The wind blew all night, it blew and then it rained, it poured and the wind howled through. I got up a few times to check on things and at 4am discovered our toilet tent pegs had let go and only the ropes were holding it down. I pulled it down and stashed it under the shade cloth flooring. Sunday it rained and blew all day so we just bunkered down and had a day of reading and watching movies.
Monday came and the wind was still blowing but the rain had stopped. It was overcast and cold all day but we managed to get out of the trailer for a while and go for a big walk in the afternoon.
Tuesday morning the wind had changed direction and was cold but the sky's were clear and it gave us hope of better weather to come. We put up our half canvas wall to give us somewhere to sit outside away from the wind. By midday the wind had all but stopped and it was sunny and beautiful. We tagged along with our neighbours for a look at the northern end of the property. They showed us 2 places the second being a beautiful bay where you could just sit and spend all day exploring the edge of the open reef. I got to take photos of star fish and watch as a crab tried to get away into the ocean. It was so warm when we returned I threw on my swimmers and dove into the crystal clear ocean. It was so wonderful to be swimming again.
Wednesday we woke to a stunning day. A light breeze was blowing the ocean was sparkling and all was good. I had met Pat in spot R and she is a hair dresser so after a lazy start & breakfast I wondered up for a hair cut with the worlds best view. Virtually everyone who had a boat had gone out so camp was quiet. The ladies who stayed behind just pottered about and caught up with each other. James needed to fix Zumi so he set up and spent the whole morning doing that. After a hair cut and pottering about doing some washing and tidying up I was hot so on went the swimmers and back into the ocean. Our neighbours again invited us to follow along on a drive. We visited Pelican point but saw no pelicans, we did however save 2 sea slugs after taking their photo of course, watched as a small shark fed just off shore, explored the shallow reef area, chased crabs to get their photo and had a lovely time.
We then drove to Maggies camp and Elles camp. Both where different and each spot has it's own appeal. If we came back I think we would look at staying as Maggies camp it was the most protected and oh so beautiful. We arrived back not long before 5pm so we chilled at camp and chatted to the neighbours before enjoying the fish we had caught at Carnarvon cooked on the BBQ. It was a warm night we sat outside for ages watching the stars. One of the other campers showed up and was cleaning a BIG fish just up from us so we wondered on up to see what it was. They were not sure at the time but it turns out it was a Western Blue Groper. They offered us some so we grabbed a bag. They gave us 2 really nice sized fillets for dinner tomorrow night. It was after 9 before we headed in and we were both still in singlets shorts and no shoes. It's winter and it's warm.
This is Maggie's beach.
We then drove to Maggies camp and Elles camp. Both where different and each spot has it's own appeal. If we came back I think we would look at staying as Maggies camp it was the most protected and oh so beautiful. We arrived back not long before 5pm so we chilled at camp and chatted to the neighbours before enjoying the fish we had caught at Carnarvon cooked on the BBQ. It was a warm night we sat outside for ages watching the stars. One of the other campers showed up and was cleaning a BIG fish just up from us so we wondered on up to see what it was. They were not sure at the time but it turns out it was a Western Blue Groper. They offered us some so we grabbed a bag. They gave us 2 really nice sized fillets for dinner tomorrow night. It was after 9 before we headed in and we were both still in singlets shorts and no shoes. It's winter and it's warm.
I wanted to have a try at beach fishing and after chatting with the neighbours we decided to head out at 7.45am. So I was up early. After a long walk up the beach I found a spot. I was about to cast when I looked up and a turtle was watching me. Ahhhhh crap I can't fish over a turtle, so after waiting for it to leave I threw in my line. First cast in I couldn't believe it within 20 seconds I had a fish. Beginners luck. I think it was a rock cod but it was little so after getting the hook out he went back. I looked up again and this time 2 turtles are watching me. Again I waited and cast. This went on for a while. I lost my bait many times and when I lost my tackle to the reef I decided to move, the turtles were unsettling I didn't want to risk catching one. I moved back along the beach to cast into an area before the reef rather then over the reef. Again I go to cast and a turtle pops it's head up to say hi. Hmmmmmmm. I noticed James now walking up to say hi. I fished for another hour loosing my hook to a BIG fish who snapped my line a fair few bit of bait then the final set to the reef again. It was then that we packed up and headed to camp. James managed to get a photo of the turtle who did seem very camera shy. The rest of the day was spent, reading, James working on Zumi, me napping more reading and starting a pack up of things we won't need tonight or tomorrow morning. We had that yummy western blue Groper for dinner and an early night. It's not as warm as last night as it's windy but it's still warm.
Friday pack up day. We farewelled the beautiful Warroora station camp and headed out before 9am. We had been told Exmouth was 250km from here and then Cape range National Park was 150km after Exmouth. We needed to fuel, water and food stock up so we wanted an early start. As we were airing up the tyres I noticed the spare on the trailer was hanging wrong and on further inspection a part had snapped off and it was just hanging on. The plate with the locator's pin had snapped so the whole thing was sitting on a main central pin that that was used to sandwhich/hold it on. We decided we had to ditch the bikes :( at this stage for fear of loosing the entire tyre. We pulled parts off the bikes we wanted to keep and rode them out to the main road and hopefully someone who needs them will pick them up and use them. We secured the tyre and made the journey to Exmouth. The actual distance from camp was only 170km, we had a tail wind and were thankful for an easy ride into town. As we approached town I called a caravan repair guy. He looked at it and suggested we go to the engineering place as he was busy and would get parts from them anyway. Around the corner a very helpful guy looked at it and said it's got 2ml plate holding it on it needs a 5ml plate. He couldn't fix it then which was fine so we booked it in for Wednesday morning when we will be back. After then filling up with fuel, water, groceries and lunch we made a few phone calls and passed on birthday wishes to Tim and Ben then headed out of town. Camp was under 100km away again less then we'd been told. We checked in at the ranges station, stopped past the visitors information center grabbed some souvenirs and information then made camp. It was a windy afternoon, we spent it walking along the beach, catching up with Marie and Trevor who we'd met at Hamlin and just chilling. After watching sunset at happy hour we relaxed at camp for the evening.
Saturday and then end of another wonderful week. We woke to a very sunny but very windy day. We hid out in the trailer till 10am then ventured out to see the beach, then decided to do the Yardie Creek walks. The walk was enjoyable the first 1.2km return is an easy track then there's the option to go off onto a more challenging 750mtr return track. We took it and were rewarded with beautiful views down the Yardie creek gorge. One point had us on hands and feet monkey climbing down and up rock ledges. When we arrived back at camp the wind had died down enough to go for a snorkel. We changed grabbed our gear and hit the water. We saw some small fish and a really cool looking sea cucumber. After an hour we had enough so back to camp for a later lunch. We both fell asleep for over an hour in the afternoon then had a cuppa before catching up with Marie and Trevor who had been out swimming with the whale sharks. Another quick happy hour session and then back to camp to cook dinner and enjoy the beautiful night sky.
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