We are on holiday!

Tuesday 16th August 2022

I really feel hesitation about leaving this place! when we first arrived I was overwhelmed at how many people were there, with 125 allocated sites, plus the open camping areas, there must be hundreds of people staying here, but whenever we’ve gone to the beach it has been so quiet (except the change of tides, when the fishers came out in force!). It is a spectacular piece of coastline, with so much more to be explored! Unfortunately we don’t have the flexibility now, we are working to a date in Perth and have already cut a couple of planned stopovers out to arrive in time! Definitely a place I would be happy to come back to – but there might be more amazing spots on our way south as well!

We made the long straight drive southwards, perpendicular to 80 mile beach. We stopped at the Spitfire Roadhouse for a quick break, and found amazing home made sausage rolls and gluten free hot chips – a rare find, to be gluten free they need to be cooked in a dedicated fryer that doesn’t cook anything crumbed or battered (or Chiko rolls 🤢). So Richie got to enjoy some rare chips, and the kids made their best attempts on some very solid sausage rolls (which means I got more than my fair share 😁).

We weren’t certain of our destination today – I had called Pardoo Station which sounds lovely, but it sounds like it would probably be better experienced with a 4WD. Cape Keraudren also looked great, but very exposed for camping. Aunty Judy messaged in the morning to say that 80 Mile Beach was amazing for them, so we decided to stop in at Cape Keraudren, which is at the southern end of Eighty Mile Beach, and a little closer to the next destination.

We were pretty amazed by the place! We arrived around 2ish and the waters were the most vivid blue colour! There are four main camping areas – one overlooking a beach that was absolutely packed with caravans! Then at the far northern end there is a site to the east, and one to the west, both with amazing views, but the water access was rocky. The fourth is at Cootenbrand Creek, which comes out onto Eighty Mile Beach. A neighbour at Barn Hill had recommended the beach site, and suggested we not even bother looking at the creek site, it wasn’t very nice. We decided to look anyway and it is so stunning, I’m not sure what’s not to love! The camping sites are spread out along the edge of the sparkling blue creek,which runs out onto the beach. Richie assessed the area – parts are very sandy and beyond what we are willing to attempt, but a couple in a caravan kindly offered to move some of their things so we were able to drive in front of their caravan and set up camp on the other side of them without risking getting stuck! Provided someone else doesn’t park us in tomorrow of course! 😁

The kids were very keen to get into the water, so Richie offered to set up camp so I could take them swimming. The tide was going out at the time, and the kids loved getting rushed along in the creek current. Then we hopped out to look around. The area surrounding the creek is very soft mud – you sink up to your ankles in parts. Maybe that’s what turned the other family off the site? Bonnie and Otis loved it though, and got incredibly muddy playing mud monsters! There is also a remarkable amount of shells, coral and sponges washed up – so much treasure to be found! I love shells, and while the kids loaded me up I started trying to work out what we can leave behind to fit a shell collection in! 😂

We walked back to the car to unload our collection, then jumped in for another swim. Unfortunately Otis cut his foot and knee on something – with so much shell and coral around there are a lot of sharp edges. We will have to wear sandals in the water I think. We patched Otis up, by which time the tide was low enough to easily cross the creek so we went for a walk. The shells are just amazing! I could spend all day just walking along and searching the tide line! Also loads of shore birds making the most of low tide, and masses of orange crabs marching across the sand.

Richie got a fire going back at the campsite and we enjoyed a wine in the last light. We had steak and shark for dinner – surf and turf! Incredibly indulgent but we really need to clear a space in the freezer in case we get more fish! The kids star-gazed for a while before bed. It is noticeably cooler here, which I feel a little sad about. I’m not ready to give up warm nights yet (though Richie definitely is!). It reminds me we are going back towards winter!