I’m checking the ocean and weather conditions of South Australia’s Spencer Gulf because this morning I am going to experience something that only occurs for a few weeks each year and, across the whole globe, is limited to a nearby 10km stretch of ocean. It’s easy to see the wind has backed off and the sun has replaced yesterday’s clouds — all I have to do is open my camper’s rear curtains, and there is nothing between me and the ocean at Whyalla’s Discovery Park. Even in the depths of winter there are plenty of explorers at the park making the most of its beachfront location.
A leisurely walk along it takes you to the town’s circular jetty and bustling foreshore. But I’ll take advantage of that later. Now I’m driving about 30 minutes to Stony Point, the stretch of coast where, building up from May, with numbers peaking in July, Australian giant cuttlefish congregate in their thousands to mate.
No, I had never heard of this either. Making the phenomenon even more spectacular is the technicolour performance these cephalopods put on to get the attention of their mates, and that it all happens literally a stone’s throw from the shoreline, where the cuttlefish are so preoccupied with hooking up they don’t care at all about the steady stream of tourists snorkelling and scuba diving around them. I’m putting on my wetsuit for the first time since an unfortunate mishap early on my round-Australia adventure which left me needing hand surgery and months of reha.