Author Archives: markandness

Days 62- 64, Thu 12 – Sat 14 Aug

So, apparently the name ‘Monkey Mia’ derives from the Indo / Malay name for ‘camp’ , and the fact that some pearlers or fisherman from the archipelago to the north had a pet monkey at their camp at Shark Bay. Cute story , neither of us know enough Bahasa to even begin to know if the ‘Mia’ premise offered is correct 🤔.

Anyway, two lovely sunny days , water quite cold for swimming and … dolphins . As well as numerous dolphins , pelicans, turtles and crows . Wind cold and blustery sometimes, missing the Tropics after the last six weeks.

Funny thing we observed was the dolphins and pelicans do not get on . Every time a Pelican was near a Dolphin the mammal harassed it.

Saturday we packed up and drove to Kalbarri.

Days 60 – 62, Tuesday 10 to Thursday 12 August

After leaving Gnaraloo and briefly pausing at the HMAS Sydney monument ( lost with all hands – 685 Australians- after an engagement with the German raider Komoran in WW2) we headed south to Carnarvon ( again). Fuel , coffee and brunch were followed by a raid on some fresh food from the local supermarket and a visit to the truck wash to remove two months of outback dust from the Amarok. Turns out we did buy a white 4WD and not a pink / orange one 🤔. The inside of the car , however, remains a dust bowl… much like 0A when Mark served in the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment ( but nowhere near as smelly…)

It was then onto Wooramel Station , some 120 km south of Carnarvon , on the banks of the wide ( and currently dry) Wooramel River. A pleasant setting , but quite cold as a 20- 30 kmh East South East wind blew almost constantly during our stay.

We filled on our census form sitting in the VW on Tuesday night ( warmest place in town at that point …). Thursday morning it was onto Shark Bay , the traditional lands of the Malgana people, who called the area ‘Guttharaguda’, meaning ‘Two Bays’. Because the area comprises two bays …. We acknowledge the Malgana people as the traditional custodianship of Shark Bay and acknowledge their elders past, present and emerging.

Enroute we stopped at Wooramel Roadhouse ( best bacon and egg wrap on the trip thus far ) and Hamelin Pool to check out the Stromatolites. Except you couldn’t really see any Stromatolites as the boardwalk that enabled same had been destroyed in a cyclone a while back, and no apparently cares enough to prioritise fixing it. So you kind of stand on a Shelly beach and look a few hundred metres away to some black rock like things sticking out of the water in the bay. Like really lame rocks. Stromatolites are actually pretty cool, apparently responsible for creating earth’s oxygen over the 2,200 million years they were the dominant life form on the planet. Just don’t expect to see them well at a Shark Bay at the moment.

Thursday afternoon we set up camp at Monkey Mia in Shark Bay. Quick dip ( cold water) in the bay, followed by sundowners on the beach . A pod of dolphins turned up while we were watching …shows promise for tomorrow morning’s Dolphin interaction/ viewing.

Days 58-60, Sunday 8- Tuesday 10 August

Sunday Morning, good long walk around the delta of the Gascoyne River Mouth, followed by a good Brekkie at the end of the old ( now decrepit) railway pier. Then headed back north, past the ‘blowholes’ , through Quobba Station to Gnaraloo Station and their 3 Mile Camp on a lagoon adjacent to both the Southen end of the Ningaloo Reef and the somewhat famous ‘Tombstones’ break.

A great campsite , around 100 metres from the beach with awesome views and a stiff breeze to keep the flies down . After setting up it was time for a walk and swim. Sunset that evening was probably the best one yet – that is saying something as WA has really turned it on.

Next day spent walking , exploring and beaching ( yes, that’s a word). Having neither a surfboard or much ability we gave Tombstones a miss from the water side- maybe a future project 🤔. Those out on the break seemed to be having a good time of it .

Leisurely pack up on Tuesday morning, then a quick walk on the beach prior to heading south again. Plan is for two nights at Wooramel Station in the Gascoyne Region prior to more coastal activities at Monkey Mia.

Days 54-57, Wednesday 4 – Saturday 7 August

Leaving the Pilbara, we had a relatively uneventful drive ( less broken windscreen 🙄) to in Exmouth mid-afternoon on Wednesday. It is peak season and the town was full to the gills… there was even overflow camping occurring on the town’s sports oval. But Exmouth is less about the town and more about the natural wonders around it – most specifically the Cape Range National Park and the adjacent World Heritage listed Ningaloo reef ( apparently the world’s largest fringing reef). The area has a long human history too. We acknowledge the traditional owners , the Jinigudera people and pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging. European contact with the area began with the Dutch around the 1600s.

As well as being physically beautiful, the marine park and coast is teeming with life . We saw more Humpback Whales than you could count ( the WA migration population is now estimated at around 45,000 , up from around 500 when commercial whaling in WA ended). We also saw bird life , sea turtles ( including one nesting) and more tropical fish on the reef than you could take in.

We (sadly) left Exmouth on Saturday and drove via Coral Bay ( for a look) to Carnarvon. Today (Sunday) we are heading up the coast to Gnaraloo for a few days.

Days 52-54, Monday 2 – Wednesday 4 August

Leaving Tom Price , driving West, and dropping around 200 metres we went to a station stay in a private site in a Gorge. Cheela Plains Station is a large cattle run that has a side business in tourism as it covers some remarkable terrain in the Pilbara. We spent two nights camped alongside the ‘Mussel Pool’ in a gorge on the Beasley River .

Wednesday morning an early pack up and drive to Exmouth . Copped a rock on the Amarok windscreen on Highway 136 about 50 Km short of the North West Highway ( National 1) @ Nanutarra . Star spread into a crack across the driver’s side windscreen by the time we arrived in Exmouth . Will try and risk manage it until a planned service in Perth later this month.

Plan for tomorrow is a humpback whale swim tour for Mark and a Snorkelling tour on Ningaloo Reef for Ness. Reason for the divergent itineraries is one is inside the fringing reef and one on the open ocean …and one of us gets quite seasick on occasion…

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Days 48- 52, Thursday 29 July to Monday 2 August

Departing Tom Price ( a nice enough looking place for a company mining town) we spent four days in Karijini National Park. The Park sits astride the lands of the Kurrama, Martijda Banyjima, Miliyuranpa Banyjima and Yinhawanka peoples. We acknowledge their traditional custodianship and pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.

Karijini is a big place , we spent two nights in the Western Section, staying in the Campground at the Karijini Eco Resort, followed by two nights at Dales Campground in the Eastern Section of the park.

Karijini is the land of red rocks, green/ grey spinifex and stupendous gorges. The gorges aren’t always apparent until you are on them or in them. They host waterfalls, stunning red cliffs , delightful waterholes, great vegetation and good bird life. It is also a bit cooler than the coast at between 600 and 80 metres in places . We even had a sprinkle of rain on our second night.

Highlights included the scramble and wade into Joffre , freezing morning swim below the waterfall in Joffre, Knox Gorge, all of Kalamina Gorge and the walk through Dales and swimming at Fortescue ( we were ‘swimmed out ‘ by the time we got to Fern Pool). Slight disappointment in that Mark had a touch of gastro 🤢 the afternoon we were to do Hancock Gorge , so we waved that off. And the Circular Pool is now only visible from the lookout – the walk in is closed do to the threat of falling rocks from unstable cliffs either side.

In all, a great park and a very special place. It was worrying to hear that there are mining tenements over part of the park . Given how much ore there is in the North West it beggars belief that anyone should mine in this park .

Days 46-47, Tuesday / Wednesday 27-28 July

Day 45 was a long and tedious day driving from Broome to Karratha along the Great Northern Highway. We have left the ‘Kimberley’and are now in the ‘Pilbara’.

On Tuesday we stocked up on fresh stuff for a week inland. We left Karratha via a side trip to the Burrup Peninsula to look at petroglyphs up to 40,000 years old . Awesome. It was humbling to think that over a thousand generations of humanity have been going to the one site to either create or see art and stories. We didn’t take any photos of the petroglyphs themselves as the traditional owners have requested people don’t.

It was then a scenic and interesting drive south and east into the Millstream- Chichester National Park. We set up camp at the lovely Miliyanha Campground and went for a sunset walk. Miliyanha is a beaut spot on the traditional country of the Yindjibarndi people, alongside the Fortescue River . We acknowledge the Yindjibarndi’scustodianship of the land and pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

A bit of a sleep in on Wednesday morning ( 7am)… although dawn is also arriving a little later as we have come a fair way further south and west from the last few weeks. Plan was to double back to the northern end of the park , do some walking and then have a dip in the Python Pool waterhole. Plan came unstuck when we reached the Roebourne – Wittenoom road to see a ‘road closed’ sign . A one hour return drive to that point for naught. We did get to see a massive ore train heading from Tom Price to Dampier as we waited nearly 15 minutes for it to pass across the highway. These are seriously long trains!

Afternoon spent on a walk along the Fortescue River, then a lovely swim at a place called the ‘Deep Reach’. A late moon rise saw a spectacular star show above our heads at dinner time – the Milky Way out on a great display,

Day 48, Thursday 29 July dawned quite chilly compared to previous days and weeks. We had a Roo with a Joey join us fir breakfast.

Ness did another lap of the river and wetlands, then it was off towards Tom Price via the Rio Tinto private road

Plan this afternoon is to head out to Karijini National Park … we may not have comma for a few days .

Day 44 , Sunday 25 July

Pleasant and quick drive back down the Peninsula to Broome. We had an early lunch / late breakfast at the Dragonfly cafe in the Chinatown area, followed by an afternoon of admin ( clothes washing and drying). In between admin we lazed in and by the pool.

In the evening we went to see the phenomenon known as the ‘Stairway to the Moon’. This occurs on a few nights during the dry season ( no clouds) if the full moon rising over Roebuck Bay coincides with a suitably low tide. The resultant reflections across the mud flat creates the impression implied by the title. So we joined a few thousand others out front of the Mangrove Hotel to check it out. It was actually pretty cool to see – as described in the guides.

Dinner was a rarity on this trip – takeaway pizza in our Air BnB room while watching Netflix. Nice change from camping!

Today we drive south and west to Karratha. We will ‘bomb up’ for a week in the Pilbara while there and check out the indigenous petroglyphs on the Burrup Peninsula.

Days 41-44, 21-25 July

Three days spent on Bardi land at the top of the Dampier Peninsula at Cape Leveque. We acknowledge their traditional custodianship of this land and pay our respects to their elders past , present and emerging .

In summary: Red cliffs, white sands, blue water, swimming , more Humpback whales than you can count …and relentless South West then South East Winds.

We stayed on the ‘cliff top’ site overlooking the western beach. Great views for whale watching, but about 100% too many sites crammed (and cramped) in – and not an ounce of shade. ☀️☀️☀️☀️ The campground confirming the strange phenomenon we have noted: in a continent filled with remote and wild areas, when you get to some places the living density per square metre is higher than downtown Hong Kong . It’s perverse and a bit strange.

The number of whales seen were high – big breaches , tail slaps etc . All from our ‘front door’ . No photos unfortunately as the I-phone wasn’t up for it .

Saturday lunch we ventured out to Cygnet Bay. We had a nice meal on the deck overlooking the bay as a South Easterly whizzed through and past us .

This morning we drove back to Broome. Plan is to try and see the ‘staircase to the Moon’ over Roebuck Bay this evening. Then tomorrow morning up early for a big drive down into the Pilbara.

Day 40, Wednesday 21 July

We left Broome after a gentle pack up and leisurely brunch / coffee downtown ( after obligatory dawn walk on the beach). Humidity was high, as was the dew point , so there was a very damp sea mist hanging over Cable Beach. It burned off by about 8.30am.

We were heading for the Dampier Peninsula and a small campsite called Gnylmarung on traditional indigenous lands. They provide a few sites overlooking a beautiful bay as a bit of an enterprise to support the community.

The road in is 4WD only , but it’s not too arduous. The destination is brilliant.

The place has a lot of keen fishing folk who set up for weeks or months. A big shout out to Mel and Glenn from Esperance who gave us a great feed of fresh Red Emperor they had caught that afternoon- legends! We had a great meal of fish tacos for dinner under the nearly full moon.

After dinner a long walk on the beach , the sunset really lingering. Then a very moon lit walk back.

The downside of the big moon was some attenuation of the star light … high humidity over night saw a very heavy dew and another sea mist in the morning.

Leisurely departure on the morning of Thursday 22nd sees us heading for the northern tip of the peninsula, Cape Leveque, for a few days.

Days 36-39, Saturday 17 – Tuesday 20 July

Four days checking out Broome ( takes 5 minutes actually…🙄) then just chilling. Sunset at Cable Beach , walk through ‘old’ (😂 since when is the late 2000’s old?🤔🤔🤔) Chinatown, lunch at Matso’s and a scramble over rocks to totally not see or find dinosaur footprints at Point Gantheaume . Although there was a cool Osprey occupying a nest in the lighthouse structure.

Rest of the time spent walking on the beach and lazing in and by a pool .

A bit stunned by the sheer number of retirees. This isn’t a ‘young people’s choice place ‘. The median age of folks here seems to be at least twenty years older than Mark , and he is no spring chicken!

The weather is superb , which may account for the ‘Florida effect’, but perhaps the Broome juice isn’t worth the squeeze given the costs and sheer logistics of getting here . It’s nice, but crowded.

We are heading north tomorrow for four nights beach camping on the Dampier Peninsula . 🐚