'Wherarwee' in Oz: Log 31-08 Cape Range National Park

Cape Range NP sits along the Western edge of the Exmouth Peninsular, it is a long narrow park approx. 54K’s long by 5K’s wide. There is wildlife here, wallabies bounce into the camp around dusk, look questioningly at us, then continue on their way, joeys can be seen in some of their pouches. The odd emu wanders along minding it’s own business. But it is in the ocean that one sees the main preponderance of life, the peninsular is fringed along the shore by many beaches & protected by the Ningaloo reef, varying from 20mt to 500mts off shore. Corals, brightly coloured tropical fish, schools of large pelagic fish, turtles & stingrays populate the reefs.

We had to wait till 8:00 for the park to open, while there we heard that if you are found at the entrance before 6:00 AM you can be booked for camping illegally. When it was our turn to be checked in (you had to wait at your vehicle), we were given an hour to drive to, & book in, to our allocated site (42K’s into the park) or otherwise the site would be allocated to someone else, talk about little Hitlers! Anyway, our site was at Osprey Bay, it’s like Coral Bay but without the village & the reef’s about 300mts out. We booked in for 5 days with the option to extend (28 days max). With a daily average temp of around 32º, snorkeling has been a daily occurrence &, with so many accessible points, we have travelled on the scooter to different places almost every day. On day 4 we drove Wherarwee the 80K’s back to Exmouth for water, gas, a few purchases & to book a flight back to Sydney for Zim & Dan’s wedding as it is clear we are still going to be in WA come December. We also did a small shop for a couple of others in the camp area. When our 5 days were up we booked for a further 7 as there was so much more to see & besides, one of the roo’s allowed Lib to feed her today so we are now becoming accepted by the locals. (This was followed by a reprimand a few days later for just giving the roos water).

In the evening & at night there are so many roos on the road that a couple said that it took them 1 ½ hours to return from town as they could only manage 30 to 40KPH, & there has been an incident of a young fellow being injured in a collision with a roo on his pushbike.

Well it’s been 12 magic days, checking out the other sites, travelling back 80K’s to Exmouth on the scooter for a day’s outing where we intended to take the computer so that we could update the blog but it wouldn’t fit in the scooter or our backpack. We’ve been swimming & snorkeling almost every day, happy hour with up to 22 people, all with their own stories, & an ever changing group. All though we see whales & dolphins regularly, one day there was a pod of 6 travelling North & on the same day we saw a dugong & several dolphins in the bay, also one of the group, a solo that calls herself Bundy (she has a big white bundy bear tied on the front of her vehicle) went out fishing in her kayak & caught a huge spangled emperor, she ran through the camp shouting “I’ve got dinner”. We all gathered round, congratulated her & then watched as John filleted & skinned it, later on someone stepped on a stingray & had to be taken to hospital for observation. So much activity, I think it’s time for happy hour.

Wow! What a last day, whales have been cavorting all day just outside the reef. Leaping out of the water & crashing down on their backs, sometimes doing a somersault & diving back in, tails waving in the air & slapping their fins on the water. There have been adults with their calves following suit. It started around lunchtime & has continued till after sunset. A great finish to a great time.

It’s hard to pack up & leave but tomorrow’s the day.