Red Bluff and Gnaraloo Stations...amazing, rugged, remote

Hi all...it's friday night and we are just back from our camping stay at a couple of sheep stations on remote sections of coastline- been great! Here's the update:


Tuesday Oct 10

The sign leading into Red Bluff, here at Quobba Station (about 100kms north of Carnarvon on a dirt road) says “Welcome to Red Bluff- Nature at its rarest and most beautifully inspiring”, and that pretty much sums up this place. Red Bluff itself rises dramatically from the ocean, the coastline then sweeping around to the north, to create a small pocket protected from the prevailing SW onshore winds. On the point is the famous Red Bluff surf break…bit windy this afternoon, but we can see the waves breaking out there still, and I took a walk out there earlier, and we hope for a surf in the morning perhaps. Will be a bit scary as it’s another heavy reef break- just watching the water sucking back off the rock ledge, which is covered in sea urchins, was enough to make me nervous, but I’d love to be able to have a go surfing here just the same!

Like Warroora this place is wild and remote, with very little development, and lots of emus and sheep about on the drive in on the dirt road. The scenery is stunning- harsh, yet beautiful. I am sitting in the late afternoon sun typing this, looking out over the ocean.

Where we are staying here is another memory and unique experience in itself. We are staying in a “palm frond beach humpie”. As the name suggests, this is a classic beach shack, with the walls actually made from palm fronds, which have been layed over chicken wire. It has a concrete floor and it full of old furniture and beds (a double and some bunks, an old table, some shelves). This now takes the cake as the most unique place we have stayed! We have no power or water, so we have our gas cooker and brought our solar shower and lots of water etc. This is great! We even have a hammock outside. Sigh.

Weds oct 11

Windy, sunny, sadly no surf (swell and waves but too windy). A lovely relaxing day. We feel so removed from everyday reality we could be on an island.
We went for a walk to the top of the bluff and back, had a swim, lunch, red books. Last night I lay in the hammock and gazed at the stars. We plan to return here one day.

This beach shack reminds me of my childhood days playing in our old wooden boatshed on the waterfront on the Port Hacking in Sydney. I guess it’s the rustic feel, all the old furniture, the saltwater. We love it for its simplicity and uniqueness, lack of polish and distance from a town.

Thurs oct 12

Woke up to a light off-shore breeze with the surf looking good! Woke Adam to check out the surf. Sadly, Adam’s cold has freshened back up and he wasn’t feeling well enough to tackle the heavy surf over the reef. I was though, so feeling very nervous, especially without Adam to jump in off the reef ledge with me, and sit with me at this new surf spot- I put on my wetsuit and trekked out to the point. It was Adam’s turn to stand on the shore with the camera. I’ll admit I was really anxious when I paddled out! Some heavy 6t sets were coming through. I sat on the shoulder though and got some great waves which came through more on the outside! So smooth, and so fast, breaking over the reef. It was a real adrenalin rush and I am so glad I went out!

We are now in the wind in our tent at Gnaraloo. So many guys here windsurfing and they are fantastic to watch in the waves. Adam might go out tomorrow if he feels better, or the swell drops a bit- it’s pretty big out there right now!
We both aren’t enjoying being in our tent in the gale!

Fri Oct 13

We awoke to very strong offshore winds and huge surf! Too big for us, smashing down onto the reef. We did see two guys go out, but they didn’t last too long. The sets were BIG..probably 8-10 foot and heavy.
We ate our breakfast in our car at a lookout so we could watch the waves- it was fun- we even took our gas stove so we could have some coffees (fancy latte ones too).
We then packed up our tent, decided we’d drive back to Carnarvon in the late afternoon, instead of spending another night in our exposed site in the strong wind.
There is a lagoon section inside the reef in one area just down from the camping area at Gnaraloo…it’s the most southern point of Ningaloo Reef, so after we’d packed the car we went snorkelling and saw plenty of fish. It was good to do something and the lagoon was partly sheltered from the wind.
Soon afterwards, amazingly, the wind swung right around and after howling in from the SE, starting belting in from the SW (onshore). Once again the windsurfers were straight out- the waves even bigger today than yesterday and the wind even stronger.
Adam and I took photos and watched for a couple of hours this afternoon- Adam recognized some of Australia’s top windsurfers in action (he’s seen them in magazines etc). It was pretty impressive.
Now we are back in civilization at Carnarvon, and back in our little caravan. It was a big job to unpack and repack camping and other stuff once again, but thankfully it’s all done now and we can rest. Here for the next couple of days…
Lots of love to all,
Emma & Adam xx