A Christmas Camping Trip to Yorkes
In December 2014, we returned to Hillocks Drive for our third Christmas camping trip in a row. With 9 people, and 6 dogs, and 4 cars. it was our busiest campsite in quite some time. With Hillocks now charging a pricey sum of $31 per car per night, they did quite well out of us!
Unfortunately, the western end of the property remains closed off, so we had booked a site as close to the fence as we could get (actually, it was just the last of the decent sites left to book).
Kym & Sally left from north east Adelaide, Will & Dana left from the southern Adelaide hills, and Sani and I left from Port Hughes after visiting Mum. With no coordination at all other than “meet you there in the afternoon”, we miraculously arrived within 2 minutes of each other! Kym’s brother Scott, his partner Kate, and his daughter Taylor were all to arrive the following day.
Campsite
We set up camp at the Breezeway campsite and settled in for lunch and a few beers, and quickly got into super relaxation mode. Breezeway is quite roomy as you can see in the photo, but is lacking in shade. We set up the two Blackwolf turbo tents face to face, with our car awning to the side. It made for a nice amount of shade.
Salmon Beach
We decided that fishing could wait until “Prime Time”, around dusk, and that is when we loaded up our gear and made the hike to down to Salmon Beach. Will, Kym and I all got two rods out into the water each, and it didn’t take long for my rod to get a bite, and in came a nice salmon, probably around 1kg or so. As I was digging a hole in the sand for that one, my other rod had bites, and salmon number 2 came sliding in soon after. I got my first rod back out, and before I could bait my second rod again, another fish was on! I wound this one in to find that I had in fact a double header. Four quick fire salmon on the beach – the plan was to use these for bait over the coming nights.
Will soon had a couple landed himself, including a nice sized Sweep from the surf. Kym lagged behind, but finally managed to get on the board with another salmon.
By the time some dolphins cruised by and seemingly spooked all the salmon, we’d caught (and released half) about 15 salmon and a sweep. Will and I evenly split, and Kym still on one. We had some big baits out in the water as the sun set over the water, and soon after, Will had a massive run. He was hooked on to something with headshakes, but it snapped off after a few minutes. Possibly rubbed line across the rocks, or maybe a shark whipping line with it’s tail. We fished for awhile longer, but it was all quiet, so we headed back to camp.
The Wind Arrives
The following day marked the beginning of the wind. The entire day it was blowing pretty hard, and even back at camp the dunes weren’t providing much protection. Down on the beach would have been near on impossible to fish, so we chilled out around camp for the entire day, and helped out Scott with his tent and other set up once he arrived. Then, perhaps the highlight of the trip, Kym & Sally making pizza’s on the Weber Q! We’re heading into “glamping” territory here.
Hunting for Rock Pools
The next day was more of the same. Some reinforcements of the shade setups were made, and Will & Dana decided to go for a drive to explore around the foot. The rest of us went on a hike in search of a rock pool out on the point. It was far too windy and cold for swimming, but Sani was keen regardless. The walk included a particularly tough climb up a steep dune, so by time we got there, the pool was tempting. Still, the cold wind ripping through there made it a no from me! It did look real nice though and I’d be keen to visit on a warmer day.
Still, the girls had a quick dip before we headed back to camp – arriving just after Will & Dana returned. We convinced ourselves that the wind had subsided enough to go for a fish. Knowing that this was likely to be a short lived adventure, we packed light and hiked down the cliff to the beach once more.
Indeed, the swell was too large, and seaweed too common to put in much effort at all. We headed back to camp right on sunset.
Escaping the Wind at Point Turton
The next morning we went for a walk to to beach without any gear, just to check on the situation. Big swells were still hammering the beach, so Kym suggested that we drive over to the other side of the foot at Point Turton and have a fish there instead. All agreed, and we were on our way.
The water at Point Turton was flat and calm, and many boats were out on the water. Stark contrast to over the Marion Bay side. The jetty was packed with families fishing, though not much looked to be getting caught. We headed onto the jetty armed with squid jags and a few lures, and spent a few hours flicking those out into the water. Sally and Scott both managed a squid each, but other than that it was all quiet. We grabbed lunch at the bakery and headed back to camp, which was still blowing a gale. Thankfully our setup had stayed in one piece.
Last Efforts
Another evening beach fish was had, and this time I managed to hook a small salmon. It was of the just legal variety, so immediately got sent back out to sea on triple ganged hooks. I had hopes for hooking whatever large fish Will had on the first night, but after many hours of nothing, we threw in the towel.
It was a late night around camp and with the drive home the following day, I assumed that was me done for fishing. I might have held a slender lead in the fish caught department, but it wasn’t conclusive. The dogs had other ideas, waking me up at 7am. No one else was stirring, so I decided to take the rods down to the beach for one last effort, hoping to take some fresh fish home.
I half expected to see Will already down there fishing, but the beach was empty. The wind had dropped right off and it was now great fishing conditions. I managed to only get two more fish, before the sun started roasting me and I thought I better get back to camp to help pack up.
