Natural World

A surprise visit

Posted on May 23, 2015 by John Sear

Amanda’s parents had hatched a plan for a surprise visit in Exmouth and had booked the accommodation. We had managed to keep it secret from the kids, despite a couple of times when the cat was almost let out of the bag.

Grandpa and Grandma visit
Snorkelling in Cape Range NP
Turquoise Bay
Whale shark trip
Turquoise Bay
Arrival photo
Geoff’s stone grill fish

Unfortunately, flying in on the day that cyclone Quang was sweeping through the region meant they were stopped in their tracks in Perth, with the following day’s flight fully booked. When they finally arrived we were cutting a deliberately belated birthday cake for Hannah, and as they walked in the kids were a little confused at first. When the penny dropped big grins filled their faces and a round of Happy Birthday got things going again.

The PotShot Hotel over the road was our dinner venue and Grandpa Geoff went for a stone-grilled steak, where they provide the raw steak and an extremely hot volcanic rock on which to cook it to your specification. Those having fish and chips were impressed too, despite the apologetic barmaid who said it was a red-mouth emperor, rather than spangled emperor. It was so delicious we returned a couple of days later to try a variation on the stone-grill menu.

Geoff and Leonie joined us on the whale shark trip they were amazing and despite the rough conditions it was all smiles on the boat at the end of the day.

We took a trip down to Yardie Creek where they took two of the kids on a boat cruise, and whilst visiting Cape Range we swam at Turquoise Bay, Oyster Stacks again and visited the Turtle sanctuary. Despite the turtle egg-laying season having finished it was great to find a turtle had dug two holes the previous night and we could clearly see the laboriously made flipper prints emerging from, and then returning to the ocean.

The week that was shrunk to 5 days passed all too quickly and we farewelled Grandma and Grandpa as they left for the airport, and we repacked the trailer and set off for Ningaloo Station. Amanda had been so pleased to see her parents and a few tears were shed when they left.

We will look forward to perhaps meeting them on Heron island towards the end of the year (hint hint)

Categories: Beach, Big Lap, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, West Australia | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Waroora Station

Posted on May 21, 2015 by John Sear

The drive between locations has started to increase and the drive to Waroora Station included a brief pit stop in Carnarvon for restocking of fuel and food. We had a brief lunch by the water next to a kid’s park with an impressive flying fox. Some energy expended in the park means less to vent in the car (in theory anyway).

Waroora Station termite mounds
14 Mile beach sunset
14 Mile Beach sun setting
14 Mile beach camp

When we finally found the Waroora station turn-off it was corrugations for the next 45 minutes or so. Interestingly, Google and Apple maps did not agree on the directions, as Amanda and I didn’t, and some time later we arrived at the wrong campsite! We had heard wonderful things about Maggies but ambiguous signposts lead us to 14 Mile beach. On the way we admired a vista of giant red termite mounds, rising up to 3m skywards scattered across the pastoral landscape.

The grey nomads appeared to be well established there, with all their neatly lined up caravans facing the ocean, many with boats. Flags were hoisted, TV aerials in place, and many seemed to be set for long stays. The camp host directed us down to the “blow in” campsite, ostracised from the main sites, beyond the car turning point. It was exactly what we wanted, away from the rest, with only beach beyond us and metres from the lapping ocean.

It was our chance to try out our own chemical toilet, researched prior on the internet, as you are required to have one, or rent one from the homestead. We were all pleasantly surprised at its success, and with a dump point nearby it passed with flying colours.

The water here was beautifully warm and for the first time the Ningaloo Reef was tempting us, just out of swimming range, maybe half a kilometre out. The intention was an overnight stay but after an early morning walk down the beach revealed a small reef closer to the beach we decide to stay and try it out.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that the flies were at their most revolting here. This is where the flies were so thick we had to eat dinner in the car to control their numbers as we hadn’t bothered using an awning!

The reef was fun, quite small with a bit of a current but we all saw turtles, plenty of fish life and first glimpses of coral. The kids scoured the beaches looking for shells, and built houses in the sand dunes as the sun went down. The sunsets were marvellous, though we still haven’t witnessed a green flash sunset yet.

Interestingly, in July the 99 year leases on the land expire and for the first time the Department of Environment will not be renewing the coastal land. It looks like it will go under National Park management, resulting hopefully in better waste management and proper toilet facilities, rather than the makeshift open site provided by the homestead.

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Beach, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, Natural World, Offroad, Photography, Photos, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

Cape Range National Park

Posted on May 5, 2015 by John Sear

Coral Bay  was a short drive north from Waroora so we had to go and have a look. The caravan parks looked way too crowded for us so we headed out towards Five Finger Reef for a snorkel. The road looked very sandy so we quickly unhitched the trailer in the car park, let down the tyres and headed out. Luckily we did unhitch as the going got pretty soft and we witnessed a couple of bogged cars that managed to get out before they needed our assistance.

Jellyfish invasion
Victim of thoughtless fishermen at Coral Bay
Yardie Creek
Black footed Rock Wallaby
Pilgonaman Gorge
Shrimp Goby
Fifty Toes at Yardie Creek
Juvenile Angelfish
Ningaloo Reef Damselfish

Some mindless fisherman had discarded a partially filleted reef shark on the pristine beach, but once in the water we were treated to beautiful coals and fish, even a dolphin cruised past the beach when we exited. A quad-bike tour roared along the beach and soon we were on our way again. The recent cyclone meant the Yardie Creek river crossing was out of the question so we took the long road back via Exmouth to Cape Range.

Our destination was Osprey Bay, only recently re-opened after refurbishment, about 10km north of Yardie Creek. One of the few places where land fishing was allowed, but also offering coral reef for snorkelling right in front of the campsite. Many hours were spent with the kids looking for lionfish, turtles, crayfish and much more besides. We saw leopard sharks, reef sharks, Hannah and Oscar even came back from a snorkel together boasting that they had patted a friendly turtle! We even had an invasion of jellyfish who came in one morning with the tide.

I explored Pilgonaman Gorge, and saw many black-footed rock wallabies. The walking is hard work and a 4WD is required to get to the gorge entrance. The hike up the gorge at Yardie Creek was easy for all of us and we got to see fruit bats, a western bower bird and dozens of budgerigars. We marvelled at the abilities of the rock wallabies who had scaled the gorge cliff faces.

The nearby site called Oyster Stacks offers great snorkelling between and around 5 oyster coated limestone pinnacles that jut out of the water at low tide. Whilst a little tricky underfoot to get in, a snorkeller is immediately rewarded with rich fish and coral life only metres from the shore.

Turquoise Bay is the next beach up the coast, offering more friendly, albeit less diverse, snorkelling from a sandy shore. Potentially dangerous currents are clearly signposted here so a quick briefing for the kids made it an enjoyable visit. The kids got their first close up of a shark, encountering two white-tip sharks.

Five days in Cape Range flew by, then we got the bad news about a Cyclone that had formed off the coast and was heading towards us. Our new friends, Helen and Matt, who we met at Osprey Bay confessed over dinner that they had a knack of being “drought breakers”. Wherever they go the rains follow.

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, Animal Action, australia, Australian Outback, Beach, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Offroad, Photography, Photos, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shell Beach and Hamelin Pools (Shark Bay)

Posted on May 4, 2015 by John Sear

Returning back down the Shark Bay peninsula there were a couple of spots that we also were keen to see. Amanda had been raving about Shell Beach since we left Sydney, how the beach was several metres deep in shells and how gorgeous the photos looked. It was almost ten metres deep in places, predominantly with salt tolerant fragum clam shells, the water being particularly salty in this part of the bay, but by WA standards the beach was nothing spectacular. We took some obligatory beach shots then moved on pretty quickly.

Hamelin Pool stromatolites
Us at Shell Beach
Shell Beach close up
Having a closer look
Stromatolites
Enjoying the view
Stromatolites in the inter-tidal zone
Amanda at Shell Beach

Next stop was Hamelin Pool, a place I was keen to visit, having seen it in books as a kid, famous for its stromatolites.

Stromatolites are “living rocks”, microbial mat growths that grow very slowly upwards in the inter-tidal regions. At Hamelin the extreme conditions, high salt content of the ocean, heat and UV of the sun at low tide have made it hard for other life forms to survive and compete, allowing the stromatolite columns to grow very slowly over thousands of years.

A boardwalk takes you over the best area, providing optimal viewing. These were more impressive than the ones at Lake Thetis in Cervantes. Whilst they may just look like slimy algae-covered rocks the bacteria that form them are among the oldest lifeforms on Earth and would have been major contributors to the first oxygen in the atmosphere.

From there on to a very spacious beach location at Gladstone to camp, and endure more fly-blown madness. With all the flies we have been putting up the complete awning including walls and this just adds to the time to setup and de-camp, a nuisance when only planning an overnight stay.

 

 

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Francois Peron National Park (Shark Bay)

Posted on May 3, 2015 by John Sear

The nearest town to re-stock fuel and supplies was Denham, though it turned out to be smaller than expected. It is on a well-worn tourist route for travellers heading for the Dolphin Conservation resort at Monkey Mia within Shark Bay. We used the campsite at Big Lagoon, in the Francois Peron National Park, as a base to explore for a few days. We were excited at the prospect of seeing Bilbys, Mallee Fowl and Dugongs in the wild, but they all proved to be very elusive.

 

Dolphins at Monkey Mia
Francois Peron artesian hot tub
Krasker’s tank
Shark at Skipjkack Point
Skipjack Point lookout
Birdlife at Cape Peron
Sunset at Big Lagoon
Shark at Skipjkack Point
Shark at Skipjkack Point
Skipjack Point

After a long day’s drive we got horribly bogged at the campsite looking for the perfect spot. We ended up having to unhitch the trailer to get the car out then winch the trailer out. A bit of extra practice is always good!

The lagoon was surprisingly devoid of fish life but most mornings a solitary dolphin would cruise past the channel before any boats got launched. A couple of eagle rays cruised beneath me as I swam across the channel. The flies had not abated and to keep it interesting there was also a scattering of biting march and sand flies loitering in the Francois Peron National Park.

An afternoon’s excursion took us deeper into the national park on a 4WD track. At the northern tip, Cape Peron we encountered the worst concentration of flies yet making our stop purely long enough to see the cormorant rookery on the beach beneath the cliff. Rather than walk the 1km to Skipjack Point we drove. From there two lookout platforms offer fantastic vantage points to view sharks, turtles, dolphins, and sometimes dugongs. We saw all but the latter.

On the return we checked out the beaches at Bottle Bay, The Gregories, and South Gregory, all beautiful and great campsites, then on the east coast at Harold Bight the free camp looked very quiet but the sand was also very soft and deep.

We enjoyed Skipjack Point so much we returned the next day for more shark spotting and were not disappointed. We also saw a giant shovelnose ray in the shallows and an eagle ray treated us to an aerial acrobatic display, leaping clear of the water repeatedly. We fished at The Gregories on the way back and caught dinner (whiting and a 34cm yellowfin bream). We also visited Krasker’s Tank and learnt about the unfortunate one-legged entrepreneur, Leon Krasker, who perished trying to get to the water tank in the middle of the arid landscape. On one of his weekly 70km trips from Denham to Harold Bight, in1916, to buy pearls and collect mail, his horse, Battler, threw him, breaking his good leg (the other was made from cork). Before  he died he documented what had happened.

A visit to snorkel Little Lagoon was followed by a look at the mangrove outlet. Supposedly full of stonefish this is the place to snorkel as the main lagoon itself was surprisingly devoid of much life.

We caught squid from Denham jetty one night (well Hannah did) and visited the artesian bore hot tub at the old homestead in the park. This 40 degree tub is a must visit place but takes time to get in!

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, Animal Action, australia, Australian Outback, Beach, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, National Park, Natural World, Offroad, Photography, Photos, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Steep Point – Most westerly point of the mainland

Posted on May 1, 2015 by John Sear

A long dusty unsealed road took us from Wooleen Station back towards the coast.

Almost six months into our trip and over 23,000km later we finally arrived in the proposed Edel Land National Park with our sights set on completing the second compass point challenge from our good friends Pete and Zoe. The first one to South Point had been a gruelling two day, 40km hike for the kids, but this looked like a straightforward 35km drive from the unsealed road turnoff. Sure it said 4WD but we’ve had a bit of experience by now. We looked for a campsite around the Zuytdorp Cliffs (named after the Dutch ship that sank nearby in 1712), near False Entrance, found a lot of sand, enjoyed the blowholes, but then decided to go straight for the campsite at Steep Point.

The western most point of Australia, Steep Point
Fishing at the Oven/Faultline
Driving in
Sunset at Shelter Bay
Steep Point

Fifty Toes voted the track the “most corrugated and bumpy ride” ever. Then we turned off at the wrong house (1km before the ranger’s house) got stuck, lost two mudflaps reversing back, and found out from the ranger that all campsites were full and needed to be booked in advance. Given that it was after 5pm they found us a single spot that was available for one night only. An osprey nest sits perched atop a communications tower 50m from the rangers house. Swallows were flying through the house and the kids spotted a mouse running around inside, clearly a common occurrence as the ranger enquired whether the mouse was the “fat one”.

Shelter Bay was aptly named and we settled in for a calm pink sunset, looking out towards Dirk Hartog Island to the north east.

Rising early the next morning we headed straight to Steep Point. The visitors book was signed, photos taken as proof, then we drove down to the nearby camp at the Oven / Faultline where hard-core fishermen camp on the cliffs. This is one of the best land-based fishing spots in Australia, particularly for Spanish Mackerel. Lures are carried out on prevailing winds by balloons filled with helium. If a big fish is caught it needs to be hauled up the cliff and the fishermen have plenty of ropes and devices to do this. Brown helium cylinders, generators, fishing rods and swags were scattered around the craggy limestone cliffs, looking like a great venue for a lad’s trip, but less so for a family friendly vacation.

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Car, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, National Park, Natural World, Offroad, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kalbarri National Park and surroundings

Posted on April 20, 2015 by John Sear

Murchison House Station borders Kalbarri National Park making our exploration easy. On our first day plan was hindered due to flooding of the river preventing access to Nature’s Window, so we drove along the coast to see the Natural Arch, Island Rock, Mushroom Rock, Rainbow Valley, Red Bluff and Eagle Gorge.

 

Natures Window
Ross Graham
HawksHead
Our walk ended here
Standing in the Pink Lake
Kalbarri coastline
Natures Window
Natural Arch
Island Rock, Kalbarri
Loop walk by the Murchison river
Pink Lake, Port Gregory
Thorny Devil
Did I mention the flies?
Ross Graham
Murchison River in flood
Thorny Devil
Kalbarri NP flower

On the side of the road to one of the sites we found the cutest Thorny Devil which made Amanda’s day. The coastline is stunning and the geology changes frequently, presenting different rock formations, and colours all within a short stroll from the car park.

Another excursion saw us driving back to Port Gregory to revisit the Pink Lake there. The Pink Lake in Esperance hadn’t been pink and driving past Port Gregory the first time it hadn’t looked much better. Assured that it wouldn’t disappoint in the sunlight we picked the day and wow was it pink (especially with polaroid glasses on).

The Blue Holes just outside Kalbarri provided an opportunity to get some snorkelling in and despite the small area it was full of sweetlips, cod, mullet, small crayfish, nudibranchs and heaps more. The funniest thing I ever saw were the people sunbathing in bikinis with fly nets over their head. I wish I’d taken a photo! Did I mention the amount of bushflies around now. Between the march flies (slowbiters), bushflies(just pesky), mossies (discrete biters) and now sandflies (small sharp biters) our patience is really being tested.

When the road re-opened we made an early start to capture Natures Window before the hordes arrived, and there were hordes by the time we returned from The Loop walk. The Loop walk stopped abruptly by the river where the trail sign pointed into the river (see photo). Z Bends provided an outlook over the river and a walk took us down a shaded chasm to the water. People abseiled down the cliff face as we wandered past.

Hawks Head juts out above the river valley at another site, but for me Ross Graham was possibly the most photogenic, after Natures Window. The National Park was stunningly beautiful and hard to do justice through a camera lens, but well worth at least a couple of days exploring.

 

Categories: Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Photography, Photos, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Pinnacles, Nambung National Park

Posted on April 15, 2015 by John Sear

We left Perth late as there were a few last minute errands that had to be run, but the Pinnacles were still targeted for a visit. We arrived in Nambung National Park late in the afternoon and it was horribly overcast so the light was not optimal for photography, but the park is stunning. The rock pinnacles appear to be growing from the desert floor, and are the product of an unusual geological process that started with submersion of forests in sand, conversion into limestone over the millennia, and subsequent erosion of surrounding sand over more millennia has left the petrified sentinels littered across the landscape as it is today. The park has walking trail and drive, but you are free to explore on foot so long as you don’t climb the rocks. We walked and drove around twice and reluctantly left as darkness arrived. The flies were revolting, even immune to our special cedar and rosemary cream (that worked fine until now), taking delight in sticking to our faces, shirts, shorts, basically everywhere.

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We still had 50km drive to the campsite at Sandy Cape, just north of Jurien Bay. Camp went up and the flies descended on us. Apparently they had only arrived the day before. We put our light on and then super-sized flying “bulldog” ants descended, so we beat a hasty retreat to the trailer for the night.

Next morning, more rain and flies, so the full awning was put up. We revisited the Pinnacles once more, headed into Cervantes, then Jurien Bay for fish and chips.

Stockyard Gully Caves are one of the few free entry caves in the area accessed by 4WD track and the next morning we left early armed with torches and raincoats. From the carpark a pleasant 300m walk down the dry (despite the rain) river bed brought us to the first cave. A powerful torch is required as it is pitch black and approximately 100m long. It emerges at a rockpile which we climbed down and walked on to the next two caves. The last one has no exit and is home to a colony of bats so access is discouraged. All of the entrances to the caves are adorned with large beehives, and the hum of bees as you approach is very discernible, making the kids a bit uneasy. We pressed on uneventfully and had a very enjoyable morning’s exploration there. No flies in the caves either!

On our way home some Geocaching took us to some marvellous beaches and lookouts in and around Green Head. The water was perfectly calm and our camp host informed us on our return that there was a storm coming with potential windspeeds of 100km/h. Whilst a lot of rain and wind followed the worst of it blew south of us and we prepared to venture further north.

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Inspiration, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Photography, Photos, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Perth- a very brief visit

Posted on April 14, 2015 by John Sear

As well as servicing the car and trailer we spent some time exploring a few spots in Perth. Amanda’s school friend Justine and other half Steve kindly offered to put Fifty Toes up in their house so for us this was a luxurious treat.

First stop was a visit to Point Walter on the Swan river where we were lucky enough to see a small pod of dolphins cruising slowly back towards the ocean. The kids swam and then fished off the jetty with tackle they had found and extracted from amongst the pylons and wooden boards. A few toadfish was all they could catch but their squeals of delight were a pleasant change from the fighting squeals we often get in the car.

Mr Spin!
Kings Park flora
Justine,Steve and boys
King Skink, Rottnest Island
Black Swan, Swan river !
Fishing at Point Walker
Rottnest Island Lighthouse
Little Parakeet Bay
Xavier befriending a quokka
Boabtree, Kings Park
Hannah and quokka
Oscar watching a quokka
Rottnest Island Quokka

I took the boys to SciTech where three hours just evaporated as we immersed ourselves into a really hands-on scientific experience. The boys favourite was the slime show, but we watched the planetarium show as well, and spent most of the time playing with things like gyroscopes, plasma balls, speed radars (for the record I threw a tennis ball at 100km/h), and much much more. it was so engrossing I forgot to even take any photos. Great value and well worth a visit for all ages up to teens and beyond.

We spent some time in Fremantle too. One of Xavier’s best friend’s family flew in from Sydney and we explored the markets that have everything from fresh tropical fruit and vegetables to indian headdresses! Fish and chips is a local institution so we sat on a boat in the harbour and listened to the live music as we ate our lunch.

Then we had to visit Rottnest Island. An early start saw us boarding the ferry at 7.30am and queueing to hire bikes by 8.10 on the island. First stop, Little Parakeet bay for some snorkelling, then off on our bikes again. Quokkas are the endemic marsupials of the island and we found heaps of the tame little creatures everywhere. Their cute faces and endearing nature could not be missed resulting in many stops along the way.

Oscar, though, was the only one with the willpower to make it all around the island on his tiny single gear bike, once again showing us his enthusiasm on two wheels. Whilst the others turned around half way the two of us got to the western end of the island where we saw the seal colony, king skinks, and even another dugite that I nearly trod on.

That night, we enjoyed dinner with Justine and Steve in Fremantle and saw some of the street theatre festival that was on for Easter. Mr Spin span out his show for too long but his final stunt was good, juggling with a glass of water balanced on his forehead whilst riding a 7 foot high unicycle!

Time was fast running out but we had time to visit Kings Park, commanding glorious views over the city CBD and the Swan river, amazing botanical gardens, and catch up with two new sets of friends from Cape Le Grand.

Dale and Mel had invited us over for a barbeque which was a lovely opportunity to catch up while all the kids paired off again and went wild in their swimming pool.

Ian and Jackie had pretty much been feeding everyone at the Cape Le Grand campsite and after having us over for dinner one night, insisted we stayed with them before leaving Perth so after farewelling Justine and Steve we visited them again just as the weather started to deteriorate again. We’re hoping they join us on the Gibb River road in a month or so!

 

Categories: Adventure, Animal Action, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Natural World, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

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