Big Truck, Little Truck

Our first stop today was at the top on Mount Nameless, reached via a steep 4×4 only track not far form the camp site. It seems to be the highest point around and on one side you can see the landscape extending to the curved horizon, on the other side you get a bird’s eye view of the large scale mining operations that seem to be the principal employer and industry in this area.
One of the old mining trucks is set up as a display for the tourist information rest stop so we had another big truck, little truck opportunity 🙂

View from the Oxer lookout point at the rim of the gorge

Heading to the national park we chose to go to the Knox Gorge via the unsurfaced 40km road. The signage is a bit confusing at first with lots of potential walking routes from the main parking area. Eventually we figured out which path was which and set off first for the Oxer lookout and then back to the class 2 and class 5 routes that combine to form the route to the Handrail Pool that those coming back out of the gorge were recommending.
We were a bit wary at first about attempting the route as “Class 5” is posted as a “you will die if you get it wrong” kind of route, with class 6 requiring absailing equipment and special permission from the rangers office. In the end we decided to set off down it and turn back if it got too scary.
In the end the route wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as the signs indicated. You essentially walk down to the bottom of the gorge using steps cut into the side of it then walk along the bottom of the gorge. There are a few pools of water that you have to wade through but none of them much deeper than thigh level.

The first pool at the bottom of the descent into the gorge

The last part, the descent into Handrail Pool is the most difficult as the stream cuts through a narrow gap and then drops maybe 30 feet into the Handrail Pool. The stream bed is very slippery but where it starts to drop there is a sturdy hand rail attached to the rock face and basically you cling onto that with both hands as you move forward to the vertical drop. Again you use the handrail, now vertical, to support you while you climb down the steps in the vertical face until you reach the rock outcrop that forms the “beach” for that end of the pool.

Handrail Pool

The big camera’s battery had died so all I had was my iPhone so the pictures here are all taken with the iPhone. It is a magical place, well worth the effort to get to it. Due to the bedding planes of the surrounding rock being tilted slightly from horizontal it creates the illusion of the water in the pool sloping upwards, away from you.
We decided against a swim in the pool as we weren’t really geared up for it and I’m not that strong a swimmer that I’m confident to swim in a deep pool with a difficult exit/entry.
We wound our way back out of the park via the “scenic” route visiting a number of outlooks on the way but we didn’t have time to descend to any of the other pools. Tomorrow we’ll head to see some of the waterfalls we didn’t have time for today and might even go for a swim if there’s a more likely spot.

I couldn’t resist including this shot – the reflection of the rocks and sky above in the pool and the contrast with the grey rock that forms the edge of the pool.

We’ve booked another 2 nights at the camp site here, tomorrow will be spent in the national park and Wednesday will be a chance to catch up on some maintenance jobs and a trip to the supermarket and bottle shop for supplies. The fuel pump has become quite noisy when running from the main tank so I’ll try changing the pre-filter as we may have picked up some bad diesel along the way. The front tank, which has it’s own pre-filter, doesn’t cause the problem so we’ll run off that for the moment. I also think it’s time to change snorkel tops to the ARB cyclone thing as we’re starting to encounter more dust from other vehicles now.

Sunrise at Bullara Homestead

A bit of a transport stage today as we continued our inland journey towards the Karijini National Park. Temperatures are still a bit on the high side for us but have dropped a bit to 33 C and there is a light breeze. It might drop as low as 22 C tonight… 🙂
We intended to take it as it comes rather than committing to a long trip but once we got on the road we just kept going as the scenery was interesting and the thought of stopping in the high sun with no shade didn’t appeal much. So, in the end, we ended up driving the full 500km from the Bullara Homestead to Tom Price, which is the small town on the edge of the national park that we’ll use as our base for a few days to venture into the park.

Monitor Lizard (?)

One of our stops, for a coffee, a sit in an air conditioned cafe while we drank it and a couple of chilled bottles of pop for the rest of the journey, was at the Nanaturra Roadhouse where we also got our first close up view of one of the larger lizards which happened to be about 20 feet from our parking spot. I’m pretty sure it’s a monitor lizard.

The camera doesn’t do the view justice but you can see in the wing mirror why you don’t want to follow another vehicle !

The rock formations on the last part of the surfaced road and the 50k section of unsurfaced road just before you reach Tom Price are an amazing sight, particularly with the emerald green scrub, the deep blue sky and the ever present deep red sand and sandstone.
The site at Tom Price (Tom Price Tourist Park) seems pleasant enough and we even have some grass to pitch on.

Pitched at Tom Price Tourist Park

We’ve booked in here for 2 nights initially although we may well extend our stay if the site turns out to be as good as our first impressions suggest and/or we find plenty to do in the national park.
Tomorrow we’ll take our first trip into the national park and see if it lives up to it’s reputation 🙂

On board the glass bottom boat

Another really good day today. Our decision to camp in Exmouth last night meant a gentle start to the day as the pickup time and place for our tour wasn’t until 9.30 am around 200 metres from the camp site.
I’d strongly recommend anyone in the region to sign up for the Ningaloo Ecology Cruises trip. http://www.ningalootreasures.com.au
The bus ride around the cape was interesting with the driver keeping us entertained with information about the area until we got to the Tantabiddi boat ramp where the glass bottom boat is moored.
We then had a short trip over to the reef where we were taken over areas of the coral before setting anchor so we could snorkel. Not sure how long we were out in the water if I’m honest but there was certainly no rush and I think we more or less all came in by consensus when we’d had enough. I’m glad we’d had a practice at Coral Bay though as I think we got more out of it as a result.
By the time we’d returned to shore and got the bus back to Exmouth (with stops at the Turtle centre, the light house and the wreck of the Mildura along the way) it was about 2pm.
A quick stop off at the IGA (supermarket) and the bottle shop and fuel station and we headed south from Exmouth to this evening’s stop at the Bullara Homestead Station. On our way we took a quick diversion into the national park to drive along the Shothole Canyon, a 4×4 only track that criss crosses the creek that has formed the canyon. Currently the creek is dry so the many creek crossings were pretty straight forward.
The heat today has been pretty unbearable for us and we were both starting to get a bit fractious by the time we arrived. With no trees along the road and no shade it was hard going as temperatures were up to 36 degrees C and very little in the way of a cooling breeze.
The Bullara Homestead is an excellent site, very friendly staff and the facilities are pretty good. No hot water in the showers (they offered to turn the boiler on but we declined) was actually a blessing as the water gave some relief from the heat of the day. I’m beginning to understand why WA has no daylight savings time… The dark warm evenings are actually something to look forward to as the temperature drops into the mid 20s.
Tomorrow we’ll set a course for Karajini National Park, a journey that will probably take us a couple of days. I guess as ever we’ll stop somewhere tomorrow when we’ve had enough of the road !

Little Corellas sat in a tree at the Exmouth camp site.

Today didn’t exactly go as planned but it turned out in a good way in the end !
We started with a breakfast at the Minilya Roadhouse along with topping off the fuel tanks. We then set off to Coral Bay with the intention of having a look around before continuing to our planned camp site.
Coral Bay is not at all as we’d expected, we’d assumed it would be the “normal” beachside town but it seems they’ve not finished it yet… We were quite disappointed when we arrived and we both thought “is that it ?”. Still, as we were there we had a quick stroll onto the beach for a look and the sea did look very inviting. After deciding we’d go for a swim we decided it’d be worthwhile getting a snorkel set each and to practice with it prior to our booked trip on Saturday.
After a steady start we both built our confidence and were eventually confident enough in our kit to swim out over the coral beds that are actually only about 20 feet out from where the beach shelves into deeper water. In the end we spent nearly 2 hours swimming around and watching the multitude of fish that make the coral their home, many of them within a few feet of the beach. All in all a very enjoyable experience after a singularly uninspiring start. We’re both looking forward now to tomorrow’s excursion out over the main reef.

Yellow-Throated Miner sat in a tree at the Exmouth camp site.

From Coral Bay we headed to our chosen camp site but as it was still early and too hot to sit around for the afternoon we decided to carry on to Exmouth and see if we could find a site there. The Big4 site had space for us and it’s only about 100 metres from the pickup point for tomorrow’s tour so we’ve booked in.
Tomorrow we should finish the tour at around mid day after I which we’ll restock our food and beer before heading into the national park on the way to the camp site which is only about 100k south of Exmouth.
No pictures today as we don’t have a waterproof camera so I’ve added a couple I took at the Exmouth camp site of some of the local birdlife.

Dolphins at Monkey Mia

Yet another early start this morning with an alarm set for 6am, aiming to be on the road to Monkey Mia by 7am. At the Monkey Mia beach they have a dolphin feeding programme that can commence at any time really, depending on when the dolphins arrive.
We got there before 8am and it wasn’t too long before we were led down onto the beach and then to stand in the water. It’s an amazing way to see wild dolphins close up and done in a way that doesn’t endanger the dolphins by only feeding 5 specific females and then only a small part of their daily intake so thy don’t become reliant on it.
After the feeding we had breakfast in the car park (the advantage of having your “home” with you !) and planned the rest of the day.

The track to Cape Peron

The Francois Peron National Park covers the northern part of the peninsula and has a series of 4×4 only tracks that give access to a number of lookouts and camps, it would have been rude not to…
We started with the longest option, heading to the Northern most part of the peninsula, Cape Peron. As you enter the 4×4 track there is a tyre deflation/inflation point where you air down your tyres on the way in and a compressor and air line to pump them back up again before you leave.
The track itself is mostly pretty good but there were a few stretches of very soft sand that took a bit of effort to get through and as the track is about 40k long it takes the best part of an hour to get along it. It also crosses a couple of salt lakes which look like they are a real problem if it’s wet.

Skipjack Point

We spent about an hour at Cape Peron, the water looked very inviting but the large shark that was alternating between the sea weed beds and the shallows on the beach put that idea firmly out of our heads.
Next stop was Skipjack Point, only a few k away, where there are a couple of lookouts that are high on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. This turned out to be a real chance to see an array of marine life, almost like a wild aquarium. There were large numbers of Manta Rays swimming in the bay along with Turtles, small sharks and numerous fish. We probably spent over an hour there just waiting for the next creature to make it’s presence felt.

Sandbar Shark at Skipjack Point

All we had to do then was drive back down the track to the camp site at Denham for our second night there. We took a couple of diversions down the side tracks so in all we covered around 120km of sand driving, getting my eye in for later !

Tomorrow we’ll head to Carnarvon or thereabouts as we head to Coral Bay and Exmouth for the day after and we’ve booked the snorkelling trip for Saturday morning from Exmouth.

An early start this morning thanks in no small part to a pair of cockerels that decided 4am was close enough to sunrise as makes no odds ! There were too many flies to hang around so as soon as the coffee was made and safely stored in our insulated mugs we hit the road.
The first part of today’s journey took us through the Kalbarri National park. A diversion off the main road onto around 25k of mixed sealed and unsealed road brought us to a series of lookouts and walks that follow the inland gorges carved by the Murchison river. The gorges have water in them at the moment which, apparently, is the first time for 3 years.
We bottled out of the 7k walk and climb down to the river in the bottom of the gorge as we were plenty hot enough on the rim of the gorge with temperatures in the low 30s.
After a few hours of exploring the gorges we headed back to the road again and followed it to highway 1, the North West Coastal Highway as it’s known at this point. Turning north again the highway is a bit of a drag, similar to the Nullarbor although it does have a few trees. Lots of signs of recent bush fires at the side of the road too. We stopped for fuel at the Billabong Roadhouse and took full advantage of the air conditioned cafe area to have some lunch. Temperatures have certainly started to creep up over the last few days and it’s now very uncomfortable sitting in the car when it’s stationary.
After leaving the main highway to head towards Denham we had a brief stop to look at the stromatolites at Hamlin Pool. Stromatolites are created by primitive Cyanobacteria that bind sediments together, forming rock like structure. Fossilised stromatolites are among the oldest evidence of life on earth and these living versions only exist in 4 places now. They look a bit like large cow pats though… It had to be said.
At some point we crossed the 26th parallel which means we’re now to the north of latitude 26. In simple terms that means that we’re now officially in the north of Australia as latitude 26  runs through the centre and we’re north of it !

Anyway, Denham is a nice spot and gives us a good base to visit Monkey Mia tomorrow. We’ve booked in for two nights so we’ll be able to take our time tomorrow at Monkey Mia and exploring some of the 4×4 tracks in the national park. On Thursday we should then be able to get to Carnarvon and then somewhere near Exmouth on Friday. We’ll try and get signed up for a snorkelling trip at Ningaloo on Saturday.

The camp site at Denham has free WiFi with a decent speed so we finally managed to update the HEMA maps on the iPad so we have the most recent versions. Tomorrow night I might upload some of the pics from the proper camera to the gallery (all the pics on the blog have been taken with our iPhones).

View from one of the lookout points south of Kilbarri

Last night we finally managed to get the channel Ten live feed working on the iPad so we had the latest night we’ve had in ages, watching the Bahrain GP live until gone 1am. It was a pleasant surprise to find that Ten take the Sky commentary feed so other than the occasional advert break it was good coverage of what turned out to be a fascinating race. Shame JB retired though. Being up at 7am meant that for the first time in ages we woke up with an alarm instead of waking naturally.
Took a trip into Geraldton this morning to get the propshafts greased at the local Land Rover specialist. We then went for a drive to the beach front to get some free wifi. There’s an update to the HEMA maps iOS app that has updates to the maps we have and some new ones but it’s 1.8GB to download it !
We found the free WiFi but it stopped downloading at about 60% so we had to abandon it. On the plus side we had a decent coffee and pastries while we were sat waiting. We’ll have to find an Internet cafe to download it.

Kilbarri beach front

From Geraldton we resumed our journey up the coast to Kalbarri. We stopped at some of the lookout points just before arriving Kalbarri to look at the views over the sea and cliffs and in the hope of seeing some dolphins. Sadly, no dolphins but the views were worth the detour anyway…
The camp site we chose is the “Big River Ranch” just outside Kalbarri, mainly chosen because they offer horse riding which Pam was keen to try again after not riding for 20 years. It’s a pleasant enough spot for an overnight camp but a bit exposed to the persistent winds that seem to plague this part of the coast.

Pam heading out on a ride around the ranch.

Tomorrow we’ll head inland through the National Park and visit the inland gorges which are supposed to be well worth a visit. We’d like to get further north by the end of tomorrow, perhaps as far as Monkey Mia but that will depend on how long we stay in the park and how we feel. There are a few camp sites along the way that will do as a half way point if needed.

Sunset Beach

After a pleasant night at Sandy Cape we’ve started to formulate a plan for the next week or so.
Today we continued our journey up the coast to Geraldton where we will spend the next couple of nights at the Big4 site at Sunset Beach. Before setting up camp we took a trip into Geraldton for a supermarket and bottle bank run so we gave enough supplies for the next 7 days. North of Geraldton it will become harder to re-stock so we need to get into the habit now of restocking when we can. We’ve also filled all 3 water containers with drinking water so we can get used to storing 3 rather than 2 full containers.

Sunset Beach

Tomorrow I’ll give the 90 a good check over and then on Monday morning we hope to find a suitable garage where we can get the propshafts greased and fix any issues I might find that I don’t fix tomorrow.
Assuming all is sorted we’ll then head up to Kalbarri National Park where we will cut inland before heading up to Hamelin and Monkey Mia. If we can we need to be away from Monkey Mia for Friday as the school holidays will almost certainly mean it will start getting stupidly busy after then.
We want to head towards Exmouth and Karijini National Park but haven’t precisely figured out when that will be or how we’re going to get to them both yet ! With the two week school holidays combined with Anzac Day and Easter we’re not sure how hard it’s going to be to get where we want to, when we want to. It may be that it won’t be too bad that far north…

The beach at Sandy Cape

A very short hop up the coast today, maybe 40k by road. We did manage to find a bottle shop en-route though so our beer supply has been refreshed.
The site at Sandy Cape is one that we’d considered for last night’s stop but the facilities are basic with no water, no showers and just long drop toilets. The lure of flushing toilets and decent showers tempted us away for this one yesterday but we decided we’d head here today to have a look at the site and see if it looked good.
On first arriving it seemed our kind of camping, nice and open, very close to the beach (about 50ft away) so we decided to have a lazy afternoon and stay the night.
Things went a little awry when we’d paid the fee and tried to find a spot that was level enough and wasn’t going to leave the roof tent ladder in deep sand. Things got worse when the only decent spot turned out to have a feral bees’ nest in the sand next to it, so that was a none starter !
Anyway, eventually we found a suitable spot and made camp. After a chilling out period of reading books we decided that we were more than overdue for a swim in the sea (ocean). Very enjoyable it was too although my attempts at body surfing were less than successful 🙂
The solar shower bag we’d bought as a last minute addition to our kit got it’s first use and it was actually pretty effective, at least good enough to rinse the salt water out of our hair.

Sunset at Sandy Cape

The sunset was amazing with the colours of the sky, the clouds and the sea constantly changing. The sea at dusk seemed even more of a vivid turquoise than it did during the day. We also saw a large stingray cruising through the area we’d been swimming in, which was interesting…
Our “neighbours” are locals (ish) who have worked in the north of WA and gave us a few points of interest to visit on our travels. Tomorrow we’ll head to Geraldton where we’ll plan the next journey inland and restock.

Another short hop today, allowing us plenty of time to stop off at The Pinnacles on the route between Gingin and our intended destination, Cervantes.
The Pinnacles is an odd phenomena in the desert just south of Cervantes. There are a number of theories regarding how they formed and why but none has been proved and all are contested by conflicting theories.
They look like standing stones but cover a large area of desert and have only been uncovered by the sand dunes in the last 600 years.
It’s another of these places that seem impossible to capture with a camera but the pics might give a flavour of it. A random collection of vertical limestone rocks in the middle of a sandy desert. Some of them are perhaps 20ft tall and others nothing more than boulders. There’s a 4km drive that takes you around and through the rocks with numerous places to park up and walk around them.
From The Pinnacles we set off for Cervantes to the Pinnacles Caravan Park. Our initial impression of the site wasn’t over optimistic as it looked like a typical beach front holiday site full of chalets and semi-permanent vans. Fortunately the touring area is actually much nicer with large pitches on grass and we’re only about a 100m walk through the sand dunes to the beach.
After we’d set up camp and had a chilling out period we at least managed a paddle in the ocean and a walk along the beach. As you’d expect on the west coast the sunset was over the sea and we watched it go down while taking a few pics.
We’d thought we might spend a couple of nights here but we’ll probably take advantage of the showers here in the morning and move to another site tomorrow, possibly a beach site just to the north of us.