The Manna House: From Koalas to an outback Christmas

Marnie and I, wish all our interested readers a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year!

We are 40 km from Port Augusta at a place called Nuttbush retreat. It is a working cattle station with caravan park and some cabins. It has an excellent camp kitchen in which to cook our roast lamb for lunch tomorrow. At present, there is only one other camper here, a lone man . Hopefully he will join us for lunch tomorrow.
It was really sad to hear about all the homes burnt down in Port Lincoln. Thankfully we were a long way away by then, in Wuddina, 200km up north. The temperature is much cooler today so the bush fire threat is not so bad.
We left the beautiful Mikkira koala sanctuary and headed for Coffin Bay, lower down the peninsular. This is a magnificent series of waterways and beaches, blessed with aqua blue waters and fine white sand. The caravan park had vacancies up to the new year, so we were able to pay one day at a time till we felt ready to move on. We ended up having 3 nights and only left on the 4th day as the forecast temps were over 40C and our booked boat cruise (to see the dolfins and eat fresh oysters) was cancelled due to the gusty northerly winds. While here, we drove into the National Park, as far as possible on the sealed roads. The bulk of it is only suitable for 4WDs . The beaches are stunning but dangerous for swimming.We also walked along the oyster track which goes around the bay for 12 km and is very scenic. (No we didnt do the whole track!) Coffin Bay is famous for it's oysters , but sadly I didnt get to try any.
On the drive up to Wudinna, it was getting hotter by the minute and by lunch time it was 43.6C and very windy with dust flying everywhere. Probably the most unpleasant day yet. The van park was attached to the Gawlers ranges Motel so in a flash of brilliance, we decided to take an airconditioned room to ride out the heat. What a blessing that was.
So this is as far west as we are going on this trip and it just about coincides with our half way date 20th Dec.
Now I suppose you could say, we are on our way home, all be it, slowly.
Wudinna is close to the Gawler Ranges, but again, mostly only good for 4WD. We were able to go 7km out of town the next day (much cooler) to see the second biggest monolith in Australia called Mount Wudinna (second only to Ayres Rock) and quiet impressive.
Wudinna did not seem to be the ideal place to spend Christmas day, so, on we drove stopping at Kimba, a town that boasts that it is half way accross Australia. Blind Freddy could see by the map that it is not, but apart from the big galah, it is probably its only claim to fame.
We ended up at the Nuttbush retreat and so, it is here that we will spend Christmas day 2009.
I forgot to mention we have to get the awning replace (on insurance) When we were in Cowell, on the East coast of the Eyre peninsular, on a hot windy day, the awning nearly took off, with the RV attached and us in it!!. Since then, we have been unable to retract it fully. We had it looked at in Port Lincoln, but they suggested we replace it. Now we need to find the right place to do the job. The insurance company has approved it, but it may be a while before everyone gets back to work.
Vicki