Our first taste of it was a day out with The Bearded One's cousins (and a husband) to a nearby beach called Jindalee. The Bearded One, his cousin and I were in one car and his other cousin and her husband were in the other. The Bearded One's cousin talked us through the ropes and we gave it a go. Well, he did and I watched, saying that I would try it next time.
After our tires were let down we were off, up and down small dunes, and we followed their car off road onto the beach until we saw grass and roads turn into sand and sea. It seemed fairly straight forward, but I wasn't the one driving... We drove along the beach, passing only one or two other cars, and made our way to a nice spot to have lunch. All in all, it was a lovely beach and made us hungry for more so we organised a trip to give the 4 wheel driving a go on our own.
We visited Guilderton Caravan Park to stay on the Moore River for a couple of days. It was recommended by The Bearded One's cousin and sounded like a really nice area. Trying to set up camp on a very windy day right in front of the river was, in a few words, really flipping difficult. Oh, and add a temperature of around 33 degrees, and we had ourselves a near impossible task. We were trying to get the tent stable for around an hour and we were failing, fast. Just to prove our suspicions that Aussie's are very helpful people, a lovely man named Craig walked by offering to help. Hero! The 3 of us tried a little while longer and were STILL getting no where. I went to see the Caretaker of the site and he offered us another plot on the camp site, which had a little shading from the wind by a nearby wall. We took it with relief and, in just a short time longer, our tent was up and our camp was set. Our helper Craig was quickly named "Craig the Lifesaver" and was loved by us for the rest of the weekend.
The camp site is on the area of the river where it meets the sea. There's only a small strip of sand separating the two and every now and again they meet. We walked up and down the river side and the sea front, which offered beautiful views. There's also a look-out hut on top of a cliff that is accessed via some wooden steps, which is a perfect place to watch the sunset. We had BBQ dinners and breakfasts and drank cold drinks whilst trying to get used to the bugs you see when you camp here. There were reports of a snake seen in the camp the day before we arrived, but I tried not to think too much about that...
While we were in the area, we visited the Lancelin Sand Dunes. Wow! They were something else! There are dunes of all different sizes which are accessed by 4 wheel drive and it was some of the best scenery I've ever seen with my own eyes. You can drive up and down the dunes, or go down them on sand boards, we chose to drive them. I even had a little go, which didn't last long as I got us stuck. The Bearded One was shovelling the sand away from the bottom of the car and the tires for around half an hour before he got the car out. Safe to say that, with the heat of the day getting much warmer and the sand being blown everywhere, we were both very relieved. He then drove for the rest of the time, I'd had enough for the day (I didn't want to get us stuck again!). It was so much fun, with such a rush when you are driving up and down the dunes. After the excitement we headed back to camp for some well deserved ice cold drinks.
We floated on the river on a blow up boat, paddling out as far as we could before it involved too much work. It was such a great way to enjoy the river - floating and relaxing, away from any people, sun bathing and taking in the scenery. We also sunbathed on the beach which we had all to ourselves, playing music with a couple of beers. Literally heaven!
We plan to do more 4x4'ing and camping trips as the weeks go on. We really enjoyed the camp site and this trip put us in good practice for more of the same. And no snakes! Phew!
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