Ahh, what a glorious morning it was today. With only a couple of hundred kays to put in on the road and no deadline by which to be leaving the camp ground, we made the most of it. Sleeping until such time as we awoke, without the need for an alarm, we stepped out of the van, into the warm morning sunshine to find that we were the sole campers left in the grounds. We had the place to ourselves.

I sat outside to eat breakfast while reading, before deciding to get energetic. With the sea on one side of us, there is a precipice on the other, rising steeply away from us. I had noticed a slight track carved into the rocky side of it yesterday, and this morning decided to have a go at scaling it.

Looking up.

The path petered out after a short distance, leaving me to try and pick the easiest line I could over the scrabbly stone surface, dodging bushes of sharp nettles as best I could. I finally made it to the crest of the bluff, from which I had fantastic views almost completely surrounded by bodies of water. Far down below, I could pick out the van and ‘The Beast’, Bec standing close by peering up at me.

From up above, the best camp site we’ve had so far.

Once atop what looked like a cliff from the ground, I noticed that it was more of a mesa, separating the inlet upon which shores we had camped, from the next one over. I also found an easier way down than the way I had come up, with a soft sandy path to the tiny little beach on the opposite side.

The view from the top.

I went back to get Bec, and we both clambered across the deep drifts of sand to our own little private beach. The water was too cold to be inviting however, not to mention the drifting strings of sea grass that hid who knows what sort of marine life, so we didn’t stay too long before returning to the van.

Our own private little beach.

A little more time was spent relaxing outdoors with the dogs, padding up and down the beach, before we decided that we really ought to make a move. By the time we packed up and were ready to go, it was only a few minutes prior to midday. At this rate we weren’t going to be getting any prime position at the next campground.

One more last look at what must go down as our favourite camp so far, then we fired up ‘The Beast’, dropped it into gear and rolled on out, heading for the highway yet again.

The only stop that we needed to make was at the next roadhouse along our route for an expensive gas bottle refill. After having tried for weeks to empty one of the bottles, it finally happened last night. The only problem was, the one that came up empty, was the one we believed to be full. So now we are most likely down to the very last breaths of gas in the second bottle, with no way of knowing for sure how long it will last. Given that while free camping we are reliant on gas to run the fridge and freezer, we had no choice but to fill up today at well over the odds price. Well, it was either that, or go without dinner and hope that the food in the freezer was still frozen come morning.

Even after being delayed at the roadhouse for over half an hour waiting for the gas, we pulled off of the highway and into tonights camp area at about 3:30PM. Late enough that the prime spots were all already taken, but early enough that we were able to sidle into a little spot away from the rest of the crowd. That bodes well for us, as I don’t then mind so much running the generator if we haven’t got someone parked right next door to us. It’s a pretty quiet little machine, but out here where there is no city noise, and only the occasional truck barreling through the night on the nearby road to break the silence, even the quiet hum of the generator travels far and wide.

With the rig parked and all leveled up, so as to provide us with a suitable spot to rest our heads for the night, we put the dogs in the van, then took off on foot for a bit of a look around. The camping area is huge, and it’s a popular spot with about 2 dozen vans scattered about the area, mostly lining up along the river bank where a once raging river now runs sluggishly across the rocky river bed. As well as being popular with the human folk, a thick cloud of blow flies seems to descend upon you if you even so much as think about stopping.

It will do us for the night though, leaving us with a drive of only a couple of hundred kilometres to get into Geraldton tomorrow, but after the peace and serenity of last nights gem of a camp, this one is positively boorish. Not only that, but the further we travel south, the cooler the afternoons and evenings become. As a result of the temperature, the not so scenic outlook and the blowies, we decided that the best course of action was to rug up inside the van, break out the media player and watch a few episodes of ‘The Wire’.

An activity that we continued while we waited patiently for our dinner to cook. A couple of marinated lamb shanks that we had vacuum packed to retain the juices. These we ever so slowly sous-vide in a simmering pot of water to maintain their tenderness and exquisite flavours. When they were eventually ready to come off the heat, we sliced open the bag to serve the two giant shanks, the delicious aroma emanating throughout the van. Filling our nostrils with the sweet smells, I was already imagining the meat falling from the bone in great chunks. I could hardly wait to slide my knife through the tender flesh, as we hungrily scattered a serving of vegetables across our plates.

With ‘The Wire’ still beaming out at us from the television set, we took our pews at the table to eat what must be one of the worst meals we have ever had the misfortune of cooking. What meat we could find on the shanks was tougher than old boot leather and I would hazard a guess that the leather would have been tastier. Far from falling apart, what passed for meat hung tightly to the bone, so much so that the whole thing might have better served us as a club. As hungry as I was, I ate what I could manage, but even then could salvage only 3 or 4 bites of meat, the remainder being a maze of gristle and fat.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.