April 16-17, 2019
Diana’s Basin is a lagoon area a few kms South of St Helens with a campground aling a section of the Southern shoreline through to the ocean beach.
A couple of main gravel tracks lead to the two main areas with sandy tracks threading through areas of bush to clearings suitable for all types of camping. I picked a spot close to the Southern end right on the water’s edge. This may not have been the best idea on the second night as the whole van was rocked for hours by absolute gale force winds!
Birdlife abounds here, especially Black Swans.
One Swan came swimming by with five growing cygnets in tow, still grey and a little fluffy but obviously getting towards adult size’ they cruised past my camp spot and then moved around to the shallows behind me.
Other birds included the inevitable seagull, several of the Pied Oyster Catcher and a strange very black fat looking bird which turned out to the Musk Duck (bottom right of the six images below) who rarely come ashore and dive for long periods with only the beak above the surface.
The basin extends to a large sandbar between the lagoon and the beach; a track connects the two camping areas and there are lots of small areas for camping on the way; the two main gravel roads are in excellent condition with plenty of turning space at the ends.
The ocean beach here gives a clear view in both direction with St Helens Island to the north and the much smaller Paddys Island to the South.
