After our windswept night at Bush Bay it was only about 30 kms into Carnarvon which held the promise of the fabulous Saturday morning Farmer’s Markets in front of the Tourist Centre in the heart of town. An ominous quiet in the main street and visitors centre cast a doubt on Ginnie’s expectations. The lass in the Visitor’s Centre was not that enthusiastic about Carnarvon and its attractions and not too sure about what was happening really… the perfect person for a tourist info centre!?!?! Oh well, we found the water supply and filled the tanks, found the shops and filled the fridge and pantry and managed to find a few farm gate stalls where in season fruit and veggies were obtained. You know how sometimes a town has a ‘feel’ and you either can’t wait to go back or would not return? Yeah, Carnarvon was a place like that… might cruise past next time around.

The Wedge Tailed Eagle is often seen feeding on road kill but they fly away if you slow to photograph them. Took me weeks to get a decent shot.

The next 2 nights were spent at a wonderful spot on the coast called 14 Mile Beach at the Warroora Station. This amazing spot is right on the beach and spread out well so you can camp with the crowd (if that is your thing) or find a quiet spot (which is our preference).

Warroora Station and the country towards Exmouth is scattered with these termite mounds.

Our camp site behind the dunes. The sun rose over the hills in the background & set over the Ningaloo Reef.

Tucked just in behind the first row of sand dunes for shelter from the onshore breeze we experienced our first taste of truly tropical weather. It was hot!

Lunchtime at our tropical camp – shade is essential in the midday hours.

The thing we are noticing over here is that sun just feels hotter. If it is 25º and the sun goes behind a cloud you are almostreaching for a jumper if there is a breeze. Sun comes out and you are looking for sunscreen and a hat! I am not sure what it is like here in summer time but the sun shining directly on us this morning as we packed up the camper was hotter than any morning in May I have experienced. We are taking care to keep the sunscreen applied. The water temperature is fabulous, cool on entry but comfortable for extended swimming.

Just over the dunes behind our camp was a huge stretch of beautiful coast that is the southern part of the Ningaloo Reef. The reef runs for miles not far off the coast and this means that the beaches are very protected from the Indian Ocean swells. The reef is obvious by the waves breaking some way off shore and roar the surf constantly in the distance. There is an abundance of fish and coral and associated activities of snorkelling and catching some of Australia’s best seafood.

Our little boat on the edge of the water at our campsite. The dark areas are coral and weed and full of reef fish.

Snorkelling into the late afternoon was fantastic and the sunset was just the usual glorious display of lights in a 360º radius around our beach camp. We launched our little boat the next morning for some more adventurous snorkelling a little further out and some fishing in the late afternoon. A great catch of mixed species: cod, golden trevally and some reef fish. As Markus reeled the bait in slowly watching a school of fish follow a big grey shape raced underneath us and through the fish. Some kind of shark but only about 4 feet long. We moved to a couple of other spots and our friendly shark visited again. Decided not to snorkel for a little while after that. The last rays of the sun over the ocean saw us cleaning and scaling our catch ready for dinner (and some for the freezer).

The next morning we headed up to the famous Coral Bay where the crystal clear bay and beach are a popular spot with many tourists. The place was packed and buzzing with summertime scenes – blue sky, brown bodies and bright colours everywhere. We walked into the shallows, out to the reef and did the drift snorkel with the current for a few hundred metres. The coral here is not colourful but still very beautiful in shades of green, grey & yellow with formations that look like brains, cabbage leaves, shelves and tiny buds in massive clusters. Often clumped on rocks with ledges underneath, diving deeper can reveal the reef fish that are not obvious from the surface. The water was delightfully warm – about 24º [LATE NEWS: a humpback whale carcass washed up into Coral Bay and thousands of sharks have come to feast on it. A few less snorkellers in the water I suspect?]

Coral Bay

As our preference is a quieter camp site rather than mixing with the masses and paying the higher van park fees, we drove an hour or so north to another old station with coastal wilderness camping. Like Worra station, you must have a chemical toilet system to stay as there are no facilities and the dreaded toilet paper litter that ruins so many bush camps is avoided. This location was Bruboodjoo Point and like other bush camps only $15 for the two of us. The place is mostly populated by Perth and WA locals who have been coming here for years for the fishing. A lovely protected bay saw the boat swiftly launched packed with fishing gear and cold drinks and while Ginnie called her mum Markus caught the first of the fish.

Bruboodjoo Point – our camp site was in front of the row of trees on the left in the background!

Having been told that the shark we saw was a common thing as they try and take your fish before you can land them, we were on the lookout for any more large underwater visitors. We didn’t have to wait long. A large fish that looked like a Groper quickly attacked the small fish Markus had caught. Deciding to use his catch as bait for the bigger fish he left it in the water. Fish, hook, sinker all gone in a flash. Next little catch the same strategy but this time Markus managed to jag the big sucker and started to haul him into the boat. When the huge head of this thing came out of the water he bared massive teeth more like a weasel or ferret than any fish we have seen. The thing snorted and snapped and looked like an oversize toad fish which are toxic to touch or eat. We decided not to welcome him onboard our little inflatable boat and cut him free instead.

Northwest Blow Fish – nasty, ugly, mean & poisonous!

It turns out this was a wise decision. A call to Ginnie’s brother Scott helped to identify this as the Northwest Blowfish (nicknamed the bolt cutter by the locals) which is very poisonous and a nasty piece of work. Ours was about 60-80 cms long but apparently they can grow to over a metre! With him gone the setting sun saw us both hauling in dozens of Cod many of which we returned to the water keeping enough for a good size dinner. The second sunset in a row provided enough light at the waters edge for the fish cleaning (which Markus always seems to end up doing by himself!). A chicken & veggies roasted in the camp oven was a delicious variation to our fish dinners on this beautiful evening. Tomorrow we are off to Exmouth, Cape Range NP and more of the world famous Ningaloo Reef and World Heritage Marine Park.

The coast at Exmouth