Day 13 Point Sturt to Goolwa 25 km

We woke to a grey morning with a stiff south easterly breeze. The lake looked a little choppy. 

We set off after 7:00 am and once we had passed the tip of Stony Point the choppy seas subsided. I was feeling weary and didn't have much energy probably due to skipping breakfast in order to make an early start. 

A number of times today we had to consult the map, look at the GPS and use the compass to determine which direction to go. It would have been possible to go a little offtrack and miss the right spot to enter the Lower Murray.

After 2 hours we arrived at Clayton Bay. The local cafe/store wasn't opening for another 45 minutes. We wandered down the caravan park in the hope there was a kiosk - no luck there. We decided to wait until the cafe opened and it turned out to be well worthwhile. The owner and his cook arrived just before 10:00 local time and we able to order a late breakfast  - excellent bacon & egg rolls and coffee.

The owner of the cafe was a chatty bloke who had decided to run the cafe himself after the leaseholder had left with business in a mess. We both think the business will struggle to get enough patronage to survive but good luck to him.

After our late breakfast we paddled on to Goolwa. It took another 2 and half hours before the Hindmarsh Island Bridge came into sight. We paddled under it and then landed on a old boat ramp just under the bridge. After some research we determined that we needed to paddle back 2 km to the Hindmarsh Island Caravan Park where we booked in for 1 nights.

A quick shower and we were in a taxi to Goolwa Airport. The taxi driver as well as the cafe owner earlier were surprised that we could hire a car at the airport. It is a tiny airport and the airport manager also is the Europcar agent who hires cars for pilots who land there.  They don't usually do outside hires but I had booked it through Europcar central booking so it all worked for us.

After picking up the car Simon suggested we drive to Waikerie immediately instead of waiting unit l the next morning so we spent the late afternoon and evening driving too and from. It was a good idea because he meant we could get home earlier even though it cost a little more because we had booked the car and accommodation for 2 nights.