First stop along the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area was Red Bluff & Gnaraloo Stations; known best for their world-renowned left hand reef breaks.  Less known for their highly corrugated bumpy as all hell roads, bound to throw all your neatly stored items allllll over the inside of your caravan.  We have gotten pretty good at tying the cupboards shut but our skills were no match for these roads!  A place where the desert literally meets the sea.  Baron red, dusty plains with the occasional dead shrub & bounding goat covers as far as you can see right up to the cliff tops, which are then met with pristine white beaches & a beautiful turquoise ocean.  It’s pretty breathtaking.

 

Besides the surf & desert Gnaraloo also boasts wonderful coral reefs for snorkeling, loads of tasty fish in the sea to keep your belly full & a wealth of other marvelous marine life.  We surfed twice a day everyday while we stayed here.  The frothing grommets inside us really burst to life when there’s a long, fun left hand reef rolling through.  Especially when it’s in water warm enough not to have to wear 3 inches of rubber & a coral bottom pretty enough that between sets you can peek under your board watching all the colourful fishies swim by.  Not to mention the continuous stream of humpback whales surfacing & breaching out the back, behind the breakers.  More magic moments for the brain bank.

 

We have a rule of whoever returns from the surf first gets to take some snaps of the surrounds & of course the surf.  I’ll let you decide who can never quite get that ‘last wave’ in by the photos below… 😉

 

From here on up we have stayed on “Stations”.  They are privately owned homesteads / turned tourist destinations.  They allow dogs, which has been great for us!  Mostly they provide you with a fee, a map of the area, some highly corrugated roads for accessing the coast & some dirt for you to call camp.  If you luck out you might find one with a toilet or shower block but this seems to be becoming a rarity.  We have had to invest in a chemical toilet (a porta-potty).  It is nothing but gross.  As Fred says, “I’ll just wait ‘til the cover of darkness when I can take my shovel & bog roll into the dunes”!!!  We did break out the solar shower recently, once the salt on our skin had reached maximum crust levels.  A very handy piece of equipment!

 

Warroora Station is just north of Gnaraloo Station & just below Coral Bay.  Our week spent here was pretty great & also pretty chilled out.  Fred anchored the tinny off the beach in front of 14 Mile camp & it didn’t come out of the water all week.  Everyday here we have been out to the reef fishing & snorkeling twice a day.  When we weren’t out on the water we were beach exploring & shell collecting with Barney.  (Mothership you would be jealous of all the cowrie shells!).  We also had a fair bit of down time waiting on the wind & tide some days.  To get us through we played A LOT of board games, as well as stared day dreaming at the map of Australia glued to our ceiling, ATE too many treats & generally went mildly insane tinkering around creating our own entertainment.  There has been zero reception for 99% of the time.  Kind of great, we have had to remember what being bored feels like!!

 

Fishing out on the reef we were mainly catching Spangled Emperor, Golden Trevally & the dreaded cod.  Our trawling efforts out in the deeper waters unfortunately didn’t pay off.  Though we did spot some more dolphins & lots of turtles.  Next time big fish, next time!!  The reef was amazing to dive.  Bursting with life & colour.  Ningaloo is most definitely living up to it’s reputation so far, & I feel like from here on up we are just going to get blown further away.

 

During our snorkel times so far on the reef we have met quite a few of the local residents.  It’s always a nice though sometimes startling surprise when you’re swimming along checking under all the coral shelves & you run into a sting ray or a shark!  A few photos below!

 

Here’s to keeping on north, toward Coral Bay & Exmouth.  Stay tuned!!

Xo