Saturday 18th July Monday 3rd August
Our mission now was to enjoy the coast of WA south of
Ningaloo, to revisit favourite
places and to explore new ones especially
Steep Point, the most westerly point on the Australian mainland.
From
Ningaloo Station we travelled south down the coastal track joining
Ningaloo and
Cardabia Stations. It was in good condition and the low bushes, with fresh growth resulting from recent rains, made it not so scratchy for the truck.
Many short tracks branched off over the dune to the coast. One led us to a high spot right at the water’s edge. As always in WA, ‘windy always’, we had wind but the truck was used as a wind shield. This was perfect! No other campers, sun, blue skies, sand and the Indian Ocean.
For 3 days and nights we soaked up our very special spot. We walked on
the beach, had dips in the ocean, enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner on the
cliff and admired the spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
Choosing an ocean front site
Wildflower 1 What is it?
Wildflower 2 What is it?
Perfect location
Sunset over the ocean
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Sunsets as usual - magnigicent
Beachcombing
Swimming in the Indian Ocean
After a visit to
Coral Bay for water and a quick look around we headed further south to
Carnarvon making an overnight stop at Lyndon River
Rest Area.
On our 2009 visit we just called into
Carnarvon for fuel and supplies but this time, we decided to explore the area.
We read that
Carnarvon is situated at the only point of the Australian coastline where the central desert reaches out to the sea.
We drove around the plantations on the fertile river delta of the mighty Gascoyne River and purchased produce from several growers. The river is unusual in that the water sits unseen below the riverbed in underground
reserves protected from evaporation by the sand. Periodically the river flows visibly after heavy rains.
After exploring the town itself and the
boat harbour we went out to the
Heritage Precinct to see
One Mile Jetty which was built so that livestock and wool could be exported to
Fremantle and essential goods for the town could be imported. We learnt that
Carnarvon was the first port in WA which loaded livestock on board ships for transport to markets.
The jetty once boasted an animal race the length of the jetty along which the sheep and cattle were driven from holding yards to the ships. The jetty transport system ceased in 1966 when the state ships stopped calling but this does not stop visitors today from walking the length of the jetty or taking a ride on the Coffee Pot Train as we did. The cost was $5 per head to walk along the jetty and $10 per head on the little train. Money raised is put back into restoration of
the wharf.
On our next visit we will walk the 2.5km old tramway route that linked the jetty with the town, visit the
lighthouse Keepers Cottage Museum and
Carnarvon’s OTC dish, an Earth Tracking Station that was built in conjunction with NASA in 1966 as a satellite communications and tracking station. The station was involved in the Apollo space missions. Today it is the
Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum.
The Coffee Pot Train
One Mile Jetty
A picture of the jetty long ago
The plantation area in Carnarvon
The plantation area
The plantation area
A map of the area
Quobba Point lighthouse
Just made it out of Mount Augustus...
On the northern side of the Gascoyne River a track led out to Quobba Point. Although the seas were relatively flat, the swell resulted in a great show at
the blowholes.
Further north was Quobba Station, very popular with the fishermen, The
HMAS Sydney 11 Memorial cairn, the salt loading facility at
Cape Cuvier,
Red Bluff and Gnaraloo Station.
The
HMAS Sydney 11 memorial is in memory of the greatest single Australian maritime loss of lives during WW11. Every November 19th a memorial service is held at this site. Red
Bluff beach and 17mile beach were the landing sites of two of the German HSK Kormoran life boats carrying survivors.
To see the salt loading facility was my mission but of course, we found that it was not open to the public.
The coastal track was heavily corrugated and when I said, ‘Let’s continue to
Red Bluff’
Just a little further north from the haul road into the salt loading facility we took a short track to the coast and BINGO, we were on the
cliff top looking straight back at the loading facility. Salt poured from the
conveyor belt onto a huge stock pile and a bull dozer pushed it around.
We had a glorious sunset and an impressive view of the loading facility lit up for the evening. As usual with mining, it is a 24hr day operation.
The
Dampier Salt
Mine is situated close by on Lake MacLeod and produces both salt and gypsum. This large coastal lake covers 2,072 square kilometres, is 110kms long, 40km wide and is only separated from the ocean by coastal dunes.
In the morning I walked carefully to the
cliff edge and down below, strewn along the rocks, was wreckage from a ship. Study of my Oziexplorer maps indicated that it was the wreck of the
Korean Star that had come to grief in a cyclone in May 21st 1988.
In the morning we walked down the track that led to the wreckage and explored the rusting remains. Amazingly enough, there was no information board about this disaster. Thank goodness for the internet!
We were hopeful that a bulk ship would arrive before we left to load salt, but no such luck.
Quobba blowholes
Quobba blowholes
HMAS Sydney 11 Memoral
HMAS Sydney 11 Memorial
Haul road into Rio Tinto Dampier Salt
Looking back at the salt loading facility
Night view of the salt pile
Walking down the track to the wreckage
Web picture of the Korean Star
With
Carnarvon done until next time we continued south. Our next stop was
Gladstone Bay which had come highly recommended by Exploroz members. This coastal area was once part of Yadinga Station but is nowcontrolled by CALM.
Like
Carnarvon’s
One Mile Jetty,
Gladstone also had a small port facility constructed in 1910 for transporting supplies by boat between local pastoral stations and
Perth.
‘The Gladestone jetty remains the most substantial wool-lightering structure on the Western Australian coast. The 287 metre long stone causeway lead from a wool-store shed, the footings of which can still be seen today, to a 77 metre long timber jetty.’
Today the jetty provides a
resting place for cormorants, pelicans, sea gulls and pacific gulls. Fishermen venture to the end of
the wharf in hope of catching something big but we observed that the most successful fishermen were using nets.
Each day ten to twenty travellers came in. Three nights at $5.50 p/p, p/n was a bargain. Apart from water front sites we were provided with flushing
toilets, fire wood and water, suitable only for washing.
Track out to Gladstone Bay
Sunset over the Gladstone Jetty
And in the daylight
Always be nice to fishermen!
Resting before fishing again
Our last night at Gladstone Bay
Finally our next stop was to be
Steep Point!
At last, we are on our way to Steep Point
Onto the dirt, again!
Road work on Useless Loop Road
The
Steep Point Ranger advised us that rain was forecast later in the day and Useless Loop Road would close. It was go immediately or wait several days.
Useless Loop Road was
well maintained due to the mining activity at Useless Loop but as soon as this road turned north we were into the NP and the sandy track leading to
Steep Point – in total a 3 hr trip.
The 6 beach campsites at
Shelter Bay were all occupied so for 2 nights we stayed out on the cliffs at
Steep Point. The
views were amazing! Only 4km across South Passage was Dirk Hartog Is. We were looking across to the point where, back in 2009, we were looking across in the opposite direction.
From the
cliff tops we watched fishermen head out to the open sea in their little boats and the endless procession on whales on their migration north.
Access track to Steep Point
Air down and a quick check up
Corrugations, corrugations and more corrugations
Part of the track runs along the beach
Sandy tracks over dunes
This is it. The most westerly point in Australia
Looking out from the most westerly point
Yes, we made it!
Our first campsite on the cliffs at Steep Point
After our second night we headed back to our beach
campsite for a further 2 nights but we found it had not been vacated. Rain the previous night resulted in the closure of Useless Loop Road – campers had to stay put. No one in, no one out. Fortunately for us campers at
Scavengers camp site had vacated the previous night so we slotted in.
We were right on
the beach only meters from the high tide mark. Wow! Although the wind was up the sun was out and we had a glorious day soaking up the view.
View from our cliff campsite
Second night on the cliffs
Now, at our beach campsite
Evening on the beach
Seagulls were constant companions
You can't get much closer to the beach than this
These people were off to Dirk Hartog Is by barge
Looks like rain further south
It rained here too
At 3.00pm the road was again open for those who wanted to leave. Around 6.00pm more campers came in.
On the morning of our last day we had a thunderstorm and rain squalls all day. Rain had also fallen south of the park so, once again, the road was closed.
Now this is the way to live
Crystal clear water
A carrot cake cooked in the ozpig
Yet another day on the beach
Wildflower 3. What is it?
Wildflower 4. What is it?
The
Ranger advised that we would we would have to stay for two more days, free of charge. What a
bugger!
An early morning departure