21ST MAY 2013 – CARNARVON & POINT QUOBBA, NORTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Waking once again to a lovely sunny morning & cloudless blue sky which makes one appreciate being alive. Good overnight site which could have taken lots more vans, so we were surprised that it wasn’t crowded. All the better for us. En route there are lots of wandering sheep, goats & cattle, a few already hit by trucks I suspect, together with the usual sad array of dead roos. We had heard trucks tooting before we left so this explained why. Apparently it’s quite normal as there are signs warning traffic of the possibility. Nearing Carnarvon the area becomes prolific with market gardens which seems odd among the flat, arid landscape. Surprisingly this area supplies more than half of WA’s bananas & about 70% of Perth’s winter vegetables. It’s mild climate & pest free status plus the fertile land near the Gasgoyne River results in production of top quality fruit & vegies. We were hoping to purchase some, but didn’t realise we had to go off on another road to the right area to buy direct from the producers as we were heading on to Point Quobba for a couple of nights. We pass over a large riverbed of total sand & totally devoid of moisture. There isn’t a sign of wildlife or anything on the landscape except low brush. We have decided that WA is just one enormous sandpit for people like us to play in with our matchbox- like cars on the long flat roads. It seems even flatter than the Nullabor but with flat topped ‘mesas’ in the distance. Along the way we found a very pink lake, caused by a certain algae. Back at Fowlers Bay we had witnessed the same thing but much paler. Water is extremely limited up here & there are warning signs all over the place to make sure you have water or turn back.

On arrival at Point Quobba we are delighted to find what we believed was the last site as it is apparently very popular, not only because it is only $5.50 per site per night, but is right near the beach. We later discover the sites continue a couple of kms along the dunes. Most of the campsites are protected from the prevailing winds by the sand dunes which is a blessing as there is a souwesterly today. This proves to be a great advantage when we visit the blowholes a short walk from camp as they are really performing well today with spectacular waves coming in from the sea. It is quite exhilarating & I am definitely not alone in taking a profuse number of photos. Next morning we are visited by a couple from Queensland who we became acquainted with way back, then caught a glimpse of them in Perth in the same camp but couldn’t catch up with them. They unfortunately had big problems with their brand new motorhome & had to go into a cabin for 8 days, while we were looking for them in their motorhome.

At Quobba

Blowhole at Quobba

An afternoon was spent driving further along the coast to Cape Cuviere, all dirt road & pretty rough in places. We can only do that sort of thing when the caravan is safely parked somewhere & we do enjoy the freedom of doing so, one of the advantages of caravan versus motorhome. Did lots of beachcombing & fossicking, finding some lovely big shells & a few pretty small ones, lots of coral in large chunks & small, & a few colourful crabs in rock pools over the edges of the cliffs. We are always very careful with the cliffs here as the rocks often look as they could just snap off. A lot of it is very flat, stacked rock but in this particular area it is volcanic & pimply slabs of orange rock. Looks as though it would be extremely hard to walk over but in fact it is OK. On the way back to camp a large Perentie lizard peered at us from the side of the road. Stuart was going too fast to stop so sorry, no photo.

Janice on a cliff edge at Cape Cuvier

Colourful crab in rock pool

 

After two nights we hit the road again, this time heading further north towards Exmouth. The landscape changes a little with quite a few large sand pans which would flood with good rain. Lots of goats with long tails, many colours & patterns. Also a large number of wedgetailed eagles which I so wish I was able to capture with the camera. They are really beautiful large birds though must admit I wouldn’t like to be attacked by one.

There are great road cleaning gangs here who clear away the roadkill. They are most efficient, no leaning on shovels here! Most of them are clad in black & are supervised by a big fierce looking fellow who does the big bits, followed on by the common men who clean up the scrappy bits. They are called Wedgies & Crows! Lots of boats are evident on the road today – we are sure almost every Aussie male must be born with a fishing rod in his hand. With or without a boat they are always fishing, sometimes accompanied by the little wife to carry the bucket or spare rod.

At one of the roadhouses we are very pleased to find some stalls, one of them selling fresh fruit & veg from Carnarvon. I am trying to eat more fruit so it was great to get oranges, apples, bananas & tomatoes. The landscape is very flat again with a 360deg horizon of totally cloudless blue sky. We saw a sign telling us we were crossing the Tropic of Capricorn 22.5deg south of the equator. Stu tells me Paparoa would be about 37deg, which explains why it is so much warmer here most of the year. We reach Coral Bay for lunch & have a refreshing swim in lovely clear water with a white sandy bottom (NO, not mine)! At this particular bay a sad thing happened several days before we arrived – a couple in their 40’s were snorkelling out near the reef & drowned. People saw them floating from the beach (including their two sons 13 & 10), & assumed they were still snorkelling, then the husband disappeared beneath the water & didn’t resurface so it was then obvious that something was not right. At this stage no-one is sure what happened but we were told by a local it could have been one of the jellyfish stingers who are not usually around at this time. We felt really sad as we visited the beach there & it has made me a bit unsure about snorkelling which we were intending to do within the next few days as this is the home of the great Ningaloo Reef. Would be OK if we had ‘stinger suits’ but we haven’t so we will see.

Demara Sheep!
 

Our next night is spent at a station homestead again & this one is really nice & also reasonably priced. The couple who own it are delightful & are 3rd generation. The atmosphere is very relaxed with chooks, horses, dogs & a few pet sheep wandering around. And speaking of sheep, I mentioned earlier about goats with long tails. We have just discovered they were a variety of sheep called Damara (not sure of spelling). They sure look like goats & have coarse hair which is no good for anything but the meat is excellent. I took some photos of the pet ones here at Ballara Station who were so friendly they would invite themselves into your van if you are not careful. One young black & white one was so funny & a couple of French boys at the camp had him jumping & cavorting all over the place. We actually bought some meat from the farm but I do hope it wasn’t from cuties like him!