Point Plomer

Our camping trip to Point Plomer was lovely. The 7 hour drive went quickly with Jacquie and I having the opportunity to talk uninterrupted the whole trip.

When we arrived at the campsite we were all a little disappointed by how crowded it was. It was the end of Easter weekend plus school holidays. There were no designated sites just campers, tents and boats packed together randomly over about 3 acres of grass adjacent to the beach. Barney found a narrow strip of grass at the far end of the campsite that we all inspected with some concern. It wasn’t long till Barney and Bryan, being the eternal optimists, gleefully proposed how we could set up the camper trailer on the small patch of sloping land. Jacquie and I grimaced sceptically. But we really didn’t have much choice in the location so we set about constructing our camp. Just before dark, the small day parking area between us and the beach cleared of cars and we suddenly realised that we had the best campsite in the place. An unobstructed view of the 2 km tawny-coloured beach lay just beyond our camp fire.

The next 5 days were filled with body surfing, swimming, sand castles, dolphins, bird watching, fishing, beach walking, sunset gin and tonics, card games, cooking on an open fire, and reading (yes !!!).

The weather was great except for one day of stormy winds that almost collapsed our entire camp.

Bryan got a permit to drive along a nearby beach so we headed off to explore it on the day it was a bit stormy. We were the only people on the entire 5 km beach. We stopped for a break about half way along so that Barney and Bryan could try some beach fishing. Casting into crashing surf seems an odd way to catch a fish but we’re told it is possible.

One night we headed out onto the beach after dark with high powered flashlights to find ghost crabs. These 2 inch long white crabs burrow under the sand and come out at night when you can spot them if you are really quick. We would locate one in the beam of the flashlight. Then everyone tries to catch it as it scuttles like a rocket randomly over the beach, accompanied by squeals of delight, giggles and the crashing of the waves in the black beyond.