1998
Lionel the Landcruiser
and Tap-Tap go Walkabout

Day 27
Nanutarra - Ningaloo Marine Park

Hi there again, this is going to be one of the last reports from this trip 'cos we only have another couple of days to go! So we are being really touristy and having a bit of a relax and a sightsee first. We've been looking at the ocean and Rob and Hild even went in - snorkelling from a very posh boat and watching humpback whales and manta rays in the water!

We are at a basic but pleasant camp site, just off the beach, which we were lucky to get 'cos as we came in and got the last spot a camper van jumped in right behind us! It is a bit of a funny set up actually. There is an area just behind the first dune with some sites marked (6) and then there is a semi-permanent caravan (with awning, generator and few other bits) where the camp hosts stay. This is an older couple who do all the booking in and take the money ($8 per tent per night) and it looks like they pretty much do it as a voluntary thing all season! Quite nice for them I suppose, and it probably keeps everyone else well behaved and in line. They seem rather pre-occupied in national parks here with people staying too long! They have just changed the rules to stop people staying more than 28 days in one place in one park, and from next year it will be only 14 days, but you can move to an unoccupied site in the same park for the other 14 days! Now quite honestly, who wants to camp for 28 days in the same place? I can't think of anything more boring - we are not talking Butlins here - this is a beach, with sand and sea and pebbles and after a week I would be pretty bored with the same view!

Rob in the Cape Ranges, in Charles Knife's footsteps.

And besides there is a lot of other stuff to see in this area which we did in our usual style (i.e. fast and without coming back on ourselves) this morning. We did our usual early start, but were a little worried at first ;cos some jerk in a big OKA (a 4WD truck-type thing) had parked last night in a very silly spot and blocked us in. Luckily he was sleeping in the truck and Hild made enough noise to wake him up so we got him to move forward about 3 meters (which he could have done when he first parked last night if he hadn't been such a plonker) and I squeezed past. The it was tarmac all the way down and then across and finally up again towards Exmouth. We did cross a river with water in it, but that was by a bridge so it doesn't count and the road which we thought was going to be gravel turned out to have been sealed recently so there wasn't even any fun there.

Cape Ranges, view of the Indian Ocean.

We did find a nice side road to take as we got close to Exmouth, towards the first oil well sunk here (I don't know how long ago that was) and along a nice windy track with big drops down each side. This was fun 'cos it looks like it was a really difficult road to make and apparently no-one thought it could be done until some guy called Charles Knife had a go. It reminded Hild of roads in Norway so we stopped a few times to have a look and a photo. Then when we got to Exmouth we stopped first (after getting petrol) at the Tourist place to see about snorkelling trips and booked one for 1.00 going from Turquoise bay where they supplied all the kit - we hadn't brought our own 'cos there was no room in the car. Then a bit of a shop (some yummy rolls, more film for the cameras and a replacement for the fluorescent light which had thrown a serious wobbly last night and started to smoke worryingly - Rob took it apart tonight with the big knife and it looks like a bit got too hot, melted its soldered bits and the melted through the plastic casing as well - which is where the smoke came from. We got a replacement just the same 'cos it actually works really well and we didn't know what went wrong with the first one at this stage - I hope this isn't a design flaw and this one will do the same....).

We left Exmouth and carried on up and then round the top of the cape and entered the Cape Ranges National park on the west side. This extends into the water and is called Ningaloo Marine Park then and is Australia's second largest coral reef and the most accessible as you swim out to it from the beach most places. We asked at the entrance about camping and the Ranger said there weren't too many sites left so we went straight down to the one nearest the boat and only just beat some Germans to it! Tent up and anchored ('cos it was really windy and we didn't want to come back and find the tent had run away) and we drove a couple of k to the beach where the boat would pick us up.

It looked a bit weird when we got there 'cos there was just a beach, nothing else, but the Ranger said the boat came in there and sure enough we saw it sailing round the corner a few minutes later. And what a lovely boat. Called 'Wild Thing' owned(?) and run by a couple of middle-aged surfies (at least he was - all muscle and sun-bleached hair, she was very nice and more normal) this is a 50 foot catamaran in the real luxury style. Sleeps 8 in comfort, with two bathrooms -complete with showers, TV in the living room and a better kitchen than we have in Perth - I don't think Hild and Rob wanted to get off!

The Wild Thing - Peter and Heather Lake's catamaran. Lots of fun!

Peter (the surfie skipper) cam over in a rubber dinghy and picked us up off the beach and then we got away as the other 8 full-day passengers had lunch. Most were diving but there was a family from Perth snorkelling and a woman from Scotland who joined on with us from the beach also snorkelling. Once we got going, we saw manta rays really quickly so Peter threw the new ones (Hild, Rob and Rosie the Scot) out to swim with them. Not knowing quite what was expected of them, they promptly spent the next 10 minutes watching a turtle (who also seemed to be watching them with as much if not more amusement) and they got picked up again and then dropped off when the boat cam around back to the mantas. These are really such graceful creatures that it almost seems a shame to disturb them with clumsy human divers and snorkellers, but they don't seem to mind and Rob almost swam into one when trying to keep up with another one swimming in the opposite direction. All the people on the boat shouting 'On your right', Rob thinking 'No, the ray is on my left' and then suddenly whoosh as it swept past!

Rob on The Wild Thing - pretending he owns it!

Back on the boat, we saw a pod of humpbacks and ended up really quite close as they cruised along not far below the surface and kept popping up for air. Rob did the usual and ran out of film while they were about 30 metres away, so that when they came up about 10 metres off the boat he just had to watch. They were pretty big and had knobbly heads but nice white undersides especially under the tails. Peter reckoned about 7, hard to tell for us novices, but he is a licensed whale watcher. They are very strict here about how close boats (and divers) can get to whales, particularly whale sharks which come into these waters from March to June, and so boats and skippers have to be licensed and follow rules. One of the PhD students from Murdoch has done his thesis on whale sharks and how they react to people in the water (what a gimmick - can I do a PhD on how well a 4WD can get across rivers please?) and it turns out he had spent a lot of time on this very boat! That's a good story for Rob when he gets back to work.

So, all in all a very pleasant afternoon on the boat, bit of snorkelling with fishes, looking at lots more and generally wishing we could spend more time here 'cos the weather was just right once the wind dropped - not too warm but fine for bathing cozzies and maybe a T-shirt to keep the sun-burn away. The water was lovely and warm as well - Hild and Rob were in for 20 minutes or so and without their usual get-up of lycra body suits, gloves and booties! Back at the camp site the tent was still there so we had dinner and then took a stroll along the beach as the sun set and it got dark. What a nice relaxing way to end the day.

Tomorrow we start the trek southwards all the way to Perth. There is just one last bit of off-road stuff as we will drive down the beach (or at least the track along the dunes) down to Coral Bay before picking up the main road again into Carnarvon and back to Perth via Geraldton. Don't know how far we will get tomorrow, but as far as possible obviously so that we get to Perth as early as possible on Sunday and go flop in the flat - after my shower of course, I won't let them forget that.

Early start again to cross Yardie creek before high tide (although with my record it will be dry anyway) so now I'm off to bed.

Love

Lionel