Our Great Sandy Adventure

This morning started out perfectly.  We woke to the waves gently rolling onto the beach, the water amazingly close to our oceanside campsite.  We were somewhere along the north shore of Great Sandy National Park and loving life.  It was one of those existential mornings when the surrounding natural beauty inspires you to be thankful for life.  We ate our bagels while basking in the morning sun.  I was already thinking of what to write, excited to describe our excursion.  I was beyond pleased with our brief getaway; grateful that fate and the weather pattern had finally smiled upon us.  We really had been lucky, having headed up the coast Wednesday evening, right after I left work.  We found a beachside caravan park that night, drinking red wine and cooking pasta over our miniature camp stove.  Thursday, emboldened by the inviting surf and sun, we grew brave, driving more than 20km down the beach to a remote campsite where we kicked back and relaxed.  This is where we found ourselves this morning – at a beautiful place, just far enough away from civilization. 

But, of course, nothing can ever remain perfect.  Something always has to give.  For us, this moment came when we attempted the drive back.  We just couldn’t get enough power to get the car out of the soft sand.  Luckily, a weathered Aussie gentleman was nearby, happy to tow us down to the hard, drivable sand.  Even more luckily, some good-natured Aussie blokes were willing to tow us up the ramp leading from the beach to the paved road.  From there, we found a mechanic’s shop, who informed us we had blown the coil on one of the cylinders, forcing us to spend the remainder of our mini-vacation waiting for its repair. 

 

We’re home now, exhausted from the drama of the day.  And, although I’m disappointed with the car situation, I’m ecstatic we were able to get out and experience more of the coastline.  Trips like this are why we came out here.  So, I’m going to focus on the good.  The scenery was amazing.  We had so much fun just hanging out.  Overall, I'm deeming our adventure a success.