Cactus Beach (Thursday 18th April - Monday 22nd April)

---

After several hours on the blacktop and a few corrugations we arrived at Cactus Beach and set up camp with Brendo, Raquel, Steve & JT, Chelsea and kids. The boys are excited about the surf, the girls are excited that their is an actual toilet here! The boy's eagerly await sunrise, alarms are set and boards are packed and ready - Caves here we come!!

Whilst the boys hit the surf the girls and I enjoyed a relaxing morning at camp before heading over to watch the action at Caves from the amazing vantage of Caves Point. Time to test my skills as a surf photographer, first mission, photograph the right guys! We then enjoyed an afternoon spent swimming, bashing in the waves, exploring the rock pools and collecting shells.

So the plan was good...sneak out early, get an hour in before the crowd builds then head in for breaky. It all seemed good until as I was pulling on my suit (in the dark) I noticed there were ten other guys doing the same thing! Well it's April school holidays, straight NE and 4ft...there was always going to be a crew onto Caves...but 30 guys out with a 4ft inco swell was too much, we got a few early then bailed. The lunchtime surf wasn't much better with only the scraps on offer, but with the peanut gallery sitting on the point we did our best to put on a good show, Caz did well with the new Nikon and there was a slightly more positive feel amongst the boyz. Thank Huey for the arvo onshore, never thought I'd say that but 4ft cross-shore caves with only a few lads out is fun as, lots on bashable crumbling lips and I even snagged a few sets. Old arms were suffering after 3 sessions but the positive feel during the arvo surf made it all worth while.

We shared a final evening under the stars with JT, Chelsea, Jaz and Will before farewelling them as they commenced their journey back to their beautiful home at Cape Liptrap.

After a morning surf at Spoogies a weather change saw the surf subside and a change of activities unfold, we explored the cliff tops at Witzigs and swam in the netted off ocean pool at Pt Sinclair.

That evening saw the rain begin to fall, one long night and a lot of rain saw a leaking van roof and some wet beds!

Odyssey Issue No. 2 - Leaking caravan roof!

Our final day at Cactus and still no surf so the tinne hit the water at Pt Sinclair for a spot of fishing.

Another pack up and another farewell to Brendo, Raquel & Steve. Thanks for hanging out with us at Cactus and safe travels home you guys.

Now the journey seems real, after 10 days away, we continue to head west, just the four of us!

---