After a nice Valentines day in Perth, we had three enjoyable drive and
explore days north February 15-17 from Perth. The route took us by
Nambung NP, into Shark Bay UNESCO World Heritage area, and beyond the
town of Exmouth at the Northwest corner of Western Australia, to arrive
at the outstanding-wish-we-had-three-weeks-and-an-off-road-vehicle UNESCO Ningaloo Marine Park and Cape Range NP.
Nambung NP is a valley of limestone "nature-sculpture" formations in the
thousands amid the sand colour of the area. We enjoyed the stop and
found the pinnacles intriguing. The formation of the pinnacles is the
subject of some debate. Two days later, when we saw stromatalites, we
wondered if that was the source of the pinnacles, and later we
wondered if the termite mounds on the plains before Exmouth were the
source of the pinnacles. We camped February 15 at Galena Bridge
(Murchison River) and in the evening and next morning saw many bird
species.
The UNESCO World Heritage areas at Shark Bay includes Shell Beach, the
seaside town of Denham and near-by Little Lagoon, dolphin & shark
feeding at guest-only bay and resort areas, Stromatalites Bay, off-road
access to Francois Perron NP, amazing $15/one-night seaside camping, and
other highlights.
We arrived at sunset February 16 at Whalebone camp in Shark Bay UNESCO
World Heritage area. Overnight, the moonlight was a spotlight on our
tent. Suddenly, at 2:30am when the moon set, we could see the Milky
Way's band of stars.
The aboriginal presence has been almost nonexistent, except at national
park sites on panels that acknowledge the areas as original grounds. At
Stromatalite Bay, we again saw the aboriginal presence in the text
panels. We had not seen any aboriginal-looking people until we reached
Perth and then only saw one couple. As we've headed north, there have
been a few more aboriginal people in shops, but not the integrated
presence we had expected.
We saw an interestingly changing landscape as we drove north. There had
been no trees most of the way north from Perth and then there was a
stretch of trees again after Carnarvon. Shortly north of Perth, the
roadside floodway signs and accompanying 2-meter sticks became frequent
for the next 1,500Kms. Typhoon season is about to begin, and those
floodways will apparently be full to the brim and flowing with "gumbo".
We also began seeing the thousands of termite mounds after Carnarvon and
as we neared Exmouth. That was an amusing surprise!
We've seen many types of raptors in the northern part of Western
Australia, partly due to the lack of trees, so plenty of good open
hunting grounds. We've seen raptors in the distance and wished we could
take the track off the road to get closer. Next time through, we might
rent an off-road vehicle, but Bob says we are still getting places not
many people visit, even without the raised 4x4!
We only stayed briefly in Carnarvon, as much was closed for the season.
We enjoyed seeing the white bark eucalyptus and the termite nests north
of the town, and all the way into Cape Range National Park.
UNESCO's Ningaloo Reef area is fantastic. The "fringe reef" comes right
up to the beaches. Although February is off-season for
"swim-with-the-whale-shark" and whale tours, and start of the cyclone
season, there is much to see and do at Ningaloo Marine Park &
adjacent Cape Range NP.
We stayed a night at Ned's Camp in the Cape Range NP and then had a
great day exploring in and around the day sites of Yardie Creek and near
the NP information centre, where we saw blue spotted rays and black-tip
shark from the shore.
At Yardie Creek camp, we saw a waylaid green
turtle fledgling, who had not made the previous night's moonlit paddle
across the sand to the water. From the shore, we saw a reef shark, many
types of seashell & coral, and little shore birds. It was a lovely
site and we wished we could have stayed longer, but had in our plans to
get to Darwin on or near to Bob's birthday on February 22.
On our way out of Cape Reef National Park, we stopped by a bird viewing area. To Bob's delight, there were quite a few birds around and we even spotted a pair of Osprey at the park exit.
Driving
out from Exmouth February 19, the temperature started climbing: 42C,
43C.... 47C. We drove over over three hours hovering between 44C and
47C. We both started to feel concerned for the extreme temperatures,
with some areas expecting even higher temperatures. The tire pressure
was up to 275kPa, so Bob slowed our driving speed, and three dropped to
270kPa and one to 265kPa. The charred roadsides, red dust devils, and
our inexperience, resulted in Bob calling the top turn-back temperature
at 48C. Due to the Queensland closures, we would need to route through
Alice Springs in the 50'sC. It was difficult w/o internet, as we could
not review the changing heat wave warnings. Whenever the roadway crossed
a river, we looked to see mostly dry red earth, but occasionally saw
water. Those rivers that had water were busy with birds, but the 47C
heat was impossible to manage for more than two or three minutes.
For 300K, we saw emergency vehicles, mining company trucks, and a few road trains, but no cars or caravans. We were looking forward to seeing more of the Outback, and did enjoy the baked potato rocks and deep red earth.
However, as the temperature arrived at 48C, and realizing that the
extraordinary temperatures were not compatible with our camp gear, and
realizing that the closures in Queensland would have resulted in our
crossing through the middle of Australia, via Alice Springs, and that
Bob felt it would be 10 days of risky travel, so he could see the Darwin
region, the decision was made to turn around and drive the 400Kms back
to the west coast.
After 2 1/2 hrs of driving back towards Exmouth, we were relieved to see
the temperature drop to 44C. Exmouth was 36C when we arrived, but the
air was breathable, and we knew it would be manageable to camp at Yardie
Creek with a breeze off the Indian Ocean.
We drove 6,540 Km since departing Melbourne February 6 to arrive 80Kms
east of Nanutarra at 2pm Feb 19. This is a slightly greater distance than
the drive from Victoria, BC to St. John's, Newfoundland. We did this
clockwise Australian route, and now we are winding things
counter-clockwise back to Melbourne
We are looking forward to having fun visiting areas we wished to see
more of or that we had to pass by in the 14 days from Melbourne to 80K
north of the Nanutarra Roadhouse. We will have 27 days until when we
need to be back in Melbourne (March 18, as we fly to Christchurch, NZ on
March 19).
On February 22nd, it looks like a Coral Bay snorkel day for Bob!
