133. Exmouth

PILGRAMURRA MOONRISE

SPOT THE BRONZY

Middle right & you can just see the shadow of a Bronze Whaler Shark. Moment earlier a couple snorkelling had got into a bit of trouble in a very nasty rip. The girl was getting a bit panicky as she tried to get back to shore, willing her boyfriend to help her. He had a camera and his own gear & was struggling to be able to get to her. I jumped in & yelled him to throw me his gear & get her out of the water quickly. Neither of them at this point new of the shark only metres away. He had trouble getting her fins off as she wailed in the fast running water;” just rip her fins off & get out quickly” I yelled. As she passed me in the water on her return to the shore I pointed out the bronzy. She was pretty happy to be out of there.


CAPE RANGE NP

This beautiful area provides some welcome shade as well as some great paintings & stories of the coastline & inhabitants of these waters.




PILGRAMUNNA SUNSET

BIG TIDES – TIME TO MOVE ON

As the moon rose we made final preparations for the next days departure. Normally this would not be an issue but tomorrow the tides would be at their highest in the last 50 years. The result of the full moon & the fact that the moon was at its closest to planet earth in fifty years. The entire camp area would be inundated with water so there would be no time for any late hitch ups or any unusual problems that may occur.

132. Coral Bay - Exmouth

THE HUNTERS

Phil & the boys. The previous evening Phil & I shot a few roo’s. Simo (a mate of Phils) is an expert with game & kindly butchered the meat. The roast & the fillet steaks were great.



Thanks guys for giving up your time & hangin out with the boys; they loved it.




EXMOUTH

Reluctantly we left Coral Bay & headed to Exmouth.




PILGRAMUNNA CAMPGROUND

A further 75 kms around the cape of Exmouth took us into the National Park & our next camp. We were now at the point furthest from our hometown of Sydney.

131. Coral Bay 2

CORAL BAY – PICTURE PERFECT

GETTING BIGGER

Definitely one of the most memorable fishing days. Again, what to catch & how to catch it. Matt & I took off on another perfect day & I mean perfect. The trip today took us out through the North Passage, a trip of about seven kms. Along the way we saw dolphins & turtles. Although it was a calm day I didn’t wish to venture outside the reef into the open sea. There a freak swells out here & it’s a bloody long swim home. There were some queenfish about but they wouldn’t take a trolled lure, a cast lure or baits. We anchored into a patch of sand amongst the coral & decided to burley up & cast some unweighted baits; 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 BANG!.

For the next 45 minutes or so this was the way it was. We hooked up a good size blacktip reefy, & numerous trevally. At one point the trevally was hunted by another shark, all this taking place around our little tinny in the clearest waters I’ve ever fished. The shark came so close I had to yell to Matt to get his hands in the boat as he was trying to land the trev in the net. Matt & I headed for home both sharing the back seat absolutely flying across sandy sections & around coral encrusted bomies; it is a memory I shall always treasure.



LET THE HUNT BEGIN

We met a great Coral Bay local by the name of Phil. A real knock about bloke that had a good understanding of this area. We thought it might be a good time to take the boys on a bit of a hunt. Probably a bit safer than one of Phil’s other pastimes which involves pushing away bronze whaler sharks when he dives for the prized painted crayfish. Phil has access to 500,000 acres of virgin coastal bushland. They have a bit of a problem with goats at the moment so it was agreed that we try & reduce the numbers.



Dano with his first goat.

130. Coral Bay

CORAL BAY CAMPSITE

Along the way many ask; “so what’s the best place you’ve been too?”

This joint is definitely top three. Family wise, the best destination you could ask for. The weather is perfect, the beach safe, clean , no rips, the facilities tremendous, the coral viewing is the best in Australia. Normally one has to get on a boat & travel a fair distance or enter deep drop-offs, not here, just snorkel 150metres off the beach or launch the tinny & pull up in your own little private piece of paradise.



CORAL BAY BOAT LAUNCHING FACILITY

Not only picturesque, this is the best facility I have ever had the privilege of using.



SOUTH PASSAGE SNORKELLING

We launched the tinny & snorkelled here on our own. There is a vast array of corals, clams, tropical fish, turtles & reef sharks . Personally this was the highlight of the trip to date. To snorkel in these pristine waters alone with my family was awesome.

129. Warrora Station - Coral Bay

WARROORA BEACHFRONT

One advantage of the LandcruIser 4WD is that you can do this. The sand here is a bonus too; it doesn’t stick to your feet.



LEAVING WARROORA

Had to stop & have one last look at this most fantastic place.



CORAL BAY

OK there not the biggest trevally ever landed, but Dano & I had a ball bringing these fellas in. Again, fishing in foreign waters is demanding; what are you fishing for, are they taking baits on the bottom, are they to be cast lures. With not much luck (just a small cod & one bust up) we decided to troll our metal lures along the edge of the reef. These little trevs along with a few spotted mackerel smashed them. Dano landed about seven fish, all putting up a great battle. Well done mate.

128. Kalbarri NP 3 - Warroora Station

LEAVING KALBARRI

On our way out of town we decided to check out one more section of the gorge.



WARROORA STATION

This has to be one of the best stations on earth. One leaves the coastal road & ventures along a bumpy track to traverse a sand dune & have the coastline appear before your eyes. The station is 52 thousand hectares , its western boundary just over 50 kilometres of prime coastline. We went for morning walks just as the sun was rising. Matt bravely holding quite a large sand crab.



WARROORA

This is pretty much the southern tip of the Ningaloo Reef. (see surf breaking over reef in background)

127. Kalbarri NP 2

THE “Z” BEND


Further upstream we walked into the area of the gorge known as the “Z – Bend”. Quite a long walk (about 3kms) along a stone path then down more stone steps to the lookout. The boys did real well given the rough track & the extreme heat.

For any geological enthusiasts please note the fault that runs along the left side of the river.



GRASS TREE

 

ANOTHER TRACK

After entering the park it is a further 23kms to the heart of the gorge country.

126. Kalbarri NP

KALBARRI NP

NATURES WINDOW

Normally reserved for models to have their photos taken to adorn tourism brochures; but not today.



THE MIGHTY MURCHISON

The river has flowed for millions of years gradually carving out these magnificent gorges. One thing you never experience on film or print is heat. This was April & easily over 42 degrees; did I mention flies, there are trillions out here.

125. Kalbarri 2

KALBARRI COASTLINE

KALBARRI LOOKOUT

It was a long afternoon but well worth checking all the vantage points out. We headed back to camp for a couple of coldies & BBQ.




QUAD TIME

The Murchison River had recently flooded, but our timing was good & the river had just been opened up again.

The quad tour was great, just the four of us a terrific guide. We started out from a farm house, ventured to the river, took to some great trails, checked out termite mounds & by the end we reached speeds of 60 k/p/hr.

124. Kalbarri

KALBARRI

A little further north a we arrived in Kalbarri.




MAGNIFICENT COASTLINE

Unfortunately I am not a pro photographer & hence, these photos just do not serve justice to the beauty of this coastline.

In centre of photo a whitish section of broken water can be seen. This is a massive eruption of northern blue-fin tuna in a feeding frenzy.



MORE LOOKOUTS

Plenty of lookouts are to be seen up here. The access is really good making it easy for all to enjoy.

123. Port Gregory 3

FAREWELL

One local by the name of Al made what I considered to be a fair statement. Al had travelled for many years & finally decided to settle here. He reckons it’s the best place on the coast; why?, well according to Al, it is because there is no hotel here & because of that there is no riff-raff. Just friendly people & families enjoying a piece of paradise. We had dinner up here, in the morning said our goodbyes, then headed to Kalbarri.





NIGHTFALL

A great place to be on such a pleasant night. At times the winds will howl, but for our last night it was pure magic.




PEACEFUL LAGOON

The lagoon is abundant with herring, yellowtail –whiting, sea mullet & other goodies. You simply drive the cruiser onto the beach & enjoy.

122. Port Gregory 2

MORE DELIGHTS

Kaz & I enjoying a rare moment together alone; this one enhanced with some barbequed crayfish.

ONE OF THE BEST

Port Gregory would have to be one of the best little havens around these parts. Like Horricks it has a protected lagoon courtesy of a reef that runs for about one kilometre parallel to the coast. Upon arrival our original thoughts were that this was a nothing town with little to offer & so we would stop over for just the one night. As I write this entry we are still here four days later. The place is rich in beauty, an awesome fishing paradise, the locals are among the friendliest you’ll meet. A fleet of four cray boats can be seen retuning to the port with their catch, a truck waits to take the crays to Geraldton for distribution to local restaurants, Australia & Asia.


WATERLESS PINK LAKE

We took off on a find & seek mission to discover the upper reaches of this massive lake. No water here, just tons of dried salt on a dead flat base. The wind howls across this land, the sun beats down & the glare is offensive to the eyes.



DANE ON LAKE

It was really worth the trip to experience the dried out lake bed. Dane enjoyed walking upon the flat, featureless salt pan.

121. Port Gregory

HARSH LANDS

A short trip north to Port Gregory takes us through this area that was established to gather convicts that would then be sent to work in the surrounding mines. There are some remnants that remain in very good condition, others that are now merely a pile of rubble. The operation was closed after only three years; the reason was because the conditions were just so hard.



PINK LAKE

We asked many but no one could tell us why its pink. The lake was nearly empty however we could still appreciate this rare sight.




HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT

After opening the presents in the morning, a little snorkelling at the lagoon, then a few shots with his new bow & arrow it was time to start the party. The cheezles were out, so was the soft drink, the lollies served & the music cranked up. Matt even had a few visitors drop in for the celebration.

Well done big boy; Happy 12th Birthday.

120. Horrocks Beach

ERIC

Eric is a retired farmer who loves setting his pots & getting onto the water. Recently he had suffered a few problems with his ticker & was finding the lifting of the pots a little hard. I offered to give him a hand & so Matt, Eric & I set out at daybreak the following day. We caught plenty.

Eric is a real dinkum Aussie & plays by the rules. He only takes the crays that are of legal size, returns any females in roe & only tales that which he requires. He is a tough old coot, picking occy’s out of the pots & smashing them head first onto the floor of the tinny to quickly subdue them. He has a passion for both the land & the sea & it was a pleasure to yarn with him about life in general; there is not that much to do at Horrocks & so, the locals spend plenty of time enjoying slow conversation.




THE SHOP

The only shop at Horrocks



GOODBYE HORROCKS

Such a pretty little place; just had to stop & take a last look over this magnificent piece of coastline.

119. Geraldton - Horrocks Beach

GERALDTON SUNSET

Another Indian Ocean sunset.




CHARLIE

This lovely parrot was owned by a couple travelling. Charlie was a great companion for them & did not restrict as often some pets do. Charlie would not take easily to anyone but his owner but took quite happily to Dane. Dano was having not his best week, but Charlie took his mind off things for a while.



HORROCKS BEACH

Now that we were north of Geraldton the towns have become much smaller , more iscolated, even the landscape seems to have become more barren, hotter, yet wildly beautiful. Horrocks Beach is a small town on the ocean. In the hills behind there are a few farms, on the beach there are fisho’s shacks, houses & a fleet of three cray boats. Horrocks is a natural harbour that exists due to the outer reef that provides shelter to the lagoon.

118. Geraldton

DONGARA

We left Sandy Cape & stopped for three nights at Dongara. Dongara was a top spot. A fair sized port that survived chiefly around a crayfish processing plant. Here we caught more crays & were given some freshly caught reef fish by a group of guys travelling from Perth to the outer islands.

Our car was booked in for a service at Geraldton so we had a few days to kill. A recent addition is the war memorial that pays homage to those that perished on the H.M.A.S Sydney during WW2.



H.M.A.S SYDNEY

645 great men were lost to the sea after the Sydney was torpedoed by the Germans. The Sydney had remained undiscovered in thousands of metres of water off the West Australian coast until 2008. When the sculptors had been commissioned to construct the memorial they decided they would attend a memorial service to capture the feel; the vibe. As it turned out, when the last post was sounded a large flock of seagulls flew in from the sea, surrounded the memorial then left & headed back to sea. The sculptors felt that this was symbolic & hence the shroud above the memorial is constructed of 645 stainless steel sea gulls. It was humbling to attend this memorial & a harrowing reminder of the men that pay the ultimate price whilst serving this great land.



ST GEORGES BEACH

A few clicks north of Geraldton CBD there are a number of small beachside suburbs. Our first night was a free camp by the ocean.