Sunday 4 August – Carnarvon to
Denham
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| Morning tea view from van |
Morning tea was at a lookout high above the flat clay pans that lead into Shark Bay. We re-entered the North West when we re-crossed the 26th parallel heading up the peninsular towards Denham. We called in to Hamelin Pool to view the ancient stromatolites (my son Ryan will remember looking for their footprints in the dirt when he was here 16 years ago), then on to Shell Beach where we had lunch before finally arriving at Denham mid-afternoon.
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| Stromatolite footprint, Ryan? |
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| Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool |
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| Cockle shells - Shell Beach |
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| Shell Beach |
This has been a magical day.
With an early start, we headed off to watch the dolphins at Monkey Mia. People travel from all over the world to see these wild dolphins swim close to shore for some hand feeding. On most days, three generations of dolphins turn up – grandmothers, mothers and their calves - exactly the same behaviour as the tourists that come to watch them. We saw about ten dolphins of which three mature females chose to be hand fed in the shallows.
With perfect weather we were captivated by
the spectacle. We then headed back
towards Denham and down south to check out potential beach camps (Whalebone,
Fowlers Camp, or Eagle Bluff) for when we leave on Wednesday.
Right along the coast we looked over the clearest water out to the horizon towards Useless Loop (containing Steep Point, the most westerly point in Australia) sighting numerous shovel nosed sharks, rays and many schools of fish swimming in and around the seaweed banks that are home to around 14,000 dugong. The lookout and boardwalk at Eagle Buff provided a good opportunity to gaze out at the sparkling smooth waters.
From here we ventured on to have lunch at the outdoor café/restaurant at
Ocean Park where a huge seagull spent time in the water in front of us
fishing.
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| Monkey Mia |
With an early start, we headed off to watch the dolphins at Monkey Mia. People travel from all over the world to see these wild dolphins swim close to shore for some hand feeding. On most days, three generations of dolphins turn up – grandmothers, mothers and their calves - exactly the same behaviour as the tourists that come to watch them. We saw about ten dolphins of which three mature females chose to be hand fed in the shallows.
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| Waiting .... waiting ..... waiting.... |
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| Monkey Mia dolphin and its escort |
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| Whalebone Campsite south of Denham |
Right along the coast we looked over the clearest water out to the horizon towards Useless Loop (containing Steep Point, the most westerly point in Australia) sighting numerous shovel nosed sharks, rays and many schools of fish swimming in and around the seaweed banks that are home to around 14,000 dugong. The lookout and boardwalk at Eagle Buff provided a good opportunity to gaze out at the sparkling smooth waters.
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| Eagle Bluff south of Denham |
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| Lunch at Ocean Park south of Denham |
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| Large seagull fishing in front of us at lunch |
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| Overlooking the water at Denham Lookout - with thong overhang |
Tuesday 6 August - Day 3 Denham
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| 4WD track into Francois Peron NP |
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To the north
of Denham lies the Francois Peron National Park, a pristine and desolate park all
but untouched. A 50 klm (one way) 4WD only sand
track goes through the centre of the park travelling right to the very top
which overlooks the shallow ribbon seaweed sandbar that blocks the water flow
into Shark Bay. Today we drove this
track and a number of side tracks to bays, beaches and headlands. In order to protect the track from unnecessary
damage, all 4WD’s must drop their tyre pressures to 15psi. At the exit point of the national park two excellent tyre pressure gauges
are provided free of charge to pump your tyres back up.
The day was stunning with a light
breeze and clear skies. The water is
crystal clear and the bird and sea life is in abundance.
1000’s of pelicans, cormorants and seagulls were
on the beach right at Cape Peron at the top of the national park. We saw dolphins, schools of manta rays and
huge fish just off shore. We missed out
on seeing the green turtles and dugong that are also plentiful in this area.
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| 1000's of seabirds on beach - Cape Peron |
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| Cape Peron - Francois Peron NP |
Returning home we had lunch at a café
on the foreshore in Denham, fueled up and got everything organised for our
departure tomorrow. Denham, like many of
the places we are seeing, is a wonderful place to visit with so many amazing
things to experience in the area.
Wednesday 7 August - Denham to Whalebone - 25 klm south of Denham
This will probably be our shortest move of our trip - just 25 klm down the road. A couple of days ago we visited this beautiful beachside national park camp and saw a wide variety of sea life including several sharks and schools of fish. Julie decided it would be worth the effort to come back on our way out of Denham to spend a night here.
Packing up our campsite at Dolphin Caravan Park in Denham we left at 8.45am and parked outside the Tourist Information station at Denham to obtain the permit to camp at Whalebone Camp. For $10 a night four lucky couples are awarded the privilege to camp here - we were the second in line.
By 10am we were fully set up 10 metres from the water’s edge enjoying a cup of coffee overlooking the most beautiful scenery one could imagine.
We arrived and the place was empty so we had the pick of the sites. We were so close to the water’s edge that I could have cast my fishing line from my chair and caught any part of the caravan or car that I chose. For safety’s sake I walked around the nearby headland and terrorised the local rocks with my lure for a couple of hours. All the local suicidal fish were in counselling all afternoon, so none were around to take the soft rubbery lure that was expertly cast from a rock beneath an overhanging cliff. At the end of the day nothing and no one were harmed, which is unusual for me.
A couple camped nearby, Kevin and Cathy from Maleny in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, kept us entertained for the afternoon. Kevin, an avid fisherman and ex-writer for fishing magazines, went out in his kayak and caught a couple of sharks for his favourite Thai Fish Curry – a delicacy of his. Meanwhile his wife Cathy cooked a slow roast leg of pork on the Weber BBQ for dinner – a delicacy of hers. Our dinner was left over homemade vegetable soup we made in Denham – a delicacy of Julie’s. We sat around chatting until the sun again set in the west, this time over Useless Loop in the distance.
This is one of the best campsites we have had on our trip so far – camped 10 metres from the ocean’s edge of Denham Sound with beautiful clear skies, light winds and little waves lapping on the beach lulling us off to sleep at night.
The Milky Way continues to fill the sky above us with the new moon keeping any light pollution to a minimum.
Thursday 8 August – Whalebone Camp to Kalbarri
We stayed at camp a little longer than usual in order to make the most of our views and sunny weather. After a farewell walk up the cliff, we finally headed off on our three and a half hour drive south to Kalbarri arriving at our farm stay destination in sprinkling rain. With many horses, pet rabbits, pet dog, pet motor mower (aka kid goat), pet budgie, pet peacocks, and pet turkeys with eight day old turkey chicks in evidence, we wondered what else we’d run into or stand on during the night at Big River Ranch. Other than a Wicked van which arrived late, we were the only campers here tonight.
Friday 9 August – Day 2 Kalbarri
Having had very fond memories of Kalbarri since I last visited 16 years ago, I was very pleased to see that it is still a lovely small town – a bit like Noosa years ago with the ocean, river and headland walks in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. The National Park infrastructure is very well designed with good boardwalks and lookouts scattered for about 8 klm down the coastline overlooking the eroded red sandstone striped cliffs.
We poked around many of them and saved some for tomorrow.
The surf was up with towering three metre waves crashing along the coastline and was quite mesmerising particularly as we watched a few small fishing boats crossing the dangerous bar. Whales were in the background and schools of dolphins in the foreground and a large turtle surfed the waves for good measure.
The wildflowers are starting to bloom – it’s early days yet however still quite pretty.
Saturday 10 August – Day 3 Kalbarri
We headed back to the coastal cliffs to further explore the various sights with the rock formations all well named reflecting what they resemble e.g. mushroom rock and red bluff.
The surf again was huge. The history in the area is also interesting going back to European exploration in the 1600’s and a number of famous shipwrecks along the coast of Dutch trading ships.
After taking our time on the coast, we headed inland to Kalbarri NP lookouts over the Murchison River and one overlooking the whole town, ocean, river and hinterland. Unfortunately the road to The Loop (Nature’s Window) and Z-Bend is closed due to road upgrades so we will miss this part of the NP. Our camp remained quiet with a maximum of four other campers here at any one time.
Sunday 11 August – Kalbarri to Geraldton
We had a short drive today of around 150 klm, so chose the most scenic route. Initially we drove back through coastal Kalbarri NP then down the coast to Port Gregory, near the mouth of the Hutt River, where we turned east heading towards the historic town of Northampton – one of WA’s oldest settlements being declared a township in 1864. On the way we stopped for morning tea in the van at the Lynton Convict Station where convicts were assigned work duties in the mid -1800's.
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After this, we continued with a scenic back route via Nabawa through glorious pastures of green and yellow from the lucerne flowers before arriving at our caravan park on the ocean at the northern end of Geraldton.
Monday 12 August - Day 2 Geraldton
Geraldton is not one of those towns or regions that is heavily adorned with natural beauty, in fact, it's not even lightly adorned. It is a major port and commercial centre for central WA but its coastline, although extensive, is somewhat ugly and the town is quite industrial although obviously being upgraded in many ways including quite a pleasant town beach foreshore.
The tragedy of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney which occurred in WWII off the coast in November 1941 and the lost of its entire crew of 645 men after a battle with the German raider HSK Kormoran is beautifully remembered by a memorial perched atop the highest point in Geraldton. The dome is made up of 645 seagulls, one for each man lost. A lone statue of a woman looks out to sea waiting for the men that will never return.
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Tuesday 13 August - Day 3 Geraldton
Today was one of those days needed every now and then to catch up on all the little chores that need doing, the washing and spring cleaning of the car and caravan.
The daily migration of caravans out of the van park starts about 7.30am and goes on until around 10.15am. For several hours the place is half full because half the sites are empty, and then from around noon until 4.30pm the next nights campers arrive and set up. The race is then on to get to the washing machines first and to start cleaning car and caravan before seeing the sights of Geraldton - good luck with that one.
We will be one of those leaving tomorrow morning as we continue to migrate south. We expect the weather to deteriorate as this time of year in south-west WA is often wet and windy.
We are both well and are having a great time.
___________________________________________________________________
Caravanning Tips:
This edition's tip is titled "Walk of Shame aka Bring Out the Dead"
Caravans have developed remarkably in the last 15 years with one of those developments being the porta-loo. Our caravan has one of these remarkable devices that, until it comes time to empty them, are considered remarkable.
The dreaded Red Light: At three quarters full a little red comes on to indicate it's time!!!! It's time to think about emptying the cassette, and that's all I can think about over the next few hours - the impending Walk of Shame. The destination for the Walk of Shame is the romantically named "Dump Point". Most caravan parks have one and there are 1000's of dump points in towns across Australia and in many roadside camps and they are usually well signed. That is the next problem, they are so well signed and everyone knows where you are going to or are coming from. That, and the fact that you're carrying a big plastic container grey with bright green parts to it. That is the second problem, why the bright green parts, the whole thing should be camouflaged.
The next problem is that the cassettes hold about 22 litres, yes 22 litres and it has to be carefully manhandled by turning upside down over various designs of Dump Points.
Transportation: Sounding a bit like sending a convict to colonial Australia, transporting the grey and bright green cassette is the next problem. Removal of the cassette from the side of the caravan is easy enough until there is nothing to support it anymore. Feeling like all we pass is liquid lead, the cassette weighs much more the the expected 20 or so kilograms.
Our cassette is one of the new ones that has little wheels on it very similar to airline carry-on luggage - now I'd like to see security cope with a full cassette going through the scanner. Many transport personnel, aka our fellow campers, use modified or current golf trolleys, airline luggage trolleys or the right shoulder dislocation technique to transport their liquid lead cassette to the Dump Point. The little wheels seem like a good idea but wheeling the lead laden cassette down the bitumen road creates a loud rumble that tends to draw the attention of everyone, their dogs start to bark and large flocks of birds take flight from all the trees around. Just a little too much attention for this happy camper to cope with.
Timing: Now this is a difficult topic that takes a lot of analysis and preparation.
Remembering that one is nearly always camped beside another caravan and that one of the first indications that someone is about to Bring out their Dead is the audible grunts emitted as the removalist 'takes the load' of the lead laden cassette or 'LLC' as we in the industry call it. I find just on sunset is a good time. Check to see that there will be no unexpected or late rays of sunshine likely to burst through the clouds as these light up the bright green bits of the cassette and you look like a rabbit in the headlights if this happens.
Make sure there is no one heading to the Dump Point at the same time you are. This happened to me at Fitzroy Crossing and it really felt like I had arrived at the funeral before the one I was supposed attend. What can you possibly talk about and where should you look while someone is in the process of burying a weeks worth of work in front of you. I would be pleased to receive anyone's ideas for topics of discussion for this circumstance.
Happy Hour: - these usually start around 4.30pm each day. They can work for you and, more likely, against you as you undertake the Walk of Shame. Depending where everyone gathers for Happy Hour it may provide the much cherished private path between you and the Dump Point (DP) or, more likely, a large group of highly tanked grey nomads locate themselves between you and the DP - this is the worst case scenario.
The worst thing you can do, in my experience, is to start Happy Hour yourself at 4.30pm and decide at 6pm, just before sunset, to run the gauntlet. Control is key to a successful burial. With half a dozen beers in you, you feel brave and fearless but you have no control. With several beers in you, think about having to take the strain when removing the LLC, having to decide on the Path of Least Embarrassment (POLE), undertaking a 'dry' burial and having to return to the right caravan in the dark. There is nothing more embarrassing than being caught trying to shove your toilet cassette in someone else's tunnel boot after dark. People were sent to the Colonies for that!
Happy Hour does not equal a Dry Burial.
My Method:
So thats all there is to this simple but all too regular part of caravaning.
If readers have any topics they would like covered in future issues please let me know.
Wednesday 7 August - Denham to Whalebone - 25 klm south of Denham
This will probably be our shortest move of our trip - just 25 klm down the road. A couple of days ago we visited this beautiful beachside national park camp and saw a wide variety of sea life including several sharks and schools of fish. Julie decided it would be worth the effort to come back on our way out of Denham to spend a night here.
Packing up our campsite at Dolphin Caravan Park in Denham we left at 8.45am and parked outside the Tourist Information station at Denham to obtain the permit to camp at Whalebone Camp. For $10 a night four lucky couples are awarded the privilege to camp here - we were the second in line.
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| Whalebone campsite - our car and van |
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| View from our caravan at Whalebone |
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| Throwing a lure in the water and reeling it back in many times - Whalebone |
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| Checking out the sea life from the headland near camp |
This is one of the best campsites we have had on our trip so far – camped 10 metres from the ocean’s edge of Denham Sound with beautiful clear skies, light winds and little waves lapping on the beach lulling us off to sleep at night.
The Milky Way continues to fill the sky above us with the new moon keeping any light pollution to a minimum.
Thursday 8 August – Whalebone Camp to Kalbarri
We stayed at camp a little longer than usual in order to make the most of our views and sunny weather. After a farewell walk up the cliff, we finally headed off on our three and a half hour drive south to Kalbarri arriving at our farm stay destination in sprinkling rain. With many horses, pet rabbits, pet dog, pet motor mower (aka kid goat), pet budgie, pet peacocks, and pet turkeys with eight day old turkey chicks in evidence, we wondered what else we’d run into or stand on during the night at Big River Ranch. Other than a Wicked van which arrived late, we were the only campers here tonight.
Friday 9 August – Day 2 Kalbarri
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| Kalbarri bar |
Having had very fond memories of Kalbarri since I last visited 16 years ago, I was very pleased to see that it is still a lovely small town – a bit like Noosa years ago with the ocean, river and headland walks in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. The National Park infrastructure is very well designed with good boardwalks and lookouts scattered for about 8 klm down the coastline overlooking the eroded red sandstone striped cliffs.
We poked around many of them and saved some for tomorrow.
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| Kalbarri surf |
The wildflowers are starting to bloom – it’s early days yet however still quite pretty.
Saturday 10 August – Day 3 Kalbarri
We headed back to the coastal cliffs to further explore the various sights with the rock formations all well named reflecting what they resemble e.g. mushroom rock and red bluff.
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| Kalbarri NP red sandstone cliffs |
After taking our time on the coast, we headed inland to Kalbarri NP lookouts over the Murchison River and one overlooking the whole town, ocean, river and hinterland. Unfortunately the road to The Loop (Nature’s Window) and Z-Bend is closed due to road upgrades so we will miss this part of the NP. Our camp remained quiet with a maximum of four other campers here at any one time.
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| Mushroom Rock - Kalbarri |
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| Lynton Convict Station |
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After this, we continued with a scenic back route via Nabawa through glorious pastures of green and yellow from the lucerne flowers before arriving at our caravan park on the ocean at the northern end of Geraldton.
Monday 12 August - Day 2 Geraldton
Geraldton is not one of those towns or regions that is heavily adorned with natural beauty, in fact, it's not even lightly adorned. It is a major port and commercial centre for central WA but its coastline, although extensive, is somewhat ugly and the town is quite industrial although obviously being upgraded in many ways including quite a pleasant town beach foreshore.
The tragedy of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney which occurred in WWII off the coast in November 1941 and the lost of its entire crew of 645 men after a battle with the German raider HSK Kormoran is beautifully remembered by a memorial perched atop the highest point in Geraldton. The dome is made up of 645 seagulls, one for each man lost. A lone statue of a woman looks out to sea waiting for the men that will never return.
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| 645 seagulls and the prow of the HMAS Sydney (right) |
Tuesday 13 August - Day 3 Geraldton
The daily migration of caravans out of the van park starts about 7.30am and goes on until around 10.15am. For several hours the place is half full because half the sites are empty, and then from around noon until 4.30pm the next nights campers arrive and set up. The race is then on to get to the washing machines first and to start cleaning car and caravan before seeing the sights of Geraldton - good luck with that one.
We will be one of those leaving tomorrow morning as we continue to migrate south. We expect the weather to deteriorate as this time of year in south-west WA is often wet and windy.
We are both well and are having a great time.
___________________________________________________________________
Caravanning Tips:
This edition's tip is titled "Walk of Shame aka Bring Out the Dead"
Caravans have developed remarkably in the last 15 years with one of those developments being the porta-loo. Our caravan has one of these remarkable devices that, until it comes time to empty them, are considered remarkable.
The dreaded Red Light: At three quarters full a little red comes on to indicate it's time!!!! It's time to think about emptying the cassette, and that's all I can think about over the next few hours - the impending Walk of Shame. The destination for the Walk of Shame is the romantically named "Dump Point". Most caravan parks have one and there are 1000's of dump points in towns across Australia and in many roadside camps and they are usually well signed. That is the next problem, they are so well signed and everyone knows where you are going to or are coming from. That, and the fact that you're carrying a big plastic container grey with bright green parts to it. That is the second problem, why the bright green parts, the whole thing should be camouflaged.
The next problem is that the cassettes hold about 22 litres, yes 22 litres and it has to be carefully manhandled by turning upside down over various designs of Dump Points.
Transportation: Sounding a bit like sending a convict to colonial Australia, transporting the grey and bright green cassette is the next problem. Removal of the cassette from the side of the caravan is easy enough until there is nothing to support it anymore. Feeling like all we pass is liquid lead, the cassette weighs much more the the expected 20 or so kilograms.
Our cassette is one of the new ones that has little wheels on it very similar to airline carry-on luggage - now I'd like to see security cope with a full cassette going through the scanner. Many transport personnel, aka our fellow campers, use modified or current golf trolleys, airline luggage trolleys or the right shoulder dislocation technique to transport their liquid lead cassette to the Dump Point. The little wheels seem like a good idea but wheeling the lead laden cassette down the bitumen road creates a loud rumble that tends to draw the attention of everyone, their dogs start to bark and large flocks of birds take flight from all the trees around. Just a little too much attention for this happy camper to cope with.
Timing: Now this is a difficult topic that takes a lot of analysis and preparation.
Remembering that one is nearly always camped beside another caravan and that one of the first indications that someone is about to Bring out their Dead is the audible grunts emitted as the removalist 'takes the load' of the lead laden cassette or 'LLC' as we in the industry call it. I find just on sunset is a good time. Check to see that there will be no unexpected or late rays of sunshine likely to burst through the clouds as these light up the bright green bits of the cassette and you look like a rabbit in the headlights if this happens.
Make sure there is no one heading to the Dump Point at the same time you are. This happened to me at Fitzroy Crossing and it really felt like I had arrived at the funeral before the one I was supposed attend. What can you possibly talk about and where should you look while someone is in the process of burying a weeks worth of work in front of you. I would be pleased to receive anyone's ideas for topics of discussion for this circumstance.
Happy Hour: - these usually start around 4.30pm each day. They can work for you and, more likely, against you as you undertake the Walk of Shame. Depending where everyone gathers for Happy Hour it may provide the much cherished private path between you and the Dump Point (DP) or, more likely, a large group of highly tanked grey nomads locate themselves between you and the DP - this is the worst case scenario.
The worst thing you can do, in my experience, is to start Happy Hour yourself at 4.30pm and decide at 6pm, just before sunset, to run the gauntlet. Control is key to a successful burial. With half a dozen beers in you, you feel brave and fearless but you have no control. With several beers in you, think about having to take the strain when removing the LLC, having to decide on the Path of Least Embarrassment (POLE), undertaking a 'dry' burial and having to return to the right caravan in the dark. There is nothing more embarrassing than being caught trying to shove your toilet cassette in someone else's tunnel boot after dark. People were sent to the Colonies for that!
Happy Hour does not equal a Dry Burial.
My Method:
- Forget trying to convince Julie that it's her turn - apparently this is definitely men's work.
- Don't wait until the second red light (100% full) comes on as you will need someone else's help to remove the steaming, bulging, seeping and bloated lead laden cassette (LLC)
- Do a recon on foot earlier in the day to establish the location and design of the Dump Point (DP), the path of least embarrassment (POLE), any surrounding obstacles eg low branches, speed bumps, road surface, corrugations and location of any large clusters of aluminium chairs likely to be used for Happy Hour.
- Reverse the car up to rear of van
- Place tarp over car and rear of caravan
- String up crime scene tape around car and caravan
- Remove LLC and place in
hearsecar - Turn on headlights to show respect and commence transportation
- Put on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Attempt to achieve your second Dry Burial for the trip
- Place empty cassette in rear of vehicle and PPE in Hazardous Waste Bin
- Park vehicle and turn off headlights and making sure you are in front of your van. Be aware that a tunnel boot is not where an LLC goes
- Install LLC and lock external door
- Commence your own Happy Hour
I have the above instructions located in the caravan and the car for quick reference.
So thats all there is to this simple but all too regular part of caravaning.
If readers have any topics they would like covered in future issues please let me know.
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