Ceduna and Fowlers Bay - Happy birthday Robyn

Ceduna is a small town at the edge of the Nullabor Plains and a place to get a top up of diesel and rations. We looked for a cake for Robyn – but the bakeries didn't have much to offer. However, it was a good place to buy a last minute birthday card! We also went out and bought a trolley jack, as we clearly had to retire the small jack that came with the Prado.

Then it was off driving to out next stop. We drove up to the camp grounds at Cedars Bay. In good weather these would have been a good basic campsite by the beach, but with the weather it would have been a little bit barren and miserable, with the family huddling in the tent. So we continued on driving to Fowlers Bay in search of a camp kitchen in its caravan park. The dirt roads off the Eyre Highway provided a spectacular view of massive sandy dunes and surround wet areas. 

 

 

Fowlers Bay turned out to have a basic but well laid out campground. We parked next to the camp kitchen on a grassy spot. TC, who was looking after the site, had got a great fire going in a communal area so for dinner it was an Indian curry cooked over the campfire. 

Port Fowler Campground

 

Danny & Jasmine

As more people joined to cook their own dinners, with beer, wine and plenty of good humour, a group of campers helped me and the kids cook a cake in the camp-oven. Jasmine worked with Danny on a chocolatey biscuit base. With the advice of some of the other men, I worked on the consistency of the wet mixture: honey, walnuts, self raising flour, butter, condensed milk, and chocolate buttons! Would this work?

I put a trivet in bottom of the camp-oven to ensure we didn't burn the bottom of the cake, then lined a pan with baking paper and butter. In went the dry biscuit mix, then the wet mix, followed by shaved apples in a heart shape artistically done by Mark with sprinkled sugar on top. We then spent the next couple of hours waiting and checking for the cake to cook – the wet mix was a little too wet. Robyn kept an eye on our work, ensuring we put it back until it was cooked. Finally, at around 11pm the cake was ready, and it was still Robyn's birthday. So with sparkers on the cake, we wished Robyn a happy birthday with an hour to spare! Jordan and Ben washed up so that made it a good end to good day.

Oh, and the cake – it tasted great.

Birthday dinner

The before picture

Not burnt today!

Birthday cake

The cake making team

Enjoying the birthday cake

Excellent washing courtesy of Ben