Cape Range and more of the Ningaloo

From Coral Bay we were heading into Cape Range National Park, which hugs the Ningaloo coastline to the north. There are a few ways to get from A to B. Our first camp site was at 1 K campground ( 1km south of Yardie Creek). The very friendly and helpful volunteer at the Coral Bay info kiosk told us that a) Ningaloo Rd was closed, so that was out, b) the coast road, while shorter on paper (80km Vs 230km) was pretty rough and would take us 3-4 hours, and c) 'up and over' (via Exmouth 230km bitumen road except for last 1km) was probably the best way for us to go, and about the same time-wise as the coastal short-cut.

This worked out pretty well for us as we needed to shop, and would be waiting for the bottle shop to open at 11am for a case of beer. Going the long way would allow us to leave immediately, shop in Exmouth and arrive at about the same time as if we had taken the shorter, rougher road. Make sense?

It was time to leave Coral Bay and head out. I shed a few tears and felt very emotional that this week was over. Months and months of planning and dreaming, and it was DONE. But we still have 2 weeks of exploring Ningaloo Marine Park and Cape Range National Park.

Exmouth is a much larger town than Coral Bay, so getting the shopping done was easy peasy and I was able to get everything we needed for the next 3 nights.

The drive from Exmouth into the National Park is easy, and scenic. I did have to slow down to allow an Australian Bustard cross the road at his/her leisure. 

 Australian Bustard mural in Exmouth

The bitumen road ends at Yardie Creek, we needed to cross the river mouth and travel another 1km down the track to reach our campground. Mr Information told me that the creek crossing was dry, just need to deflate tyres and head across. We had no problems and arrived at 1K late in the afternoon.

 

Yardie Creek crossing, where it meets the sea. This crossing can be a dicey one when the river is flowing and high tides bring sea water the other way.  Depending on the season you really need to keep an eye on the tides as it generally cannot be safely crossed at high tide, but as you can see this was not a problem (not so when we came through here in 2009, we opted not to risk the crossing and drove back out and around).

 

The track to 1K was sandy and corrugated (even hard o walk on) so we were double happy that we had opted to drive up-and-over. We could hear vehicles rattling along the track every now and then, and overheard people talking about cracks and breakages to vans and boat parts. We cracked another eggy - just the one. Even inside the special eggy containers we have to prevent such breakages, they get rattled about in the fridge and smash.

 Small dragon photographed by Jemma at 1K

 

1K did not have a suitable swimming spot and we had some rain while we there. It was really warm, and very humid. And then it poured.

Phone coverage was patchy (which is way more than we expected) so it was hard to keep a handle on rain alerts.

Andy tried, with lots of frustration, to take some calls and complete subsequent work. This was complicated by; flies, frequent rainstorms, and starlink and laptop power requirements (with no sunshine we just cannot put juice into our battery to power our appliances)

  Our pack up from 1K was NOT a good one. It rained for hours, on and off. 

 Waiting out the rain in the tent - hot and sticky! Jemma and I played an enormous game of boxes while we sat out one of the storms.

We decided to wait for a break, but by then everything was soaked. And the gritty sand makes things harder. We weren't under any great time pressure as our next stop was at Kurrajong, just 25km up the road, but we'd need to stop at Yardie Creek and air up. It was also still hot and humid. 

After a fraught couple of hours we did get packed up and moved on just before 11am - which is VERY late for us.

We headed 1km north and back across Yardie Creek, parked in the carpark to air up using our little car battery run compressor. Jemma was keen to show us the osprey nest she had spied on her walk with Andy the previous afternoon (James and I stayed behind to continue to rest James's lacerated foot). 

 

Camp set up at Kurrajong. Go away rain clouds! Within an hour of arriving here we had set up, had lunch and were heading out to a snorkel spot called Oyster Stacks to try and redeem the day. Oh, and all our gear was dry in the same hour!

 And then the sun came out!

The beach at Kurrajong is rocky and great to walk along, but not good for accessing the water.

 No sand - just big coral chunks at Kurrajong.

 James checking in on Jemma at bed time. We had one of the clearest nights of the trip at Kurrajong, with the moon rising late. The Milky Way was so bright and the shooting stars were incredible.

The birds were also pretty cool at Kurrajong

 Corella - these guys are in big noisy flocks

 Trying for an easy snack

We just had the one night at Kurrajong as it was all we could book. It is so busy here but despite camp sites being booked out online, all have had some vacant spots which is very frustrating.

 The first thing we saw when we walked down to the beach at Kurrajong was a sea turtle - how good is that.

 Turquoise Bay. 

On our way out of the national park towards Exmouth we pulled in to Turquoise Bay for a swim and a snorkel. There are 2 snorkel options here - one in the bay where the visibility wasn't great, and the coral and fish life are relatively scant. We DID see a reef shark as soon as we arrived and were hopeful we'd get to see it in the water but I think we scared it away.

The second snorkel is a drift around the corner and this was AMAZING! The kids and I did this once, and will be back next week to have another go. So much coral and heaps, and heaps of fish. Of course a turtle. The current is super strong and you just fly along the surface, and make sure you swim to shore before you get swept out to sea (not that dramatic). The reef is really close to shore here so everything is compact and close together. It's a very popular spot.

 Will it rain? 

Ningaloo cont…Exmouth interlude - 3 nights

Our 3 nights in Exmouth were spent at the Ningaloo Resort Caravan Park. I will just say there are a LOT of backpackers in Exmouth. All roads lead to Exmouth, or so it seemed. Coral Bay was busy, but Exmouth was next level. Three nights in Exmouth is enough. 

 Resort pool in Exmouth - water was freezing according to my kids who swim in the Southern Ocean!!

Exmouth has 4 times the number of whale shark operators as Coral Bay, and attracts the proportionate number of punters and seasonal workers. It also has several pubs and two breweries. 

 Whalebone Brewery in Exmouth - had a handball court to keep the kids happy while the adults drink beer.

 Exmouth's Big Prawn

All of our Ningaloo Reef experiences were based from Coral Bay so Exmouth felt less like a coastal stay to us. We used Exmouth as a base to explore the Cape Range Charles Knife canyon to the south of town - panoramic views over the canyon, plains and Exmouth gulf. 

 It's all about the whale sharks in Exmouth - life size whale shark sculpture

 Whale shark mural

We also visited the Ningaloo centre - an aquarium and local museum covering the settlement and development of the township by a US Naval communications base in the 1960’s, earlier interactions between indigenous groups and shipwrecked sailors as well the devastation of Cyclone Vance in 1999 - complete with a 'cyclone room' playing newsreel footage from the cyclone.

The aquarium showcased some pretty reef creatures, including mantis shrimp, mandarin fish, and carpet sharks, as a well as a very friendly barramundi cod. 

 Little cat shark in the aquarium

 Jemma and a couple of fishy friends (Barrumundi cod and a cat shark)

 Jemma at the aquarium

Stocking up and tidying up were the main aims of our Exmouth stop, which we did. The dry winds made short work of several loads of washing, and we were able to get food, water and fuel ahead of our next 6 night stint in Cape Range.

 Bakery seating in downtown Exmouth

Being in Exmouth over a weekend allowed us to sample some of the night life by proxy. Our very messy across-the-road neighbours came home at 4am with music on and an intention to continue their party in their campsite. Andy told them off and they did quieten down after that (they did the same thing the following night). 

We were able to upgrade Jame’s snorkel kit here as he hd well and truly outgrown his kids Mares set; I had been wearing his fins for weeks, and his mask was too small.

Back into Cape Range National Park

Cape Range was the national park we had the most trouble securing camping bookings. It is hugely popular and books out quickly after sites become available (can book 180 days out). Between us we had managed 3 consecutive nights in the same campsite at Mesa campground and 3 nights at 3 different sites (!!!!) at the coveted Osprey Bay campground.

Mesa was a lovely small campground (about 25 sites) up against sand dunes. A brief walk through the dunes brought you out on the beach - Jemma loves to play in the sand dunes. We also found a large osprey nest in the dunes, just set on the ground, with ospreys in it. 

 Questionable nesting by some Ospreys

The beach wasn’t a snorkelling spot, and there were usually people fishing here ( I only saw one person catch a fish, and it was an ugly, splotchy, spiky thing they threw back), so we didn’t swim either.

 Sand dunes at sunset at Mesa campground

 A good way to get covered in sand

 Sunrise with the kids at Mesa...

...and here comes the sun.

 Sand ripples at Mesa

We used Mesa as a base for other activities including a Yardie Creek boat tour. 

 Osprey nest at Yardie Creek, built up on a rock, but very close to the boat ramp.

This is just an hour long ‘cruise’, the creek isn’t that long, and the guide provided banter the whole time about the animals and plants that lived along the creek as well as other anecdotes of life here. We saw about 50 of the ‘rare’ and endangered black-flanked rock wallabies basking on the rocks in the morning sun - petite and pretty wallabies for sure. 

 Rock wallabies

 On board the Yardie Creek boat tour

The strong winds made for some tough manoeuvring but he got there in the end. Being at the front of the little boat also meant we got a bit wet.

 Jem's amazing new whale shark swimmers ( it's ALL whale sharks!)

And then we snorkelled! Snorkelled at Turquoise Bay and Lakeside and back to Turquoise Bay. It was generally windy in the mornings with it settling down in the afternoons.

 A walk down the beach from Turquoise Bay brings you to Faraway Bay with almost no people, and lots of reef sharks cruising in the shallows. We also saw dolphins here in very shallow, 50cm, water. 

 Ready, steady, snorkel. The water is a little chilly at 23-25C depending on where you are. The wetsuits are handy against the chill, but also against sunburn, provide some buoyancy, and protection against jelly stings ( there had been a irukandji sting earlier in the month). Wetsuits are not the easiest thing to contend with while bush-camping as were unable to rinse them in fresh water between uses, which in turn can make them a bit stiff and abrasive. The pros outweigh the cons though, and I'm glad we had them.

 Another turtle

 Turquoise Bay

Osprey Bay is a much bigger campground ( about 46 sites). The bay itself is a lovely spot to snorkel and is well known for its turtle population - so many! Pretty much very time I looked at the water I’d see a little head pop up, sometimes multiples at once. There are some coral bommies as well rock ledges, and lots of sea grass and weeds which the turtles eat. Our first afternoon and sunset at Osprey Bay was a nature show - turtles, sharks, dolphins and humpback whales blowing and splashing outside the reef.

The snorkelling here is shallow but the water feels really cold for some reason.

 Very chilled turtle

Probably the highlight of our stay at Osprey Bay were the late afternoons when the wind had died away, and the water glassed out, we got the paddle board out and each got some time out on the water as the sun went down. The kids loved following the turtles around the bay as they had their last feed for the day before heading out to the reef to sleep (according to Jemma).

 Sunset over a glassed out Osprey Bay

 Osprey Bay from one of our camp sites - the view isn't half bad

 These afternoons on the SUP made it worth carrying it all this time 

One last paddle - our last afternoon at Osprey Bay

Despite Osprey Bay’s name there were less ospreys here than we saw in other parts of the park. Another disappointment for us was that we had to move each morning we were there as we could only book one night in each spot. We moved from site 14 in the non-generator loop to site 42 in the generator loop - probably less than 300m as the crow flies but due to the circuitous nature of the paths and roads was closer to 1km - too far to carry everything by hand. Our second move saw us going from site 42 back to site 3 in the non-generator loop. It doesn’t sound like a lot, and I probably sound like a big old whinger but it’s a LOT of work to even partially pack-up to shift sites. Not to mention the incredibly hard, compact gravel sites which are nigh on impossible to get a single peg in let alone 16! These were tough moves on Andy in particular as he is the tent peg-driller and tent putter-upperer. The ground was so hard that there were a few times that the drill pegs flew off the drill, narrowly avoiding serious injuries. 

I’m sure these sites are welcomed by caravaners who definitely make up more than 95% of the site patronage. 

 All set with his new warm rashie

 The soft colours of Cape Range 

 Late afternoon shadows at Osprey Bay

What do I love about the Ningaloo reef? 

The megafauna are the big draw cards here - whale sharks are seasonal visitors, oceanic Manta rays, migrating humpback whales, sea turtles and sharks can all be seen here - and we saw all of them at some point. The water is some of the clearest on earth due to minimal rainfall run-off, making for amazing visibility and interactions. You can access coral gardens from shore. 

The contrast between the arid landscape, white sands, turquoise waters and abundant marine life make for a spectacular setting. 

I loved introducing James and Jemma to snorkelling. They have snorkelled occasionally at home but this is next level. You really don’t know what’s going to come into your filed of view each time you put your face in the water. Jemma is not fond of ‘big’ things in the water (rays and huge cod), although she loves big turtles. 

Jemma getting a closer look at an old turtle

James loves it all, and is really good at spotting cryptic and small critters. Arguably his best find was a pair of warring/playing reef octopus -  I was meant to be just having a quick snorkel before heading back to the car to make lunch. I got very caught up in this reef octopus drama and it felt like we watched for ages, while Jemma and Andy started to fade from hunger on-shore. James said that snorkelling here on Ningaloo is like living in a nature documentary.

 A huge cow tailed ray - Jem did NOT like these ones

Andy got the highest shark sighting count. I saw plenty from shore but only one while in the water. 

Turquoise Bay drift snorkel would be my pick of the sites in Cape Range with lots to see on every drift. Like all things, the more time we spent there, the more we saw.

 Turtle popping up for air

The stars at night were bright and clear, and the campgrounds were quiet after dark - very welcome after our noisy stop in Exmouth.

The last full day of our stay in Cape Range I woke up wondering how on earth I was going to do any more snorkelling. I had blisters on my toes from my fins, under my nose from my mask, the tingling of a cold sore on my lip, and the early signs of a cold coming on. I took a few Panadol and soldiered on and had a great day, but was sore and weary by the end of the day. 

After these 6 nights in Cape Range it was time to pack up and move on, and away from the Ningaloo. It felt strange to be saying goodbye again. This part of the WA coast has long been the focus and inspiration for this entire trip, and it felt weird that it was DONE.

All up we had 23 nights on the Ningaloo coast, starting at Gnaraloo on the southern end, and finishing up at Osprey Bay in Cape Range national park. The kids are already talking about ‘when we come back’. We still have lots of amazing things on our itinerary to look forward to, which is lucky I guess. 

I am a water person through and through. It was incredible to see whale sharks again, and to have that experience with James. Watching Jemma snorkel with green se turtles, which a month ago was just a dream, was a delight. And seeing Andy, my old dive buddy of 100 dives, back in the water made my heart happy. I proved to myself that I can still scuba dive, and that I still love the underwater world.

I hope we will be back again. 

Happy, tired, a little bit sunburnt and definitely salty - that's a wrap.