Carmel Cider . Geraldton . Kalbarri . Shark Bay . Steep Point . Dirk Hartog Island . Monkey Mia . Winderabandi . Exmouth
Perentie Wandering May 2022
Day 85, Sunday the 1st of May, 2022
Today we caught up with our friends Dave and Suzanne. Due to covid, we had not caught up for a few years, so we had really been looking forward to this day. We enjoyed a BBQ at their house. Great food and great company, thank you Dave and Suzanne for your hospitality, hopefully it won’t be as long before we catch up again.
Day 86, Monday the 2nd of May, 2022
We are still at Carmel Cider and woke this morning to find a mist over the orchard, I took this photo and thought I would share it.
Day 90, Friday the 6th of May, 2022
This week we said goodbye to new friends we met here at Carmel Cider. Grace and Tom left on Wednesday and Amelia leaves tomorrow. Grace, Tom and Amelia were all here when we arrived and made us feel very welcome, we were all waiting on various things to be able to leave. We shared stories, meals, evenings around the fire and partied together at the Cidery events. We are sorry to see them go, but happy that they are finally on their way again. We are sure we will see you again somewhere along the way, keep safe and thank you for your friendship.
Today I finally was able to take some photo’s of the red tailed black cockatoos, they had been flying overhead the whole time we have been here, but never rested long enough for me to take photo’s, except for today of course.
Day 91, Saturday the 7th of May, 2022
Another easy day at Carmel Cider, Bob is busy putting the front axle back together as we received the repaired diff yesterday. I am just walking around taking a few more pictures as we will leave soon.
Day 92, Sunday the 8th of May, 2022
Today is Mothers day. Happy Mothers day to all the Mums out there and especially to my Mum, missing spending time with you today. I hope you all have a wonderful day. To my kids, I am also missing spending the day with you.
Day 94, Tuesday the 10th of May, 2022
Today we said goodbye to Dave and Andrew and left Carmel Cider to continue our adventure. It has been lovely being able to stay in such a lovely place, meeting such lovely people whilst we had our repairs done, but we are itching to move on and see more of this wonderful land.
First place we stopped along the way was a little town called Two Rocks, a couple of hours out of Perth.
After Two Rocks, we visited Lancelin.
We booked our campsite at Wanagarren Campsite, about 40 km up from Lancelin. It is a national park with 15 remote campsites catering only for 4 wheel drive vehicles with high clearance. No caravans or trailers are allowed because the road to each of these campsites is very challenging, caravans or trailers would not make it.
The road in was definitely challenging with deep sand and sand washed away, but the campsite is paradise. Absolute beachfront, with our own private beach, sand dunes all around us. We liked it so much we decided to booked the next night as well.
Day 95, Wednesday the 11th May, 2022
We woke to a cloudy morning at Wanagarren camp, but it was still warm. We chilled for most of the morning then walked up the beach. The sand was very white and so fine it was like powder between your toes. Bob said he saw a seal in the water, and we saw Dingo tracks in the sand around our campsite. We had a campfire in the evening, but the rain started and we had to go inside.
Day 96, Thursday 12th May, 2022
We woke to a cold, grey and rainy day. We packed up the campsite and headed off. Regardless of the rain and grey clouds, the beach still looked choppy but beautiful
Just up the road from Wanagarren, is the Pinacles Desert. This is well worth the visit and the $15 entry fee even though it was constantly raining. The landscape is amazing, hundreds of limestone pillars, saffron yellow sand, it looked like an alien landscape.
The traditional people of the land, the Noongar people, called this place “Werinitj Devil Place”, because of sinking sands. They told their young men not to travel in this area, but some did not listen, the sands took them and the pinacles are their fingers trying to grasp hold of something to try to drag themselves out of the sand.
Scientists are still unsure how the pinacles came about, but there are 2 theory’s:
- They are petrified ancient trees
- They are the remains of a sand dune layer which is rich with plant roots
Day 97, Friday the 13th May, 2022
The day started off cloudy and rainy, but cleared and the sun finally came out late morning.
We had a very quick look around Geraldton as we topped up our fresh food, filled up our fuel tank and voted. The next week we would not have access to any of the above, so we had to be prepared. Then we continued on our way
From Geraldton we travelled towards Kalbarri, the landscape was not what we expected, it was mainly lush green farmland, not sure what we expected but not that.
As we approached Kalbarri, we moved closer to the shoreline, we drove past the Port Greg pink lakes, the landscape changed to more cliff face as we approached Kalbarri.
We stopped to look at Eagle Gorge.
Then we stopped at Rainbow Valley, not sure why it is called Rainbow Valley, the intricate limestone was very pretty.
Kalbarri is a pretty little town, good infrastructure, geared towards tourism, lots of holiday homes. Beautiful shoreline and surrounding Kalbarri National park, lots to do here if you stay for a while.
We are spending the night at a little free campground called Galena Bridge North Camp ground, about 90 km out of Kalbarri, back off the NW Coastal Highway, going north. The campground is right on a lake fed by the Murchison River. It is very quiet despite being near the main road, and obviously very popular as there are lots of travellers here, but it is big enough that we still have our privacy. It is late when we arrive and the sun is setting.
Day 98, Saturday the 14th May, 2022
Today we drove to the Overlander Roadhouse just up from Kalbarri. We needed a stop over before we travelled to Shark Bay. The road to shark bay is challenging and we would need a whole day to get there.
Day 99, Sunday the 15th May, 2022
We left the Overlander Roadhouse early and started our trip to Shark bay. The road to Shelter bay is challenging and only suitable for 4WD’s with high clearance and low range.
Once we got to Shelter Bay, we found our campsite and then decided to to do a side trip to Steep Point, this is the most westerly point of mainland Australia. The scenery on the drive over was spectacular
Our campsite for the night was another version of paradise, camped right on a beautiful white sandy beach with crystal clear water, and the water was warm. Those of you who know me, know that I don’t think water is warm unless it is over 28 degrees.
Day 100, Monday the 16th May, 2022
Happy birthday to my wonderful mum, unfortunately not able to be with her today, but we did video chat. Technology is wonderful.
Today we catch the barge to Dirt Hartog Island. Dirk Hartog Island is an island within the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is Western Australia’s largest and most western island.
The island was discovered by Dirk Hartog on 25 October 1616. The names of senior people on board the ship, including Hartog’s, were inscribed with the date on a pewter plate and nailed to a post.
In 1697 the Dutch captain Willem de Vlamingh landed on the island and discovered Hartog’s plate. He replaced it with one of his own, which included a copy of Hartog’s inscription, and took the original plate home to Amsterdam, where it is still kept in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
On 28 March 1772, Breton navigator Louis Aleno de St Alouarn landed on the island and became the first European to formally take possession of Western Australia in the name of French king Louis XV.
In 1801 the island was visited by a French expedition aboard the Naturaliste led by Captain Emmanuel Hamelin. This expedition found de Vlamingh’s plate almost buried in the sand, its post having rotted away. The plaque was re-erected in its original position. In 1818 the Uranie with French explorer Louis de Freycinet, who had been an officer in Hamelin’s 1801 crew, sent a boat ashore to recover de Vlamingh’s plate. It eventually arrived in Paris, only to be lost for over a century. It was found in 1940 and returned to Australia in 1947, where it can now be seen in the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle. The Baudin expedition left also a plaque at the island at 16 July 1801.
From 1869 to 1969 sheep was run on the island.
The island is now the location of a major environmental reconstruction project, “Return to 1616”, that has seen all introduced livestock and feral animals removed (except for a horse, a sheep, a cat and a dog – see below), with eleven native species now in various stages of reintroduction.
Day 101, Tuesday the 17th May, 2022
Today is a rest day, we just hung around Homestead Bay, walked right around the beach, did some fishing with some pipis that we found on the beach – We caught 3 whiting and 1 flathead, threw back 2 small brim. The fish tasted very nice.
Day 102, Wednesday the 18th March 2022
We are doing a day trip to Cape Inscription, which is where Dirk Hartog first landed on the island in October 1616. Cape Inscription is at the top of Island, about 80km by road from Homestead Bay. Given the challenging roads, it will take us about 3.5 hours to get there and then another 3.5 hours back
We stopped at Louisa Bay for morning tea, Bob tried his luck at fishing. It was very pretty there
After 3 and a half hours we finally reached Cape Inscription. The history was very interesting, there is a lighthouse there that was built in 1908. There are copies of the plates left by Dirk Hartog and the other explorers that came after him.
We stopped in at Turtle Bay, apparently turtles do nest here between April and November. Turtle bay is also where a jetty and tram track was built to support the lighthouse and the lighthouse keeper in the early days. Ships would dock at the jetty and the groceries and materials would be hauled up by the tram which ran to the lighthouse.
Day 103, Thursday the 19th May, 2022
We are doing a day trip to the Blow Hole and the Surf beach. The furthest destination is the Surf beach which is 13 km from Homestead Bay, this will take us about an hour and a half each way.
It took us about an hour to get to the blow hole on the other side of the island. There was not much of a swell, so the blow hole was not blowing, but the roar ocean from the blow hole was deafening. It seemed that the cliff was breathing, or should I say snoring.
The Surf Beach was only another half an hour away.
Back at the campground, Homestead Bay, Bob did a bit of fishing and caught a few fish, mainly whiting.
Day 104, Friday 20th May, 2022
We woke to a beautiful sunrise this morning. We are having another rest day today, tomorrow we will be doing a lot of driving.
Homestead bay is a great campsite , fires are allowed, you have hot showers, toilets, free kayaks and stand up paddle boards to use and a bar. It is an excellent place from where to explore the island. There are also quite a few remote camp sites all over the island, some of them looked beautiful.
Towards the end of our stay new neighbours moved in, we started chatting and found ourselves at the bar together on the last night, so we sat together and got to know each other. We met Linda and Milenko from WA and Beth and Rob from Vic, really lovely people, down to earth and with similar interests to ours. It was hilarious when I found out that Linda is a retired WA teacher, Beth is a retired Vic teacher, and of course, I work for the NSW Dept. of Education. We talked late into the night and we all had to get up early to catch the barge back to the mainland. Thank you Linda, Milenko, Beth and Rob for making our last day even more enjoyable. We have made new friends and will definitely be catching up in the future.
Day 105, Friday the 21st May, 2022
We woke early to a beautiful morning, we had to get to where the barge left to queue up. We had a long way to go and did not want to get off the island too late.
We met up with Beth, Rob, Linda and Milenko again as they were getting off the island as well.
The road from Shelter Bay was slow as there was a lot of sand, but it was also very picturesque.
We stopped in Denham to buy some groceries
We arrived in Monkey Mia just on dusk, it is beautiful. The campsites are spacious and the facilities are exemplary. There is also a general store which sells some food and groceries, a bar (The Monkey Bar – of course) which often features live music and a restaurant.
The beach was like glass and the water very clear, we even saw some turtles in the water off the pier – that was very exciting for me. Yes I know that there are a lot of turtle photo’s but you already know what I am like when I get excited about photographing beautiful animals – oh, and yes that is the actual colour of the water.
Day 106, Sunday the 22nd May, 2022
Today is quite cloudy and windy, the ocean is no longer like glass, but I did manage to get a few photo’s of the dolphins in the early morning dolphin feeding experience. Due to covid, only 2 people are allowed to feed the dolphins now as dolphins can catch respiratory diseases from humans, the rest of the crowd are able to stand on the beach to watch.
We also came across the resident Emu, he just wanders around the resort eating the grass.
Day 107, Monday the 23rd of May, 2022
We left Monkey Mia and travelled to a campsite right on the Ningaloo Reef called Winderabandi. It was a very long drive, we stopped in at Carnarvon to buy groceries, and had to drive through Ningaloo Station, which is a working cattle station, to get to the campsite.
There were hundreds of huge termite mounds along the roadside, some were as high as the truck.
We also crossed the 26th Parallel and the Tropic of Capricorn.
We arrived after dark, the camp host was very gracious, although surprised to see us at 8:00pm.
Day 108, Tuesday the 24th May, 2022
We woke to a beautiful morning, we were on site18 at Winderabandi camp site, which was gorgeous, right on the beach. We even had a little dam of sand put up to stop the tide in case it was a bit high.
We immediately decided to stay another 3 nights, to do this we had to drive to Lefroy South campsite, about 20 minutes away where there was reception, as we had to book online. We were not able to rebook site 18, but we got site 1, which was right on the point, for the next 3 nights.
Day 109, Wednesday the 25th May, 2022
Another beautiful morning, and we awoke to find a small pod of dolphins swimming by.
We moved to site 1, which was right on the point, and also right on the beach. It was a great site, we tucked ourselves on the other side of the point at the camp host’s suggestion as that part of the beach was a little crowded. Apart from a few day trippers between 9am and 3pm each day we were relatively alone.
It was a beautiful clear night with lots of stars, not the stars view that we saw in Billy Bore Campground in Victoria, but very pretty.
When we were camped at the Riverside Caravan Park in Mildura on the NSW / Vic border at the end of February, we met a lovely couple from NSW, Mary and Gary. They were camped in the spot beside us and when we started chatting, I told them how frustrated I had been at not being able to successfully take pictures of the beautiful night sky at Billy Bore Campground. As it turned out, Mary and Gary had owned and operated a camera store prior to retiring, and Gary was an avid photographer, who loved taking photo’s of the night sky. Gary then proceeded to explain to me how to successfully take “big sky” photo’s, I wrote down everything he said.
I had not had a good sky to practice my new skills till now, so I used the instructions that Gary had given me and I took these photo’s, which I am quite proud of. They are not perfect, but I got a good result – Gary, I even used the flashlight strategy to get the picture of the truck with the night sky behind it. Thank you so much Gary and Mary for your amazing generosity in sharing your skills.
Day 110, Thursday the 26th May, 2022
Another beautiful day even with a fair bit of cloud around, and I woke in time for a gorgeous pink sky sunrise. Our resident Eastern Osprey were there on their poles when I awoke and for most of the day, the male even caught a fish and proceeded to eat it over an hour and a half, then he went back to the ocean and caught another one.
We saw dolphins swim by, 3 sharks and a manta ray.
Day 111, Friday the 27th May, 2022
Today is a bit cloudy, very windy and the rain comes and goes, we decide to do a day trip to Yardie Creek, about 45 minutes away. We will need to cross Yardie Creek tomorrow when we go to Exmouth.
On the way back, we decide to drive to one of the high points in the area to see the view, which was well worth the effort, by this time the day had cleared a little.
Day 112, Saturday the 28th May, 2022
Our last day at Winderabandi. We have really enjoyed our stay here, thank you Linda and Milenko for recommending it to us.
We were driving to Exmouth today, the day was cloudy, windy and very rainy, good day to leave. We had booked a caravan park in Exmouth.
To get to Exmouth, we had to cross Yardie Creek, which was a tidal salt water creek. Low tide was at 4:00 pm, we had to wait till the tide was low so we would not have to drive through too much salt water. We got there early and then chilled till we could get across.
During our wait, I was able to photograph quite a few of the shore birds and animals at the beach.
Once the tide was low enough we crossed the creek, then off to Exmouth, by now the rain had set in.
Day 113, Sunday 29th May to Day 115, Tuesday the 31st May, 2022
We were going to spend one night in the caravan park in Exmouth, but ended up booking another 3 nights as well. The reason being that there was a cyclone off the WA coast which was creating a lot of rain and wind on the mainland. There were flash flood emergency warnings and people were asked to move to higher ground. We wanted to go to Karajini next but all the roads were closed and it was not nice weather to sight see anyway.
When we had a clear break, we walked around town and the beach, doing a little sight seeing.
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Perentie Wandering 