CEDUNA, South Australia

I really wasn't sure what to expect of Ceduna. From what we'd heard, it seemed to be a quick stop over point for those travelling across the Nullarbor; somewhere to re-fuel, grab a feed and maybe some shut-eye for a night before continuing the long haul east or west.

It's a sleepy place; a town where locals drive slowly, elbows leaning casually on open windows, country and western music prevailing over more modern styles and where kids walk bare-footed to the beach in the afternoon for a swim or to catch the evening meal. A world away from the pace of city life, a place to breathe slowly and suck in the fresh sea air.

Although the beach was not the best, swimming off the jetty in the crisp, deeper water was the way to go. As they say, "when in Rome..." so we joined a group of local indigenous families who were jumping off the jetty one afternoon. The local kids had a ball playing with Hailey in the water. They were so frightened of her at first but quickly befriended her when they realised she was a big sook who just loved swimming around the pylons with them. Their initial fear was not unfounded- apparently the dog squad has been used over the past year or two in Ceduna as a means of 'controlling' the anti-social behaviour of (mainly) Aboriginal families who were creating a public nuisance. It was therefore unsurprising to find they were a little hesitant to believe a giant Rottweiler/Doberman was calm and playful.

Again we were fortunate to meet some incredibly generous and friendly folk also passing through. Brett spent hours showing us how to prepare our fishing gear, prepare crab pots and catch, cook and clean the local blue swimmer crabs. He patiently answered the bazillion questions from the kids about all things fishing, camping and about his gorgeous dog, Banjo the kelpie. His wife, Jan, was equally patient with me, sharing her knowledge (over a glass of sauv blanc!) of the best places to stay with dogs across the Nullarbor, the west coast of WA and across the Top End. I am incredibly indebted to her for her insights and advice.

The kids' first experience of salt water fishing started out a little trying with cries of "why haven't i caught anything yet" after little more than 20 minutes. This soon gave way to unexpected patience, buoyed by the abundance of local fish and crabs unable to resist the delicious bait of prawns and fish heads on offer! After almost 5 hours of toiling in the sun, their prize was 3 crabs. The total catch for the day was considerably more than that but the others were undersize and had to be thrown back. The kids were justifiably proud of their new skills and couldn't wait to return the next day to improve on their haul.

We took the advice of more experienced travellers and bunked in at the local caravan park - apparently it's a lot safer at night! Although we enjoyed the associated 'comforts' attached to paid accommodation (hot showers every day and flushing toilets), we were keen to start the trek across the Nullarbor. We said goodbye to some new friends, fuelled up and headed west.