Coastal Camping Day 3

The forecast for the week wasn't looking too crash hot with lots of showers on the horizon. Those showers seemed to have disappeared until today when they rolled into one mighty storm. Luckily for us the morning was great - ok the sun wasn't shinning but it was warm enough to swim and so we did at Pretty Beach.

Located to the north of Pebbly Beach, Andy took the 10km straight-line coastal track running option while the girls and I took the 30km road detour both arriving within minutes of each other! Down to the beach we ventured. The ocean was fairly rough so we were nervous with Ella who insisted on catching the waves and as normal pushing her physical capabilities! Katy meanwhile was much happier in the shallows jumping and surfing the white wash.

Soon however we became engrossed in a game of surf frisbee. Throwing the frisbee to each other with the intention of momentarily loosing it in the whitewash of a wave. The next few seconds were spent trying to spot the white frisbee in the wash and retrieve it. Lots of fun was had without loosing the frisbee!

Perfectly timing our exit from the beach, with drops of rain appearing and lightning occasionally flashing we made our way to a local cafe for lunch. Luckily for us the storm erupted while we were enjoying lunch. We were very glad not to be at the campsite but at the same time we were very much worried about the state of our tent and campsite!!

Emerging from the cafe, there was water everywhere but at least it had stopped raining. A quick shop for a few dinner essentials before returning to the campsite. The campsite and tents had held up well despite a few puddles. The rain began to fall again so the girls retreated into the tent to listen to the The Enchanted Wood audio book while Andy and I read under the Patrick's shelter (thankful that we had borrowed it.)

The rain didn't last for long and the girls were itching for more beach time so off we went again. The beach was lovely although the surf was still challenging. Not so lovely was the fact that our towels were still wet from previous swim.

Andy managed to light our final fire despite the soggy timber and we toasted marshmallows once again.

Our last morning we packed up and headed to North Durras for the last swim of our coastal camping trip. We have fond memories of visiting North Durras on a very hot November afternoon in 2014 where the water was tranquil, clear and beautiful. Complete contrast to today which was overcast, trying to rain and rough surf but we still had fun and smiling girls!