Category: Nature

A drive out to Wave Rock

The weather was still dreadful south of Perth with heavy rain and gusty winds.  We weren’t impressed either to find out that the temperature back in Brisbane is 30 degrees. Inland looked considerably better with sunny days but cold nights.  We picked up a self drive map which would take us on a loop East, as far as the popular tourist spot of Wave Rock.

Day 1

Our drive started in the historic town of Guildford which has National Trust status and sits at the southern end of the Swan Valley.  James Street is famous for its antique shops and cafes.

Our first overnight stop was York (beginning to feel like we’re in England) which also has National Trust historic town status.  The council provides a free 24 hr rest stop at the Avon River Park with power, which is the first time we’ve seen this on our travels. The rest stop is also close to the main street.  As well as the heritage walk around town, Barclay Books bookshop is well worth a browse, there is a motor museum, a ye olde sweet shoppe and a well stocked IGA.  We could probably have happily spent another 24hrs here.

York
York main street
Avon River Park rest stop

Day 2

The town of Shackleton claims to have Australia’s smallest bank – it probably also has Australia’s shortest opening hours.   Bruce Rock is an interesting town. The centrepiece of the main street is a sculpture park, memorials to servicemen and women and an amphitheatre.  There was pop music playing at top volume through loudspeakers which slightly spoiled the reflective mood of the memorials.

Day 3

We had our morning tea at 54 Mile Gate of Rabbit Proof Fence No 1.  In the mid 19th century, a certain Thomas Austin thought it would be a good idea to bring a few rabbits to Australia for hunting.  Their numbers quickly spiralled out of control and rabbits became a serious problem.  The Western Australian government decided to build three barrier fences.  Fence No 1 is 1,822.4 km (1,139 miles) long and stretches from the south coast to East of Port Hedland in the North.

The 2002 Australian movie ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ is well worth watching.  It was based on a true story of three Aboriginal girls who were forcibly removed from their family in the North so they could be taught how to assimilate with the white population at a camp in the south.  The eldest girl realised they could follow the fence back to their home and the movie depicts their journey and the authority’s attempts to find them.

Wave Rock

Very impressive and well worth the drive. I’m sure Jonathan can add something about how it was formed geologically.  I just know it was something to do with water and erosion of the granite over millions of years.   The local Ballardong people call the rock Katter Kich and believe it was created by the Rainbow Serpent.  You will notice that there is an unsightly wall along the top of the rock which we assumed was to stop daft tourists in unsuitable footwear slipping on the wet rock and falling to their death.  In fact it was built to funnel rainwater to a storage dam.

A short distance away is the very aptly named Hippo’s Yawn.

To be continued …

Feed me Seymore!

In the world of carnivorous plants, it’s a little bit disappointing that the ‘real things’ are somewhat less spectacular than Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors, but they have still fascinated me since childhood and poor Ann has on many occasions had to suffer some bizarre house plants from all over the globe. These plants evolved in such poor circumstances that they have turned to eating insects to supplement their diet. I had a lovely selection whilst in London, and Samford is home to a rather splendid pitcher plant on our al-fresco.

So when I took a walk up the desolate granite dome of Bruce’s Rock in Western Australia, I couldn’t help but notice that the mossy, peaty dampness was prime Sundew territory.

I was not disappointed, with three distinct species of Sundew being identified in half an hour of searching. Sundews, like the better known Venus Fly-Trap, actually grab their victims in their sticky little paws. Not with the same ferocity of the Trap, but with a more gentle caress lasting a few hours.

These plants are quite tiny – The size of a 20c coin or smaller, so are often overlooked. They flower too, with their long flower stalks just beginning to shoot from the centre of the rosette.

I’m looking forward to finding more 🙂

 

 

A Beach Walk Cervantes

We’ve seen a few echidnas in the wild on our trip but they’re difficult to photograph.  They’re shy and usually run for the nearest cover where they curl up in a ball.  This one was quite happily strolling along the beach.

It’s always a lovely walk when you’re joined by dolphins close to shore (also difficult to photograph as you don’t know where they’ll pop up next).

It sounded like we were walking on bubble wrap on Sunset Beach and then we realised what was popping – hundreds of tiny Portugese Man of War jellyfish.

The beach at Cervantes is covered in thick piles of seaweed which they say is left in place to stop erosion of the sand and to provide food for birds.  It’s quite stinky though which a certain spoodle loved.  All the rolling around in smells brought on the zoomies and a digging frenzy.

Chapman Valley Tourist Drive

Instead of heading down the coastal road to Geraldton, we took the inland tourist drive through the agricultural region of Chapman Valley.  What a different landscape to the last few months: green rolling hills, grazing sheep, the yellow of the Canola crops against the backdrop of the Moresby Ranges.  We could almost have been in England.

It’s still a little early for the wildflowers but they’re starting to appear.

 

Ocean Park Aquarium, Denham

Another dog friendly tourist attraction and very knowledgeable tour guides.

The only fact I can remember is that there is only one female in a group of clown fish and if that female dies, one of the males turns into a female.  Therefore the start of ‘Finding Nemo’ was factually inaccurate as Nemo’s dad should have turned into a female when Nemo’s mum dies.

Coral Bay, WA

Jonathan spent a day fishing with Mahi Mahi Fishing Charter.  The sea was pretty choppy and they almost cancelled the trip.  I think Jonathan wished they had as he had a terrible bout of sea sickness but managed an impressive catch anyway.  The Red Emperor sells for $80 a kilo so I think you get your money’s worth.  Any fish recipes gratefully received.

My boat trip was much calmer as I went out in a glass bottom boat for an hour’s bob over Ningaloo Reef.

Exmouth WA

On the way into Exmouth we came across Learmonth Solar Observatory which is a joint operation between the Australian and US governments.  Exmouth has a dry climate, with approximately 320 days of sunshine a year, hot summers and mild winters so makes an ideal location.  The observatory isn’t open to the public however.  In April 2023 there will be a total solar eclipse visible from Exmouth so Jonathan was keen to check out some viewing sites on the path of totality.

Exmouth is at the Northern end of the World Heritage listed Ningaloo Reef.  There are lots of campsites along the Cape Range National Park but of course we couldn’t go there because of The Winst.  We stayed at the Lighthouse Caravan Park at the North West Cape which suited us very well, as a dog friendly beach is directly across from the campsite.  We walked up to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse where there are sweeping views along the coast and we also spotted  humpback whales which are migrating.   We could see loggerhead turtles close to shore, feeding on the reef.  Emus also came wandering into the campsite.

Jonathan was surprised to find that the sandflats of the Ningaloo Reef Lagoon are famous in fly fishing circles as a place to catch bonefish, trevally, queenfish and permit and he spent a couple of afternoons out with his fly rod.

Broome

A bit of general travel info:

Broome Shire Council don’t allow pets in any of the caravan parks but they have three sites that are for pet owners only.  The oval at Town Beach has no shade and dogs aren’t allowed on Town Beach.  The Seventh Day Adventist Church site is a small car park in the middle of nowhere. We decided the best of the three was the Pistol Club which has nice shady sites in a quiet bushland setting (apart from Thursdays and Saturdays when people are shooting).

At least they are considerably cheaper than the caravan parks and a few people have said they are squashed in like sardines at the parks.

Broome sits on the Indian Ocean which is a beautiful turquoise colour.  We started out at Entrance Point where dogs are allowed on the beach and Winston was cock-a-hoop.

We were looking forward to a seafood lunch at the nearby Wharf Restaurant but fish and chips cost $38.50 so we gave that a miss.  The main issue with the ocean here are the stingers – box jellyfish and Irukandji, which are most prevalent in the wet season.  As we saw up in Cairns, there are bottles of vinegar along the beach which is used to treat the stings.

We’re looking forward to many beautiful sunsets as we drive down the Western Coast.  One of the most famous places to watch a sunset is on Broome’s Cable Beach, where four wheel drives line up along the beach and tourists can have camel rides.

We spent ages trying to access the section to the North that allowed dogs but kept getting blocked by private properties.  In the end we decided we would have to walk along the main beach to get there and risk getting thrown off.  The part before the dog beach is a nudist beach but there was only one brave man letting it all hang out at that time of the evening amongst all the people watching the sun go down.

The Great Northern Highway

We couldn’t do the Gibb River Road of course in our campervan so we headed off down the Great Northern Highway towards Broome.

We took a short detour up to Wyndham, which is the most northerly town in Western Australia.  It was worth visiting to drive up to the Five Rivers Lookout.  The Rivers Ord, Forrest, King, Durack and Pentecost enter the Cambridge Gulf here.   The Port of Wyndham services the cattle industry and the huge cattle yards can also clearly be seen from the lookout.

Wyndham also has a big crocodile in the main street.

The first part of the highway was very scenic with ranges and interesting rock formations.  We’ve been impressed by the free overnight camps in WA too. They’re off the highway, well maintained, have toilets, dump points, bins and are generally in scenic spots.

Mary Pool free camp
Ngumban Cliffs free camp

The next part of the highway from Fitzroy Crossing only had boab trees and termite mounds for scenery.  A couple of the boab trees were very impressive though.

Boab Prison Tree near Derby

There were also a lot of unfenced cattle we had to be wary of, as on more than one occasion we’ve seen a driver and a cow that have come to grief.