you won’t find at remote Red Bluff. It’s
a spacious, albeit unshaded, camp and
if you’re into fishing, there’s a great
spot 3km north of the homestead where
a brief break in the overhanging cliffs
provides access down onto the sand.
Anglers can expect catches of dart,
tailor, trevally, snapper and mulloway.
In my humble opinion, the homestead
lacks the appeal of far-flung Red Bluff,
but makes a decent base camp if the
fish are biting, you crave power and
need a shower, or don’t think your rig
will survive the hour-long trip north. If
you do overnight here, Red Bluff is an
excellent day trip away.
CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT: Quobba's
shallow lagoon
protects coral reef;
campsites and
coffee at laidback
Red Bluff; watching
the waves; it's
beautiful but can be
deadly: a memorial
to a surfer; the
headland swell
magnetises surfers;
Monique Durant
runs the Red Bluff
Store.
SURF, SAND AND SEA
The road between the homestead and
Red Bluff veers inland across the plains,
pulling you away from an amazing
coastal strip until you’ve cleared Rio
Tinto’s mine haul roads. The track
is reputedly graded during the peak
winter travel season, but we found the
corrugations too shaky for conversation
as we neared the turnoff to Red Bluff.
If you intend to take a van to Red Bluff,
stop at the homestead or phone ahead
to enquire about road conditions before
heading out.
It takes about an hour to travel the
54km from the homestead to Red Bluff
campground, where sites are carved into
a grassy hillside that drops gently to the
beach. Stretching seaward at the south
of the bay, Red Bluff’s flattop finger of
rock interrupts the swell that peels off
its point and curls and rolls over a reef
break to form what wannasurf.com calls
a ‘totally epic’ wave.
You can follow the board riders along
a rocky goat track that leads to the very
end of the bluff to watch them take on
the Bluff Barrel or simply to enjoy the
views from this invigorating spot. It’s
also a lovely place to watch an Indian
ADVENTURES
47