This was the day we’d been waiting for – our first proper beach trip. And not just a boring touristy beach like Horseshoe Bay, this was a trip to one of the most beautiful and remote beaches around. But to get to Balding Bay would take a bit of effort.
After a lazy morning, we hopped on the bus to Horseshoe Bay where we grabbed a light lunch at the Marlin Bar. Since most of what I’ve eaten this holiday has been either a parma or a chicken burger, I decided to mix it up and ordered the Marlin burger, which has barramundi but no marlin. Eva had mushroom arancini balls.
Full of energy, we set off on the walk to Balding Bay. It’s about 1.3km from Horseshoe Bay, on a very steep and very rocky goat track. And with the 27° heat it was tough going. But, without question, it was worth it. And half an hour later we were greeted with the serene majesty of Balding Bay.
Golden-white sand, crystal clear blue water bookended on either side by towering granite boulders. The calm waters extending all the way, unbroken, to the flat horizon. To call it beautiful is to be reprehensibly guilty of criminal understatement.
And the good thing about the arduous trek to get there meant that not many other people were there to crowd the experience. Only a handful of people were sharing the majesty with us, enhancing the peace and serenity. We spent a good hour or so frolicking about, floating in the water, exploring the rocks, basking in the warmth and sunshine. Paradise.
We walked back the way we came, except we took a slightly different path at the end for a change of scenery. Feeling triumphant after all the exercise, and having 40 minutes to kill waiting for the return bus, we got icecreams as a reward from Adele’s. We sat on a bench on the beach, watching the sun fall slowly towards the ocean, as our icecreams melted down over our fingers faster than we could eat them.
The bus back to our AirBNB yielded another spur-of-the-moment decision. “It’s getting near dusk,” said I, “and now would probably be a good time to see if we can find any rock wallabies at Geoffrey Bay!” Eva agreed, and when the bus dropped us off we walked into the newsagent and picked up a packet of Wallaby Food™. Then we headed off to the rocks on the side of the beach and kept our eyes peeled.
At first it seemed like the experience would be tainted by All The Other Tourists. Some people were already there, luring the wallabies out with carrots. This left us on the outside, condemned to watch other people feed and interact with the little critters. But our slow, leisurely pace rewarded us, as we went further along the road and away from the other tourists. Finding a cave that appeared empty, we threw some pellets onto some rocks, and waited, still and quiet. Less than a minute later we heard the scuffling of tiny paws on loose rocks. A young wallaby emerged from further in the cave… timid at first but curious. It found some of the pellets and started nibbling. We slowly approached it and it was wary of us but didn’t hop away. Before long we were able to hold out a handful of food and it would eat from our hands! After a short while another, older and larger wallaby joined our friend and also started eating from our hands. When Eva ran out of food the wallabies didn’t seem to mind, finding the sweat on her hands and arms equally appealing! After a white the tourists we’d left behind had caught up, and we decided to head back.
Finding another stretch of road without any other humans, we decided to try the bait-and-wait approach again. We scattered some pellets on a rock, and waited. Very soon a mother and her joey scampered down and began eating. And then another wallaby joined. And another! Before long a family of four wallabies were either eating from this rock or keeping guard not far away. The joey was mostly hiding inside the mother’s pouch, but we could see it moving and occasionally it poked its little head out to sniff the air and eat some food. Super cute!
Our wallaby food depleted, and with another group of tourists joining our little gathering, we headed back again. Retreating with many good photos, even more great memories, and a truly remarkable collection of new zoonotic diseases*. We drenched ourselves in hand sanitizer.
A short walk brought us home, where we whipped up a quick dinner and watched episodes of Queer Eye. And reflected on what was, without question, the best day of the trip so far.
Footnotes
* Including, but not limited to, Covid-23, Wallabian Flu, and Licky End**.
** And you only get that if you’re a pregnant sheep.