“ONCE A TRIP SOMEONE WILL SAY to me, you can’t call this a job!” Elise Parker laughs as we journey towards the starting point for today’s hike. As a guide and driver, Elise is attuned to the envy her guests feel, having pressed pause on their busy lives and discovered the slow road. She sees it every week.
The drive to Redgate Beach, one of many famous surf spots along Western Australia’s Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park coastline, is stunning to the point of distraction: the forest-flanked roads, the shimmering blue of the Indian Ocean on the horizon and barely another soul to be seen. “Keep your eyes out for your favourite winery, because no doubt we’ll pass it,” our lead guide Matt Fuller adds from the back of the bus.
Vans with boards strapped to the top are lined up in the car park when we arrive, their drivers scoping out the scene. The swell is not huge today, but a dedicated few paddle out for the chance of a clean ride on the rare beach break. We’re hitting the
