Two Roaming Smarties: 2 Weeks in beautiful Gnaraloo WA

21^st April 2013 Left Carnarvon to Gnaraloo for two weeks of beautiful relaxation camping on the beach.

We arrived about 3pm after enduring a 174km of very rough corrugated dirt road.

We are staying at the Three Mile Camp right on the beach, gateway to ocean heaven.

We set up camp, Jane sleeps in her car, a great set up with double bed and mossie net. My camper trailer all set with kitchen included and Peters tent ready for him and his dog “Ratty”.

Next move was to explore the beach and see what it has to offer. As you can see by the photo below “it is beautiful to beautiful for words”.

As night began to fall so did the temperature and the wind picked up, it made for a very cold and windy night, the sunset was promising and I hoped for a few better ones to photograph during our stay.

First morning, so cold, up early to watch to sunrise.

Jane and I enjoyed a coffee sitting on the rocks watching the early morning surfers.

The favourite surfing spot for most of the surfers is call Tomb Stone, aptly named after the large stone that stands tall overlooking the ocean.

At any given time there can be up to 30 surfers buying for a wave. They have a code here that first on the wave owns it and they all seem to respect it.

In the afternoon we all went for a walk (well that’s what Peter called it) 2hrs later we had trekked along the beach to Gnaraloo Bay, such a beautiful area and we climbed the sand dunes. The sand was so pure and white.

Day 3, we woke to an amazing sunrise and the day would turn out to be the hottest of all our days. Jane and I headed to Gnaraloo Bay for a swim and to soak up the sun. Unfortunately for all of you following this blog, we had such a great day that we forgot to take any photos.

That night we had a fire and I made fruit damper for us all to enjoy.

Day 4, after another very windy night we woke to a beautiful sunny day and the wind had dropped off totally. Today we would head to the sheltered bay and snorkel.

The ocean was so clear and smooth, not a cloud in the sky. The water was only 2mts deep and visibility was amazing.

Day 5 Anzac Day (Lest we forget).

We spent all of the morning talking about life and what we all want from it, once we solved all the problems of the universe, we decided to pack the car and head off for a drive to Gnaraloo Bay (6 Mile) for spot of fishing. Such a magical place as you can see from the photos.

Pete was first to drop his line in and although he tried hard he was not able to land a fish. Jane was next to try her luck, she was able to land two beauties (Spangled Emperors) however she felt that they were to small, we later established that they were the correct size for us to keep. Oh well at least we didn’t starve that night we still had cans of baked beans.

For your delight I have attached a short video of Janes victory, enjoy.

We later enjoyed an indescribable sunset.

Our trip out to 6 Mile was adventures to say the least. The terrain was rocky and at times there was no definite track to follow. The trip home was harder as it was dark as the full moon was covered by clouds. We travel back by following the fence line.

Day 6, was the day we said Adour to our new friends, Jayne & Murray, their holiday had come to a close and they had to return to Perth. We all chatted while they packed up their camper trailer. We would remain friends and promised to catch up when we were next in Perth.

Jane and I spent the rest of the morning staying out of the sun.

When Pete returned we agreed that we would again try to catch some fish. We had to wait for low tide at approximately 3:30pm. We headed off towards Tomb Stone and located a fishing spot.

After many minutes passed we moved spots, then after many more we moved again. Still no fish, by this time Jane had snapped her line and made an inventive decision to attach a balloon as a float, to no avail. We headed back to the walking track when Pete thought he would try again, success he pulled in an Emperor and it was a good size to keep.

That night we eat like kings haha sharing one fish between 3 of us.

That night we made new friends with our other neighbours and a challenge was made to kick their butts in UNO, the game was to take place in 2 days.

Day 7, after a regular morning coffee at the beach we made a plan to try again at fishing, only this time we would travel to 6 mile on the right track.

We arrived at 6 mile and discovered that the rest of the camp had thought of the same idea.

Jane and Pete set up their lines and made their way to the fishing spot. I was on the edge of a reef, to get there you needed hard soled shoes as the reef was covered in spikey sea urchins.

These urchins came in a variety of colours and sizes, nestled amongst them were living brain coral and clams.

Unfortunately no fish were caught, however a very enjoyable day was had by all.

Day 8, We relaxed around the camp most of the morning then headed of for a swim, we needed to reserve all our energy as tonight would see us defeat the enemy in UNO.

It was a night of alcohol fuelled laughs and good times. We made plans to keep in touch. One of the ladies Kim, will be attending the Pannawonica Rodeo in August, Jane and I made a deal to meet her there (bring on the cowboys).

Day 9 We made contact with the outside world via the internet and payphone. We updated Facebook and spoke to our loved ones.

That afternoon we all went snorkelling and we were blessed with the opportunity to swim with a turtle.

Day 10, 30^th April 2013 last day of April.

The day was mainly taken up with housekeeping, the afternoon Jane and I went for a snorkel a we saw a beautiful giant starfish and some parrot fish.

Day 11 to Day 13 We relaxed around the camp site, drove to the main station house and made contact with the outside world. We all decided to leave on Saturday and head to Carvarvon via Red Bluff, the Korean Star shipwreck and Blow holes campsite.

Below are photos of Red Bluff, it has a beautiful beach and walking tracks and if you don’t like to swag it they have very comfortable Tent like accommodation.