day 5 Mexican Hat to Scott Bay

Jeremy is working on a new body of work, the Outback Project, a personal exploration of the remarkable landscapes from afar and up close. He aims to capture the rare beauty that usually remains unseen. He’ll be telling the story of the grandness of remote and regional Australia and also capturing delicate microworlds. He wants to draw attention to these fragile ecosystems and we are hoping to chat with scientists, naturalists and ecologists over the next few months. He has posted some gorgeous images on his insta page so have a look there. Follow him on @jeremysimonsphotographer or follow us on @xplor_aus. 

He headed out early chasing the morning light leaving me to have a cup of tea and hang ‘indoors’ (in the tent). It’s nice to have some alone time. I enjoyed the wind in the coastal acacia and listening to the honeyeaters. 

Keen to look at another campground, we packed up and headed to Scott Bay. We followed a track alongside the dune but after about 800m, the track turned into undulating sand dune. Our total load is around five tonnes which is heavy not least for soft sand. We started sinking, wheels spinning, rig barely moving.  After a few attempts to push forward, Jeremy backed her up and managed to turn around. It’s a bit early in the trip to be bogged, given that there are better tracks with access that take us our destination. We took the smarter option that would actually get us there without the hard work of digging out a car and camper. 

We set up camp then headed into Fowlers Bay for an ice block and a very quick dip in the Indian Ocean, jumping off the jetty into deep, quite sharky-looking water. Jeremy told me after the swim about his chat with one of the local fishers who told him ‘everything is big here, mate.’ Yikes.  

We also wanted to explore the dunes there so drove in from the Fowlers Bay side. A white 4wd exited and we asked how the track is. Apparently, quite good, not too soft. You’ll be fine, he assured us. 

We weren’t. 

At an S-bend in what felt like a crevasse in the dunes we bogged again, unable to go forward, wheels spinning, sand flying. Jeremy again worked his magic and reversed out. We decided to head out the way we came. Another three kilometres of unknown dune system is not to be navigated alone. 

We saw our first flock of Major Mitchells here, glorious white and pink cockatoos, with a similar call to galahs and very similar to the yellow crested cockatoo, but smaller. 

For dinner Jeremy cooked up a delicious fried rice with Marty Boetz’s (of Short Grain, Brisbane) amazing yellow bean soy sauce and sesame oil, pork fillet and broccolini on the bbq.