Our Travels

After a leisurely breakfast we headed off at around 10am – just as the ranger came around to collect camp fees. The camping area near the blowholes has a day area where people go swimming and then there is s stretch where there are shacks much like you would see around Wedge Island. We headed up past the blowholes and onto Quabba Station on our way to Red Bluff.

Red Bluff – Quobba Station

It was still very windy but as we drove into Red Bluff it seemed to get hotter and the wind died down to nothing. Probably the bluff protects the bay from the wind. It is a nice area but it was very crowded. There are two shops and several eco-cabins (tents over a wooden frame) which can be rented as well as some other shacks. The beach was nice but the ocean was quite rough with large waves. When we went back to the campsite at the blowholes it seemed like the wind had picked up and was stronger than the day before.

Today we were going to go into Carnarvon to have a look around but as it is Good Friday we decided to explore a little around camp and pack up in the morning and head into Carnarvon then. We had a leisurely breakfast and updated our website then went for a drive around the immediate area. The beach where we had walked last night was gone, replaced with waist deep water where before it was a beach about 30 metres wide with water about ankle deep for about 3 to 4 hundred metres. Someone had left his boat out there and it was leaning over as it rested on the sand in the ankle deep water. Sure was different this morning. As we drove south from our campsite to explore the track we had to take an alternate track a little further from the water as the ocean had encroached onto the road. Turning around to come back there were more places where the tide had covered more sections of the road. Once back at camp we  for a swim before lunch. It’s a tough life just going out the front of your tent and walking down to the water whenever you feel like it. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and lazing around. It’s amazing but at the moment it doesn’t feel any different to any other camping holiday that we may have been on.

New Beach Mangroves

From our camp site to the water, its a bit of a walk after Double Beach

Maybe as time goes on it will start to really sink in. We will try to pack up early in the morning ready to head into Carnarvon.

The last day we will wake up to this view out of the camper window but I suspect there will be many views just a good

This this the view you wake up to with the tent awning left up all night

We still managed to get packed up and on the road by 9.30am to hand back the gate key and head off to New Beach Bush Bay to stay for two nights. I (Jacky) had a slight accident with a tent pole (no fault attributed to Terry) whilst we were packing up and it could have been quite serious but the worst that happened was that I got two tiny cuts on the bridge of my nose and alongside it. I need to be more careful in the future! We had a really good steak burger and salad for lunch at Wooramel Roadhouse, where we fuelled up and learn’t from the lady behind the counter not to park too close to the water at New Beach as people had woken up to find their belongings floating around as the tide came in overnight. We arrived not sure we would get a spot as it is a free campsite but we needn’t have been concerned, there were plenty of empty spots. Once we set up camp we put up the shower tent and had a really nice shower. We finished our game of cards and went to bed.

Today we just lazed around camp alternating between swimming, reading and playing cards. Another hot day but the silver insulation blanket on the roof helped to keep the tent slightly cooler. We went for a walk down the beach and just generally relaxed.

Woke up to the sun rising over the ocean. After a leisurely breakfast we headed off for a day of exploring. We headed up to Steep Point where we were originally going to stay. Glad we couldn’t get in as I preferred where we were staying – less crowded and perhaps a little more sheltered. Before heading out to the point we went to False Entrance where there was supposed to be some blowholes but we didn’t find them.

The view from the top of the cliffs was quite spectacular but the cliff top was very desolate.

Driving back towards the point the track was quite soft and hilly. We stopped on the side of the track to have lunch and then continued on to the ranger station to sign in for a day visit to the point. Driving out there we picked up a tail – someone who thought we knew where we were going. Unfortunately we took the wrong track at the lighthouse and he followed us to a dead end. The point itself is very high above the ocean and very windy. The two guys who followed us built a tower of rocks. In front of the sign letting you know that this is the most western point of Australia was a “fotopol” which is just a pole with a camera connection on top so you can attach your camera and set the time delay to get a shot of both of us together which we did.

Selfie at Steep Point

Driving back to camp we saw a few Kangaroos and lots of goats. At one point there was a whole herd of goats walking down the middle of the road in a neat line, two by two. They dispersed into the bush as we drove closer. Again we went to sleep under a full moon with the gentle lapping of the ocean only metres away.

Well, The departure day has finally arrived. We are leaving on our long awaited trip around Australia. Whilst we were meant to leave on Saturday 12th April, we didn’t actually leave until Sunday 13th April due to not being quite ready and also my husband making a small mistake with our first booking. He hadn’t booked us in to Tamala Station until Monday 15th April. We hit the road at about 11.50am on Sunday 13th April and had a fairly uneventful drive to Coronation Beach. After spending the night there we headed off to Shark Bay and Tamala Station where we will stay for three nights and a two full days. On arrival at the station we signed in and headed off to Double Beach were we set up camp. The beach is deserted apart from a couple of families who are camped right at the entrance to the beach. The water is sparkling and only about 20 metres from our camper trailer. As we were setting up camp it was very hot so we took a break and had a swim.

We had all the windows on the camper trailer open all night and went to sleep watching the full moon lay a silvery pathway across the flat ocean surface.

It getting close, preparations are underway