Captain’s log, day 9
Wins: 

• Filled up the jerry can with fuel without looking like a noob. Feel hardcore now
• Successfully put up tent on howling southerly with some very creative pegging and octopus straps
• Found first souvenir: perfect clam shells from Quobba station.

Losses:

• Was wondering why floor of tent was so dirty… Turns out I was bleeding all over it from stubbing my toe. Upon inspection, toe was quite mangled and once I saw it, hurt quite a bit. Now matches all other digits that have been damaged and am running out of band aids.
• Spanna if you’re reading this, there was no joke associated with the toe stubbing, sadly!
• Spork is still at large.

Zeus and I needed to Quobba station, just over an hour north of Carnarvon. The station has three camp spots:

1. The Blowholes: for the fully self-contained traveller, much adored by rows and rows of grey nomads with in-van loos and solar panels.
2. Red Bluff: A further 60km on dirt track north, this is where the beautiful people camp. Surfers of all ages live for years at a time at Red Bluff. A house and shop on site provide supplies and Saturday night is pizza night. The downside (for us) is that as it’s an environmental exclusion zone, dogs can camp but aren’t allowed on the beach which is the only reason I didn’t camp there. If you are coming this way, it’s the Bluff or nothing.
3. Quobba homestead. Tim and Sara have done a stellar job with the campsite. Hot water showers, electricity for nine hours a day… Luxury! A chance to charge up all the tech… Which stayed charged thanks to no mobile coverage.

You can also hunt up a bit further to Gnaraloo with its ‘secret’ surf spot but I’m not sure how secret stuff is once it’s on the Internet.

Zeus and I cracked out some good beach walking at Quobba and got a little close to comfort to the blowholes…

Apparently so scary, Zeus lost control of his ears.

Met a toothless fisherman who told me when the rates at Blowholes went from $5 per night per site to $11, a big crew from Mandurah stopped coming up and as a result, a bunch of stores in Carnarvon closed down. Also a couple who had travelled to Kununurra from Sydney to see their son… Who in the interim got a job in Bundaberg so moved over to QLD. Good excuse for a holiday.

Am writing this in Minilya where I once spent a night after killing a car (That’s another story). Next stop is Ningaloo Station, unlikely to have mobile reception there so write later.

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