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Published: October 28th 2009
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Day 181 - Cape Range National Park
It was so funny when the alarm went off at midnight for the turtle watch walk, we both led in bed waiting until we could hear the zipper go on Bel and Nige’s camper trailer but we must have drifted back to sleep! I then heard what I thought was Bel’s voice say “Are you still going?” so I sprang out of bed quickly followed by Darryl, got dressed and headed out the door but there was nobody there! I must have been dreaming! It was quite windy so we thought we would check out the activity on the beach first then run back to get Belinda if we found anything.
It was ace walking along the ocean in the moonlight, all we could hear were the waves crashing along the shore and every now and then we’d catch a glimpse of a huge ghost crab running around! What we didn’t find were any indicators that turtles were coming up to nest and as the wind was still blowing a gale we figured we’d come back for another look on a stiller night! I spotted Zali’s beach towel on the ground when
we got back to camp so I picked it up and squealed out loud when a huge ghost crab came out from under it! The poor thing ran straight into the jerry can and then on his second escape attempt got stuck in the fork of the table legs!! We managed to coax him out of camp and back towards the dunes and hoped we hadn’t woken anybody else with our giggles! Back to bed we went and woke up 6 hours later to a beautiful bright morning.
There’s something very special about waking up next to the ocean. Our well chosen camp gives us a lovely view of the turquoise water and the sea breeze is just beautiful. Belinda was up early this morning and has just got back from a run/walk but is up for going again before the kids surface! We told her about our turtle spotting mission and she laughed at me thinking I’d heard her saying “Are you still going” because she had woken up and done the same ‘I’ll wait till I hear their caravan door’ thing as we’d done with their camper trailer zip! When she did hear us it was when
we were coming back and by the time she’d got dressed we’d shut the door and she realised that it was gone 1am! Nevermind, we’ll do it again when high tide isn’t in the middle of the night!
Myself and Belinda went for a good walk along the beach and I’m hopefully it will be the start of many early morning ocean walks, walking along the beach in bare feet feels fantastic. I’ll see how many days I keep it up for and if I can coax Darryl to come along before we leave!
The boys were trying their luck at fishing again but that bucket just isn’t getting any fuller, so much effort and so little luck. Hopefully it will change soon or we might just run out of food!
We decide to go back to sample the snorkelling delights of Turquoise Bay some more, hoping really that the ocean drift loop isn’t too choppy! It’s only a fifteen minute drive along the coast but when we get there the wind is still a bit too blowy over the site so we instead go back to the reef in the protected bay.
It’s stunning and
we see so many different fish. Before we leave I’ll try to put a list together of all the types we’ve seen but it’s so extensive as we’re seeing so many! We think we saw an octopus hiding in the rocks today and we know we saw ‘Nemo’ and plenty of brightly coloured starfish!
We have a big discussion about what to do next, whether to go back for lunch or head on towards the Oyster Stacks which can only be snorkelled at high tide. The recommendation is that you don’t snorkel here unless the high tide is more than 1.2 metres but we’ve missed that sort of height unless we wait another week or so! Today’s high tide is an estimated 1.16 metres, 4 cm short, darn! The decision is to try it out anyway so we bundle back in the car and head further along the coast.
There’s something very special about Cape Range. Not only does it have a good selection of camp areas, some secluded, all with good beach access and amenities but it is aligned perfectly by the Ningaloo Marine Park which gives us free snorkelling in some of the best coral we’ve
ever been lucky enough to experience.
When we arrive at Oyster Stacks it’s got a more difficult entry point than the other sites as it’s across the exposed and jagged rocks. When Nige is standing in the water getting his gear on he thinks he stood on or got too close to a sea cucumber or lobster because all around him the water suddenly turns brown. It’s like he literally scared the crap out of the poor creature! Well that’s something new for us, we didn’t realise they did that when they feel threatened!
Oyster Stacks is absolutely stunning and we’re so glad we took the chance to snorkel here today. The water is crystal clear and the reef and the fish are different again to Turquoise Bay! How does that happen when we’re only five minutes up the coast?!
We have such a good snorkel here, it’s awesome. The Oyster Stacks are literally just that, three stacks of oysters sitting proudly in the middle of the section where we’re snorkelling surrounded by coral reef. Darryl takes the camera out again today and he’s pretty sure he sees a Wobbiegong which is a type of shark. Awesome
and definitely one of our favourite snorkelling spots so far.
When we get back to camp the boys are determined to go catch some fish so head out onto the rocks with the rods, the bucket and all important bait! Another couple of families have arrived today and one of them are familiar to Bel & Nige - they know so many people! Mark, Simone, Zoe, Kenny and Beth are a gorgeous family from Mansfield in Victoria and they’re on a 6 month trip. The kids immediately start playing together and everyone is happily chatting away.
It’s another windy night in camp so after dinner which was a round up of all the leftovers we had ourselves some chocolate and snuggled into bed!
Dar and Sar
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Rod Jackson
non-member comment
Snorkelling
Its been great following your adventures, kept meaning to comment!! Green with with envy re. the snorkelling Greek waters aren't quite like Oz's!! Still hoping to get to the GBR! xx R & T