Peaceful Bay (854.2 km) to Quarrum Nature Reserve (864.2 km)

Mileage: 10km/6.25 miles

Today was a long day.  Not just because of the drive but due to a difficult day yesterday.  We had to take my daughter to  the emergency department yesterday as she took a tumble and hurt her back. I didn’t leave the hospital until after 1 AM and Nicole ended up staying all night. Lauren turned out to be fine but, unfortunately it meant a long day today on next to no sleep.

Peaceful Bay is a 450km drive from Perth but a fairly pleasant one going through some nice little towns on the way such as Balingup and Walpole. We arrived at Peaceful Bay at around 3pm and got going shortly after.

The first landmark after leaving Peaceful Bay is Irwin Inlet. The trail down to the inlet has poor views and is essentially a swathe cut through the coastal scrub. The view of the inlet, however, more than makes up for it. White sand and beautiful water. The inlet stretches inland at which point there is a storage area containing canoes which are used to cross the water.

The wind was quite strong as we crossed the inlet and it required a technique of paddling on the left with the occasional right thrown in. All went according to plan, we survived and Ben kindly did a return trip to even up the canoes on both sides.

We then walked for a further 2km before finding a campspot in the beautiful Quarrum Nature Reserve. There is a storm forecast tonight with reasonably strong winds and not many sheltered spots to camp. Whilst it is a little open to the weather, it is one of the few spots here with open ground to camp.

Tomorrow is Parry Beach campground via Boat Harbour campsite. Boat Harbour will be the first opportunity to get water after tonight’s dry camp. I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight.