OK, more now. That was quick, wasn’t it?
Newport was followed by a great campground at Cape Perpetua. Near the beach but in the forest, by a burbling stream, campsite 14 offered privacy and quiet. Yachats down the road is a perfect small beachside town, and had a net connection we could borrow plus a fish and chip shop that sold the food we needed.
Nearby, fascinating tidal pools were at their most exposed, and we went a bit mad photographing starfish, barnacles, mussels, abalone and weeds. There’s nothing unusual in us going a bit mad photographing things, but it was good to have a stationary, photogenic subject.
Cape Perpetua itself has an incredible view. We drove to the top, wandered off to the viewpoint, and looked west. We’re gazing over the same ocean seen from Brisbane, but the sun crosses its horizon at sunset, not sunrise. That’s a far more civilised time of day, especially without daylight saving to even the playing field. The event itself was unusual, just a small patch of neon pink in the centre, with a gradual fade over the rest of the sky.
Next, onward via the Sea Lion Caves, where we descended to one of the largest sea caves in the world, observed sea lions flopping about doing their thing and guillemots doing theirs. Outside on the rookery, many more sea lions relaxed in the sun or moved out of a bull’s way. Not the most appealing animals in the world, and pretty smelly, but the distances were sufficient that we felt we could point and stare without fear or hankies.
From there, we came here, which means I’ve caught up, and the next time I feel the need to type for a couple of hours I’ll have to delve into memory and relive some of those past glorious moments. But right now, we’re enjoying the Oregon coast. It’s beachside, which means it’s nice, and it’s familiar. There are some houses near us, just up on the point, which belong near Byron Bay. Modern wood housing surrounded by plenty of space is a definite novelty.
The coastline is varied and mostly beautiful: State Park is followed by Federal Park, is followed by Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, is followed by industrial drive-by (North Bend/Coos Bay) which is followed by Wildlife Refuge. Lots of nice stretches of beach, but more predictable now as we’ve left most of the rocks and bends behind us and straight sand mostly remains.