Surfpoint

I’m staying for 3 nights at Surfpoint Resort (formerly Surfpoint Lodge), my favourite budget accommodation in the Margaret River area. It’s on the coast at Prevelly and next door to Margaret’s Beach Resort. The new owner has hit upon a brilliant idea. This is more or less the centre of the Cape to Cape Track, so he organises walking holidays and drives the groups out every day to the start and finish of their walk. There are 2 groups here at the moment, mostly ladies. They have breakfast at 7.00 am and depart in a rush at 7.30, when silence descends on the place once more. They arrive back about 5.00 pm when they claim the showers and later break open the bottles of red from a quick winery visit. Later they take over the kitchen and prepare their dinner. All their food comes in black bags:

Everyone has their own locker. My own breakfast supplies are bottom left. Everything else is in an industrial sized fridge.

It is a clever concept. Accommodation is basic but spotless. Hikers can stay in a tent in the garden (very cold at the moment), or in one of two rows of units:

My room is down to the right of the picture, near to the ablution block. Yesterday I talked to L, who drives the minibus and keeps the kitchen clean, as well as other things I don’t know about. She is from NZ and travels around in a campervan, picking up work where she can. She is very thin and weatherbeaten, but says this is the life for her.

The walkers do about 20 kms a day. This is not easy as some of it is on sand tracks or on the beach, or up and down on coastal paths. I speak from experience. I couldn’t do it now!