4 Stray Katz: Getting dumped by ferocious waves along the South West coast

Gracetown Caravan Park (Margaret River region), WA

Wednesday 14th - Sunday 17th December

On our way to the coast we stopped for a night at Chapman Pool campground on the Blackwood River. We spent Christmas here last trip so wanted to see if it was as nice as we remembered. It was still a lovely place, however the resident wildlife were a bit crankier this time. As soon as we pulled up I jumped out of the car to run to the toilet when I felt a gush of air zip past my head, when I looked up I saw a magpie had tried to swoop me. I ran to the toilet with my hands in the air, then walked the long way around to get back to the others. Unfortunately the bird didn't like me walking that way either and went in for the kill again! The magpie really didn't like females as it also had went Emilia quite a few times, even when she was just sitting at camp. It was super aggressive and we couldn't walk anywhere without a hat on (and our arms in the air shooing it away!). We still had a nice afternoon/evening there though - kayaking, swimming, relaxing in the hammock and then singing karaoke by the fire.

Carving it up on the log podium, by the last campfire we will be allowed to have for a while.

Jackson even got his air guitar out!

Gracetown

We stayed 3 nights at a lovely park just near Gracetown Beach, on the southwest coast (between Dunsborough and Augusta). The park had lots to do, so when we weren't at the beach we did mini golf, played tennis and enjoyed an outdoor movie. Unfortunately Jackson came down quite sick with Covid, so his time here wasn't as fun as it could have been. Thankfully he was only really sick for about 24 hours, so he still got some beach time.

The first afternoon we checked out Gracetown beach then headed to Margaret River surf beach hoping to catch some waves. The waves were huge and they were breaking quite close to shore. The beach also sloped down very steeply so you were in deep water quite quickly. We still decided to have a go and managed to catch a few waves in between being absolutely churned around in the water then dumped on the sand. It was fun, but a bit easier without our boards so we could swim under the waves! We finished up with a swim in the warm, fresh (ish) water in Margaret River (which flows to just before the ocean).

The next day Jackson was sick so Daniel and I took turns taking Emilia out. Daniel took her into Margaret River for some shopping and a treat before a kayak in the bay at Gracetown Beach where they picked up a crayfish (that is now in the freezer for Xmas). In the afternoon I took her beach hopping- we went to Gas Bay (a beautiful, remote beach with big waves. We swam then walked along the beach), Gnarabap Beah (a calm, sheltered bay where we swam out the pontoon) then back to Margaret River Mouth for a float in the calm water.

Jackson was feeling a bit better by the next morning so we decided to check out a 4WD access only beach- Kilcarnup (or Joey's Nose as the locals call it). It was an absolutely beautiful spot. We swam and boogie boarded (and got dumped by a few huge waves again). Daniel went out to look for crayfish (with Jackson in the kayak ready to collect his catch). After only about half an hour he came back with 4 huge crays! We had 2 for dinner and gave the others to friends. We had a really great time at the stunning Kilcarnup Beach and hope to come back here again.