Winter 2015
We drive 25 kms north of Geraldton to Coronation Beach camp ground. It is quite a sight, the blue of the ocean, lines of breakers and the surf crashing in. People stroll about lazily their heads encased in fly nets. Geraldton can be seen away to the south. There are a limited number of sites here tucked in amongst the shrubbery so one must be early to secure a spot.
The narrow beach overlooks a lagoon sheltered by a reef about 500 metres off shore. Surf hammers the reef incessantly. Sea grass piles up in mounds. There are small scratchings in the sand where crabs have scarpered to their holes. The only shells are some kind of worm and there are hundreds of cuttlefish. Where’s a budgie when you need one?
This is a place that demands an afternoon siesta but in the late arvo the wind picks up and kite surfers take to the water slipping across the lagoon as though on glass. When they surf the waves out on the reef their whoops of joy can be heard back on the beach.
Behind the first dune there is a quarry, a windmill and sheep grazing. Now that’s a first, sheep at the beach.
