Date 14th July - 19th July
Sadly we had to leave Denham & Monkey Mia after just 3 nights - we seem to just get the feel for a place and then its time to go. But that is the nature of our quick trip I guess.
We packed up, grabbed coffee and drove the 129 km back from Denham to Highway 1. Just before we got to the highway, we came upon a pretty scary car & caravan rollover, which had happened around 1 or 2 hours before we got there. The car was on its roof, and the caravan looked like it was a flat-pack, nothing remained above the axles. Thankfully no one seemed injured when we passed. There has been a lot of traffic, and huge numbers of caravans about due to WA school holidays; it only takes a moment of inattention to cause a lockup and rollover. We stopped for a short rest after seeing this.
Carnarvon, Western Australia
Weather - 12℃ to 26℃, blue skies
Total Distance Travelled - 11,500 km
Staying 1 Nights, Outback Oasis CP
We continued north on the highway, eventual destination Exmouth, but that was too far to drive in the one day, so we stopped in Carnarvon.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, not much in-between these beautiful places we are visiting.
We got in to Carnarvon late afternoon, setup the camper. We decided that 4 hours driving with 1 hour setup, was enough, to go quick to get to places wasn’t the smartest idea for us (we have been hearing people driving up to 13 hours to get to places; maybe they know the roads better than us, but we didn’t feel safe with that idea).
After we setup we went for a look around - It didn’t look like the friendliest place, so we returned to the CP for the afternoon/evening.
Thursday morning we are heading to Exmouth. We had a quick chat to a grey nomad (is heading to where we are going for 2 months not 5 days), about various trips and suggestions- one place that keeps on getting mentioned but we will not go this time is Karijini National Park:- It’s 900kms in then that out again - maybe next time.
Another 4 hour drive to Exmouth. We crossed the 26th parallel again, stopped for coffee at Minilya Roadhouse and then crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. It was an easy / boring drive - nothing much to show in the way of images for that area.
Exmouth, Western Australia
Weather - 11℃ to 30℃, blue skies
Total Distance Travelled - 12,300 km
Staying 5 Nights, RAC Exmouth
The RAC Exmouth CP that we are staying in for the next 5 nights is a lot bigger & noisier than most we have stayed at, but still fairly recently renovated - especially as it's WA school holidays. The sites are big, but we had to borrow the neighbour’s hammer drill to get the pegs into the rock-hard ground - no grass anywhere.
We drove about 20 minutes to Vlamingh Head Lighthouse to view the sunset. Got there about 40 minutes early to get a spot, as it was a popular viewing point. A few clouds spoilt the show, but no matter. We spotted dozens of humpback whales in the distance spouting as they passed us heading north. Headed back to RAC CP for the night.
Friday was our first full day in Exmouth. Blue skies, clear waters, and about 14C to 28C temperature range - perfect. After checking out the town centre, and grabbing supplies for lunch, we drove north to where the SS Mildura wreck sits off the point. It ran aground in a cyclone in 1907, but there is still a lot of the hull to see.
We continued west around the point, and down the western coast of North West Cape. Checking in at the discovery centre, we got some ideas of the best snorkelling spots.
We just started our drive in the national park and to our first stop “Oyster Stacks” when we came across a wild dingo just walking along the road side.
“Oyster Stacks” was where we tried out the new flippers etc. It is amazing that here you can drive to a beach, jump in the water, and swim less than 50 metres to the reef, teeming with fish. It was an amazing spot. The trick was to jump in at the northern end of the beach, off the rocks, and allow the current to take you south (left) as you floated over the reef. We stayed in for an hour or so.
Michelle tried to capture images on the GoPro but found swimming in the current and snorkels wasn't that easy - these are some of the best.
Getting hungry, so we drove further south to Pilgramunna, an inlet open to the ocean, where we watched a flock of terns on a rock ledge whilst eating lunch.
Eager for some more snorkelling, we drive down to Turquoise Bay, another recommended spot. We had a decent walk to get to the entry spot at the southern end. We went in, but the current was very strong, and there didn’t seem to be as many fish as at Oyster Stacks, so we departed after half an hour or so.
We had heard that it was worth getting to Yardie Creek early to see the wildlife before the heat hits (Yardie is the southernmost accessible point on the west coast of NW Cape), so we were up not so bright but early on Saturday morning. A quick stop for coffee, and we drove the 1.5 hours down to Yardie Creek.
We started the walk up the creek - on the first viewing platform we saw a colony of bats. Then we continued on the cliff top trail. After about 1km, the serious trail began, lots of rock-hopping for us humans as well as for the local black-footed rock wallabies that we were looking to for.
We left the main track, and spotted 2 of the diminutive wallabies sitting near the cliff-edge. Michelle managed to get some shots of 1, but the other was too quick. We continued on, and after scrambling down 2 gullies, we were rewarded by seeing another 4 of the little wallabies. These ones were all relaxing in the morning sun.
We walked over to the cliff-edge again, and managed to see two nests of sea-eagles on the opposite cliff face, with eagle chicks calling from the nest. We sat and watched for a while, seeing a parent return from the reef to feed the chicks from time to time - amazing. At other times, one of the parent eagles just sat in a tree across the creek from its nest, watching that all was ok.
There were small green budgerigars, red-beaked finches, and nesting blue herons also on display - birdlife everywhere. Plus Yardie Creek was stunning to look at and walk. An awesome morning!
We drove up to Bloodwood Creek for a viewing point, walked down to the beach when a young lady behind us informed us we had walked right past a king brown snake. She was a self-proclaimed snake expert, said she hung out with a herpetologist (one for you Will). Mike was able to get a video of the snake before it slithered away.
Next stop was Oyster Stacks, for our first snorkel of the day. There seemed to be more fish than the previous day, maybe because there was less wind and the water was calmer. Amazing! After an hour there, we drove north to the 3rd snorkelling area at Lakeside. It was a bit disappointing, as the water was murky, making it difficult to see the fish & coral. So we cut the snorkelling short - headed back to the CP.
Whilst we were at the CP we had a few an unexpected visitor.
We were looking forward to Sunday, as we had booked a Manta-Ray swim (Marine Eco-Safari) with Coral Bay Eco tours. The downside of the tour was it leaves from Coral Bay, about 1.5 hours drive south of Exmouth where we were staying. So up at 5:30am for the drive, quick coffee & bakery stop.
The dive sites were a short boat ride offshore from Coral Bay, inside the protective outer reef. There were about 27 of us on the tour, a comfortable number which allowed us all time to see the wildlife/reef. We did a couple of reef dives at first, where we saw dozens of different types of fish (lots of parrotfish of different species), many stingrays, and amazingly about 5 or 6 green turtles feeding on the reef. Great to see such a healthy environment. The water was perfectly clear, and the wind low, so very comfortable conditions. 28C again, so not too hot.
We had a young girl called Elle Gillett that was taking images of everyone and trying to capture images of what we saw on the day - that was a bonus for us, so Michelle had a bit of break - jealous of the equipment but you can't have every piece of equipment you want - you would be broke and you can't perfect a skill if you try too many types of different styles.
Our personal favourites are the turtle photographs.
Next up, we were split up into 3 groups for the manta-ray swims. The spotter plane flew over Bateman Bay, and within 1/2 hour we were jumping in the water right next to the mantas, trying to keep up.
We were super lucky to see this group - they were in a mating chain. The female manta out front (about 4.5 metres across apparently) was being pursued by 2 male suitors. We were informed that this continues for days/weeks, as they follow her around until there is only one suitor left, who gets his prize. We were told that a female can be pursued by a line of up to 10-12 males. We were lucky though to see 3. A BBC show came over to film this event happening they tried for 6 months and didn't get to film it, because no knows when their actual mating season is.
It was difficult keeping up with the rays, as they can swim very quickly (60km), so we were dropped into the water next to them for quick bursts of swimming from us. It was amazing to be able to get so close to these magnificent, harmless creatures (they have no barb in their tail). It was done with great precision - 2 or 3 of the groups were in the water at any time, before 1 group re-boarded the boat quickly to get dropped off again next to the rays (not really enough time to catch our breaths). Great experience.
After lunch on board, we headed out to the reef to do some humpback whale spotting, as it is their migration season. We didn’t have to wait long to see the telltale “blow” of spray. Our skipper expertly positioned us to see many of these majestic creatures come out of the water, and a couple of tail slaps.
Around 2:30pm we were back on shore, and commenced the long drive back to Exmouth tired, but extremely happy with the day’s tour. In fact it has been an exceptional 5 days in Exmouth, however exhausted we now were!
After a busy 3 days, we decided that our last day in Exmouth would be a relaxing one. We hung around doing a few chores in the morning, before heading around the point to the Cape Range side again. We chose to visit Wobiri beach, where we sat on the sand and watched the ocean. We counted 3 different green turtles swimming not more than 20 metres off the beach in less than 1/2 hour - the wildlife here is astounding!
Some of the flowers we saw around the Exmouth and Coral Bay - if Michelle had a chance we would have stopped a lot more to take photos of these beautiful wildflowers.
We hope you enjoyed North West Cape, of WA - we are now heading for the coastal drive of the Warlu Way.
Cheers, Michelle & Mike.
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