Category: April 2018

As the camp is fairly quiet at the moment, Denver suggested we make the most of the good weather and take the boat out fishing.  As we are assisting with a care taking role, Denver kindly let us use a private area on the Station to launch the boat from.

We met two lovely couples, Mel and Helen and Callie and Torren. They were staying at Giralia Station and both couples had their own boats. Mel has been coming here for years and knows the area very well.  At 9am we drove the 35km to the beach to launch. It was fantastic chatting with Mel who gave us some good information about fishing in the area. Apparently the best time to fish is approximately 3 hours before the high tide and he said that the fish pretty much stop biting after high tide peaks. He was adamant that we shouldn’t stay out more than a couple of hours after high tide or we might struggle to get the boat out again. Continue reading “Day 97 – 20th April 2018 – Giralia Station”

We drove from Carnarvon roadside camp (Yalabia) to Giralia Station which was about a 2 and a half hour drive.

We stopped in at Coral Bay but it was seriously packed. All the caravan parks had people packed in like sardines and there were people walking everywhere. As we were towing the van and the boat, I was getting a little nervous about trying to turn around and get back out. People were parked on the side of the road making it quite narrow. Luckily in the carpark at the end of the road we were able to find a spot big enough to turn the van and the boat and high-tail it back out of there. It was a small seaside spot and the water looked beautiful, but I couldn’t get out of there quick enough due to the popularity. It was school holidays so we plan to come back and check it out once the school holiday rush has settled down. We have heard it is a beautiful spot to swim.   Continue reading “Day 96 – 19th April 2018 – Carnarvon roadside camp (Yalabia) to Giralia Station”

There were many things in this area that we didn’t get to, so they have been added to our growing list for a future trip! One of those is going out to Dirk Hartog Island, we had hoped to take the boat out there and camp there overnight, also Steep Point which is the most Westerly Point in Australia, there was also a Marine Park where you can go and see sharks being fed and these are just a few things we didn’t get to.  I also really wanted to do the Aboriginal lead Kayak tour that includes Bush Tucker and Bush Medicine, but they didn’t have any tours running while we were there.  But all in all we have loved our time in Shark Bay and will definitely be keen to come back and spend more time in the future. Continue reading “Day 95 – 18th April 2018 – Denham to Carnarvon”

The day was spent packing up camp as we are heading off tomorrow for Carnarvon at an overnight stop on the way to Giralia Station.

We decided to try a bit of night fishing off the jetty in Denham.  Quite a few people come out to the jetty and it is a great atmosphere.  We managed to catch quite a few fish but none that were sizable or worth keeping.  Still a fun night.  We caught some juvenile Pink Snapper, Trickies, Western Butterfish and Trumpeter Grunters.  We tried squidding but didn’t catch any although the jetty is known for night squidding.  The people next to us were catching Snook.

Continue reading “Day 94 – 17th April 2018 – Denham”

Just when you think that Shark Bay cannot get any better, Monkey Mia takes it up another level.  Monkey Mia has been on my bucket list for a while, and sometimes when you want to go somewhere so much it can end up being disappointing, but this was definitely not the case.  The dolphin feeding times start at 7.45am and they feed them 3 times before noon.  But the dolphins determine these times, so they are not set.  We decided to get there for the 7.45am feeding which meant we were up at 6am to get there on time as we are about 30km away.  We got there early (I can anticipate the Camping Crews comments on this already haha). Continue reading “Day 93 – 16th April 2018 – Denham, Monkey Mia”

We had an easy day around the Caravan Park today, doing washing, videos and the blog.   Late afternoon Col was keen to go down to the foreshore and do a bit more fishing and I decided to stay back at camp and do a bit of cross-stitch and make some calls to home.

While I was on the phone to Mum I noticed that the van had filled with some beautiful orange light and realised there was a spectacular sunset happening outside.   I went out to have a better look and the sky was ablaze with orange and gold.  So breathtaking.  I knew that Col would be getting some fantastic photos down on the foreshore, and I was not disappointed!!

Continue reading “Day 92 – 15th April 2018 – Denham”

The weather was beautiful so we took the boat out for a day fishing.  I am pleased to say that the boat launch and retrieve went like clockwork.  Partly because we were using a boat ramp, but also because we have slightly changed what we were doing.  Col reverses the trailer near the waters edge then jumps into the boat to drive it.  I reverse the boat and trailer into the water then go park the car and trailer and the same process when we get it back out.  It is working well while I continue to develop my trailer reversing skills, which I am slowly improving at.  I did have to reverse and slam on the brakes to get the boat off the trailer, a little unnerving but it all worked ok. Continue reading “Day 91 – 14th April 2018 – Denham, Fishing”

We headed off for a day of exploring Francois Peron National Park, and we were not disappointed!  So many amazing spots to see.  It took us approximately 5 hours on the way in to reach the furthest point being Skipjack Point.  This included stopping at all the sites on the way there, stopping for lunch as well.  It took us about an hour and a half on the way out as the the track is sandy and slow.

Our first stop was a place called Big Lagoon and although the photo is beautiful, it does not come close to capturing the colours, the size or the magic of this place.  There were people kayaking and fishing, and it would be a beautiful spot to swim.

There was a fairly new campground next to Big Lagoon and the facilities were great.  We were intrigued by these though.  We did work out that they are platforms for setting up your tent on, but we were confused for a while.

Our next stop was at a beautiful beach called Cattle Well.

For those that like collecting shells on beaches, this was a goldmine.  I found these in a matter or minutes.  I don’t like taking them but I do like finding them.

We continued our drive through the National Park and stopped for some photos along the way.  The track was quite deep and sandy and we had to lower our tyre pressure to prevent getting bogged.  I drove part of the way out and it is surprising the concentration required to drive this type of track and the arm fatigue.  You have to fight the car the entire way to stay on the track.  I enjoyed the challenge but was impressed that Col had driven most of it.  Way more draining than driving on a bitumen road.

We stopped at Cape Peron and Col tried a bit of fishing from the rocks.  It was an amazing spot but no luck with the fish that day.

Cape Peron is the point where two major currents meet, the Leeuwin Current and West Australian Current.  You can actually see the line from the shore going out to see where they collide.  The other thing that was amazing at this lookout was the contrast of the red sand, white sand and blue ocean.

Our next stop was Skipjack Point and I think this was my favourite spot in the park, if I had to pick one.  From here you could walk along a boardwalk looking out over the ocean and you can see Stingrays and Sharks swimming below.  I could have spent hours here just sitting and watching, but unfortunately we had to start heading back.

It took us about an hour and a half to drive back out.  There is a station to deflate and inflate your tyres in this park too, which I thought was a great idea.  There is also a hot tub that you can use, but we ran out of time.  Looked good in the brochure though and might be worth a visit if you plan to come here.

 

 

We did a bit of a reconnaissance drive around the town to see the layout of the land.  Denham is a beautiful beachside town, smaller than I was expecting.  We started off doing a main road drive and then headed down the beach to take a walk.

The beaches here are quite shallow and the water is a spectacular colour although this wasn’t really showing up in the photos.  There are two boat ramps in the main street and they have dug out a channel for the boats to be able to launch and then drive out to the ocean.  There is also a swimming area with a pontoon and diving boards.   A fantastic playground is also on the main road for little ones, in the shape of a ship wreck.

We have found that the best place to start is to go into the Information Centre and find out what the recommended sites are to visit while in town and to collect some brochures of things that interest you.  So this was where we headed next.

I was keen to check out Monkey Mia which is about 28km from Denham on the other side of the peninsula.  We were surprised when we got there that it is a Reserve and you need to pay $12 per adult to enter.  I thought that the $12 was to attend the dolphin feeding, but it is actually to enter the reserve.  There is a boat ramp there, so we drove over to the boat ramp to have a look.  It is a really beautiful spot and while we were there we saw a beautiful big green turtle swimming along the shore.  You can hire kayaks here and I am keen to come back and do that for one day.  The water was so much calmer on this side of the peninsula compared to Denham.  Be aware that there are Stonefish in the area so wear water shoes to protect your feet from stepping on them.  If you do tread on a Stonefish they are highly venomous and you need to seek medical treatment as the complications can be severe.

The drive from Kalbarri to Denham is a longer one, approximately 5 hours including breaks.  All went smoothly and we were not far out of Denham when we saw a Motor-home coming towards us which abruptly pulled off the road and come to a sudden stop.  Col and I pulled over to see if everything was ok.  Six distressed Asians had piled out of the Motor-home and were animatedly assessing the situation.  It was a hired Motor-home and they were badly bogged.  Where they had pulled over was very soft sand and also quite a steep angle.  We were a little worried that the van looked like it could topple over.  Col tried to ascertain what had happened but none of them spoke English.  We are not sure where they were from and the language barrier made it interesting.

Col walked around the van and could see that the front tyres were pointing hard right and the back left tyre completely bogged.  He managed to ask for the keys and got in the front seat and straightened the tyres.  Two of the Asian men were standing in front of the van trying to push it in reverse.  Col and I made hand actions to explain we were driving it forward and they quickly rushed around the back of the van to push.  Col was able to drive the the van towards the bank instead of towards the road and had them mobile again in no time.  They were INCREDIBLY EXCITED.  There was clapping and thumbs up and smiles and photos.  Very, very cute.  Until one lady was standing on the road trying to take our pictures while Col and I were signing that an oncoming car was heading her way.  That would have been a very funny photo!  They were still waving out the windows as they drove up the road.  Very cute.

We chose the Shark Bay Caravan Park in Denham and are very happy with it.  They have recently renovated and the amenities are new.  We were given a large space to set up in with the boat and the van and are right next to the toilets.  They have some ensuite style toilet/showers and they are a few metres from our camp so we feel like we have been given our own ensuite, nice!  We had decided on an unpowered site to save a bit of money but we worked out that unpowered also means no water here.  Because we don’t need to use the shower in the van, we should be fine, but still interesting.  If you need water, ask for a powered site.  The ground is really hard and you can’t bang in any tent pegs, so you definitely need a drill and a masonry drill bit so you can make holes for the pegs.  We were keen to put up the Annex for the first time since it went walkabout.  The set up took quite a while because of the tent peg issue, but we got there in the end.  We are so happy to have it set up and enjoyed sitting out in the Annex watching TV in our lounge room that night!  It does get pretty windy here so you do really need it.