Finally we headed south The countryside is flat with no trees and dotted with fat cone shaped anthills that look like small African huts.
We stayed the night at Bullara Station which is a working cattle and sheep station.
They were well set up with cabins and also an area for caravaners. The shower was under the tank stand with no roof and hot water provided by the “donkey” – a wood fire- so if you want a shower you have to put wood on the fire. There was a camp kitchen and a communal campfire area and lots of available wood. Of course we all gather round the fire for happy hour and we cooked our tea on the huge hotplate over the fire. There were a group of ladies who were riding pushbikes right around Australia. They were nurses who are midwifes and were raising money for home birthing and breast feeding awareness and were doing great community work in Darwin teaching the aborigines to be midwives. Next morning we headed to Coral Bay for a day trip. Coral Bay is famous for its blue sea, coral and abundance of fish. It is only very small and touristy. There are two large caravan parks, a resort and a few houses so lots of people.
The water was turquoise blue and the coral is just off the beach. When we went for a snorkel, the tide was very high and it was quite windy so the sea was choppy. It was quite deep and we didn’t see very many fish – well not compared to the Oyster Stacks in the NP. I was a little disappointed.
I decided to try again later when the tide was lower as there was meant to be some large fish.
We had some lunch and caught up with some more emailing.
The tide at dropped considerably and so had the wind so I had another go at snorkelling. The coral was prolific with some very interesting shapes and varieties but I didn’t see the abundance of fish I expected. The water was a lot calmer and warmer than before and right at the end I saw some very large bream that I was able to follow right along the shoreline. I really enjoyed the experience.
We headed out to a free camp about 60 kms away. It was packed when we arrived as we didn’t get there at our usual early time.
The drive between our campsite and Quobba Point was quite drab with no trees and few stunted bushes.
Quobba Point is hidden treasure about 70 kms north of Carnarvon. You pass through some salty flats and as you near the coast there are sandy dunes and once again no trees. There are a few wildflowers out – the pigface and daises are starting to flower.
There are a lot of old tin beach shacks owned by locals and lots of campsites right near the beach.
You have to bring all your water, there is no power and has pit toilets but it is a beautiful area.
There is a reef just off the beach and the fish life is amazing. I have never seen so many fish and because it is fairly shallow you are actually swimming with the fish –not looking down on them. It was like swimming in an Aquarium. Just magnificent!! People stay here for months.
The next day was very windy and overcast. We went to the Quobba blowholes which are just nearby. There are spectacular rugged limestone cliffs.
We waited for the blowhole to blow but it only obliged us once. However we were rewarded by spotting some large humpback whales breaching not far from the shore.
I went for another snorkel although conditions were not ideal as it was pretty cold and windy but it was great to see all the fish again. They seem to follow you and such variety.
There was a forecast of a 45 knot wind for Thursday arvo and we were due to leave on Friday so we decided to leave Thursday morning as we didn’t fancy travelling in a strong wind. We arrived in Carnarvon in the rain and managed to get an unpowered site for the night. We had a bit of look around the town but visibility wasn’t good so we did some shopping and went back to the CP. That night we had a few “big blows “but it wasn’t too bad. Hopefully it will clear up tomorrow and if it does we will go back to Quobba Point.
Carnarvon is the food bowl of the west and they grow heaps of fruit and veggies. It was a delight to have some fresh “real” veggies. I bought a big bag of tomatoes for $2 and three large zucchinis for $1.
Quobba beach
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