Trip Report:  Day 7 

• Sunrise at 06:48 am and sunset at 19:00 pm
• Low tide at 00:57 am and 13:24 pm
• High tide at 07:35 am and 19:53 pm
• Moon overhead at 06:10 am, Moonset at 11:46 am, underfoot at 18:34 pm and moonrise at midnight.

We made our way back to the beach where we had tried to fish the night before.  There were already other fishermen in the area.  A women’s team who were all dressed in their matching gear were getting some angling practise in as the latest talk in town about their upcoming fishing event.  The ladies in the tackle shop had been hand painting some logos onto fabric bags to give as gifts to the opposing teams.  They warned us of the dangers of fishing through a storm as some local fisherman experienced firsthand the force of lightning hitting their rods and throwing them backwards.

We opened up our tent to dry some of our bedding out.  I made a  breakfast which we enjoyed. The air was so brisk with the fresh sea breeze, and the land was so fresh and clean from all the rain last night.

This area is roughly 15km north from Henties on the coastline.

The dunes go on for about 20 or 30km northwards from Henties Bay.  You cannot notice the height of the plateau from the sea while you are driving on the C34.

The rocky ocean floor and kelp beds can eat up sinkers and Ian had forgotten to buy some the day before so we popped back into Henties before venturing further up the coastline.

Henties has some interesting touches to some of the buildings like the house with the broken tiled wall below. The car wash and fish scaling business at the bottom left of the pic.  It is well known that most of the houses and accommodation places, including the campsite, don’t allow you to descale your fish on their premises.  The ‘flecking’ business makes a sterling trade when the fish are running.

On visiting Henties, in Jan 2016, we found there is now a lovely little coffee shop alongside the car wash area.

We ventured further north to give it one more try before we would have to start heading back south and ultimately homewards again.

It turned out to be a lovely day with the sun coming out.

The clouds were spectacular.  I watched them dance in the sky for ages as the sun played with its hues of pure white to dark grey, enhancing the display.

Plenty of tracks left from all the vehicles making their way up and down the beach.  Most of these get sorted out with the high spring tide or even the average high tide that makes its way right up the beach at times.

We took a drive up the beach a little further to find the perfect stop for sunset.

The sky lit up with the rays of sunshine streaking through the clouds.  It was an another majestic sunset.

Ian caught a Blacktail, which is a common fish in the ocean, mainly found in rocky waters.  They have a minimum size allowance of 25cm.  This one was a nice size to keep.  They are a delicious fish to eat.

No guessing where their name comes from as you can see the predominant black dot on his tail.  They have seriously robust and sharp spines.  The scales were also of a decent size.

Being somewhere in the middle of nowhere is so wild and free.

Catching my man in action as he casts his line out to sea.

A perfect ending to another great day by the sea.

Once the sun had set, we lit a fire to keep ourselves warm and to cook our fish as well as some veggies wrapped up in foil.

We prepare the Blacktail fish by cutting open the stomach to clean out the intestine, its guts, and we take out the gills with the lower fins, leaving the head attached.  We keep the fish as a whole fish and spice it inside and out.

To cook it over a fire, you have an option of covering the fish with foil or placing it on or inside the braai grid with the fishes scales a few centimeters from the coals.  Once the scales blackened on either side, the fish will be cooked through. The skin and scales can then be easily peeled off, leaving the succulent meat of the fish easy to eat.

The mice come out onto the beach at night to scavenge around the vehicle for any leftovers after supper.  They found lots of crumbs from our home made bread.  I jumped up and down a few times as they love to follow your shadow when you walk around.

A fine drizzle or thick coastal fog settled on the land from about 11 at night.  We had parked our vehicle safely away from the high tide as Ian was planning to fish through the evening.  The only sound around you is the sound of the waves lapping onto the beach and retracting again with a swoosh sound in different degrees.

It was so dark until the moon started to rise at around midnight.