Mollusc mania

There has been so much said about Coffin Bay Oysters. They are world renown and not without reason. It has taken very little urging for us to 'partake' without repentance.

Midnight Blue - home for Ian and Tina Collett and their Portugese Water Dog puppy

When we first arrived in the Coffin Bay town basin we needed some rescuing. The Bloke was in a lather. We'd grounded just minutes before and we really needed to get parked up. The 'where' question was resolved in large part by the miraculous appearance of the crew from Midnight Blue (a Chamberlain 50' catamaran). They took it upon themselves to not only get us organised not far from them but by the time we'd got settled, had informed us of where we would buy oysters, collect cockles and mussels, eat out etc... The information sharing was done over a drink at 5ers which became several drinks.

A local farmer bought this large Lagoon cat in the Caribbean and sailed her home. Today he took out friends for a spin. His crew looked pretty untidy by the time they motored back.

Lunch the next day at (where else but) 'The Oyster Beds' restaurant was a much tamer affair with only water mit gas consumed as an offset to the previous evening. It wasn't a BYO as such, it's just that we probably still had a lot of alcohol still on board - judging from the hangovers.

You'll need to be quick to enjoy the awesome meal that we had at The Oyster Beds because sadly they close in a month. The rent has been steadily climbing and all attempts to sell the business have been unsuccessful despite a huge reputation. It will be a loss for the town initially but it may end up an opportunity for someone else. It would be strange to think that the abundance of fresh and highly specialised produce will not attract another player in time.

What did we eat? Oh, other than the 5 doz oysters prepared in 5 different ways? More seafood dishes plus imaginative and fabulous desserts made on the premises. My ambitions of an alcohol free day were sabotaged when I selected figs in brown sugar with marscapone and rum baba's. What was I thinking? BTW, the entertainment allowance is now completely shot to pieces but worth it. The food was heavenly and Tina and Ian's company topped it off to make a perfect day.

Evening idyll. You wouldn't even mind Monday's here

More molluscs were on the menu the next day. The Bloke had hacked off a large quantity of mussels from the vacant mooring we were using giving him a good look at what we hoped would secure us through the blow that was on its way.

We harvested some 8 dozen. The smaller ones were given a reprieve.

The Bloke eating first batch of chili mussels - Hunter gatherer gratification