Gnaraloo W.A

The Tika crew swapped the orange catamaran for the orange caravan and headed north to Gnaraloo station for some sun, sand, windsurfing, whale watching and star gazing…..

Gnaraloo is a working pastoral station with a wilderness tourism offering on the side (or maybe it’s a wilderness tourism enterprise with a pastoral operation on the side…) It sits on 90,000 hectares of parched red earth, an arduous, 12 hour drive from Perth, 150km north of Carnarvon…. Basically, it’s in the middle of nowhere; where the harsh Western Australian dessert meets the sea.

The Ningaloo Marine Park encompasses one of the longest fringing reefs in the world.  It starts around Exmouth, runs south skirting North West Cape for 300km and ends just south of Gnaraloo Station.  

3 Mile Camp at the station offers 50 dusty, red-dirt campsites that sit atop a cliff overlooking the vast Indian Ocean. You need to B.Y.O everything including drinking water…. It attracts a certain type of person- usually the variety seeking wind, surf and a unique, Aussie outback experience. We tend to see the same people every year and the conversations lean towards boards, sails, weather forecasts and swell reports.

Above right; I gave the orange caravan (newly named Tika-Terra) some extra character. On our last visit, I painted a design on the back and my plan is to add to it every year- this is the 2018 addition  

The continental shelf hugs close to the coast at Gnaraloo and hundreds of humpback whales cruise and play just outside the break. It is whale watching heaven. Drinking coffee at your camp, sunbathing at the beach, windsurfing or surfing are all activities that can be done with a backdrop of aerial breaches, tail slapping, fin waving and general whale shenanigans sooo close to the land’s edge.

The 14 year old has well and truly mastered the drone flying and all whale shots must be credited to him.

It’s a barren, hostile landscape that contrasts dramatically with stretches of white sand and the clean blue hue of the ocean. 

Above left; Gnaraloo Bay is a 20 minute drive from 3 mile Camp. Veer left on the sandy track outside the camp arch and turn left at the T past the collapsed and rusted windmill. You’ll pass the homestead on the left, a caravan graveyard on your right, a few scattered goats, scrub……maybe a couple of roos, a snake or a large, monitor lizard… You’ll go through two gates flanked by 30 gallon drums; remember to shut them behind you….. Then, just as the dust is settling in your wake, you’ll arrive at the pristine white sand and shallow water of the bay. The beach is paralleled by a near continuous 200-500m barrier reef that cradles a lagoon and a lovely, flat-water windsurfing playground.

Above right; the kids have free run of the camp in school holidays. Fast friendships are formed and serious monopoly games in the shade of the caravan’s canopy give faces a break from the sun and wind-whipped sand.

Above; Gnaraloo’s main break; Tombstones or Tombies. The heavy barrelling left hander is the honey pot that brings surfers, kiters and windsurfers buzzing from all over the world.….At 14, Kai took his Rite of Passage on a low wind/swell day at Tombies for the first time! Russ was over the moon to be sharing a wave with his boy. 

Snorkelling the bay is fun. The coral is not outstanding compared to some of the jewels we eyeballed across the Pacific, but there are rays, reef sharks and I always love looking close up at coral reefs- the more you look the more you see!

Gnaraloo Station’s western border is formed by 65km of empty, gorgeous coastline. The girl (11 yrs, above) is whipping it up on the bay and has her sights set on sailing Tombies next year… 

The Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation started a Turtle conservation program at Gnaraloo in 2008 and the bay has one of the world’s biggest rookeries of the endangered loggerhead turtles. There is also a healthy population of sea turtles in the lagoon at 3 mile camp.

I don’t think I will ever be a wave-sailor but I do enjoy my big board flat water windsurfing on the bay when I get the chance. I guess Gnaraloo caters for every-one!

The picture above gives you a sense of the rugged isolation of 3 mile. The beach at the northern end is the camp’s beautiful lagoon. Our morning routine at Gnaraloo includes a dip in the lagoon before coffee and whale watching back at the orange caravan. No wind days are good for reef walks at low tide, snorkelling, sand boarding down the powdery dunes, surfing and paddle boarding..

Given my macro lens does not fit the new go pro and I had no red filter or magnification, I was pleased with some of my underwater coral shots…

Above; Tombstones

Stunning Gnaraloo Bay; I think that’s me windsurfing out there- lots of turtles were diving out of my way as I skipped along!

Above right; Kai heading out for his first ever tentative sail at Tombstones… the beginning of a new era!

Above; an echidna holding up traffic  

Above left; father and son sailing Tombies.

Above right; Kids messing around at the Bay. There were at least 6 groms goofing off in a sort of wind-surfing derby that involved hijacking each others rigs, riding boards up onto other’s boards and generally having a blast on the water. Entertaining to watch. 

I just like the light plays of shallow water coral heads

Above left; both kids started driving at Gnaraloo this year; Kai by himslef and Jaiya still sitting on a knee but steering, braking and accelerating.

Above right; the rather grandiose entrance to the camp at sunrise.

Whose turn is it to open the gate??

Above right; desert wildflowers- like Alpine flora, grow in the harshest conditions. The rugged surroundings seems to accentuate exquisiteness.

Sunsets are big and bold at 3 mile camp…

Love the blue of the bay!

We head home with deep tans, a filthy caravan, 6 loads of washing, hair like straw and content smiles on our faces…

75km of unsealed corrugated track takes you to and from 3 mile camp and Carnarvon.  Gnaraloo is the real thing; like the red dirt, it gets under your skin….

see you next year Gnaraloo! 

This entry was posted in The Sail.