West Australia

Shell Beach and Hamelin Pools (Shark Bay)

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.

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)

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.

 

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!

 

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Bushflies

Firstly, this blog comes with a warning. There is some detail that may induce nausea with those of a delicate disposition.

 

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The bad news is that the flies have finally got under our skin. Not literally, thank goodness, but close as they are crawling into our ears, and they love squeezing their bodies into the corners of our eyes, nice and snug, so that legs get left behind when you wipe them out. A fly rapidly making its way into your ear is alarming enough but when several of them attempt to do so simultaneously it becomes quite distressing. Worse still the amplified crunch that results when your finger finally denies them further access. All of us have also experienced the doubled over coughing and spitting fit that brings tears to the eyes as we try to dislodge a tracheal intruder.

Any cuts will be swarmed with voracious flies within seconds of exposure to the open air leading one to wear new fashion accessories that we have christened “fly rings”. Poor Amanda, at times, felt like  her skin was crawling.

We all have fly nets, though mine (an SA model) appears to only filter out the big blowflies and not the recent wave of smaller bushflies that have arrived in their swarms.

It started just after the cyclone just prior to Easter. At the Pinnacles we were initiated into the outback fly plague. At Sandy Cape they got a little more persistent. From then on they have been consistently bad, the locals even conceding that this is the worst and most prolonged that they can remember.

I’m jumping ahead of my blogs but at Cape Peron it became unbearable with Fifty Toes constantly running back to the car where we could control their numbers. Uncomfortable yes, but  one  evening camped on the beach at Waroora Station, a few days later, we didn’t bother with the awning. The weather was beautiful and yes, there were plenty of flies, but by now we are used to having at least a dozen flies crawling over our faces at any one  time, crawling across  your lips, in the eyes and seeking entry into ears, whilst having a conversation with someone. We have all perfected our own personalised versions of the “Australian Wave” but as soon as the dinner was served into bowls, wave after wave of kamikaze bushflies plummeted into the sauce. For each one that was  scraped out with a knife or finger,  three more had sacrificed themselves. We tried in vain to eat from our bowls under our fly nets. I gave up, figuring that the additional protein would add an interesting crunchy texture. When the crunchiness became the dominant texture, revulsion got the better of us all and in unison we dashed for the car again, cranked up the aircon and ate dinner in the car.

As we sit out Cyclone Quang, we are optimistic that the winds will have sorted the flies out. In recent days we have laughed at people wearing fly nets because we no longer need to wear them. Words can only begin to describe what it has been like but to conclude on a positive note if you ever see me chuckling to myself I am probably remembering the sight of the ladies in bikinis sunbaking on Kalbarri beach with fly nets on their heads, or the canine in Carnarvon walking around wearing one.

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Steep Point – Most westerly point of the mainland

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.

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.

 

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Wooleen Station

We decided to visit Wooleen Station as recent heavy rainfall would have filled up Lake Wooleen and hopefully attracted lots of birdlife. A relatively short trip of a couple of hundred kilometres turned into an all-day marathon as most of the Murchison river crossings were still closed. We just managed a bridge crossing overtaking two large trucks transporting school classrooms, that did not look like they would make it without taking out the historical bridge. The river causeway looked like their only option. One more crossing of the Murchison and we were into Wooleen, a property with 250,000 acres of pastoral grazing. Over the last hundred or so years overgrazing has damaged the land and current owners, David and Francis have embarked on a bold plan to restore the land. It’s a very ambitious project as the government expects pastoralists to look after the land, and not grazing means no income for them. A permit is required to not graze and it took a year for a permit to be granted. The last two years required them to graze for income, but drought made it hard. When their cattle were finally sold it rained, 160mm in a few days, the average annual rainfall for the area.

They are trying to embrace eco-tourism as a means to supplement income, promoting bush tucker walking trails, cycle tracks, bird  watching, sunset tours and camping. There are a number of interesting sites on the property, particularly the Bowerbird Museum that houses old farming artefacts.

We were the only people there, camping on the banks of the river 14km from the homestead. The supposed “Best Dunny in WA” was regrettably a disappointment. We liked the floorboards, mirror, wooden seat, lime and hand sanitiser, but that’s as far as it went. The flies must have been missing company, and once again the black buzzing cloud descended as the car doors opened.

The main lake was a dirty brown colour having been recently replenished from the surrounding catchment area. Driving to one of the smaller waterholes the track submerged, and after the two girls abandoned ship, the boys proceeded, watching the water level rise up the side of the car. Just as the wheels started to lose traction, and alarms started going off, the track started elevating and we emerged unscathed on the other side (without photos!). The track into the waterhole beyond proved to be a very slippery mud-bath and with no trees nearby to winch ourselves out we chose not to proceed further.

Another track took us to a beautiful swimming hole in the river where forty toes made no hesitation in cooling off in the heat. We returned with an inflatable board (thanks Rob and Chris) the next day for more larking around.

During our stay we did find a few new birds, including the gull-billed terns on the lake, plenty of black swans, galahs, bourke’s parrots, zebra finches in abundance and many more.

A very brief stop but worth the effort. It would be interesting to return in a few years to see how the land transformation has progressed.

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Kalbarri National Park and surroundings

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.

 

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.

 

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Murchison House Station

Murchison House Station was founded in 1858 by Charles von Bibra to provide meat and wheat to lead miners at Galena, beef to the growing Perth market and remount horses to the British army in India. The original homestead “von Bibra’s cottage” was built by Charles von Bibra with convict labourers in 1858. Using local materials it was constructed from Tumblagouda sandstone and mud bricks. The original shearing shed also dates back to the 1860’s. In its heyday up to 35,000 sheep would be brought to this shed for shearing. Features inside include the extensive use of Oregon pine and the 100 year old wool press and wool classing table.

Located only a few kilometres from Kalbarri it served as our base for a few days while exploring the area. Unfortunately for us the recent rains had caused the river Murchison to flood and access to the opposite side of the river was closed. Due to school holidays there were plenty of kids around of similar ages to ours. Many hours were spent in the goat shed, then rounding them up again when Oscar accidentally let them out.

Then the home-made billycart was dragged from a shed and more hours spent riding around the courtyard. Evenings were spent around the campfire. It was nice to be able to have one after such a long time and those marshmallows tasted particularly good after the wait. Did I mention the bushflies? Oh and the snake Hannah found at night that looks suspiciously like a western brown. Can anyone confirm its identification for us?

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Hutt River Province

On April 25th this year a big celebration will commence for the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Hutt River Province. Following a dispute with the government over wheat quotas Leonard George Casley created an independent sovereign state in Hutt River on April 21st 1970, to avoid imminent legislation. Hutt River Province is approximately the size of Hong Kong and has its own stamps, money and has representatives across many countries worldwide. We were greeted by a spritely 89 year old Leonard himself who ushered us into the chapel where one of his “Prince” sons gave us a tour of the artwork, prince and princess thrones before handing us back to His Royal Highness Leonard to talk a little about his collection of artefacts and the influence the province has had worldwide. Due to the David and Goliath nature of the Province it has attracted much interest worldwide over the years and many countries have donated gifts, or sought interactions in one way or another that has resulted in a very interesting collection. HRH Leonard relishes in spinning a yarn and wasn’t afraid to drop a name or two in the process. There were references to Prince Charles (he has one of his artworks), King Juan Carlos of Spain, and many more.

HRH Leonard has a keen interest in Art and Science. The chapel has religious themed paintings, the characters being modelled on actual people, all of which is explained on the tour. He has also written some very mathematically based papers on life forces and natural constants, with one area devoted to highlight this.

Full details can be found on their site http://www.principality-hutt-river.com/

 

We had a fabulous time here. It is impossible to do it justice with a short blog so Fifty Toes just recommends you visit!

 

 

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The Pinnacles, Nambung National Park

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.

 

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Perth- a very brief visit

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.

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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