The best camping places are remote and hard to get to, and this was the case with Pallinup Inlet camp, where we spent 2 amazing nights early January this year.
What is Pallinup Inlet and where is it?
Pallinup River forms Beauford Inlet, also known as Pallinup Estuary as it flows towards the Southern Ocean. Most of the time, it is separated from the ocean by a sandbar. Once in a few years, the sandbar breaks and the river joins the ocean. It is located on the coast between Albany and Bremer Bay, in the Great Southern region of WA.
Camping
Pallinup Beach is very exposed, with soft sand. Most people camp along Pallinup Estuary, where the area is protected from the strong winds and the tracks are harder. It is a nice place to go fishing, bird watching or just relaxing. Popular with locals but otherwise, it is a quiet area.
It is a free camp, with absolutely no facilities. You can bring your dog and some people (locals, we presume) take camper trailers but you would need to be an experienced 4WDriver to do that.
What is the track to Pallinup Beach/Inlet look like?
To get to Pallinup beach/inlet take Boat Harbour unsealed road from South Coast Hwy. After 13km the road comes to a junction with two large skip bins. Taking a right turn will take you to Boat Harbour camp and taking left turn will take you to Pallinup Beach. Both are 4WD only tracks.
The track to Pallinup Beach starts as a fairly good but corrugated track for roughly 6km or so. Then it becomes rocky which requires slow crawling at times, so high clearance 4WD is required for this track. Closer to the beach, the track becomes soft sand.
4WD track to Pallinup Beach
The above track is closer to Albany. It is possible to travel from Bremer Bay via a different 4WD track to Pallinup Inlet, which is a lot rougher. We didn’t take it, so can’t comment.
For nature and photography enthusiasts
If you love nature and bird watching, there are plenty of opportunities to observe birdlife at the estuary.
Lot of Crested Terns (above) moving in flocks and individually.
Pelicans (above) normally come in small groups – often in twos.
Red-capped Plover (above) is abundant there.
Lesser Sand Plover (above left) is similar to Red-capped Plover but bigger. While Red-necked Avocet (above right) moves in big flocks from place to place looking for food.
Welcome Swallow is another bird that is abundant at Pallinup Estuary.
There are a number of different bankias along the track, leading to Pallinup beach.
Clematis pubescens (above left), Eucalyptus pleurocarpa Blue Mallee (above right).
Lambertia inermis Chittick (above) is beautiful in every stage of flowering.
We really enjoyed the drive, as well as camping at Pallinup Estuary. The drive was an adventure in itself providing us with a good 4WD experience, as well as a sense of adventure with “tiger stripes”.
While staying at Boat Harbour campground, we visited Cape Riche, which is roughly 120km east of Albany. There is a paid campground there, which appeared to be very full when we visited it at the end of December. Being it just a day trip, we did not need any accommodation, so from the campground, we took a 4WD track to access the beach 110 meters east of the south-eastern end of Sandalwood Road. On our way we got lost and ended up in some mysterious forest 😊.
Mysterious forest near Cape Riche beach
We had to launch a drone to find out how to get to the beach, because there were quite a number of tracks intersecting.
Campground is on the left
When we got to the beach, it turned out to be an interesting and picturesque place. While the kids busied themselves with digging sand and building sand castles, we explored what was around. The beach was nice and the water was clear, although there was some seaweed washed out on the beach. There were only a couple of vehicles there apart from us and they left shortly.
Cape Riche beach
At the western side of the beach there was an inlet (Cheynes Inlet?) separated from the beach with roughly 50 meters of sand. It looked tranquil and beautiful, especially with a pelican swimming serenely there.
Cheynes InletPelican swimming in the inletRed and green grass
It is a very relaxing place to spend some time. There are also a number of tracks to go 4WDriving.
Boat Harbour in Wellstead (between Albany and Bremer Bay) is a place with a unique flavour and a paradise for 4WD lovers. It has long beaches with white soft sand to drive on, some slopes to go up and down and rocky hills to master and refine your 4WD skills. The views of the ocean are stunning. Crystal clear waters are ideal for swimming. Sand dunes are fun for the kids to play. There are rocky outcrops for explorations. In short, there is a lot of space and variety.
Trevor’s camp at Boat Harbour
There is a free camp, looked after by Trevor Smith, a “take carer” (as he calls himself), who has been living there in his own caravan for the last 14 years. Trevor looks after people who come to camp, helping them to find spots and park. He also cleans up after people leave the place (please do the right thing to preserve the environment). After learning what Trevor does and seeing him around all day long, always engaged and busy, it makes me appreciate even more his efforts and what he does, keeping the campground clean and tidy and people safe. Maybe that’s why, he prefers to call himself a “take carer”. This place wouldn’t be the same without Trevor Smith.
Tracks leading to upper campground
The camp has 2 areas – “the million-dollar view” ocean camp ground up the hill with spaces enough to park not more than 6-7 vehicles, which we tried initially but couldn’t get into, and a lower lying campground behind the dunes and near the inlet (actually, according to the sign, it is Naundyup Lake – a fresh water lake). Both campgrounds have undercover picnic area, non-drinking water and composting toilets.
The views from the upper (beach front) campgroundRiver (lake) side campground Naundyup Lake
This place turned out to be very popular, with both campgrounds being full almost all the time and lots of campers parking further away in a wide and more exposed passage leading straight to the beach. And this is considering that the road to get to the campground is corrugated, with the last section classified as a 4WD track.
Overflow camping area (more exposed to the wind)
Getting bogged in the sand
One of the wishes of our kids was to get bogged in the sand! That was their idea of an adventure and entertainment. “What’s the use of carrying maxtrax if we are not using them?” – was their reasoning. It turned out that the kids got their wish when we decided to try out how the vehicle will perform with 29psi on quite soft sand. Not so good, as it turned out. So, we got “intentionally” bogged and the kids had the pleasure they asked for – reducing tyre pressure to 15psi and digging out sand from the wheels.
Getting bogged in the sand is an adventure in itself and a good entertainment for the onlookers. Driving on soft sand on the beach was easy, but going uphill on very soft sand was a bit of a challenge. 😊
Going uphill on very soft sand
Early morning on the beach
The sun rises early in December, and so do we. Capturing the sun rays playing with the ocean waves is an adventure by itself. There are also some interesting tracks and foot prints to observe and identify. At 6am nature and people at Boat Harbour are fully awake and engaged in walking their dogs, driving on the beach or marvelling at the beauty of nature around, like myself.
Early morning at Boat Harbour
Everyone loves to walk (and drive) on the beach – dogs, birds, cars, buggies, people, lizards (?)…
Everyone loves to walk on the beach…
The beach at Boat Harbour offers a variety of features – inlet, rocky side, sandy side, 4WD tracks.This is the rocky side of Boat Harbour which we explored on the last day of our stay. It turned out to be a very picturesque place with some rocks, big and small, rock pools and rather large wave splashes.
Rocky side of Boat Harbour beach
Kids’ entertainments
Playing with sand is the main entertainment for our kids when we camp on the beach – whether it is building sand castles, digging sand, running down the slopes, throwing the sand up in the air or climbing up the sand dunes. They can’t get enough of all the numerous sand games they engage and are always inventing something new!
And when you can’t wait to go to the beach to play with the sand, the dirt will do too! 😊
Hiking up the hill
On the last day of the last year the weather was overcast and cooling. It was a perfect time to go hiking. Dressed and equipped with drinks and cameras off we went. Initially the sun was shining but it quickly gave way to drizzle coming from the ocean. It was time to put on jackets and rain coats… and continue the journey. With only a drizzle (although there were huge dark clouds over the ocean) we managed to continue our hike up the hill along the Boat Harbour beach. Beautiful vistas opened up from the hill.
GViews of the Boat Harbour in the middle of the rain
Closer in front of us we noticed some interesting things – wildflowers and their leaves being were eaten by ants and large families of caterpillars, sticking together or sometimes pilling one on top of the other, all chewing the same leave enthusiastically (Gross!!!)
Gross!!!!
Huntsman spider
We have heard about huntsman spiders (so common in Australia), but it was a first time we had the pleasure of such a close encounter with one. They are sometimes called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. They are huge. Really huge. The one that we saw was about 15cm including their leg span but they can even be larger than that. They are different from normal spiders, first because their legs are splayed out to the sides, similar to those of crabs. Secondly, unlike most crabs, huntsman spiders do not build webs to catch their prey, instead they hunt for their prey. Luckily, these spiders, although they can bite), are not deadly to humans.
Huntsman spider on the water tank at Boat Harbour
The beach offers such an opportunity to watch sun rising and setting. While we missed the sunrise (the sun rises too early in summer! :), we watched the sunset. The colours of the sky were magnificent!
The colours of the sunset
We ended up staying 5 nights at this place, deciding not to risk our chance of finding a camp spot as good as this one somewhere else during the New Year holidays, and we were not disappointed. In fact, we were leaving the place with sadness, as we grew so used to the constant roaring sound of the ocean nearby, the sound of vehicles passing by and seeing Trevor, the larrikin, with his beer every day coming over to check on people and the place. This is one place we will always remember and will definitely come back.
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