August 21st
Quite a long day of driving today, all on bitumen and
nothing much to see. There certainly is a lot of nothing in the WA’s
north-west. Our plan was to get to the Cape Range National Park to bush camp on
the coast however, the more we researched about the area, the more it became
apparent that the securing of a camp site was a much more complicated
arrangement than simply rocking up and finding a spot we liked. You can only
book a few of the camp sites in the National Park online and the rest are dealt
out by the Ranger every morning. By mid-morning all the spots are gone. Given that
we weren’t going to arrive in Exmouth till about 3.30pm, there was no
possibility of getting into the park tonight.
Advice from the Visitor’s Centre was to stay at the caravan
park closest to the Ranger Station and get up to be at the Ranger Station early
in the hope of getting a spot. Interesting plan but what the heck.
We stopped in at Exmouth to stock up on groceries. We were
here probably about 8 years ago to swim with the Whale Sharks and it was a
small, dingy little place with not much going for it. Times have changed and
the place is now quite a vibrant little community.
We then headed to the Yardie
Homestead Caravan Park for the evening. It was really windy and the camping
area for tents left a bit to be desired so we got a room instead in the old
refurbished shearer’s quarters and enjoyed a barbecue dinner.
Camping at Cape Range
August 22nd
- August 26th
So we set our alarm for 6am and were on the road by 6.15am.
8km to the Ranger Station and when we arrived we were the third car in line!
Amused ourselves until the Ranger arrived at 8am and by then there were about
10 cars in line. All the campsites informed the Ranger of vacant camping spots
via radio and by 8.15am we had been assigned Ned’s Camp and had an hour to get
there or we would lose our spot. Weird system but it seems to work.
Arrived at Ned’s Camp and were greeted by the camp hosts* (Kate
and Chris from Yamba in NSW) and shown to our spot. Perfect!! The camping area
only had about 12 spots in all and our spot was right away from everyone else
complete with our own shady tree and sheltered by the sand dunes (which was
just as well as it was blowing a gale). We paid for just one night and set up
then went exploring in the car.
*What is a camp host? Volunteer travellers who manage the camp
sites and the daily comings and goings of travellers so the Rangers can go
about their real job of maintain the National Park. Kate and Chris had been
camping at Ned’s like us and were asked if they wanted to stay on for a month
and be the hosts. They weren’t on any tight schedule so thought it was a good
idea. Win-win – the Park had someone to look after Ned’s and after the 8am call
through of vacant sites, Chris and Kate were free to relax and ‘go fishing’! We
were pleased with that as they gave us some fish for dinner after one of their
daily fishing outings. Something we might consider doing one day.
Cape Range National Park is situated on the west side of the
north-west cape and is made up of 60km of pristine beaches, limestone ranges
and deep canyons and is home to a large variety of flora and fauna. The
wildflowers here are quite spectacular and we saw loads of kangaroos, emus,
birds and lizards. The NP also offers easy access to Ningaloo Marine Park which
is part of the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area and provides wonderful
snorkelling experiences right off the shore.
We drove to Yardie Creek at the southern-most end of the
park and then beach hopped all the way back to Ned’s. Each beach and bay is
unique in some way and all gloriously beautiful. We decided that our camp spot
was the pick of the ones along the way. Back at camp we found that our
neighbours are very friendly and personable (especially after we shared our freshly baked scones, jam and cream!!) and there is a really congenial
feel to the place. We settled in nicely, had an afternoon nap after our early
morning and watched the sun set over the beach.
One night just really wasn’t going to be long enough to stay
at this wonderful spot so before 8am the next morning we let our camp hosts
know we were staying another night and spent the day swimming, snorkelling in
the Drift Loop at Turquoise Bay and at Lakeside (it is just like snorkelling in
an aquarium here – sooooooo many fish to see along with beautiful coral and
even a shark), spotting turtles, reading, fishing and just generally chilling
out.
We were under a spell now and three more days turned out the
same way – “Yes Kate and Chris, we are definitely leaving tomorrow” then a mad
run to pay for an extra night before 8am the next morning.
Our days – swim, snorkel, fish, sleep,eat, read – REPEAT!!
One great thing about Ned’s was the impromptu ‘happy hour’
that just seemed to happen the first night we arrived and continued. Each night
around 5pm a few people would start bringing their camp chairs and a drink or
two to a spot with a fantastic view of the beach, the ocean and the sunset.
More people would join the group and each day new arrivals caught onto the
little ritual and came along too. Everyone was friendly and keen to share their
travelling adventures, thoughts on the best places to fish and what wonderful
sea life they had spotted that day. Stephen thrilled the oldies of the group
(and some of the younger crowd) with a drone flight one night and everyone
wants him to email them the photos the drone took. Stephen also got talking
about his other technological gadgets that are accompanying us on the trip and
before we knew it, we were hosting an outdoor movie night on the last evening
of our stay. He set the projector and screen up in a communal area of the camp
and about 16 people brought their chairs and blankets to watch the 7.30pm
screening of ‘American Sniper’. Everyone (including Stephen) was very chuffed.
Drone Shot
Drone Shot
The only negative experience of our time at Ned’s was something
I witnessed early one morning. I was doing a run along the road. The run had
taken me into the car park of the Visitor’s Centre and I was coming back out to
the road to head back to camp when I saw a huge caravan directly hit a
kangaroo. They just keep barrelling along oblivious to the poor injured
kangaroo trying to hop into the bush and struggling with what seemed to be a broken
leg and obviously massive internal injuries. It hopped to the side of the road
and lay down. The poor thing was in such pain. It let me come up and stroke it
and check that it didn’t have a joey but there was absolutely nothing I could
do to help it and I just stayed with it till it closed its eyes. I was
incredibly shaken by the whole experience. Kangaroos get hit every day (they
are such silly things and often hop right in front of your car) but to have
actually seen the impact and the aftermath and to know the people responsible
didn’t even stop was very distressing. Once back at camp, I let Chris and Kate
know what had happened and they got the Ranger on the radio to let them know.
The Ranger got back to them later to tell them that the kangaroo had died so it
wasn’t in any prolonged pain and to confirm it didn’t have a joey. Not such a
good start to the day.
All good things must come to an end and after five nights at
Ned’s we reluctantly let 8am pass without paying for another night and broke
camp. A lot of the ‘regulars’ were also leaving today so perhaps it wasn’t
going to be the same anyway…… a great holiday within our holiday and a
beautiful place we would certainly recommend to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment