .

Cheers
Curlyg