Early morning surf – goes without saying. But John was back by breakfast time. From our camp site he can keep an eye on the scene at the point.

We were a little tardy, but finally got ourselves on the road north for a day trip to Gnaraloo.

It’s only about 25km, but we took the slow road via another surf break – Turtles. John had a “quick surf” there. Is there such a thing?
The boys found a sand dune to play on while we waited.

Gnaraloo’s camping area is much bigger than the Bluff, and that means more people. They have water here, and there’s hot showers from 4pm-6pm. But that’s still not enough to get us to move from our great spot at the Bluff. The surf break here is called Tombies, so named because of the way your surfboard sticks up in the air like a tombstone while the wave holds you deep under the water attached by the leg rope. That’s encouraging, isn’t it?
Fergus and Harry had a surf, just along from the Big Boys break.

There’s great snorkelling around the lagoon too. We’re planning to come back here tomorrow.

The new day dawned with a change in the wind, which also abated. John was first in the water, followed by about 20 others. And there they stayed for the next six hours. For someone who eats as much as John, I struggle to understand how he goes without food (including breakfast) for so long. You see what surfing does to people?
I’m told the rewards are many. Here’s a few pics from the long morning session.

Red Bluff is often said to be the best left hander in Australia. And that makes it a goofy foot’s seventh heaven. Did I mention John is goofy foot?
The surf was way too big for Fergus and Harry, so they joined me on the rocky point as we watched the surfers share the waves with dolphins. I’m pretty sure the dolphins outnumbered the surfers. And then there’s the Humpback Whales. They are migrating past here till November. I have lots of pics of black spots with spray in the air as they dive before I can click my camera. But they were very close to the surfers at Red Bluff!

Times like these I wish I was out there too.
In the afternoon I climbed the hill above our camp. It’s a magnificent view of this part of the coast.

And I found a nest of Ospreys atop the tower that probably has a purpose – but mobile phone reception isn’t it.

Fergus became chief photographer for the afternoon out at the point, having nicked off with my camera. He got some nice shots in the afternoon light.

And today’s sunset photo is from Fergus….

All up, a great place and a great day.

If you surf, and you travel up or down the WA coast, you have to go to Gnaraloo (pronounced narloo), Red Bluff and (further south) Kalbarri. No questions. No discussion. You go. Apparently you take the family too, if they happen to be in the car.

So we left Coral Bay and the calm, clear water that covers the Ningaloo Reef and its underwater paradise of coral and marine life. You have to drive south down the highway to Carnarvon – refuel, groceries, water – and then go north again on the coast road.
First you get to The Blowholes. They’re just your regular spouting quirks of coastal rock formations. You get wet if you wait long enough.

The bonus of stopping here was the coffee van! (only 4/10) He also did burgers and squid. Nice surprise.
Then you go across private land, firstly Quobba Station, then Gnaraloo Station. The track is pretty rough and bumpy. They say you have to be an experienced surfer to ride these waves. I’d like to add “dedicated” to that. And you need a saint for a wife. Clearly John has all the attributes.
We pulled in to Red Bluff, on Quobba Station.

The camp sites are right on the edge of the sand, spread along a stretch of about a kilometre. There’s about 5 trees along this kilometre. They’ve also built a few beach shelters covered in palm fronds with imaginative names like “Green Room” and “Love Shack”.

I think they charge more to camp in these. Then there’s the proper tents, permanently set up. They’re a bit fancy, with their own toilet and water. I think they are for men whose wives aren’t saints.
We found a good spot, where the tent pegs got through the rocks, but not near one of the five trees. We’re faced away from the wind, and the solar panels get the afternoon sun. This is a good thing, because there’s no power, no water and no fire wood here. But they do have the best long drop toilets. They (the toilets) all have a great view, with just a bit of green shade cloth for privacy. Airy too.

Some would call this a desolate place. Perhaps the sheep that live here would agree. I’m confident the station owners are enjoying the cash economy of dedicated surfers rather than the price of spring lambs at market. The afternoon we arrived the wind was onshore. For the non-surfers reading this, that means no surf. It also means the flame on the gas burner was struggling to cook our dinner. But we fell asleep to the crashing waves of the shore break, so loud it sometimes woke us up. It sounded like the thump of a car crash.

Today we went back to the same spot just south of Coral Bay where we were yesterday afternoon. There’s a maze of tracks through the dunes, but if you persevere, you’ll end up right on the beach. Gee, I didn’t have to walk far for a swim today.

The boys took the kayak out to the edge of the reef. They were gone for at least two hours. That’s a lot of tanning time. I finally got the binoculars out to see if they were out there somewhere. Sure enough, the orange of the kayak was bobbing around just near the breaking waves. When they finally came back to shore they were bursting with news of what they saw: black tip reef shark, turtles, big mackerel, a school of thousands of tiny black and yellow fish, lion fish, angel fish and lots more.
The fishing was good too!

They even had fun while John cleaned the fish waiting for the reef sharks to come in, goggles at the ready so they could jump in to see them.

I snorkelled with John and Ferg, using Ferg’s flippers. We were out for over half an hour, and Ferg swam the whole time with no flippers. It’s times like these I know that all those years of swimming lessons and Nipper training is worth it. We saw more huge fan coral, in lots of colours and fish were everywhere. It’s like jumping in the tank at Melbourne Aquarium! There’s a whole world lying just below the surface.
John and Ferg paddled the kayak back to Coral Bay, while Harry and I drove back through the dune tracks. Yes, we got stuck in the sand (no biggie, just needed to use low range to get out) and yes, we got lost. But at least the view was good! You can see the kayak in the photo below – it’s just a spec near the sand dune.

The boys all went for an early dive before breakfast and pack up. This was a good move because the wind arrived after that and was here to stay. We moved on but never found a spot to camp along the coast where we thought we would. Once you leave Cape Range National Park, you’re on private land – Ningaloo Station. Whilst they allow camping at designated places on their land, you first have to get a key to all the locked gates ($150 deposit), bring your own chemical toilet, and then return to the homestead to take the key back. All a pain in the neck really when you’re on a really bad road. Their sites looked pretty uninviting from outside the locked gates, and the wind was a screaming offshore nightmare that made anything to do with sand seem like torture.

Above is a part of Cape Range, and that’s not smoke blowing around. It’s sand coming off the dunes.
As you can see, this is pretty desolate country, and whilst it is a pastoral lease, the only animals we saw were goats. This place suits them quite well.
We also saw heaps of emus including the one in the photo below with about 15 young chicks. (Mum – click on the photo to make it bigger so you can see the baby emus)

The road started out very rough and badly corrugated. It was 100km into Coral Bay, and we thought the road would improve. It didn’t. Thanks John for plodding away at the driving job for the day. It took well over five hours to go 100km. Long way when you go that slow, big day.
Arriving in Coral Bay we had one of our latest lunches looking over the bay full of coral. Coral Bay has just one street with two caravan parks and a new place called Ningaloo Resort. There’s a few shops too. The caravan parks are chock full of long term Nomads. I overheard the receptionist taking a booking for July next year.
Luck was on our side today and we got the only free site in town. Coral Bay is in a Sanctuary Zone, so we went south through the sand dunes to find somewhere to spear fish.

The tide was low and some of the coral was exposed.
These quad bikes came zooming past – gave me quite a surprise. Can you imagine Surfcoast Shire giving a permit for this at home!!!!!

It was a lovely hour or so on the beach for me, and the boys got two good sized fish for dinner. So I am officially eating my words about John’s spear gun. Turns out, it was just the rubber stretchy thing that was a problem. We got that replaced in Exmouth, so it’s all go now.