The day dawns fine but blowing still and we decide to take the coastal road, passing towering rugged cliffs that have been carved into beautiful shapes by the forces of wind, water and worms as we head south.
Our attention is drawn to water on the right hand side of the car, which is distinctly pink in colour, bright pink in fact. We stop nearby and trek out to the water to see this remarkable pink lagoon on the Hutt River, coloured by the presence of special algae in the waters. It is mined for both its salt and for its food colouring properties.
A lunch stop at the obligatory Geraldton visitors centre for some local info. Geraldton – gateway to the mid west and the Abrolhos Islands, famous for its cultured black pearls which would have been wonderful to visit if we had more time.
Another quick shop, then onto the local fish markets for some famous western rock lobster – no such luck as it seems the season runs 15th Nov – 30th June, bummer. We settled on a 1kg prawns and some bream fillets.
The land is more cultivated now, no longer wild and untamed looking with fields of neatly planted crops, high concentrations of sheep and wildflowers galore.
At Dongara we find a Caravan Park situated right on the beach. We have given up declaring the kids as the costs are ridiculous – most parks want about $26/night for a caravan with 2 people, but an extra $12-24 if we declare the 2 kids. I mean how much water/electricity does a 7year old use? Especially when next to us are 2 grey nomads with a monster of a caravan and the air conditioner going full bore all night. I don’t mind if we stay a couple of days and use facilities like pools, play grounds, TV rooms etc but the overnight stays are really just 12hour stops, 8 of which we are sleeping!
We rig all the rods in the gale force conditions and head across to Grannys Beach wharf. Chloe catches a whiting but we are all getting blown away and we retreat to the main Marina (which with a capacity of 130 vessels is apparently one of the largest marinas on the WA Coast!). I manage to lose 2 lots of gear when something very large takes off under the pylons, and we all catch lots of small bream. Toby manages to bring a blue swimmer crab to the surface several times but we have no way of getting him onto the wharf and sadly he is returned to the deep.
Leaving the boys while they continue to fish, Chloe and I now blue with cold head for home and take our last seaside sunset photos of the trip. After peeling prawns and preparing bream straight from the fridge we huddle around the little heater and pray for summer!
Dongara Denison Beach Holiday Park Big 4 ($26/night)
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