ABC News Australia has a story today on the town of Fowlers Bay on the far west coast of South Australia, which is slowly being engulfed by the sand dunes on its doorstep. We were there not long ago and you could see how these magnificent huge dunes are encroaching. To see the full ABC story I’ve included the link at the end of this post.

This story made me go back into the many, many old photo albums I have, to see if there were any noticeable differences from way back when we used to visit and camp in this area in the 1980s, compared to our visit just last month.

Take a look at the changes from the photos taken in 1985 to now, and see what is different and what’s stayed the same, (apart from the people and fashions obviously!).

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When we used to visit Fowlers Bay back then it had a very basic jetty, whereas now it has railings, lighting, and much more signage. The squid are just as good to catch now as back then.

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Scotts Bay is not far from Fowlers and back in the day, you didn’t dare even mention its name, it was an unsaid favourite fishing spot only for those in the know. You would only say you were heading to the far west coast and leave it at that to protect the fishing and camping lifestyle we loved.

Camping at Scotts meant setting up a tent or if you were lucky, a camper, behind the dunes with lots of friends, and our dogs. Today there are designated campsites at this beach which is now part of the Fowlers Bay Conservation Park and although there are no facilities, campsites cost $13.50 per night.

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The beach, bay and rocky headland remains the same and the sand is still very white and the dunes just as magnificent.

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Just short of 70 kilometres east of Fowlers Bay is the town of Penong which we used to have to visit if you needed any supplies back in the 80s. Today Fowlers Bay has a store, and a caravan park and travelling in a van with a fridge and freezer makes life much easier these days. Around 20 kilometres south of Penong is Cactus Beach which has always been a surfing mecca on the west coast.

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To camp there today is more organised than it was, with a fee charged to stay, but there are better amenities today and the pristine nature of the surrounding scrub has probably been saved thanks to that.

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Nearby is Port Le Hunte and the Point Sinclair jetty. I remembered having a feeling of deja vu when I walked on this jetty recently and sure enough I found the photo from the 1985 trip.

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For more on the town of Fowlers Bay, follow the link to the story here: ABC news – A line in the sand

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Cheers

Glenys