Exmouth and Karajini Road Trip

I do "get" this camping thing, I did have a great time. There is something organic about camping. You are really IN the outdoors, and develop a connection to The Out. We really got down and dirty with nature. We did not shower for 3 days, did not even wash hands but just hand sanitised before food preparation and after toilet. My toiletry bag was not unpacked. No soap, no creams, nothing but brushing teeth. Joe, our camp neighbour, observed that people in campervans and caravans tended to be more inside, but tent-campers tended to do most things like cooking, eating, washing, sitting, outdoors. Grace and I were only in our tent to change, sponge down with baby wipes, and sleep. When we came back at the end of the day, we'd sit outside our tent or walk down to the beach. We were blessed with clear skies, so after dinner we'd sit for an hour or two in the darkness and watch the constellations.  Due to the winds, we had to pack away everything, including the tables and chairs, at night and before we left for the day. So we take everything out again when we get to our campsite, and when we emerge from our tent in the morning. I must admit that I'd probably have a different conclusion if it rained. Not so comfortable bringing in the out if it was raining.

The wind made setting up the tent a treacherous endeavour, and worried me through the first 2 nights as I heard and felt the tent flapping, shaking, squeaking and pitching. For those of you who have not experienced it, it is no exaggeration to say that it sounds like being inside a cellophane  wrap whilst it's being crumpled, all night.  By the third night, the windiest night, I knew that the tent would withstand the winds or maybe from sheer exhaustion, I slept much better. 

Our neighbours in Tulki Beach campground were really friendly and chatty, full of information and interesting stories. Brian, the old man with the big caravan is going all the way up to Broome, and next year, he'll start a 2 year journey all around Australia. Joe in a swag, our kindly neighbour, saved us from taking off with our tent into the ocean, and me from being suffocated when the tent blew right over me and got me all tangled up within it. He is from Mandurah and told us all about the different spots for snorkeling, and what to expect, as he was here 4 days before we arrived. There is another couple in a tent, lady from Madrid and guy from France, who are here on an extended tourist working visas. They were explaining to me how Europeans can work in Australia for 3-4 months and save money enough to travel in Asia for a whole year. They have worked in Australia for 3 years and have now jointly  saved enough to buy an apartment back home, and travel for another 3-4 months around Australia. John, our volunteer camp host moved to Exmouth from Albany to host campsites all around Cape Range National Park, and Tulki is his favourite campground.

Yesterday, Tuesday 1 June:

We drove to the information centre just 5 minutes up the road from our campsite to get phone reception and booked the 1 hour  cruise up Yardie Creek. We saw Black Flanked  Rock Wallabies resting and sun bathing in the ledges of the gorge. They were tiny and looked only about 30-60cm high with a tail much longer than they were high.  Also saw an Osprey nest that was mentioned in a journal written over a hundred years ago. That nest is still in use, by another Osprey, of course.

After the cruise, we walked up the Yardie Creek gorge. It was beneficial doing that walk after the information from the cruise.

We tried Turquoise Bay drift snorkeling again before the cruise, to great success. The tide was coming in, and the current was nowhere as strong as it was the day before. It was like swimming in an aquarium with the number and variety of fish and coral. Grace saw a small ray, and I was captivated by a school of fake clown fish. We did the loop twice and would have gone again if not for the cruise.

Today, Wednesday 2 June:

We snorkeled at Oyster Stacks. Again, breathtaking. In fact, it literally took my breath away, as I was starting to gasp through my snorkel (asthma). Grace and her trusty green noodle-float followed me further and further from shore, and more than 100 metres from shore, it still did not seem to get much deeper. Unlike Turquoise Bay, where there were large patches of sand between coral formations, Oyster Stack had fish and coral almost all the way. We saw a Moray Eel, about 150cm long, slithering along. Beautiful, silvery-yellow and so very graceful. Huge fish about 1m in length were abundant. Colours were on the fish, not so much on the coral. It was every bit as amazing as the pictures you see in the marketing for Ningaloo Reef.

Today, we checked into a room at Shanti Garden Retreat, booked through Airbnb. It is only a 3 bedroom house, and the owners have transformed a humble 1950s original weatherboard house into a lovely prestine oasis with a swimming pool and bali-styled outdoor living areas. After not showering for 3 days, it's luxurious to stand under a shower and wash. For the 3 nights of camping, we used only a total of 35 litres of water, including cooking, drinking and washing up. Crockery, cutlery and pots got more water for washing than Grace and I put together.  Our washing with water was done incidentally whilst snorkeling.

In keeping with the luxury of our accommodation, we're going out for dinner at Adrift.

Grace has declared very certainly that tomorrow shall be a day of nothing more than laundry. I wonder if I can convince her to do a hike. Just a small itty bitty hike.Read more