Way out West 2025. 6th of August.  Day twenty.

Cocklebiddy CP to Baxter Cliffs dune camp.

A fair bit of phaffing and a slow start today.

Samantha and Bruce were fed a kangaroo heart by one of the staff – evidently the kangaroo hunters drop off some hearts for the eagles.

Stef had a look at his coolant leak – so much gunk and Spinifex cut off in his bash plate. We found a loose hose clamp and put it all back together again. Seems to have fixed the leak.

We filled up with water to a degree (we come back to Cocklebiddy, so if it tastes ok we can fill main tanks). Two dollars for approx 10 litres (almost 15litres in reality) inside you could buy container water for $15.50 for 10 litres.

After filling up our water, we headed out the back of the caravan park to see if we could get to Baxter cliffs.

A sign to the reserve indicated not an area for towing but we figured we weren’t going right to some of the more tricky points so we decided to give it a go given our trailers are designed for four-wheel-drive.

We sailed along a track that was dirt and rocks again and lots of gum trees and other native plants. Slow and steady. Stef did a great job leading us out. He had suggested we should try this place.
Lots of flowers but no time to stop today, there were some erimophila and a range of others that we got some shots of.

We also hit some rocky steps that were a little anxiety raising but the car and trailer did fine and of course the assistance and coaching is always A1.

We saw the sea peeking over the dunes.

A stop for lunch at a clear area of sand and we were thrilled to have a flock of Pink Cockatoos. They posed perfectly and we all had the cameras out.

Then we hit the softer sand and Mary got stuck. We had to back back to get more momentum, but ended up having to air down significantly and then I did the same and managed after a couple of times. I did manage a few flower pics at this time too. There was so much to see on the top of dune.

After some more rocky patches and more sand, Phil got stuck going around a corner as we were heading out towards the beach. This took some further lowering of pressures and he got around fine. I made this one thankfully. However we decided to ditch the vans for the drive out to the beach. So we managed to back them off the track onto a firm bit of sand and finally made it out to the beach and drove right up to the base of the cliffs.

We wandered around in the dunes, on the beach and over to the base of the cliffs. It is such white sand and beautiful blue sea and the cliffs tower above – dominating all before them.

There was a lot of flotsam and jetsam- I picked up some rope and plastics bit there was just too much.

After a group shot we headed back to collect the vans and retraced our steps to the lunch spot to camp for the night.

Same process to set up. I found a spot on for the van and car and then the others mooch around into position. Then wood collection, and get some biccies, cheese and dip to tide us over to tea. Set the fire ready.

The sound of the sea crashing to shore dominates.
Leftovers for tea followed by dishes then chocolate and Port.

A grand total of 36 kms today – out to the Baxter Cliffs and back a little to camp in the dunes. A bloody great day, a bit of challenging driving and sensational vistas and views. The whitest sand, amazing plants and flowers.