Coral bay to Carnarvon

Coral Bay is a 2 horse town, but those 2 horses are Pharlap and Black Caviar. It sits on the south end of Ningaloo Reef which is the big attraction. Our trailer is set up about 200m from the bay where coral sits only 20m from the shoreline. Large fish swim around your ankles and stingrays cruise the shallows. 

Tour operators offer whale watching and snorkelling with turtles, dolphins and dugongs but the snorkelling close in is outstanding. 5 nights here feels like Christmas. The sun packs a punch but there is a breeze which picks up in the afternoon for a cool evening.

Showers here are welcome relief even when the water gushes from the tap warm and salty. I don’t think I would ever get used to the strange sensation of rinsing with salt water after brushing my teeth. Kael and I looked on in disbelief in the men’s shower block as a German woman marched in saying: “Ze wimens showver is occupied unt I cannot be vaiting”. My mum always told me never to argue with a determined German.

Stopping in Exmouth on our way to the National Park we spent the afternoon at Bundegi beach inside the Exmouth Gulf. It was magical weather as we fished from the jetty. Big schools of Mullet and Buff Bream did laps of the beach with Long Toms cruising the surface. 

With my snorkel I spotted plenty of bream and trevally around the jetty so we cast out with little hooks. Everyone caught a fish, even Naomi’s spool of discarded fishing line hooked a bream.

Cape Range National Park covers the western side of the North West Cape. The park is long with campsites and beach access to Ningaloo reef. This is the same reef as Coral Bay with waves breaking about a kilometre off shore leaving the beaches sheltered. It is a windy time of year with southerly winds buffeting our tent most of the time. Breakfast overlooking the reef is calm, but the wind has been chopping up the surface by lunch time.

Camping by the ocean presented the opportunity to spot turtles cruising close in. As the family yelled instructions, I set off after a big Loggerhead. He was in no mood to chat but I caught up and Kael and I successfully encountered a Green Turtle. When the wind blew a little too strong for swimming Kael and I cast out some bait at some Long Toms we spotted near camp. After catching a couple of the long toothy critters we each hooked a bigger beast. Kael landed a Shovelnose Shark and I hooked a similar beast only much bigger. This thing was as long as me and I spent 20 minutes bring him closer until he cut himself loose.

Tourquoise Bay is aptly named and provides a sheltered bay and a snorkelling drift over some beautiful coral. I can’t get over how nice the reef is right at our fingertips. Around the corner at Lakeside campground the deeper water held some schools of big GT, Mackerel and Herring and reef shark.  

On our last morning, disaster struck as Naomi tore her middle toenail right off. Chasing Kael through the dunes barefoot, she encountered a sharp rock and Ouch! She is the toughest little rooster in our chook house. She is back on her feet, no fuss.

From the Lighthouse North of Exmouth you can spot the Humpbacks as they leave the sheltered harbour on their long migration south. The Gulf provides a resting place for the 11000 who are bound for the Southern Ocean.

WA is so vast and so sparsely populated (even on the coast). The gaps between towns are huge and a typical response on arrival being: “is this it?” But this is the state where the desert rolls into sand dunes. You can be on the east side of a hill and have no idea that the Indian ocean lies on the other side. 

We are camped at Quobba Station on the steep stretch of coastline north of Carnarvon. The deep water below the cliffs make it a mecca for fisherman who want to catch big Game fish from the land. Big live baits are sent out under balloons with the aim of hooking a big Mackeral or Tuna. Getting the fish in before a shark dines out is the first obstacle, then hauling the catch up the cliff is the second. I will be looking for something smaller if given half a chance.

It is a wild old place with snakes, lizards and rabbits populating the dunes. 

A morning fishing the Quobba rocks was overshadowed by some Humpback spotting as Before Kael and I cast out our first bait a mother and baby came close in to the shore. As much as I love fishing, the sight of a Humpback breeching close by trumps most fishing trips. Big schools of fish were spotted out wide but managed to hook some big Long Tom and 7 Spotted Dart for the table. This Quobba coastline is an awesome sight.

The swell picked up as we left making the Quobba blowholes quite an impressive sight. Everyone likes a blowhole.

Carnarvon is banana country and Perth’s food bowl. It is not remarkable for many other reasons save the 1 mile jetty. Naomi sharpened her casting skills and managed to hook a baby bream on the sand flats. The Beave wrestled with a monster from the deep and a little flathead became dinner.

Later on, I took the opportunity for a sneaky caravan park oil change while the kids played in the pool. Squirting 1.4L of oil into the front diff with a 25ml medical thermometer made for a fun afternoon. I'm sure that's how they do it at the garage, right?

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Port Hedland to Karijini

Road trains are the dominant species on Pilbara roads. It seems that they can’t get the dirt out quick enough when the price of ore is at record highs. Our first taste of the region known as the Pilbara came with a scenic drive south from Hedland. It is beauty; raw and rugged. 

A stark landscape distinct from the sandy desert which presses up to the beaches south of Broome like one continuous sand dune. Vast plains of spinifex, scattered gums and layers of exposed red rock. Picking up the dark tiles of red rock which form the hills and cliffs is like holding the bottom of a thick based saucepan. There’s plenty of iron here. Naomi named a messy collection of big red rock spheres “The Devil’s Dog Biscuits”.

Reaching a lookout showcasing the rocky pass just travelled, our progress was halted by the sight of worrying oil leak. It was poor timing having farewelled Tim the Mechanic but 24 hours previously. It forced a premature stop at Auski Roadhouse for a closer inspection. The Aussie roadhouse tends to be a bit of an each way bet, offering fuel, food, booze and questionable accommodation. This one was particularly noisy and full of roads department contractors. With no clear cause of our leak we slept to a soundtrack of road trains, resigned to backtrack to Hedland.

Driving a car that may be about to breakdown is not my favourite pastime. It certainly takes the gloss off the scenery and we have plenty of scenery ahead. Tim was happy to check the car over, and with his “all clear” we were back on the road.

Karijini is a well placed detour from the industrial heart of the Pilbara coastline. It is famous for a series of gorges set in the typically arid Pilbara savannah. These gorges come out of nowhere. They are deep cuttings that give the impression that the ground has just opened up.

Each gorge has a modest flow of spring water with falls and pools. Camping at Dales Gorge, we made day trips deeper into the park for walks in Weano, Joffre and Kalamina Gorges.

Waeno Gorge proved to be quite an adventure with water crossings and increasingly difficult passes. One section involves negotiating a rock ledge and climbing down the rock face. Lissa can’t get enough of this kind of stuff. She lives life on the edge.

Naomi, Eva and I fed a few spinifex seeds to the Spinifex Pidgeons while Kael walked Dales Gorge with his Mum.

We had the jade pools of Joffre Gorge to ourselves. Kael practiced the sweet science of rock skimming. Unlimited smooth, flat stones and still water allowed him to shatter the family record.

Karijini has proved to be a real highlight with its mix of amazing lookouts and gorge walks.

Tonight Eva decided she needed to return to the toilet just when she had stripped down ready for PJs. She had just made the trip with Lissa and now it was my turn to accompany her to the longdrop. Nothing on but the torch, she marched up and back staring at the stars. That’s my girl.

Speaking of proud moments, Naomi caught her first real lizard. After a few failed lunges coming up empty handed, she stood up with the little dragon in her little hand. That’s my girl.

Exiting Karijini the rocks glow on the road side reminding us of the main industry in the Pilbara: Rock Farming. Tom Price is one of the biggest Iron Ore mines with a town built to service the workers. It boasts “the perfect climate”, but we were more interested in the Supermarket. 

A free camp at a roadside stop bridged the gap back to the coast. Karijini was easily the dirtiest 5 days we have had. Swimming helps and improvised camp showers make a difference but there is no escape from the fine dust of the Pilbara.

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