Exmouth to Carnarvon

September 4 to September 11

30kg Grey Band Cod

While staying at Yardie Homestead at Cape Range National Park, I got to know our neighbour who was a keen fisherman and comes up here every year. He loves fishing and went out every day with his friends, but he doesn’t eat fish!? He happily catches, cleans, fillets then freezes it and takes it home to family and friends. He was fishing in up to 250 metre deep water about 10km offshore, and caught a huge 30 kg Grey Band Cod (see picture) one day, and offered me a “chunk” of fillet, about a kilogram. I happily accepted and cooked it for dinner, very tasty but very dense, meaty flesh. The next day he returned and gave me a kilo or so of Ruby Snapper fillets! I should have stayed for a week, I would have had a freezer full myself!

As a lot of Homestead and Station host camps do, on Sunday night Yardie Homestead did a roast dinner for the guests. The fish could wait for another night as I had a night off from cooking and we had a great pork roast.

Camp spot at Learmonth Jetty

We departed Cape Range National Park Monday and went back through Exmouth for fresh water (a rare and valuable commodity along the coast here), fuel and food. We checked a number of the sights as we headed south including Vlamingh Head Lighthouse with amazing 360⁰ views of the cape, the SS Mildura shipwreck and the Krait and Potshot Memorial. The memorial detailed and commemorated the war support effort in the region made by American and Australian troops. We stopped at Learmonth Jetty, near the RAAF base and airport about 37 kilometres from Exmouth.

Big Tiger Shark caught off Learmonth Jetty

Planning on having lunch there, we chatted to a guy who had his caravan parked on the beachfront, and he tells us it’s unofficially OK to camp here, he does it every year. We promptly decided to join him and stayed for two more days.

Leah snorkeling at Coral Bay

The jetty is very short but fairly popular to collect baitfish and sometimes catch trevally and queenfish. I went out on the kayak and trolled lures, had three hits and one catch, an undersized lizardfish. The same day I watched a group of three fishermen chase sharks from the jetty. They spent all day there, paddling a kayak out to place baited hooks a few hundred metres out. In the afternoon they landed two tiger sharks, one about 6 feet long and the one pictured, about 10 feet long. My shadow in the photo was close enough for me! It made for entertaining viewing as he battled for nearly an hour to land it, before photographing then releasing it.

Wednesday we drove 120km to Coral Bay, still on the Ningaloo Reef, and world renowned for swimming with the whale sharks (only available from April to July). Coral Bay is a spectacular area with protected bays for snorkelling, and every conceivable charter service known to man! We made the most of our two days there snorkelling and beach walking. Our visit coincided with a Camp Quality stay for cancer affected kids and their families, which included a charity drive of antique cars.

The main bay is a fish sanctuary and as such is teaming with sea life including a school of spangled emperor which are hand fed every second day. The coral here was more diverse than at Cape Range, and a bit more accessible so Leah had a chance to enjoy a quick snorkel.

This coastline is known for the southerly winds, and on the day we departed (Thursday) they became quite strong. We slowly travelled south, stopping at a couple of free camps on our way to Carnarvon.

It is wildflower season in WA, and as we travel south they are becoming more abundant. Although not an avid flora fan, the variety of colour, shape and style has been a real interest as we drive the (fairly uninteresting) landscape.

We arrived at Carnarvon on Saturday with the plan on staying for at least a few days. Being a decent size town it is situated on the mouth of the Gascoyne River. The Gascoyne River supports the plantation district which grows a major proportion of fruit and vegetables for WA (more on that next week).

One Mile Jetty, Carnarvon

We visited the One Mile Jetty in the heritage precinct of Canarvon. In the late 1800’s the jetty was used to support the strong wool and livestock industry. There was also well presented historic buildings housing restored items from the area’s past. The lighthouse keeper’s cottage has been presented as it was in the early 1900’s and the rail engines and equipment used on the jetty have also been restored and are occasionally used.

We are looking forward to further exploring the area over the next few days.