Ningaloo

We went through a cloud of locusts and this one was very determined

Warroora Station (I think)

27th June. We had an easy night (hair and clothes washing, camp kitchen, unlimited water) at Yardie Creek Homestead campground, which is the closest to the Cape Range NP, and then Nick and Vin, the troopers, were up at 5am in the dark and drove to the gate of the national park, to sit there until 8am when it opens. They were 2^nd in line! Apparently the people in front of them were a family with young kids who went there at 3am and just went back to sleep, and when the ranger found that out he threatened them with a $100/person fine for ‘camping’ in a no camping zone. It’s a bit rough though I thought, as when it’s first come first served, I’m not sure what else people are supposed to do to actually get a place in here. Anyway we were one of the lucky ones and have been camped at Mesa campground for 2 nights now. The national park has a funny set of campgrounds all down the coast, they’re basically just cleared car parks right next to each of the beaches, with two toilets and about 12 – 15 spots at each campground. There’s a campground host at each spot who collects the fees and allots spaces and kicks out people who try and turn up after the rangers have gone home, and then organises drinks each evening (BYO) in the centre so that people get to meet each other. Because each campground is so small and you all feel a bit lucky to be here, there is actually quite a friendly feel to it. Ours is a mixture of grey nomads and backpackers (Israeli and French so far).

Each morning we sit having our breakfast or washing up as we watch the lucky few new (tired) people that come in (if someone leaves) and are thankful that we are already here. Once the national park gate opens at 8am and you work out which campground you can go to, you have an hour to claim your spot, so people seem to come straight here, dump some stuff or set up their tent and then go off for the day. This morning quite a few caravans left so there will be quite a few new people to liven up the drinks. There was a young German or French couple in a van, and a family with a teenager and two younger girls. Last night the backpackers seemed to find each other by moving their chairs during the drinks and sitting up later than anyone else talking (which made us feel a bit old) maybe the other back packers will be glad of some new younger blood. The host said that you can stay 28 days in the national park in a year, and some people even try to stay 28 days at one, and then move to another one, which seems a bit unfair when people are getting up at 5am. I reckon they should make it a week maximum at a time. One of the caravans in ours must have been there quite a while, they had their annex set up on their caravan, with a shower tent around the back, and they had even laid down rubber tile mats and other mats to lay a garden path from their front annex door, around the side, and to the back to the shower tent. Maybe they had a loo in there for night time visits or maybe it was so that they don’t get their feet dirty after a shower, but it just looked really funny to have such a set up in a site that’s basically a gravel car park.

Funnily enough we haven’t actually swum at our beach, although Nick and Vin have tried numerous (unsuccessful) times to catch some fish and the kids have done sandcastles. The first day we scored the campsite it was actually very cloudy and threatening rain all day so we first went into Exmouth to do some shopping and didn’t get here until late in the afternoon. We just hung out on the beach for a bit before all having an early night. Yesterday the weather was beautiful again, although a bit windy, so we dragged the kids away from their games in the sand dunes to do a walk alongside Yardie Creek Gorge. It was just a short one along the top of the river but we managed to get there right in the middle of the day so it was pretty hot. Afterwards we drove back past Turquoise Bay (just like in Are We There Yet!) which is the main snorkelling place in this national park and after lunch had a great time snorkelling in the bay. It’s very protected and although there’s a bit of a current the reef was very close in and there were lots of different fish to see. We even saw a couple of small stingrays with blue spots, loads of sea cucumbers, parrotfish (in fact every fish seemed to be munching on the coral), a fish with two long whiskers it seemed to drag along the bottom as feelers, a little tiny clownfish and lots of ones we haven’t looked up yet and didn’t recognise. It’s just so easy for the kids to jump in and out when the reef is metres from the shoreline, so they had a bit of a go with Daniel holding onto a boogie board to keep him up, then stuck to sandcastles while we could also easily keep snorkelling where we could see them. I was exhausted by the end since I’ve broken one of my fins so did without, and have gotten out of shape what with not doing much exercise on this trip!

This morning it was lovely yet again, although the wind seems to really build up during the day. Nick and Vin went out for another (unsuccessful) attempt at fishing a bit earlier this time so we got off for another walk in the morning so it wasn’t quite so hot. This time it was Mandu Mandu Gorge which is now dry, so you first walk along what used to be the riverbed which is covered in small pebbles of varying colours which looked really cool. We then climbed up the side of the gorge and came back along the top which gave a fantastic view of the sea and the reef. It was the same distance as yesterday’s walk but a bit harder with more scrambling up and down rocky bits, but I preferred it because of the two different terrains and the gorge just seemed more scenic to me. We’ve now come back for lunch at the tent (a treat as we’re usually out on the road) and are all catching up on journals while it’s hot, and before going back to Turquoise Bay for our last snorkel on Ningaloo. Tomorrow we’re going to try and pack up early, do a shop in Exmouth and go as far as we can towards Tom Price and Karajini NP.

Yardie Creek Gorge

snorkelling Turquoise Bay