Coral Coast to Ningaloo
There is nothing like the excitement of heading off on a remote coastal holiday with my awesome Family. Couple that together with the madness of knocking off work early, to quickly pack the Navara D40 and hit the Blacktop. All with the aim of getting approx 400 clicks north of Geraldton before pulling up for the night. Yep you're probably asking Why ?
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| Bush Bay Camp South of Carnarvon |
Where we are heading, it's first in first served and today was the first day of the July School Holidays and I had seen convoys of caravans, Camper Trailers and boats all week heading North through Geraldton so yep we were a bit anxious. But we pulled into our designated overnight camp just South of Carnarvon as planned.
Early rise to a beautiful morning, packed up then a short burst into Carnarvon for the required refueling and breaky stop then were off again. Cathy & I had traveled this road in our younger years all be it years apart, so it was new ground and the landscape was changing so it was a bit more exciting. Our next destination was
WARROORA STATION. A Station that allows you to camp on some of the best coastline in West Oz (for a fee). This is where we would Camp for the next 7 nights.
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| Warroora Homestead (check in) |
If you're planning a trip to WARROORA then it is easier to come in via the 14 Mile access road off of the Exmouth/Coral Bay road. The caretakers are there and save a lot of messing around. $10/Day per Adult or $50 a week per Adult & Kids are free :)
14 Mile Beach front Camping Bliss.
Huge Orange Termite mounds dotted everywhere across the otherwise featureless landscape
Yep that close. # Ningaloo Coastline
From Warroora we headed for the small but very busy coastal tourism hot spot of CORAL BAY. We had booked into the very well situated "Bayview caravan park " in the center of Coral Bay and straight across the road from the local watering hole :) We were all in need of a hot shower to de-feral and we had a bucket load of washing so the laundry facilities were a godsend. If your in need of restocking the fridge and the pantry then we found the small shop situated in front of the other caravan park to be the cheapest with a larger variety and if you in need of replenishing the refreshments then the bottle shop at the back of "Bill's Tavern" is very well priced and has good variety. Our recommendation - A meal at Bills Tavern & participate in the Free fish feeding experience, every evening during school holidays on the foreshore.
With a full fridge and all the chores done. We headed back to the Highway & headed north again with our sights set on #
NINGALOO STATION where we would be calling #Winderabandi Point our new home for the next 7 days. The road in was not the worst we had driven on but we could see the size of the corrugations on the other side of the road heading out and it looked average to say the least.
Cresting the Large sandstone hill just before the homestead you get your first glimpse of the national wonder that is Ningaloo. Everyone of us was just amazed at the beauty of this place. After checking in, chatting to the land owners and grabbing our Gate key we were off to find our campsite at Winderbandi point.
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| Setting up |
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| Happy campers |
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| #Ningaloo Coast |
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View from our back door
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| What to do with soft pumpkin ? yep #scones@Ningaloo |
After a few day relaxing by the Ningaloo coast line Swimming, canoeing, having a few compulsory beach AFL games and a Ningaloo beach cricket session we ventured out to explore the area. Just North of the Winderabandi bay is a Aust Defence Force Bombing area that can be accessed via an unlocked gate but we left that for another time. The kids were excited to discover all these prehistoric fossilized creatures and organisms on our walks.
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| livestock everywhere |
History is in abundance up here. The old Point Cloates lighthouse and keepers cottage are a must see while up this way. They built them to last back then and you could only imagine the effort and logistics of building these back in 1910. While out and about on the tracks we did pass the one and only Pat Callinan (MR 4x4) and his crew in there new Amarok's but didn't get a chance to say hi. Next time !
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| Fashion Statement. Christopher |
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| Awesome Stone work. Craftsmen |
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| What a view from the cottage window |
Heading south from Winderabandi point we get to South Lefroy Bay, where we head towards the coast from the main track then hang a left over the sand dunes to track down the old
Norwegian whaling station. The boys get excited when we hit the sand dunes .. Mum not so ! Another must see if you interested in history of area.
This is one area that has been on our must see list and it has not disappointed. So rich in beauty, history and just peaceful. Privileged to have had the opportunity to explore this area.
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| At the tip |
Finally the time came (sad as it was) to pack up the #TX6 Camprite and make our way south again to Carnarvon for an overnight stopover (we miss the sun already). We pulled into the #Coral Cast Tourist Park again with clear skies, and were all looking forward to a HOT shower and a pub meal. We went to the Gascoyne Hotel or the Gassy as the locals call it for dinner and let me say well worth it. The meals were bloody huge and we were all stuffed when we left so do yourself a favor and call in if your up this way for a meal and a cold beer.
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| Pissed down all night |
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| First time packing up in the Rain. - Yep washing done :) |
We leave you with a photo of a magical sunset on the last night at Ningaloo Station's Winderabandi point.
Till next time Drive safe and get out there. BOWEN05
