Very windy at Mullaloo Beach Saturday night

On Saturday the 28th we headed for Pinaroo Point for an overnight, as we’ve done many times before over quite a few years. Things changed when the new restaurant was built and ‘no camping’ signs went up, so we modified our stay by going to the nearby Whitfords Nodes carpark to park overnight, returning to Pinaroo Point early in the morning.

We decided to check in at Whitfords Nodes on our way and, as we half expected, there are ‘no camping’ signs throughout the car park. I suggested we go up to Mullaloo Beach to watch the sunset and have our dinner (tuna bake). It was extremely windy and a mistake really as Pinaroo Point would have been more sheltered. We couldn’t see much of the view because we had to use the blinds to block out glare from the sun.

We considered going to a caravan park, but as it was after 6.00 p.m. we concluded that offices would not be open and, as it was a long weekend, all places would be fully booked. Still, I came up with the idea of going to the nearest 24hr Macdonalds and parking in their carpark. The Macdonalds in Joondalup is on the edge of the shopping centre, with a Hungry Jacks, KFC and a 24hr service station.

We parked opposite the Macdonalds in the shopping centre carpark as it was a bit quieter than actually in the fast food carpark. We walked up to the service station for an icecream and Stephen asked if we could stay overnight there. They suggested parking nearby, probably just where we had parked.

We kept the van mostly closed up, with the roof hatch open at it’s lowest setting and our bedroom windows on the locked, but slightly open setting. The wind was still very strong and we actually had good airflow. This wouldn’t have worked as well on a hot night.

Thankfully it was quiet and we had a good night’s sleep. Still, we didn’t linger there, but headed off at 7.30 a.m. for the 10km drive to Pinaroo Point. After a walk and morning wash we went over to the restaurant. We were warned there was a 40 minute wait for food, so opted for hot drinks and delicious savoury muffins from the kiosk. The news had just come in that the US and Israel were attacking Iran, so we listened to the news and commentry for a while.

After a walk along the beach and back by the path we had lunch (more tuna bake). We left for home at about 2.00 p.m. as we had Matt coming for tea and wanted to relax before he arrived.

When looking out to sea at Pinaroo Point we noticed what appeared to be reefs and some metal towers. It’s called the North Metro artifical reef and the way it is constructed it looks like a large M, jutting outwards from the shore. The purpose appears to be to create habitat for fish. This is new since our last visit here, possibly a year ago.

We weren’t tempted to swim at Pinaroo Point, it was a bit cold, despite being sunny, and there was a lot of seaweed in the water and on the beach.