Kia Ora from Raurimu, New Zealand
Happy New Year! We’ve already passed the first three weeks of our New Zealand adventure with some guests. After having a New Year’s Eve celebration in Auckland, we flew to Queenstown and made our way back to the North Island in two weeks. Currently, we have one more week left on the North Island before our visitors return home and we will fly back to the South Island of New Zealand.
But for now, let’s go back to the end of November when we were in the remote northwestern part of Werstern Australia. In this blog post, we’ll be covering our last Off-road experiences with our Toyota Hilux Rooftop Camper. Enjoy reading!
Cheers
Alicia & Marco
Exmouth
After spending two nights at Amherst Point, we needed to restock our supplies. We left the four-wheel tracks and headed for Coral Bay, which had a small supermarket. However, we decided to go directly to Exmouth which had a well-equipped local IGA with everything we needed. While enjoying a little snack in the pedestrian zone, we were quickly joined by parrots and peculiar-looking pigeons with a sting on their head. As the temperature soared to about 40°, we decided to spend the peak hours inside a little climate cafe and shoot our Bali post. The landscape on our way to Exmouth was stunning, and we couldn’t help but wonder what the nearby Cape Range National Park was like.
Mesa Campground, Cape Range National Park
We arrived at Mesa Campground just before sunset, and Marco decided to go for a little snorkel. A lot of sand in the water made a terrible visibility, but a big shadow on Marcos right started to take off from the ground. A huge turtle, maybe 1m away, swam into the dust of the ocean waters. Didn‘t expect that from a little sunset snorkel right behind our campsot! Crazy Ningaloo Reef, and that was when we remembered some Australian fellows telling us we had to take a snorkel at the Ningaloo Reef up in Exmouth, and you can see there are turtles everywhere. Well, we now know they were right!
Lakeside Snorkel Area, Cape Range National Park
We discovered a fantastic snorkeling spot called Lakeside Snorkel through Wiki Camps, which was conveniently just a five minute drive away from Mesa Campground. Before the heat of the day set in, we decided to take a quick snorkeling trip. We didn’t have high expectations, but what we saw completely exceeded them. To reach the lakeside snorkel spot, we had to walk 500 meters along the beach, and then it was indicated where we should enter the water. Once we got in, we could take about 50 meters of steps before encountering a massive coral reef. The coral was stunning, with various hues and some looking like red and yellow brains. We had everything we could have wished for right there, and we didn’t need to take a boat or book a tour or anything since we could just walk into the water. It was crazy!
The water was crystal clear, and after one part, the water got deeper, and there it came, a mid-size turtle SW into our field of view, pacing slowly through the water, not slow so you could follow it for a little. What a feeling to swim with this creature of the sea. Marco stayed a little longer in the water to discover the more remote part of the snorkeling area on the way back to the beach. There was this 1m deep water he also snorkeled through, and then it happened. A huge Reef Shark, maybe 2 to 2 1/2 meters long, crossed Marcos way 10 meters in front of him, gently cruising one straight line, not even looking to the sides. In such moments, you realize how small you are in the picture of sea predators like sharks and in the picture of the world . It was an awesome experience snorkeling there and encountering the creatures of the sea, like turtles and a reef shark. It gives you a healthy humble respect for the ocean and its wildlife.
Back at the ranger station, we talked to the Ranger, and she wasn’t surprised by the reef shark encounter. All they’re swimming around there, but they are nice, so you were fortunate that you saw one. From the pictures on a sign we found out that Marco saw a Blacktip Reef Shark. Very beautiful and stunning creature!
The next morning, we went inside the water again, but this time, we saw no turtles or sharks while snorkeling, but plenty of colorful coral fish. You can’t be lucky every day; that’s how it is in the wilderness. While walking back to the car, the 500 meters along the beach, we were lucky again to see a turtle put his head out of the water and the shadow of a Stingray cruising gently in the shallow waters. Crazy wonderful Western Australia.
Trisel Turtle Rookery
Initially, we had planned to spend only one night at Camp Mesa campground; however the turtle encounter and the awesome lakeside snorkel nearby compelled us to extend our stay by an extra night. The camp host was taken aback, and he ended up sharing a secret with us – the Trisel Turtle Rockery. We told him that we saw some turtles snorkeling in the lakeside area. He came close, and have you seen turtles laying eggs on the beach yet? We were confused and told him we hadn’t heard about it, and then he said maybe 10 to 15 kilometers away, there is a beach where the turtles come out of the water to lay their eggs, and now we are right in the egg-laying season. He saw that we hadn’t set up our rooftop tent yet and told us it would be best to go there for sunset and wait until it got slightly darker. As soon as it is down, the turtles should come out of the water climbing up the beach and the dunes to dig a deep hole and lay their eggs.
What a crazy thing! We thought this couldn’t be true, some beach where you can go freely with no restrictions and no entry fee, and you can see turtles laying eggs, but this was exactly how it looked like. Only a small sign at the little parking lot explained of how you have to behave with the turtles, to not disturb them.
Walking the beach, we saw these huge tracks, maybe 1m in diameter. And the whole beach and the dunes looked like some drunk excavator driver digged around in those dunes. If we didn’t knew we were on the turtle beach we might have thought these bursts in the sand were coming from some kind of off-road vehicle, something like a snowmobile for the sand or something else, but these huge tracks were from big turtles crawling out of the sea, and we didn’t have to wait long to see it with our own eyes. Slowly but surely huge turtles came out of the water crawling to the dunes. One very big example came out of the water very close and we sat still, watching this turtle making it way up to the dune and digging a big hole. It took the turtle around half an hour to get from the water up in the dune. What an unreal experience.
Ningaloo Coast Track
To get from Cape Range National Park to Coral Bay, you have two options. The first option is a two-wheel drive route that takes you all the way around through Exmouth and then heads south for about 200 kilometers. The second option is the Yardy Creek Crossing, which is an off-road track that leads down the entire Ningaloo Coastline until you reach Coral Bay. We chose the four-wheel drive option, which is said to be a bit difficult due to the Yardy Creek Crossing. However, we were fortunate that the crossing was dry and the tide was not high during this time of year. The only challenge we faced was driving through the soft sand of Yardy Creek, but we were already familiar with how to handle it, so it was not a problem for us. Tires down to 18 PSI and go for it!
There are plenty of campsites available on the four-wheel drive section, but we didn’t book one in advance and had no reception. We thought it wouldn’t be an issue, but we were wrong. All the campsites had hosts who would only allow guests with online bookings, and they turned away those who didn’t have one. They also refused to accept cash and let us camp for a night, so we didn’t want to argue and went on. Since we hadn’t encountered this situation before, we decided to go to the first campsite that will take us with a cash payment. Of course it was the last one at the end of the track that finally took cash.
Bruboodjoo Point
After 60 kilometers of off-roading down the Ningaloo coastline, we reached the Bruboodjoo Point campground. We found the little spot behind the dunes, the perfect windshield for a rooftop tent. As the world was nice and good for a swim, we decided to stay two nights.
The next day; our neighbors asked if someone wanted to go out on the boat fishing. Marco took the chance and went out to fish with Gordon. Live fishing, we talked about our lives, what we do for where we live, and so Gordon used to be a chef down in Melbourne and did a Europe road trip with his wife Marry back in his 20s. One time in the 1990s, they went for a two-week vacation to WA and loved it so much that they decided to move there. He also changed jobs and is now working in explosives as a blaster in Newman, an iron ore mine 200 kilometers South of Port Hedland. It’s the biggest iron ore mine in the whole of Australia.
As we neared a reef, the water got swallowed again and changed its color to a lighter blue. Marco got a hit at his fishing rod, and he was a huge pufferfish. Gordon said he had never seen one as big as this, and he also said unless you’re Japanese, you can’t eat them. So we got the fish from the hook, and it gave it back to the ocean. Later We also saw a huge black shadow cruising in a straight line. We already knew what this could be and took in the fishing rod. We slowly approached it, and as we were maybe 20 meters away we saw the huge shark more clearly. He was definitely bigger than the bot we were sitting in. He was‘t even bothered by our little boat and made his straight line through the crystal clear waters.
During our trip we also saw countless of turtles swimming around and we even saw to making love. As we recognized it we quickly left them alone. One again, awesome ocean wildlife out here in WA.
Coral Bay Shark Nursery
Once again we arrived in Coral Bay and bought some groceries. Within a 1-kilometer beach walk, you can get to the shark nursery. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see any little sharks, but many Stingrays were swimming in the shallow waters.
Sandy Point
From Coral Bay we headed onto the four-wheel drive tracks leading South, where we booked the little off-road campsite Sandy Point. The tracks were easy, and the water was clear. We set up our rooftop tent behind a little dune and swam inside the water. The beach was one of our best swimming spots yet.
Emma and Lucas, accompanied by their dog David were our campground hosts at Sandy Poing. Emma and Lucas are both teachers from Exmouth, taking one year off from their jobs. The travel Western Australia by being campsite hosts at national park off-road campgrounds. This option provides them with certain benefits such as access to the same facilities as Rangers in national parks, free water supplies, and the possibility to camp for free in National Park campsites while hosting. As hosts, their duties include checking visitors’ bookings for the campsites and ensuring that the toilets are clean. They spend about a month at each campsite, making it an enjoyable and inexpensive way to travel for a year camping at some of the best spots Western Australia has to offer.
Little Bay
Our time with the Toyota Hilux was coming to an end. With just a few days left, we decided to spend them at the Little Bay campground near Horrocks. To get there, we had to drive about 3 or 4 kilometers down a sandy off-road track through the dunes. The campground itself was nestled among the trees and had a stunning view of the Little Bay. We even had a massive dune behind us. The water was perfect for swimming and stand-up-paddling, thanks to the coral reef that sheltered it.
We had the entire campsite to ourselves, with only a handful of locals driving their pickups on the beach or launching small boats into the water to fish at night. The little bay was all ours, and we made the most of it by snorkeling, swimming, stand-up-paddling, cooking, and taking leisurely walks on the beach. One day, Marco even had the incredible opportunity to paddle alongside some dolphins as they hunted for food – an unforgettable experience.
Horrocks
Horrocks is a charming beach town nestled beside the tranquil bay campground. Though it has limited amenities, such as a small general store, it offers simple pleasures like swimming in the ocean, boating, and playing golf on the course. Despite its small size, Horrocks boasts beautiful houses with stunning ocean views. During our visit, we even had the chance to spot some Ospreys near the town.
Sandy Cape the Second
It was Wednesday, and tomorrow, we must give back our beloved Toyota Hilux. So! what better place to camp for the last night than our first off-road campground at Sandy Cape? But before we went to the campground, we went to Jurien Bay to get a new SUP. The one Marco purchased had a little hole on the top right from the beginning. It allowed us to use the SUP only for one hour. After that, we had to do some air with the pump. In Jurien Bay, the Home Hardware store we purchased the SUP 3 weeks earlier gave us a new one, an even upgraded version from the one we had.
With the new SUP. We made our way inside the four-wheel drive section of the campground. We took the same path as three weeks before, and we could remember our thoughts when we saw the little hill with the soundtrack where we had to get over to our campsite three weeks ago. We thought **** there we have to go over, and now we looked at it and smiled about the thoughts three weeks earlier. No problem anymore.
Weekend in Perth
It was the day we had to return our Toyota Hilux. Sadly, we drove the three hours back to Perth to the small Malibu apartment we booked in West Perth. We unloaded the car at the apartment and draw it back to the Britz Camper station.
Sadly, we returned it and drove back to our apartment. After 3 1/2 weeks of camping, mostly on remote off-road campsites with only dump toilets, the apartment felt like a luxury heaven, with a whole kitchen, oven fridge, a bathroom and a nice big bed.
We spend our days exploring the area around the apartment, walking through Little Christmas Markets at 30 degrees outside, and one night, we even with Nigel, one of the fishermen from Steep Point.
The weekend flew by and before we knew it, it was Sunday the 1st advent. Tomorrow, we’ll be embarking on another road trip in our new camper van, this time exploring the southern parts of WA on two wheels. Based on what we’ve seen so far, we can already tell that the South is vastly different from the Northwest. Get ready for our exciting adventures in Southern WA.
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