All you need is a 4WD and a torch.

‘All you need is a 4WD and a torch.’ Lonely Planet.

Fortunately, we have a 4WD. Unfortunately, we forgot the torch.

We follow a rough and very sandy 4WD track about 20 km east of Green Head and eventually arrive at a dry riverbed. In the company of four young Frenchmen on working holidays, we follow the signs that point towards the creek bed. Albert Namatjira would love to have painted this beautiful scene graced by ancient white flood gums. Warning signs alert us to dangerous bees that have built huge hives high on the cliff walls. The dry creek disappears into a crevice in the cliff and we follow it into the most extraordinary cave. Stockyard Gully Cave. This is no crawl on your belly caving experience, but a cave so wide and so high that previous generations used it as a stockyard. The cave meanders like the creek and after 100 metres we are in total darkness (thankfully illuminated by our iphones). Another 200 metres and a hint of light grows into a sun-drenched cavern. As the light increases, we see the exit which perfectly frames a leafy oasis on the other side. No crowds, no cost, no tourist infrastructure just natural beauty that could easily rival Uluru.

Earlier in the day we had spent the morning walking around a beautiful coast track which links three bays. Dynamite Bay according to the 2017 Tourist Association Beach Ambassadors (whoever they are) is ranked number nineteen in Australia’s Best 101 Beaches. Apart from the piles of seaweed it is a very pretty little beach which should perhaps adopt its local indigenous name ‘Cuencandjaa’ meaning ‘a mouthful of sand’. The walker friendly concrete paths which join the three bays are designed to encourage exploration while limiting damage to sandhills green with spectacular low native vegetation.

In WA we have fallen in love with the local sea birds, Oyster Catchers. With their long, straight, bright orange beaks and matching legs they are particularly striking.Today we see a mum, dad and five chicks exploring a smelly stack of seaweed, which to them is a nutritious compost pile no doubt full of small edible critters. Finally, dad is fed up with this supermarket feast and leads the family airborne at great speed. The family respond immediately and the chicks amazingly keep up as they speed away.

Green Head is a rewarding entrée to our trip north towards the Coral Coast.