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