Warroora Station to Exmouth

Right near the entrance to Quobba station lies Point Quobba with one of the best blowholes you’ll ever see. Water spraying many metres into the air with lots of other smaller holes bubbling and boiling away, it’s quite a sight. You can actually free camp at the blowholes. It’s very exposed but there is always lots of activity with people photographing the coastline or fishing off the 5m cliffs. When we arrived on our way out from the station, a fisherman had hooked up a shark but lost the battle with his line snapping like a twig.

Warroora Station is only about 2 hours north of Carnarvon so after a quick re-stock in town we were off. The road into the station off the highway is a little tricky to navigate and the road required us to drop the tyre pressures to travel comfortably. After winding our way along some fun little sand tracks we found the campground at 14 mile Beach. Out of nowhere came a very unexpected site. Beautiful blue water, people camping in the dunes, just heaven. The caretakers Ross and Lesley were extremely friendly and led us to nice little site nestled in amongst the dunes with spectacular water views. Ok, so we could walk out of the camper about 10m and into the water. Now I understand what our mate from Currumbin was talking about. This place certainly has the wow factor. There are many different campsites along the beach area, but the main area at 14 mile certainly best suits families like ours. There are no facilities whatsoever so you need to be completely self-sufficient. To protect the environment they also insist on everyone having they’re own portable toilet (they have their own dump point). If you don’t have one with you (as we didn’t) they’ll hire you one for a $50 deposit if it’s returned back clean and $5 per day. That coupled with the fact that it’s $7.50 per adult and free for kids, it’s the best value camping we’ve had yet next to Sceale Bay!

14 Mile Beach

The water views weren't bad

There were families with kids camping all over. Just quietly, I think ours needed some ‘not to be with mum and dad time’ and quickly ran off to get a game of capture the flag and cricket going. We just relaxed and soaked in the serenity, so much serenity and chatted to some of the other parents about their travels so far and the journey to come. Lesley mentioned that the emperor had gone quiet over the past week but a few were still being landed to keep people interested.

Our camp from the sand dune behind the beach

The wind had died down overnight so early the next morning I slipped out to try my luck. I love fishing at dawn, with no one else around, just the sound of the waves, it’s so incredibly peaceful. I didn’t have to wait too long with my bait being taken by something quite big. After a short but strong fight I’d landed the target species, a 43cm Spangled Emperor! Lachie wandered down to see where I was and to let me know brekky was on. I missed two more fish, one taking the whole squid just below the hook and one taking my whole rig! Triumphantly I returned back to camp showing off my fish to anyone who cared to see it.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach. It was nice just to do nothing. That night we cooked up the emperor whole on the bbq. It was just beautiful tasty white flesh that fed us all perfectly.

Spangled Emperor

The wind came up overnight again, so the next day was spent hanging out on the beach. Afterwards we went for a drive and a snorkel to Sandy Beach about 6km south with another family we had befriended. We had a nice little snorkel out to a few bommies with some fish and a turtle cruising around. The kids tried chasing it without luck.

We would love to have stayed longer but unfortunately we had to move on. Coral Bay was next which is only about 40min north of the station. We had heard the snorkeling was lovely in a very sheltered and safe beach just in front of the caravan park we were to be staying in. We arrived late morning and went for lunch to the local bakery and picked up some better snorkeling gear for the kids. 3.30pm was fish feeding time. There was a massive crowd but it didn’t really matter as huge Spangled Emperor 50-80cm long swam around and through your legs looking for some food. We then went for a snorkel. Lachie and Caitlin took to it quickly. Grace had a few issues but got the hang of it and is now really competent and can keep up with us all.

More Spangled Emperor at fish feeding

We were only staying a night in Coral Bay as our main destination was Cape Range National Park near Exmouth, however we’d had a call from our friends Paul and Sue saying the camping was full and the only way was to try to book online 48hrs in advance or line up at the park entry early in the morning and hope for the best with no guarantees. That afternoon I spent a couple of hours online trying to get a booking and fortunately or rather miraculously, was able to get a site at one of the nicer campgrounds from the 13^th to the 16^th. This meant we had 2 nights to kill in or around Exmouth. We ended up choosing Yardie Homestead, which is about 26km out of Exmouth, towards the National Park and secured the last available powered site, phew!

We decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the local resort in Coral Bay, which was very casual. We were able to see the end of the Broncos getting flogged by Canberra, then the semi-final of The Voice, which was fun for everyone. Watching television was great but it made me realize just how little we need it in our lives and how much time we spend in front of it normally. I wonder if that will change when we get back? With accommodation booked and a plan (without a plan, there’s no attack, without attack, no victory!) we headed into Exmouth, which is about 150km north of Coral Bay.

Cruising with Whale Sharks! By Lachlan

Today was the big day, and everyone was bouncing off the walls with excitement. I just couldn’t help thinking, OH MY GOSH! We arrived at the Tantibiddi Boat Ramp at 7:40am and went on a tender to the 19m boat which was painted in aboriginal art. We had our snorkeling gear sorted out before we headed out past the reef to have a practice swim in deep water. Our guide Gabbo was Italian and a World Champion Free Diver, which was pretty cool. We were able to see some cool fish before Gabbo realised that we had got too close to the reef so we swam back to the boat. Then we were ready to see some whale sharks.

Super Snorkelers with Gabbo the spotter

Shep, our host and deckhand was explaining the procedure for swimming with the whale sharks when our skipper Dave shouted out, ‘Spotter in!’ This meant that a whale shark had been spotted and that the ‘spotter’ had to get in and give the position of the shark. Shep then had to rush through the instructions before we jumped into the water with our gear on. I turned around in the water and then the whale shark loomed out of the dark of the seawater with its giant mouth open. ‘Woah!’ I shouted into my mask. For a second it felt like my heart had stopped beating. The shark just glided on past me, not even giving me a second glance. It was such an amazing feeling swimming alongside the shark with the little suckerfish taking protection from the 6m shark.

Shep giving us some last minute instructions

They are big aren't they?

This was the 6 metre shark

From then on it was in and out over and over again. One time I dived in and saw myself facing a TEN METRE LONG whale shark. Its body was ginormous and it was incredibly fat. I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of its body and the tail dwarfed me with ease. It was with great regret that I got out of the water but a few minutes later Dave shouted out, ‘OCEAN MANTA RAY!!’ ‘Brilliant,’ I thought. I jumped in and literally 1m away, was the graceful manta. Sailing its way through the ocean it was a privilege to watch. It was a giant beast, its wingspan would have been over 3 metres long. The manta was such a beautiful animal and I was sad to see it dive into the depths of the ocean.

In all we saw 8 whale sharks and 3 manta rays. This was so amazing and I felt so lucky that we had seen all these wonders of the ocean in just 4 hours. Once we’d had lunch, Dave went chasing humpback whales. We were watching a pod zooming along when all of a sudden a humpback leaped full body length out of the water just 100 metres away and turned a graceful arc back into the ocean. Everyone was stunned by this. I’d never seen a whale up close and to see one in full detail was just spectacular. Once we’d crossed back into the reef we anchored in a patch of dazzling turquoise water. We were getting our snorkels on when Shep said, ‘Do you want to jump off the roof of the boat?’

Even Gracie jumped with dad looking on

‘Yes, please,’ was the answer so we climbed up and launched ourselves into the water. It was awesome doing spins and bombs into the ocean. After thoroughly jumping ourselves out, we went for a snorkel. The fish were beautiful and the corals were in all shapes and sizes. We saw trumpet fish, spectacular wrasse and a juvenile angelfish, which had the most amazing colours I’d ever seen.  Some of the corals were even shaped like mushrooms and filled with tiny fish that were too hard to watch darting in and out. Unfortunately, and with much regret we had to get back into the boat and head back to the boat ramp. We had a big group photo then we had to say goodbye to Shep, Gabbo, Dave, Jay and Ben, and head back to Yardie Creek.

Exmouth and Cape Range National Park

We arrived in Exmouth to pouring rain and lots of wind. What the??? Apparently Exmouth only gets 20 odd days of rain a year but this year it has received a lot when it shouldn’t. Hmmm…global warming? Who knows?

With 2 days at Yardie Homestead we decided to do a whale shark swim on our second day. Whilst we were in Perth, our friend Dan mentioned he had a mate who owns the Ningaloo Whale Shark Swim Company (go figure). Dan contacted him and arranged for a 20% discount, which amounted to several hundred dollars, which was fabulous. After going to the visitor centre we went to the swim tour office to arrange it. Fortunately there were spots on the boat.  We then moved onto the IGA for supplies for the next 5 days. We then travelled about 26km out of town to Yardie Homestead and who should walk in behind us, Paul, who had been moved out of their camp in the national park for a couple of nights before they could get back in! It’s that in demand!

This place is a launching pad for some serious fishing. We were just about the only people in the park without a boat of some sort. Each night the parks’ fish-cleaning table was full of all sorts of big emperors, tuna, Spanish mackerel and trevally. It was sickening really as Paul and I went out for a fish one afternoon and couldn’t even catch a cold! Note to self, when Maria and I hit the road again, must have a boat! We had a wonderful day swimming with Whale Sharks but I won’t steal Lachie’s thunder. I read his diary and couldn’t have said it better myself.

Yardie Camp Cape Range NP

The next day was hot and clear as we drove the 50km down to the southern most camp in Cape Range National Park. The park fringes Ningaloo Reef. It’s quite dramatic with the ranges in the background flowing onto a dune system then white sandy beaches into incredibly turquoise water fringing a massive reef system with huge waves breaking on the outer reef. Just magnificent. We met our delightful hosts John and Maureen who showed us to our campsite. Yardie Creek campground has 11 well spaced campsites and is right beside Yardie Gorge. All the campgrounds in the park have camp hosts during the peak season from April to September, who stay for 3 months at a time. Tough gig but someone has to do it as John told me with a Cheshire Cat like grin.

The ranges behind camp

That afternoon we went snorkeling to Turquoise Bay, which you’d think would have to be extra extra turquoisey and it was! It is a gentle drift snorkel where you walk several hundred metres up the beach, swim out 30-50m or so then gently drift back over beautiful corals and fish. The water is so warm and we loved it. Lachlan, who is becoming our resident underwater photographer, took some great shots. We also snorkeled at Lakeside where the kids saw a massive stingray about a metre across.

Under Turquoise Bay

Above it!

As we were packing up back at the car a white Pajero came flying up the beach coming to an abrupt stop right beside the car blocking our exit. A man in a French accent started asking me if he could take photos of the ‘stickers’ on the Prado. I wasn’t quite sure what he wanted but said yes so the whole family wife and 3 older kids piled out of the car and started snapping shots of all of the vehicles accessories. Awning, fridge, bull-bar roof racks, you name it. It turned out he is a French national but owns hotels in Argentina and was fascinated by the gear on our car. It seems Prados are the car of choice in Argentina but they have no after market accessories it seems. (Apparently Patrols were rejected as inferior product and are now not allowed in) Anyhow they were a very lovely family and we’ll send them details of our trip as Raul and Stephanie plan to do a serious 12 month trip in the future. These sorts of experiences are really precious, and make you feel really special. It was just a delightful encounter.

Battening down the hatches!

We headed back to camp and arrived just as the rain and wind started. The prediction for the next day was awful. Thirty-five kilometre an hour winds, storms and 30-50mm of rain. Beaut! Looks like a great day for everyone to catch up on schoolwork, blogs, photos and diaries. We pretty much spent the day in the camper aside from helping the couple next door with their tent, which was threatening to fly away with their toddler in it. The storms arrived on queue in the evening. At one stage it looked as though we were camping in a lake as there was a couple of inches of water surrounding us and all of our thongs started floating away! I must admit we had a pretty sleepless night listening to the wind and rain, waiting for something to go wrong. Aside from a little bit of dampness we survived pretty well. The day dawned clearer and sunny which was a relief. It took a while to dry towels, chairs and other bits and pieces out. It also took a little while to find all of the thongs!

Unfortunately Lachie had been bitten by something about a week ago and a very sore boil was forming on his arm. We were getting a little concerned so we decided to drive the hour back up to Exmouth to see a doctor. The local hospital saw him promptly and with anti-biotics prescription in hand, we picked up a few things, had lunch and drove back. We popped into Tulki camp on the way to say hi to Paul and Sue. The girls went snorkeling while the boys went fishing. Everybody kicked a goal! Some great tales of the deep from both sides were shared over a drink back at their campsite.

That night after ‘Happy Hour’ drinks with everyone staying in the camp, we tried out the generator where Maria used the thermomix under generator power to make butter chicken. Major success. Nothing stops Thermomick! We only had 3 nights in Cape Range unfortunately, as we have to move on to Broome. I think I’m going to sign-up to be a camp host in a few years time. Even though we saw it at its best and worst, this place has a magical quality about it.

Yardie Creek Gorge

A local enjoying the view

We have a long drive ahead of us over the next couple of days as it’s over 600km to Karijini National Park, which we are all extremely excited about.

Shark Bay to Quobba Station

Denham is a touch under 400km from Kalbarri along the Brand Highway on a peninsula separating Shark Bay from Dirk Hartog Island. The ocean side of the peninsula hosts the western most point of mainland Australia, Steep Point. Twenty-eight km to the north east of Denham is Monkey Mia, whilst a few km to the north covering the whole top section of the peninsula is the entry to the Francois Peron National Park, our home for the next 3 nights. On the way up into the Denham Peninsula, we stopped at Hamelin Pool, which is home to ancient Stromatolites. These are single celled organisms, which were the first living things on the planet so they’re billions of years old. Impressed? I thought so. They look kind of like mushrooms made of coral and rock about one to three feet high. It was very interesting and we all appreciated being able to stretch our legs in such a pretty spot.

Stromatolites

We stopped in at the Denham Information Centre on a very windy but sunny day, which was essential to help us plan out our next few days. We were able to book and pay for our passes for a day at the Monkey Mia Resort. It cost $19 for a family of 5, which gave us permission to attend the dolphin interaction and use the resorts’ facilities for the day. The ticket is open so we could choose any day to visit. We also were able to obtain the latest information on weather predictions and the state of the track into the NP to the various camps. There are 4 camps to choose from, Big Lagoon, South Gregories, Gregories and Bottle Bay. You can’t actually camp at Cape Peron but it is well worth the 70km trip up to the cape. We chose to stay at Big Lagoon. It’s the closest and the 13km sand track to the campground was currently in the best condition for a camper trailer.

Big Lagoon

Most of the time the two way single lane track was corrugated and reasonably firm with only a few very soft sections easily navigated. We arrived around 3pm and quickly setup camp in a sheltered spot from the wind. The campground has a single, well maintained drop toilet but no other facilities. It is situated right on a picturesque inlet, which is an important spawning ground for whiting and pink snapper. Most importantly, the site was not very busy with only a couple of other campers each night we stayed, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. A fish that afternoon landed a few small whiting, which were released to fight another day.

The next day dawned clear and windy however we didn’t let that stop us exploring the national park. For the most part the drive up is a reasonably easy one along hard corrugated sand. The track also winds right through the middle of several gypsum clay pans, called Birridas. It reminded us a bit of Lake Eyre. There were also some really fun soft sandy sections, which would trap the unwary. We avoided South Gregories as the track in looked pretty bad so we pulled up to Gregories. This campground is beautiful, and close to some stunning scenery and top fishing spots.

Gregories Beach

After some more exploring we were back in the car heading up to Cape Peron to try and see some sharks, mantas and dolphins from the headland, which it’s famous for. Unfortunately the wind and swell had completely stirred up the sandy bottom making it impossible to see anything. It is still a stunning spot with high red cliffs falling into white sand and very blue waters. After a light lunch we headed back to camp to relax for the afternoon, as we would have to get up very early for our trip over to Monkey Mia the next day. The first dolphin feeding was at 7.45am and it would take us a good hour to get there from our campsite. We had a wonderful morning at the resort but I’ll let Caitlin write about what she thought of the day.

Cape Peron

Once again we bumped into Paul and Sue whilst there, which was a delightful coincidence once again. Grace has adopted them as her surrogate grandparents and promptly invited herself to have lunch with them. The rest of us went back to camp. The wind had completely died down by this time and we had a wonderful afternoon on the beach of the lagoon. Paul, Dad and Lachie fished without much luck although we did catch a 35cm squire late in the day. Maria and Caitlin did some paintings while chatting to Sue who had returned from lunch with Grace.

Caitlin's painting of Big Lagoon

The next stage of the trip was up to Carnarvon for a night. You have to drive the 129km back down from Denham to the highway, then a further 220km north. We again arrived early in the afternoon and decided to stay at the Wintersun Caravan Park. We needed to charge batteries, fill up with water and pick up supplies for the next leg of the trip. Carnarvon is a main hub in WA for fruit and vegetables, which are cheap and really tasty. Our main goal however was Quobba Station for the next 2 nights, a working sheep and cattle station about 60km north of Carnarvon right on the ocean. Quobba is famous for it’s land based game fishing with Red Bluff, somewhat of a mecca for fisherman and surfers alike. Each day fisherman would arrive back to clean they’re catches of large red snapper, Spanish mackerel and spangled emperor. I was extremely jealous but woefully under gunned in terms of tackle required to have a go myself. ‘Balloon’ fishing is the preferred method where the balloon is filled with helium and drifts out over the ocean with a live bait swimming just under the surface of the water some 30 – 50 feet below.

Quobba sunset

The beach is full of massive clam shells

Red Bluff is about 60km north of the station homestead. The road is graded and very corrugated in parts but we made the journey in about 45 minutes. As we arrived I can honestly say Maria and I experienced a similar sense of wonder and peacefulness. It’s hard to describe but we were just calm, happy and felt like smiling. We spent the day swimming, fishing and just drinking in the beautiful scenery of the dramatic red cliffs, white beach and clear blue skies overhead. In hindsight, we would have preferred to camp here instead. Definitely next time, as you felt like you could almost stay here forever. As we were packing up to leave, just to top the day off, we were treated to 3 or 4 whales playing, splashing and breaching only a few hundred metres offshore. What a day!

Red Bluff Beach

I'm a good dancer!

Caitlin's painting of Red Bluff

We arrived back to camp just in time to cleanup, pour a glass of wine and head down the pretty little beach opposite the homestead and watch the sunset. To top off the day we briefly met a guy with 2 young kids from Currumbin, who’d been on the road for nearly 12 months. He mentioned another station, Warroora (pronounced Warra) not far to the north where you could camp on the beach and catch spangled emperor right off it. This is the great thing about this kind of travelling, these chance encounters, which can shape your trip in ways you can’t plan for.

Big tick for Quobba station! I will be returning with bigger tackle and lots of helium! Big fish and funny voices, “Who could ask for more?”