Plan B - Denham

Firstly coronavirus, and then Station licensing issues foiled our plan to repeat last year’s trip to Tamala Station – so Plan B was to head up to Denham Seaside Caravan Park with the Tamala Team.

It was a chilly 1C on the morning we left Collie to head north to spend a week to warmer weather at Denham.

Towing our newly purchased caravan we left a day earlier than the rest of the team and decided to try a couple different “one nighters” from our usual stopovers.

On the shore of Lake Indoon

Night one was at Lake Indoon – between Eneabba and Leeman. Not a bad spot next to the dry lake (there is a boat ramp) with flushing toilets and bins. Only down-side was that fires were strictly prohibited, and it was still 4C at night. A bit of excitement for all was when a van came in under a low hanging tree and tore two massive dead branches off which then rolled off the top the van. Amazing thing was that the only ones who were not aware of the incident were the owners of the van who continued onward to find a parking spot!

My new SAT TV system

Night two was spent out the back of the Billabong Roadhouse – not our usual scene but we had heard of unbelievably cheap fuel ($1.07/ltr for diesel) and free hot showers so thought we would give it a go. We were pleasantly surprised how quiet it was and enjoyed the hot shower.







After getting set up at the Denham Seaside Caravan Park (nice park next to the dog beach – yahoo said Molly after being cooped up in the car for 3 days) we had a planning meeting and a few coldies with Pete, Marion and Trevor (aka Inky Ross)  and decided on a trip out to Francois Peron National Park the next day for a bit of 4WD fun, sightseeing and fishing. As we could not take the vicious hound into the National Park we found a lady in Denham who was offering dog-sitting for $35/day – a win-win for her and us.

Inky and bream

Had a great day out in Francois Peron – didn’t get bogged, saw all the camping areas, and caught some nice whiting. So -  after picking up the hound it was time for showers, meeting up for a few more coldies (becoming a theme) and fresh whiting fillets for dinner – nice!
Next day we tried (unsuccessfully) to catch whiting around the town area so that afternoon over a few coldies we decided to head out again to South Gregories camp site in Francois Peron (Molly by now becoming good friends with the dog-sitter)  - weren’t as successful as our first visit but caught a few.


We did finally find a good fishing spot closer to town but as this was near the end of our visit only were able to fish twice – we will know next time!



Inky also caught his first ever squid (2) on a jig at the local jetty – which quickly got turned into a squid ring entrée with a few coldies.

The Team

After a great week we had our last dinner at the pub (and a couple of coldies) and next day - Pete, Marion and Trevor headed off to the freezing stormy weather down south while Linda and I (and Molly) struggled in the heat to go further north towards Coral Bay.

As a final note of recognition - Pete was the only one to catch whiting, Mulloway, and Spanish Mackerel (but that’s another story).

Short video is HERE

Goldfields

Tenindawa free camp - nice view

After swapping our boat for the kids caravan, we left Kalbarri to spend some time out in the goldfields. Although we had travelled several times thru Mt. Magnet, Cue, and Meekatharra whilst heading north to other destinations we had never been out through Wiluna, Leinster, Leonora and Menzies.
So – the plan was to send a brief time in the wildflowers (around Mullewa) and then head up north to Meeka before heading east to Wiluna and then down to Kalgoorlie (via Leinster, Leonora and Menzies) and home from there.

Lots of wreath flowers at Pindar

We had stopped at Tenindawa Well free camp (near Mullewa) before and last time we visited the wildflowers were spectacular – not so this time but it was a pleasant stay and break. I did spend some time getting a great (IMHO) time  lapse (over 3 hours and 220 photos) of the sunrise over the main road and canola fields.
The magnificent display of the rare Wreath Flowers at Pindar more than made up for the poor display at Mullewa.







Our next stop was Garden Rock free camp outside Cue. Nice spot for a one-nighter with easy dirt road access, some interesting walks up and around the rock outcrop, great sunset and as we were the only ones their - peace and quiet. Molly the mutt was quiet excited by the presence of a large goanna trying to scab food under our van. Would be better in winter when the flies weren’t so thick during the daylight hours.

This place must rock on Sundays - walls are braced!

Next stop - Meekatharra Caravan Park – not the greatest of parks but good value at $25/night for a powered site. I talked Linda into doing the tourist river walk but we were disappointed in the amount of broken glass and rubbish in the dry creek bed and Molly is still picking the prickles out of her feet. Highlight of the stay was dinner at the “Food Van” which operated nearby every evening and lunch – highly recommended.

An old Eagle fan

We had travelled further 200 km north (sort of going backwards) to Meekatharra to avoid the dirt road across to Leonora thru Sandstone by going from Meekatharra to Wiluna. Little did we know that of the 180 km across to Wiluna - 130 km was dirt. Thankfully the dirt road was in very good condition without corrugations, so the only casualty was a drain-pipe on one of the water tanks under the van. This meant that we lost 80ltrs of water and although having plenty of reserve we cut short our stay at Lakeview free camp (just south of Wiluna) and headed into Leonora a day early.


I must admit I was a little surprised by Leonora – its quiet a nice little town and the caravan park was very clean – had some GREEN grass, and friendly locals. There were still a lot of prospectors staying at the park when we arrived and we got to check out some nuggets they had found. Some folk we met came from Victoria every year for three months to go prospecting in winter – as usual with prospectors -  no one would admit to finding much.

We had arranged to meet our friends from Broomehill in Leonora to spend a day at Gwalia ghost town, museum and mine and then to do the trip out to the statues at Lake Ballard near Menzies the next day.

Sweating it out in the desert

Gotta take your hat off to those miners, their wives and children who lived and thrived in those corrugated iron huts at Gwalia - freezing winters nights and boiling summer days without any of the mod cons we take for granted. The museum at Gwalia is brilliant and only a gold coin donation. After struggling thru the 28 degree heat ?? we forced down Devon-shire Teas on the veranda of Hoover House – tough out in the desert.




Next day we drove from Menzies the 50 km out to Lake Ballard to view the famous statues in the lake. General impression from all was it was a bit of a disappointment as the lake was large and the statues small. But – one thing ticked off the bucket list. To be fair it would be a nice spot to camp if you wanted brilliant starlit nights and photo opportunities of the lake and statues at sunrise/sunset.
Menzies is a very small town with a big history. Must say that the caravan park was great – pity we had to watch the Eagles being knocked out of the 2019 finals!

After leaving Menzies we did a long run to Pumphrey's Bridge Lion Park (near Wandering) – nice free camp on the river with clean flushing dunnies and next morning were home in Collie.
Great trip thru the goldfields – you will not believe how many large holes (mines) are in the ground out there – head that way if you get a chance (go in July though as the 35-36 degree days we struck were not great for free camping).

A longer than usual video is  HERE - hope it doesn’t bore you.

Kalbarri stop-over

Murchison river mouth - on a calm day

Kalbarri is a pretty seaside town situated at the mouth of the Murchison River (apparently the second longest river in WA at 820 km) about 6 hours drive north from Perth. The entrance to the river from the ocean (and vice versa) is one of the most dangerous in WA and was not something I was willing to attempt by myself, so boat trips were restricted to the river.

I love Nan's swag!

We had volunteered to look after our Granddaughter for a few nights whilst our daughter and partner had a few days to themselves at Monkey Mia resort. So two adults, a two year child, and a spoilt two year dog in two swags for three nights was a bit of a challenge but we managed to get thru it without any casualties 😊. Although it was good to see mum and dad pull in with the caravan and for our granddaughter to sleep in the van again for the last 4 days of our stay.

Get off that you big kid!

There is quiet a bit to do around Kalbarri with scenic drives along the rugged coastline, National Parks (yep we and a million other people did the mandatory “Natures Window” photos), pelican feeding, the Rainbow Jungle bird park and maze.

Nice view!

We stayed at the Kalbarri Anchorage Caravan Park and whilst I am not a big fan of caravan parks, I must say that this park has great facilities and was (surprise surprise) directly opposite the boat ramp on the river. Early morning walks along the grassy parks on the river was a great way to start the day.







As luck would have it, the time we were in Kalbarri coincided with the lowest tides of the year which meant there was only a limited window to get upstream to fish before we had to come back before we were stuck upstream. However - we did manage to catch some nice bream upstream and around the boat harbour near the ramp. The local shire has installed picnic tables and camping sites upstream on the riverbank (only accessible by boat) and these would be popular in summer.

On leaving Kalbarri Linda and I were heading out thru the goldfields with the kids caravan in tow and they went straight back to Perth with our boat in tow (something about having to go back to "work" - bugger!). So the day before departure we completely packed up and after 15 nights in swags Linda and I hired a chalet in the park and slept in a real bed – woo hoo (no videos of that night!)

Short video is  HERE

Coral Bay

Sandy beaches and cobalt blue water - nice!

We have stayed at Coral Bay many times over the years and consider it one of the jewels of the west coast.

 It offers snorkelling in beautiful coral, quad bike tours, glass bottom boat viewing, fish feeding, beaut sandy beaches, 4WD tracks, fishing, tennis, great pubs, restaurants, yummy bakery and sunsets to die for.

And we did them all!

Did I mention the bakery?

This was the first time that our daughter, husband, granddaughter and Molly the mutt had been to Coral Bay so we had a special time with family.

We haven't changed a bit in 30 years?

By a lucky co-incidence it was Linda and my 30th wedding anniversary so we had a nice dinner out with the family (less Molly) to celebrate the 30 years together. Boy where did those years go so fast?

Spangled Emperor and Seamus

Before heading north from Perth I had been “Youtubing” catching spangled emperor on big rooster poppers. One for the “bucket-list”! In two early morning sessions we hooked five big spangles - but large fish, shallow water, and zillions (well a lot) of coral bommies wasn’t a recipe for success. Despite high rodding and heavy drag’s there are four $20 poppers decorating coral bommies down near the five fingers reef. So - if your diving in the area and find an old gold coloured popper hanging off the reef it’s probably mine. My son-in-law Seamus did manage to get a 72 cm specimen in the boat – so he won’t be coming again!

Bugger!!

Link to my short video is HERE

Perth to Coral Bay

We had been planning a family trip up north for over 6 months with our daughter Corinna, her husband Seamus, our two-year old granddaughter Sianna, Molly the dog, Linda and me.

So, we loaded up two cars, one caravan and one boat and headed off.

Set up at Cliff Head

First overnight stop was Cliff Head free camp just south of Dongarra - great spot on the ocean if the wind isn’t up. As Corinna and Seamus had not been to the Pinnacles, they took a tour while we continued up to Cliff Head with van, granddaughter and hound.

Stayed at Cliff Head many times over the years and it’s still one of the nicer free camps as you head north. We were still feeling the winter cold at Cliff Head and the firewood we brought from home was well appreciated by all.

Morning tea at Galena Bridge

Next morning saw us on the road early as we had to cover a fair distance to Edaggee Free Camp just 100 km south of Carnarvon.

This allowed us to get into Carnarvon early enough to do some last-minute shopping at reasonable prices before arriving at the more expensive Coral Bay.

Edaggee Camp

Edaggee roadside stop-over is a well organised and clean site with concrete table and chairs, clean long drop dunnies and lots of bins and fireplaces – a credit to the local shire. This was the second night in our swags for Linda and I and despite a beautiful starlight night around an hour from sunrise we copped heavy rain and strong winds. Luckily our swags were waterproof, as our daughter and hubby (tucked up in their caravan) didn’t even check how us old folk were going and left us to fight the perils of the elements!

Wake me when we get there!

Onward to Carnarvon for some retail therapy, hot chicken rolls on the Fascine for lunch, and then back on the road for the last 250 km run to Coral Bay. Watch out for next blog in our Coral Bay stay.


Short video is HERE

Tamala WA

Our patch of beach

After almost 12 months of planning we headed off to Three Bays camping spot on Tamala Station (Tamala). Its quiet a trip from Collie (just over 1,000km) so we did the trip up in three stages - Collie to our site van at South Yunderup, thence in convoy to Geraldton and then into Tamala Station.






Talk about everything including the kitchen sink! Two cars, one trailer, and one boat all packed to the hilt with:

four gazebos, two car fridges, beer, tucker-box freezer, beer, bait (yep that smelly stuff), generator, a weeks supply of wood, beer, a weeks’ supply food, BBQ, gas cooker, beer, 100 litres of extra fuel, 120 litres of water, fishing tackle, beer, a dozen rods, 2 tents, 6 tables, three porta-loos and tents, beer, solar panels, swags and stretcher beds, cooking utensils, cameras, drones, go-pro, beer, the kitchen sink and most importantly five excited campers.

Tamala sunrise

The road in to Tamala off the main Shark Bay Road transitions from good bitumen, good gravel, corrugated gravel, corrugated gravel and limestone, to corrugated gravel, limestone rocks and deep sandy patches.  There are only a few areas where 4WD is required to be engaged but you would not venture this way without a 4WD and a set of max tracks.





Pulling onto the beach at Three Bays you immediately forget the 1000km trip to get here - two kilometres of flat clean shelly beach with views across the Freycinet Inlet to Three Bays Island and North and South Guano Islands – Wow! They only let three groups book Three Bays camping area at any one time so you have a half a kilometre of beach to yourself.

Pete and Trev getting ready for fishing

I had some concerns before arriving about where I would launch my boat and where I would moor it at night. Turned out a beach launch at the camp was easy and putting out the bow anchor and using a star picket on the stern rope made things pretty simple. Getting the boat out was a little harder but after three attempts using the max tracks we were easily out.

Linda's nice fis

Enough about the camp – let’s get down to the important stuff! The fishing in Freycinet Inlet is famous for the pink snapper and the Inlet lived up to its reputation. As usual when going to somewhere new and there is 1000’s km2 of ocean to drop your line in – it’s a little daunting at first. But after a little bit of experimenting we found a spot that consistently produced – it was around 11km out from camp but hey you know the old fishing axiom – “never leave fish to find fish”. We were blessed by the weather Gods for the whole week we were there – mild nor-easterlies in the mornings and glassed out conditions every afternoon. With twenty pink snapper (most of them over 70cm), two black snapper, and two good size flathead and plenty of “butteries” for bait it was a fishing week to remember. Pete caught the best snapper at 81cm on the first trip out – nice fish and gave his line and arms a stretch!




We did run a little low in a few supplies – bait (lucky Trev brought a BCF store with him!), beer and wood (luckily Rick and Noleen were heading home and did a home (beach) delivery for us).

Great weather, great food, great fires, cold beers, great company , fishing and a fantastic camp spot – Tamala had it all.

Have spent many hours trying to learn my new movie making software – not a gun at it yet but getting there – short video can be found HERE

Alexandra Bridge

One of the locals - came to visit every night

We have always enjoyed camping at Alexandra Bridge Campground on the Blackwood River just outside Augusta. There are 21 designated sites most with metal fire pits and easy access. Facilities include two toilet blocks (both with flushing dunnies - one new and one old), a reasonable boat ramp, drinking water on tap and for day visitors a nice park with free gas BBQ’s. At $10/person/night it’s a little on the pricey side but location location!

A hard earned bream

The Blackwood River is one of the few undammed rivers in southwest WA and at this location is famous for its Black Bream fishing (yep it’s a lure fishing mecca at times) and is the main reason we like camping here.

Grandson showing Pop how to fish

There were 110,000 bream stocked in the river last year and around the same 17 years ago - so 9 out of 10 fish are very small (from last years stock) but if you do hook one of those 17-year-old fish they are monsters. I landed a 39cm specimen the first day out in the water which is close to my personal best.

Look what we caught!

Despite fire restrictions being place for the South West region the local shire (who manage the campground) allow fires from 6:00PM to 11:00PM so we kept warm around the fire most nights.
Great camping spot amongst shady trees on the banks of a beautiful river – nice!!
Made a short movie – have had to learn a new Video Editing Program so not quiet up to my usual standard but getting there – link is
Here