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Caves 23 secs
From one extreme to the next-we leave the green grass and calm bay of Streaky and arrive to the desert dust, reefy shore and crashing waves of Cactus. With a lot of apprehension (the girls) and excitement (Matt) we set up the Jayco in a dusty clearing amongst the salt scrub. Our only luxury-a spiral shaped drop toilet built of lime stone with a view of the stars. We headed straight for the waves. We were met by the sight of Moose's rusted out cruiser on the shore and a heap of guys vying for a ride at caves. The waves were going off!! Matt wasted no time in gathering wetsuit and surfboard and paddling out to join the crew. While the girls and I searched the rockpools of beautiful Cactus beach for shells and sea life.
By day 2 the girls and I knew our way around and would jump into the car, bump our way over the corrugations to go watch Matt surf at Caves. The rock ledge provides a great vantage point to watch and to actually be able to tell which of those guys out there was Matt.
The girls and I were also keen to
hit the waves - well the waves at Shelley Beach that is. We enjoyed making sandcastles, practicing handstands and body boarding in the not so big waves.
We were beginning to settle into our life in the dust when a minor disaster struck when one of the welds on the roof rack cracked. We off loaded the tinnie and headed to town ‘Penong’ to search for assistance. Miraculously a welder could be found, he agreed to do the job but wasn’t sure whether he could complete it by Wednesday (our planned departure day). I thought Matt might have been out there hammering the roof rack at night to prolong our Cactus sojourn!!!!
On day 3 in the desert we went for a swim at Chadinga Lake (all bodies wetsuited up - the water was freezing!) We also took a drive out to Pt Sinclair Jetty. The girls and I spent a warm afternoon in the van while Matt hit the waves again!!
We were treated to some good news and homely comforts that night. Firstly, the roof rack was repaired and secondly an invite to Moose and Ruth’s beautiful Cactus home. We enjoyed an evening minus the
sand and salt scrub chatting to these long time locals.
We farewelled Cactus on Wednesday morning, the girls and I enjoying our time at Cactus Campground which was full of many travellers with lots of interesting stories of holiday plans and adventures.
Matt better hope we don’t like it here too much or it might be boys surfing trip + 4!!! next time.
Matt's Eye View
From Streaky we heading to Cactus, swell was pumping and so was the camp ground, with Ronnie having to bring in the hired help to keep up with the workload, he did manage 2 surfs a day though whilst his son was emptying the shitters. The wave pumped with the never ending NE winds providing super clean Caves...how good, crowds were a factor though, surfed by the moonlight one morning at 6am, pretty freaky, not to mention the odd tinge of fear in terms of where I was sitting in the “food chain”. It was pretty cool to look in at the crew sitting on the point, with Kianna leading the cheer squad after each wave, and Tahlia doing the camera work. The track to Caves was too much for “Matt’s dodgy
welding shop” and I had to call in a professional to put some extra support pieces on the roof rack. Some things don’t change over west, like Moose’s presence each morning at Caves, it was great to chat to the “Mayor” and his place was a welcome respite for all when the dust and desert wind were getting too much.
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