Made Carnarvon last night by 6 pm, only 5 min behind Ally & Jeff, as it turned out (despite them having passed us on the road). We did note that they seemed to have left the back and side doors of the van open when we passed them at the side of the road at one point – interesting approach by the poms to Cheapa Campa travel. Staying at the Wintersun Caravan Park where the rels stayed on their way up the coast.
Plan originally was to stay the night and then move on to Denham, howver this was hijacked by (a) Ally & Jeff hearing of a kite surfing location near Carnarvon and (b) a brochure Ally picked up in reception advertising kite surfing lessons. Ideal for those who would surely benefit from the easier lifestyle of a kite surfer, with lighter equipment to lug around and greater ease of set up! We contacted Mick, of KiteMix this morning and he could fit us in for later this afternoon. In the meantime we lazed around (as you do), then wandered into town for some groceries and fresh local snapper at Boat Harbour, followed by great fish and chips (yes this is becoming a bit of a theme, but when the fish is go good, what can you do?) eaten on the beach out at Pelican Point while waiting for our lesson.
Ally and Jeff geared up to have a go while we watched a wiry little guy we assumed was Mick taking another guy for a lesson. Mick displayed a remarkable turn of speed at one point when his kite looked in danger of running up against some rocks and posts at one end of the shallow bay we were in. Our first lesson was with trainer kites (much smaller and twitchier than the real thing apparently) with much zooming around testing the power zone, learning to manoeuvre the kite in the neutral area, crashing onto the beach and into the water and generally trying to get a feel for how it all might work. Finally finished about 5.30 after a slightly after 4 pm start. Next lesson 1.30 pm tomorrow….
Headed back to enjoy a shower and fantastic BBQ snapper and vegies prepared brilliantly by Ally and Jeff. Went down well with a nice glass of riesling.