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Saying goodbye to Chas & Shirley at Mandurah we headed of in a southerly direction. We stoped for lunch at Australind before continuing on to Bunbury. From Bunbury we travelled inland through the hills to Collie and Donnybrook enjoying a couple of different overnight free camps along the way, and returning to the coastal region at Ludlow, staying in a free camp in the Tuart Forest before travelling into Busselton. The very friendly Kookaburra caravan park is a great place to stay in Busselton because it is within a 2-minute walk to the centre of town and about the same to the famous jetty. We enjoyed strolling around town and really enjoyed one of the best ice creams we have ever had, home made Italian style, just great. The sign out the front said “Best ice-cream in the world” and we would say that it is pretty accurate. One of the main attractions at Busselton is the jetty, which, at nearly 2 Km long is the longest timber jetty in the southern hemisphere, if not the world. Unfortunately at the time of our visit the jetty for the most part, was closed and undergoing substantial repairs after a disastrous fire. It is planned to reopen in early 2010 but judging by the amount of work to be done we suspect it will more likely be the middle of the year at least. Of course this meant that the renowned underwater observatory at the end of the jetty was also not accessible, much to our disappointment, oh well, never mind, it just means we will have to come back again.
Leaving Busselton we travelled through Dunsborough and then out to Cape Naturaliste where we did the walks around the headland and were rewarded with fantastic views and, surprisingly, the spectacle of passing humpback whales. Further down south brings you to the Leeuwin-Naturaliste N.P. that protects a long stretch of coastline to the east of Margaret River and all the way to Cape Leeuwin. We stayed several nights in the N.P. campground at Contos Field, from where we explored the Margaret River region. There are almost 100 wineries in the area and I reckon we drove past most of them; this almost certainly is the lifeblood of the district. However the highlights for us were a visit to the Bush Shack Brewery at Yallingup, lunch at the organic Wild Thyme café in Margaret River and a total pig-out at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory.
Southward again brought us through Augusta on the way to Cape Leeuwin which is where, theoretically at least, the waters of the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. We had a look around the lighthouse precinct and inspected the calcified remains of the old waterwheel that was used to pump water up to the lighthouse during it’s construction and then later to supply the keepers and their families with fresh water. After a good look around it was time to start heading east and now, after being fairly close to or on the shores of the Indian Ocean for the last several months, we took our last glimpse of the clear sparkling waters. For the next few months at least it will be the great Southern Ocean that will be in our sights. 
Leaving the Gascoyne behind and heading south down the highway it is generally a good flat run until you begin to approach the Murchison River. Not far from the turnoff to Kalbarri the highway crosses the river and here you find a quite large rest area well back of the road and next to the river. In the rest are we found some other travellers that we had met with a number of times and decided to stay for the night. The further south we travelled the more wildflowers we began to see even crowding right up to the edge of the highway, this was to be the beginning of several weeks of wildflower encounters and already we could easily see how this area has got such a good reputation for fantastic displays. Anyone who has travelled this section of highway or is looking at a map of the area will see that we passed by the turnoff to Shark Bay and Monkey Mia. We chose not to take the trip out to this area partly because we wanted to pick up the pace of our trip south, but more to the point, because we generally shun areas that are over promoted tourist destinations, particularly the ones that rely upon unnatural animal behaviour as their main attraction – each to their own - of course.
From the highway it is a little over 50Km into Kalbarri through undulating to hilly terrain. It took us a good half day to cover this distance because we stopped to take a couple of short walks in the Kalbarri N. P. both of which reward you with spectacular views of the gorges of the Murchison. Once in town we were fortunate to secure a site at the caravan park just across the road from the beach. Kalbarri is a spectacularly beautiful town situated at the mouth of the Murchison, which forms a lagoon on the beachfront as it curves around the headland and enters the ocean. The place was busy and full of tourists as it was at the end of the first week of the school holidays. Tourism has to be one of the mainstays of the local economy these days and you can see lots of new development centred on capturing this trade, in the past the town relied heavily on seasonal Cray fishing for it’s existence. As soon as we were set up out came the bikes so we could ride to the seahorse sanctuary. The seahorse sanctuary breeds seahorses and pipefishes for the pet trade in an effort to lessen the amount taken from the wild. A seahorse taken from the wild will seldom survive very long in an aquarium, yet the captive bred ones from the sanctuary can live for many years. The sanctuary’s strategy is to breed as many as they can to keep the price down therefore making it less attractive to those who might try to profit from the taking of wild seahorses. You can take a self-guided tour of the sanctuary, which we enjoyed very much.
Taking the very good cycleway back towards town we paused at one of the splendid lookouts along the way and were instantly rewarded by the spectacle of Humpback whales frolicking just off shore. They were putting on quite a show with their breaching, tail slapping and fin waving, we were totally mesmerised, so much so that we forgot to get the camera out until they were just too far out of range for a good shot. However we refected on the fact that we had been studying some of the smallest sea creatures and then just minutes later were being entertained by some of the largest – quite a contrast. Back at the caravan park the manager had just got word that one of the local trawlers had returned to port and had a good supply of fresh fish for sale. We were quickly back on our bikes and following her directions it was down to the wharf in just a couple of minutes to select a fish and have it filleted, right there on the back of the boat, it doesn’t come any fresher unless you catch it yourself.
It was certainly a whirlwind visit for us because as soon as we were back at the van we jumped in the car and drove back out to the N.P. to do the two longer walks. Firstly to the rugged Z-Bend gorge and then to The Loop posing for some photos at the appropriately named Nature’s Widow, all the while passing through vast areas of wildflowers. Our late afternoon return to town meant it was a good time to detour to the hilltop lookout to watch the sunset over the ocean and inlet, and then because of all the physical activity of the day we were quickly back at camp to get that fish on the BBQ. Next morning we left Kalbarri and travelled the coastal loop road past Gregories and Horrocks turnoffs rejoining the highway at Northampton. From there it is good highway, although quite undulating, into Geraldton.
Geraldton would be the largest town we had been in since leaving Darwin and we used this to our advantage to re-fuel and re-provision. Although we only spent one night in town we did manage to get a good look around and found it quite appealing. Geraldton is a busy port town and regional hub and yet is attractive to visitors where you can stroll along old narrow streets among many restored 19th century buildings. They seem to have a developing cappuccino and alfresco café strip in one of the old streets not far from the waterfront. There are several large attractive parks around town and then on the top of a hill the memorial to HMAS Sydney II. This is a beautiful tribute to the ship and it’s crew, which was lost with all hands just off the coast during WWII. The canopy of the large central dome is fashioned from 645 stainless steel seagulls, one for each life lost. Curving around the southern edge of the site is a polished black granite wall of remembrance engraved with the names of those lost – many so young – what a tragedy.
We would have liked to stay at least another week at Cape Range N.P. but we had word that Sue’s sister, Wendy would be holidaying in Perth around mid October and Sue was very keen to catch up with her and Rick. So we made the discission to speed up the next sections of our journey. Travelling south from Exmouth we called in for a look at Coral Bay and for the first time in months we struck rain. The rain and cold blustery wind combined to give us a less than ideal impression of Coral Bay, couple this with the fact that it was school holidays and the place was overrun with tourist meant we only stayed for lunch and a quick look around. However we could easily see the underlying beauty of the area and we would like to return sometime when conditions are a little better. As we were travelling directly into a ferocious headwind with occasional light showers it was an easy decision to pull over and camp for the night at a free rest area at Lyndon River.
Hitting the road early the next morning and with travelling conditions a little more favourable, had us arriving in Carnarvon before lunch. We checked into the Marloo C.P. for 2 nights. After catching up with some washing and then the necessary shopping it was time to have look around town. We found Carnarvon to our liking and whilst in the town area we paid a visit to the ‘Mile Long’ jetty and even took a trip on the ‘Coffee Pot’ little train that runs out on the jetty. This is where the first shipments of livestock to be exported from Australia were made. The jetty and the nearby railway heritage precinct are well worth a visit.
Next day we did the 75Km trip northwest out to Point Quobba to witness the spectacular blowholes and to check out the camping area, again finding it to our liking which meant putting on our list of places to come back to one day, hopefully. On the way to Point Quobba you pass by yet another large salt production facility and then, something a little unusual, a Beta Carotene production plant. From the roadside you can get a very good view of the large ponds that are a vivid pink, quite an unusual sight. Sitting as it does near the mouth of the Gascoyne River, W.A.’s longest, Carnarvon has over 100 plantations growing everything from bananas and mangoes to tomatoes and herbs. On our way back into town we took great advantage of this to stock up on some really fresh fruit and veg, and one place even has home made fruit ice-cream – yum! Even though we were not there to see it Carnarvon has a growers market every Saturday in season, in the heart of town. We were assured it also is well worth your time to visit. From Carnarvon we head south to Kalbarri and Geraldton. 
Exmouth is a young modern small town having been established in the 1960s as a service town for the nearby Naval communications base on North West Cape. The present base operated by the Commonwealth government was once an important and strategic base for the U.S. and Australian navy for operations in the Indian Ocean and to our north. The massive towers situated on the tip of the cape are extremely high with tower zero (the central one) being 387.6 metres tall, making it the second tallest structure in the southern hemisphere. The town of Exmouth is used by a sizeable proportion of travellers as a stopover and supply base for their visit to Cape Range N.P. and Ningaloo Reef, and this it does very well. It has a couple of small supermarkets, a bakery, several restaurants and hotels, camping and fishing stores and postal and banking services as well as a good collection of other service outlets. There is also a good range of accommodation options that would suit most travellers. For those staying out at the N.P. (no fresh water available) there are fresh water taps at the information centre where you can freely top up your tanks and containers before heading out there.
The entrance station to the N.P. is about 45 Km out of town and it is a good sealed road all the way and this good sealed road continues all the way to Yardie Creek at the southern end of the park. There are about a dozen camping areas scattered along the coast with some having as many as 15 sites and some as few as 3. The entire park is very popular during the main tourist season from May to October and demand for sites is very high and at the time of our visit you could not book in advance. To secure a site during this period you need to employ a certain strategy and fortunately for us we had previously been given some good advice by a couple of regular visitors. What we did was stay 1 night at Yardie Homestead caravan park which is only about 10 Km outside the park and then one of us got up real early and drove the car to the entrance station to await the arrival of the ranger. I arrived at the entrance station at 5.40 a.m. and was 8th in line. The ranger arrives at 8.00 and then contacts all the camping areas by radio to find out how many vacant sites, if any, they will have that day. As each vehicle approaches the office the ranger informs you of what is available and then you make your choice, he then gives you a booking conformation slip and you have until 10.00 a.m. to get to your site. I quickly returned to hitch up the van and then drove to our chosen camping area to be greeted by the camp host and directed to our allocated site, all of which was easily completed by 9.30. You may wonder why we did not just pack up and take the van with us to the entrance station in the first place, well, some days there are not any sites available and you would then have to return to the C.P. and set up again.
Once again we were fortunate in having a choice of camping areas and employing our previous good advice we chose Ned’s Camp, the northern most camping area and the nearest to the entrance (8 Km) and also not far from the very good visitors centre (4 Km) as well as being the closest to the one and only water tap (bore water) in the park. (1 Km) Ned’s would also seem to be the most protected camping area even though it is only metres from the beach. Most of the sites are nestled between a couple of low dunes, which do a good job of sheltering you from the fairly incessant wind, and there is a line of Tamarisk trees to provide some shade. The bush loos are amongst the best we have seen and they are kept spotlessly clean by the volunteer camp hosts, they even had a very pleasant smell. The Western Australian department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) makes good use of their excellent voluntary camp host system which sees most of the more popular N.P. camping areas having the services of camp hosts during the busiest part of the year. Here again we were very lucky being at Ned’s because we reckon that our camp hosts were the very best you would ever find. Norm & Gwen have been the voluntary camp hosts at Ned’s for six months each year for the past twenty years – how’s that! Norm & Gwen have lined up all the picnic tables close to their campsite and make it almost mandatory to attend the happy hour at 5.30 each day. 
During our 2 week stay they were honoured at a camp host’s function at the ranger headquarters and the service they had provided over that period was tallied up. They have contributed more than 40,000 hours of voluntary service and have greeted and checked in over 106,000 visitors. People like Norm & Gwen are real heroes in our minds as they go about the business, without any fuss, of making sure all the visitors to ‘their’ camp are looked after and have a good time. It is no wonder that they were recently presented with a gift in recognition of their service by the Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett. 
What sort of time did we have during our 2-week stay at Cape range? Well, in a word, Fantastic! We swam and snorkelled most days, had long walks along the beach, paddled our kayak amongst a pod of playful dolphins, walked Mandu gorge and cruised Yardie creek. Ningaloo Reef (one of the longest fringing reefs in the world at 260Km) is just offshore and in some places is little more than 100 metres out. This provides a wonderful sheltered lagoon full of coral and tropical fish for the entire length of the park. This is the best snorkelling we have done because it is so easy. You just swim out from the beach and within just a few metres you are above coral formations populated with a myriad of colourful fish (around 500 species recorded) and mostly in no more than 2 metres of water. The water is very clear and nice and warm.
Our tips (we could be biased) for visiting Cape range: 1. Go early in the season (late April to early June), as there is less wind. 2. Make sure you have plenty of water tanks and containers and fill them before leaving Exmouth. 3. Be prepared to be patient when waiting for a site. 4. The best camp, Ned’s. 5. The best swimming beaches, Sandy Bay & Turquoise Bay. 6. The best snorkelling, Oyster Stacks (high tide only) and Lakeside. 7. The best combo of swimming and snorkelling, Turquoise Bay. 8. The best camp hosts, Norm & Gwen, of course.
Footnote: You can stay camped in the park for a maximum of 28 days during any visit. There are the usual vehicle entry and camping fees with discounts for concession cardholders. At the time of our visit it was proposed to allow pre booking for about half of the sites. We think that the present system works extremely well and does not need changing as it rewards visitors who are diligent enough to arrive early and patient enough to wait for a site during peak times. This would have to be the best run N.P. we have come across providing a very good balance of public access and protection for the environment and the entry and camping fees are quite reasonable given its popularity and facilities. It runs like a well-oiled machine due to its management plan, its staff and in no small part the work done by all the dedicated volunteer camp hosts. Why change things? We realise that a lot of people are fixated on the need to make forward reservations, well they can satisfy this need by booking ahead at one of the caravan parks or other accommodation choices in Exmouth and make day trips into the park, it is not that far.
