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Manchos Gap Year Brendon and Lynice are on our "Gap year " , traveling around Australia with our Dog " Murphy "

📍 Red Bluff, Western Australia Another little slice of WA paradise! This post deserves its own write up , what a place R...
18/10/2026

📍 Red Bluff, Western Australia

Another little slice of WA paradise!

This post deserves its own write up , what a place

Red Bluff is where the rugged red cliffs meet that ridiculously blue Indian Ocean, with beautiful beaches, wild coastal scenery and sunsets that make you wonder why you ever bother going home.

The waves crash away all day like a stereo stuck on repeat… same song, same volume, and absolutely no off switch!

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE FISHING!!!

WOW… Red Bluff takes fishing to another level!

Red Bluff is famous as a surfing mecca, with surfers coming from all over to chase those waves. But for someone like me, who’s more likely to chase a fish than a wave, I reckon I’ve found my own little slice of paradise!

The surfers are out there chasing barrels, while I’m standing on the rocks chasing dinner. Each to their own, I suppose!

We met Michael 'Jonesy' Jones and his partner Jane out on the rocks, where Michael was busy doing what he clearly does best — catching fish!

Michael and Jane have been on the road for four years, and Michael has been fishing these parts for a long time. He was an absolute WEALTH of knowledge, and I was happy to soak it all up.

Then I watched Michael pull in a 30kg+ sambo on a pretty handy reel setup.

Bloody unreal! One of the craziest things I’ve seen in a long time. That fish was an absolute Stonker At 30kg+

I reckon if it had got any bigger, Michael would’ve needed a forklift and a couple of blokes from the pub to get it up the rocks

Meanwhile, I was standing there watching like a Tradie that had forgotten to bring his tools on day one untill he yells at me , Asking for some help and can I get a photo of him with the sambo before he released it

But I wasn’t going to be a spectator forever. I managed to tick a few things off my own bucket list:

✅My first tuna caught rock fishing!
✅A spangled emperor.
✅And a schoolie mackerel.

Not a bad effort! The fishing is that good, even the fish must be wondering if they should start charging us rent for living in their neighbourhood

And catching tuna off the rocks? Bloody hell! I thought rock fishing meant losing sinkers and donating tackle to the ocean, not hooking fish that make you question your life insurance!

A huge thanks to Michael for sharing some of his knowledge. It’s amazing who you meet out here on the road, and how quickly a fellow fishing tragic can become a mate.

Beautiful coastline, monster fish, great company and fishing that makes it bloody hard to leave.

The sunsets are bloody beautiful, the scenery is hard to beat, and the wind still turns up in the afternoon like a relative who’s outstayed their welcome.

Red rocks, blue water and fishing stories that get better the longer you go without catching anything!

Red Bluff Thankyou


📍 Steven’s Camp - Ningaloo Ningaloo Camp No. 4 – Steven’s Camp Stayed at Steven’s Camp this week, who’s Steven ? and we...
11/10/2026

📍 Steven’s Camp - Ningaloo

Ningaloo Camp No. 4 – Steven’s Camp

Stayed at Steven’s Camp this week, who’s Steven ?

and we reckon we’ve found the winner out of the four camps so far! It’s a beauty !!

Tucked away in a valley… well, a bloody big pile of sand pretending to be a valley , Sheltered from the wind, beautiful views and a little community feel. Even the neighbours were starting to look familiar… probably because we’d all been wearing the same clothes for 5 days!

The van was starting to show the signs of off-grid living. Dusty, dirty and looking a bit second-hand… much like its owners! We’re not camping anymore, we’re just slowly turning into sand-covered bush people.

STEVENS CAMP FISHING COMP – FINAL TALLY!

And yes the fish were biting

We shared the honours on day one (if you were interested, Jim ), then Lynice decided sharing was overrated and proceeded to clean up for the rest of the comp.

It’s nice waking up in the morning and even Lynice telling me, “It’s your day today, you’ve got this!”

Which is lovely support from the woman who’s currently kicking my arse at fishing!

FINAL TALLY
Lynice – 7
Brendon – 5

BUT… before anyone starts handing her the trophy and planning the victory parade…

I CAUGHT THE BIGGEST FISH!

She might have won on quantity, but I’m claiming quality!

The fishing comp might be over, but I reckon I’ve got a few more excuses left in the tackle box!

Snorkelling: Felt like swimming around in one giant aquarium. amazing coral and so much marine life you half expected David Attenborough to pop up and start narrating!

Steven’s Camp was a beautiful spot we both loved it , if you get a chance to visit here , do it

The only downside? The van needs a wash, we need a shower, and Lynice has officially taken over the fishing department!

Ningaloo, you beauty!



04/10/2026

📍14 Mile Beach


📍Sandy Point 📍14 Mile Beach 📍The Ridge Sandy Point — Let the Off-Grid Adventures BeginWell, we kicked off the week by st...
04/10/2026

📍Sandy Point
📍14 Mile Beach
📍The Ridge

Sandy Point — Let the Off-Grid Adventures Begin

Well, we kicked off the week by starting three bloody weeks of proper off-grid camping — and this is where we’re happiest.

Before we left Tassie, our caravan had barely seen the inside of a caravan park. We’re much more into finding a patch of dirt somewhere in the middle of nowhere, setting up camp and pretending we’ve got the whole bloody country to ourselves.

So first stop was Sandy Point on the Ningaloo, about 40 km south of Coral Bay.

Now, getting in there was a bit of an mission

The road was a solid 7/10 on the “rough as guts” scale. Not quite “hold onto your teeth” territory, but definitely enough corrugations to make you question whether every screw, cupboard in the caravan was going to survive the trip.

Sandy Point: 8/10

No ocean views from where we were camped, but the spot was nicely tucked away and, more importantly, shielded from that bloody afternoon south-westerly.

That SW comes roaring in , in the arvo like it’s late for work.

But the sunsets…
Sunset: 11/10
Bloody WOWSER!

One of those sunsets where you just sit there with a drink in your hand, watching the sky light up, and think:
That’s the sun
And it’s setting

Sometimes the best things in life don’t cost a bloody thing

Then came the fishing.

Lynice absolutely towelled me up.

And I’m not talking about the usual relationship towel-up either…

She landed two threadfin salmon and a trevally, while I managed to catch…

absolutely sweet bu**er all.

I couldn’t catch a cold if I tried

📍Camp No. 2 – 14 Mile, Ningaloo

Same same… but different!

Blue water, magic beaches and another bloody ripper spot to call home for a few days.

The only thing that keeps turning up is the wind, rolling in every arvo like the unwanted neighbour with bad breath who just won’t take the hint.

📍Camp No. 3 — The Ridge

Not gonna carry on about it too much…

Amazing sunsets
Crystal-clear blue water

Wind , bloody hell. It had more attitude than a pub drunk who’s just been told last drinks.

She gets up there at times

And the fish?
They decided to knock off for the day… every bloody day.

But hey, you can’t have everything…

We came for the fishing and stayed for the scenery — turns out the fish had better holiday plans than we did.


📍Yardie Homestead 📍Coral Bay 📍Five Fingers Reef 📍Oyster Bridge After Exmouth we headed down to Yardie Homestead for a fe...
27/09/2026

📍Yardie Homestead
📍Coral Bay
📍Five Fingers Reef
📍Oyster Bridge

After Exmouth we headed down to Yardie Homestead for a few days to continue our snorkelling practice.

More fish, more turtles… I won’t bore you with it all, but bloody hell, it was pretty good!

We also watched Hawthorn LOSE another prelim…
Apparently travelling thousands of kilometres doesn’t protect you from heartbreak.

Murphy, meanwhile, was living his best life. He made friends with two kids who’d been travelling around Australia with their family for 18 months. He was absolutely in heaven and quickly taught them his entire collection of highly advanced dog games:

Play ball
Fetch with the ball
Tug-of-war with the ball
Throw the ball… I’ll catch it!

We also managed to snag a spot on a fishing boat and finally got a bit of fishing in — GOLDBAND SNAPPER!
Prime eating and bloody delicious.

And just for the record… Lynice AND I both caught some!

On our last day we had an absolute ripper snorkel at Osprey Bay — 5 turtles, 1 octopus and some massive reef fish whose names I have absolutely no bloody idea about.

Exmouth and Yardie Homestead were an absolute highlight. We loved every minute of it and would definitely come back one day.

ONTO CORAL BAY!

What a different place!

Basically a resort on steroids that accidentally turned into a town.

Although calling it a town might be stretching it a bit… it’s more like a resort, a reef and a pub all wearing a trench coat pretending to be a town!

Apparently, if you live in Coral Bay you aren’t allowed to have a pet. True story.

So naturally, Murphy became an instant celebrity every time we walked down the street.

First stop was the Shark Sanctuary.

Very cool to see — absolutely loaded with sharks cruising around.

Did we go for a swim?

Absolutely bloody not!

Then we hit Five Fingers Reef and Oyster Bridge…

WOW!

The water was ridiculously blue and crystal clear. Turtles cruising past, heaps of fish and plenty of underwater action.

At this point our snorkelling skills are getting pretty bloody good…

Although I’m still spending half my time trying to work out whether I’m looking at a fish, coral or something that’s about to eat me.

Coral Bay — tiny place, massive reef, and enough blue water to make the sky jealous!







25/09/2026

📍Five Fingers Reef - Coral Bay



📍Exmouth Next stop… Exmouth! This place had been a massive bucket-list destination for us, so after losing our original ...
20/09/2026

📍Exmouth

Next stop… Exmouth!

This place had been a massive bucket-list destination for us, so after losing our original Ningaloo bookings to Cyclone Narelle, we were bloody pumped to finally get here and make the most of it.

We hooked up with Jodie and Peter , who we’d met on the road for a day before they left — absolute legends and great company

Muttz Café quickly became our local morning coffee stop, where Murphy quickly become the local legend there every morning

Then came the big one… swimming with whale sharks!

The gentle giants of the sea, and apparently Exmouth is the only place in Australia where you can legally swim with them, so there was absolutely no way we were missing this one.

The tour was incredibly well organised, and getting in the water next to these things was bloody unreal. Thanks 3 islands ( there’s ya plug )

They are massive, intimidating and surprisingly fast. You look at one and think, “Yeah, I reckon I can keep up with that.”
Five seconds later you’re absolutely flogging yourself through the water thinking, “Who the bloody hell talked me into this?”

A few whale shark facts:

They can grow to around 12 metres or more — roughly the length of a bus. Imagine trying to park THAT at Woolies.

They have thousands of tiny teeth, but they’re not interested in biting people. Their teeth are basically decorative — like nature gave them a mouthful of sandpaper and forgot to include the instructions.

They’re filter feeders, sucking in plankton, tiny fish and whatever else is floating around.

Basically… the ocean’s biggest Dyson.

Then we got some late mail from the locals about where to snorkel with turtles.

And bloody hell… didn’t that deliver!

This was a massive dream for Lynice. She’d actually travelled to Bali twice specifically to swim with turtles and never managed to see one.

Then, finally, here at Ningaloo… there they were.

Watching Lynice’s face when she finally saw one was bloody priceless. That smile said a thousand words.

And the turtles themselves?

Basically the slowest, oldest and weirdest little legends in the ocean.

Which probably explains why, for once, I could actually keep up with something in flippers!

Exmouth absolutely delivered — whale sharks, turtles, snorkelling, great people and plenty of bloody good memories.

Bucket list: officially ticked






📍Bullara Station Stay We headed to Bullara Station, one of WA’s well-known station stays — and bloody hell, they’ve got ...
16/09/2026

📍Bullara Station Stay

We headed to Bullara Station, one of WA’s well-known station stays — and bloody hell, they’ve got station life sorted!

It’s basically a working cattle station, country pub and social club all rolled into one. A patch of dirt, campfires, cracking sunsets, a sky full of stars, a bar/café and heaps of travellers doing exactly the same thing.

Who needs room service when you’ve got a camp chair, a b**r

And the toilets and showers… well, let’s just say Bullara definitely didn’t get the memo about boring station amenities!

Station life is pretty simple — no traffic, no parking inspectors and definitely no Uber Eats.

They have a few Meal nights

Pizza night — couldn’t say no. I love pizza TICK
Thanks Jodi and Peter for the laughs and great night

Famous burger night — had to investigate. Strictly for research purposes, of course. This night is famous TICK

We also left our mark on the bottle tree near the camp kitchen — a little sign of respect and a reminder that we’d been there.

Bullara Station — where the stars are free, the dust is complimentary, the campfires are crackling and nobody cares if your Crocs are your good shoes.

📍Onslow📍Yannarie where the adventure keeps getting weirder! “Onslow… because everything happens at about the speed of a ...
13/09/2026

📍Onslow
📍Yannarie

where the adventure keeps getting weirder!

“Onslow… because everything happens at about the speed of a Sunday arvo BBQ. “

We checked out the quirky sculptures, the famous Paparazzi Dogs and one bloody impressive ANZAC memorial.

And Onslow has a pretty handy party trick…

You can watch the sunrise over the ocean AND the sunset over the ocean.

Yep… Mother Nature showing off again.

Basically, Onslow is the place where you can say:

“I saw the sun come up and go down without moving the caravan

THE FISHING

Well, we absolutely cleaned up off the rocks!

10 fish all up, three different species and somehow we managed 5 each.

Yep… a genuine draw.

No bragging rights. ( for all the knockers after the fishing charter , yes I’m back )

Although I’ve already decided my five were obviously much better quality fish than Lynice’s

Before heading off, we ducked out to Old Onslow, where the original town used to be.

Turns out they moved the town in 1925 because…

They ran out of water.

Which raises an important question:

Who builds a town in the Pilbara and forgets to check if there’s bloody water?

“G’day mate, found a great spot for a town!”

“Beauty! Got water?”

“Ummm…”

“One job !!”

We could’ve camped out there, but after hearing about crocodiles have been sighted and looking around thinking “Yep… this place looks like its a sanctuary for snakes

sooooo we moved on ,,, quickly

Then, because the trip obviously wasn’t exciting enough, the K**a bus decided to throw its first puncture on the way to our overnighter

Nothing says Australian adventure quite like standing beside a caravan on the side of the road staring at a tyre thinking…

“Well… that wasn’t on the itinerary.”

Eventually we pulled into Yannarie — smack bang in the middle of bloody nowhere.

What a ripper little free camp! Plenty of space, bu**er-all noise, apart from a few road trains at 3am.

We got the campfire cranking, kicked back under an absolutely bloody spectacular starry sky and realised just how big the universe is — and how small our caravan is!

just a fire, stars and a few b**rs.
5-star accommodation… if you don’t mind bringing your own room!



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Narrung, SA
5259

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