Day 11 - Coffin Bay
What a glorious day! Fabulous weather, amazing experiences, stunning scenery - and did I mention the oysters?!
It was actually a very cool night, and I had to find the remote control for the reverse cycle air conditioner to run that for heating (may as well save gas while we're on power). Especially as we had to be up early to get down to the marina for our oyster boat tour.
We set off before 9:30am, on crystal clear and very smooth waters. It was a 20 minute trip out to the oyster leases, but we did see some dolphins on the way out so slowed right down to play with them but they were busy hunting their breakfast. Before long we arrived at the lease, where all you could see was miles and miles of oyster beds. Apparently a one hectare lease out here costs $700K! We tied up to one of their leases (they have 4.5ha) and most people donned waders to get out amongst it. The water was only about one metre deep but it was a weird sensation to walk up and down the lines. The oysters are in black baskets (we later heard the whole story about how they are grown etc) and I could see them eating. Depending on their age, some of them will be out of the water for a short period of time during low tides to strengthen their adductor muscle, which makes them taste better!).
After we had been in the water long enough, we climbed back on board, got ourselves a drink and settled in to hear our guide Scott tell us all about the history of oyster farming in Coffin Bay, and across Australia, and why Coffin Bay oysters are Australia's best today. When he found out we were from Tasmania, he did explain what affects the St Helens oysters which unfortunately makes then taste not as good as the Coffin Bay ones. While he spoke, his offsider shucked 15 dozen oysters (that had been harvested at 8am this morning!) and once he finished, we all got our dozen. Now Greg doesn't like natural oysters so I ate his as well. Nor does Jude, although she tried 2 but Neill at the rest of hers. Washed down with sparkling wine, that was the best elevenses we have had on this trip!
We started heading back to the marina, via these islands where the seals and sealions hung out. We saw a couple of both, including this big male seal.
It was a great tour which we all enjoyed and we learnt a lot. And what perfect weather we had! The guide did say he had no-one booked for tomorrow (it's supposed to rain quite a bit tomorrow).
Back to the vans for lunch and then because the weather was so good, we thought we'd head out to Coffin Bay National Park and see if we could find somewhere to swim. The ocean side of the park was just stunning, but the water was a bit too cool... we went in up to our knees though!
Afternoon tea in the sun and we wiled away the afternoon. We had already made plans to go to the yacht club for dinner, as they are mostly run by volunteers and only open on certain days. So we headed there for 6pm, and gosh, it was busy! We really should have booked, but got a table, bought some drinks and enjoyed the view over the water. The menu was quite limited due to staff limitations but we all had the local whiting and chips with salad bar, and it was so good! Fresh, good value and just delicious! A fantastic dinner to end a really great day.
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