Quobba and Gnaraloo Station

Post by Kristy

From Coral Bay our next destination was Quobba and Gnaraloo Stations. The stations are located about 90km south of coral bay along the coast although unfortunately there isn't a direct road anymore so we had to take the long way. This meant driving about 200km south to Carnarvon then basically turning around and heading north again on the coast road. 

The two stations are situated on a beautifully rugged and cliffy coastline. They are both very popular for fishing and surfing. Driving through the stations was an experience in itself with the masses of sheep and goats darting across the roads. Oddly the sheep still had there tails in tack which was quite a bizarre sight after only ever seeing tailless sheep. 

The first station we came to was Quobba which has 2 designated camping area, the first being at the homestead pictured below and the second at the northen end of the station (a further 60km) called Red Bluff. We had heard from Tim's mate Tom that Red Bluff was the pick of the two so we headed straight there. 

After a long day travelling we were stoked to finally be at Red Bluff and especially happy once we realised they had beach bungalows on offer for only $10 more than the campsites. The weather wasn't particularly great, still quite windy, so we quickly snapped up the shack they called 'Donald's'.

We absolutely loved it! It may have been a little run down but that's what gave it its charm plus it had a real bed and a kitchen table. Oh the simple things in life that now excite us lol. 

The view from the kitchen window! I think I could live here forever. 

The good old drop pit, something we have become very accustomed on our journey so far. This one was a little different thought with a kind of beach shack charm to it. Classic! The down side though was that there wasn't actually any way of knowing if someone was in there until you were basically at the door looking at them. Timing was critical if you didn't want to get caught with your pants down or cop an eyeful of someone else with there pants down.

On the walk out to the bluff there were quiet a few tinnies stored in caves just above to high tide mark. It also looked like people had camped there over night.

The above 2 photos are looking back towards the camping area from the bluff. 

A wicked cave on the bluff, looked like it was home to many little critters. 

We arrived at Red Bluff on a Tuesday afternoon and were told by the guys working on the sheep station that Thursday was forecast to be the biggest swell of the year. The photos above were taken on the Wednesday and we were a little sceptical of the forecast, but sure enough, Thursday morning we were greeted with a massive shore break and a peeling left hander from the bluff. We didn't have our boards with us and to be honest I probably would of pussied out any way, but it was still wicked to sit on the bluff watching the guys (and a the odd chick) getting some barrels. 

It looked pretty sketchy getting in, having to jump off a rock shelf, but even more difficult trying to get out of the water. They pretty much had to wait until the set was big enough so they could paddle in on top of the rock shelf. 

North of Quobba Station is Gnaraloo Station, we didn't stay there but went for a drive up there to check it out.  It has one area for camping called Three Mile Camp which offers similar facilities to Red Bluff.

About 10km north of Three Mile is Gnaraloo Bay.  It was an absolutely stunning beach, unfortunately no camping there though (pics below).

On our way back to Carnarvon, after regretfully pulling ourself away from Red Bluff we stopped to check out the famous blow holes.

I think this sign was made due to the amount of people that stood too close to the edge and got swept off the rocks. Definitely not something I'd like to experience, its hard to tell from the photos below but the ocean was pretty ferocious the day we were there. I don't imagine the survival rate would be that high for those swept off the rocks. 

Just to the south of the blow holes we stumbled across a very cheap ($5/car/night) campsite situated on a beautiful lagoon. If we had the time we probably would of stayed there for a few nights. 

We stayed at Carnarvon for a couple of nights to re-stock then continued south to our next destination of Monkey Mia.