26th July 2013
Leaving Karratha we travelled south on the
Northwest Coastal Highway for a boring 326 kls finally pulling into a free camp
site at a place called Barradale and the first people we came across were our
friends we had been travelling with since Coober Pedy. Charlie was all excited
as he was using the new Honda generator he had purchased in Karratha.
Not long after arriving the weather turned
to crap and we had misty rain through into the evening, the second lot of rain
since leaving Brisbane in March.
Saturday 27th July
We woke to a beautiful morning and got
under way at a respectable time (8:30am) destination Exmouth that was also a
boring drive.
As we are never sure when or where we will
be we have resisted booking ahead to caravan parks, however it is quite obvious
the south empties into the north as soon as it gets cool so anywhere north of
Perth becomes booked out from June through to Sept year after year. Needless to
say Exmouth was no different and the caravan parks were all chocas plus the
Cape Range national park 70 kls away on the ocean side was booked out also.
I found the guy who does fridge repairs,
luckily he was working Saturday and we were able to get the dislodged fridge
flu repaired and repositioned, not a cheap exercise and had to be cash no
receipts. Nancy needed to do a bit of shopping before moving on and we
discovered Exmouth’s little shopping centre comprises not one but two IGA’s
opposite each other both small and both lacking in a lot of things. (also both
owned by the same person). We took a punt and headed the 70 odd kilometres around
the top towards Cape Range National Park and pulled into what is know as Yardie
Homestead Caravan Park. This homestead was established in the late 1800’s on
Yardie Station, judging by the condition of the amenities they were established
then also. We were lucky enough to get the last available site albeit unpowered
and booked in for two nights. As we are completely self sufficient un-powered
is no drama, particularly when for the extra $5:00 for power (if available) we
couldn’t use things such as a toaster, kettle, electric fry pan, aircon or hot
water system. So in other words power would only be running fridge and battery
charger and in our case solar charges our batteries and we can run the fridge
on gas. In fact we used our own drinking water as the caravan park water was
bore water and not drinkable. So for the privilege of using a toilet and having
a hot shower in a less than desirable ablution we paid a princely sum. Never
mind it was handy for a couple of days and gave us a chance to explore all the
Cape Range National Park access points to the Ningaloo Reef area. This area is
beautiful as perhaps a lot of you may know having seen the glossy pictures of
Ningaloo Reef area and Coral Bay, it is certainly like the glossies but God
knows how they get their idealic photos as it was extremely windy and blows its
insides out all the time according to the locals.
Camp areas in the dunes with access to the
water in Cape Range National Park (the only access) vary in size catering for
as few as six caravan sites up to a maximum of twenty seven sites, several
campgrounds can be booked but this has to be done on line and often they are
booked out 12 months ahead. Many sites cannot be booked or reserved and are
secured on a first come first served basis, meaning you line up at the rangers
checkpoint at park entrance early in the morning for an allocation if any spots
are available. Although you are not supposed to line up before 7:00am we know
of people joining a queue at 6:30am and were 10th in line as others
had been there from 5:30am, eleven caravans and motorhomes were lined up when
the ranger opened his office and there was only one spot allocated the rest
missed out. Obviously the area is popular with visitors as every caravan park
was totally booked out when we were there and this seems to be the norm between
June and late August, it is against the law to park off road anywhere in this
region so not allowing pre-booking of camp sites seems pretty rugged when you consider
you have to come from probably Exmouth early in the morning and it’s about
70kls from the park entrance to Exmouth. We chose not to extend our stay in the Cape
Range area due to the persistent strong wind that everybody informed us was
quite the norm and nothing compared to September/October time when it really
blows. Trust me it was bad enough.
29th July
Back 70kls through Exmouth where we topped
up our water tank at the visitors centre and then down to Coral Bay, it’s only
another 152kls but the drive is so boring it seems to take all day. Once again
the caravan parks (two) were booked out but we managed to get an unpowered site
for the night.
Lisa is flying to Perth for a conference
late September and wants to join us somewhere where she can sit on a beach and
vegetate for a week, Coral Bay seemed to be the ideal venue with protected
beaches if the wind gets up like they say it will at that time. By phoning
Perth we were able to get a powered site for a week even though it runs into
the start of school holiday in October thank God it will only be a couple of
days as I don’t think we want to be in Coral Bay in school holidays.
30th July
From Coral Bay to Carnarvon (238kls).
Carnarvon is on the Gascoyne River a wide expanse of sand that rarely flows
however water is abundant below the sand and for several kilometres out of
Canarvon on either side of the river is a salad bowl of fertile land. The
Gascoyne Region includes Exmouth in the north to Shark Bay in the south with
Carnarvon being the regional centre. This area is well known for its ‘Succulent seafood and vast array of
temperate climate fruit and veges’. A gastronomic food trail on either side
of the river locally known as the ‘Fruit Loop’, ‘Presents an opportunity to visit plantation shops, cafes and roadside
stalls to stock up on super tasting in season produce and fruit.’
We managed to get one night in a caravan
park which was enough for us to get all of our washing done, top up with water
and do our shopping, which we did once Nancy got her last load of washing on.
Arriving back at the caravan later we were met by a very concerned neighbour
who quickly explained that he had disconnected our water supply as water was
running out under the van somewhere and they (everyone in the park I think)
thought something had let go and the caravan was flooding. Nancy had heart
failure as she thought her washing machine had broken but in fact I had
forgotten to open the valve on our grey water tank and it was just overflowing
through a vent under the van, no harm done but you should have seen the look of
disbelief on the neighbours face when I opened the van door and no water ran
out, of course we had to explain to the whole caravan park.
31st July
The following morning we picked up
beautiful fruit and fresh veges on the ‘Fruit Loop’ as we drove out of town,
the caravan park receptionist informed us that most of the tenants were
regulars from down south and a lot would be moving out on Monday the 5th
so going bush a gain for a few days didn’t phase us at all.
Heading back northwards again seventy odd
kilometres we set up camp at a place called Quobba Homestead right on the
coast. Quobba is a working station once running Merino’s and now running
between 12,000 and 15,000 Dorper & Dormer sheep South African breeds that
look more like goats, they shed their wool and are only bred for lean meat. Although
the old shearing sheds and shearers quarters are still intact I think most of
it is used for storage as there isn’t any shearing carried out now. A few
fishing huts and bungalows have been constructed for holidaying people and
there are a few powered sites and numerous un-powered sites for caravans where
you park on gritty sand amongst the coastal heath. Once again power is generated
onsite, is only part time and only runs fridges and lights etc. There were good
toilets and showers (bore water) and a large concrete tank of rain water for
drinking all for $13.00 per person per night un-powered (ie, $26 a couple)
daylight robbery for the conditions and what you get, we have been in better
free camps.
We selected a suitable site amongst the
coastal heath, hoping the sparse half metre high vegetation would help shelter
us from the ever-present onslaught of cold blustering wind. Hard to imagine we
were basically on the tropic of Capricorn, out of the wind it was beautiful yet
so cold in the wind that wouldn’t let up. The coast line here is extremely
rugged, rocky and treacherous with steep beaches that are hard to walk on even
where they are sandy and with the ever present wind the seas pound in upon
beaches and rock promontories sending showers of white spray and foam into the
air.
Whale watching has become a pastime for us,
we sit for hours with binoculars agog at the splendour of these creatures as
they launch themselves bodily into the air then crash back spectacularly in a
mighty display of spray and foam, followed by tail slapping or their trick of
rolling onto their side and slapping great pectoral fins onto the surface
sending up great showers of spray. It is good to see these beautiful creatures
and so close, obviously their numbers are well and truly on the increase when
you consider there is a continuous procession of these animals migrating along
both the Eastern and Western seaboards.
Rock fishing for Spanish Mackerel using
helium filled balloons is a popular pastime here with amateur fisherman. With
the strong off shore wind fishermen use a helium filled balloon on a separated
running line to support a carefully prepared bait. Judging the size of the
helium filled balloon relevant to the weight of the bait and line is a bit of a
juggling act with the right result being that the balloon carries the bait out
over the water as the fisherman feeds his line out and if he has got the rig
right the bait skips on the surface that in turn excites and attracts the
mackerel. The Mackerel are big and ferocious pelagics so the rigs these guys
use are high quality heavy duty boat rods with big expensive reels loaded with
heavy duty braid lines, it really is shore based game fishing.
I chatted to a young fellow and his girl
friend from Melbourne, they had been coming up here annually for a few years
just to fish. Unfortunately this year the sharks have been prolific and the
guys have been battling to get many of their fish to shore before the sharks
take them.
Our friendly fisherman was kind enough to
give us a feed of fresh mackerel fillets that Nancy cooked to perfection,
absolutely delicious.
By the third day at Quobba Homestead the
wind was considerate enough to ease and the place almost became pleasant but
three days there was plenty.
3rd August
Saturday saw us relocate a few kilometres to
another part of the coastline this area is a nice bay in behind the reef and is
a cheap coastal camp area run by local government $5.50 per night but you need to be completely self
sufficient and carry plenty of water, nearest potable water is Carnarvon
seventy kilometres away.
Basically all this camping area consists of
is a gravel track running along behind the first line of naturally vegetated
dunes. Most of the vegetation consists of low coarse coastal heath and stunted
types of wattle and banksia, at least it holds the dunes together and limits
wind erosion. Along this track at various intervals are cleared spaces where
you can park caravans off the track. According to the ranger there were
approximately 60 caravans parked along what is probably a two kilometre track,
we found a suitable spot almost at the far end and parked up for a few days.
Being behind a dune we couldn’t see the water but were quite protected from any
wind. From the door of our caravan we carried our chairs 20m up the dune and
sat most of the days overlooking the bay and out to open water behind the reef spotting
whales relaxing and getting sunburnt, the wind had dropped and it was
absolutely beautiful so we stayed an extra day and made the most of it while
the wind had stopped which doesn’t happen very often in WA.
6thAugust
Back to Carnarvon (almost civilisation) for
a few days.
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