Exmouth, WA is going to prove a difficult town to beat on TBTM. It’s simply beautiful!
Why? Well, for a start it is home to the Ningaloo Reef within the Cape Range National Park; arguably a better reef in terms of visitor access and affordability to its cousin on the East Coast. This is a mighty feat as the Great Barrier Reef is often considered as one of the Natural Wonders of the World and in terms of size cannot be paralled.
Exmouth township is located on its own peninsula, 571kms west from Tom Price. Within this National Park, the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park exists only metres from the beach stretching 260kms along the coastline. The reef is home to over 500 unique tropical fish species and over 200 different type of corals and lies within the migratory routes for the Southern Right, Humpback and Blue Whales who pass Exmouth during the months of May to October. The town is becoming an expensive hideaway for many with demand for waterside property soaring. As I entered the area huge expanses of land were being developed with stunning public art, landscaped gardens, water access and roads already in place. Rumour has it that an expensive gas terminal and pipeline will be built in the area drawing many workers with money to spend.
CRNP is 30mins round the tip of the peninsula and is best viewed by staying overnight and exploring each area in turn. 90 camping pitches are available within the Park but the actual availability differs daily as many decide to stay an extra day, week or even months. It poses an interesting question of the local authorities who are strict on the unauthorised camping that takes place in the vicinity but due to the accommodation limitations, you’re advised to get up early to queue at the the Ranger’s office where the allocations are made. I’d heard many stories where campers had simply turned up after the Ranger had left and camped overnight becoming first in line and likely to get a space in the Park.
I wasn’t brave enough for this so after wiling away an afternoon at the nearby Bundegi Beach trying out a new snorkelling mask, taking photos of the small jetty and the local wreck of the SS Mildura ,
and watching whales from the lighthouse, enjoyed the sunset
and headed into the closest caravan park and knuckled down for an early night.
A 6.30am start and 30mins drive to the Rangers Office left me 7th in line…would this be enough?
Fortunately it was and was directed to a spot at Ned’s Camp, an idyllic spot 30m from the beach in amongst the sand dunes. The sky was blue, water crystal clear, sands white as snow and all for $7 a night!!! What a bargain…The Park’s 90 pitches are split amongst approx. 20 camping spots all dotted along the coastline. All had day use beach areas that would allow visitors to benefit from the beautiful surroundings until 6pm.
Oyster Stacks was one such spot but in my opinion, the best snorkelling area in the Park. The Stacks has a rocky entry into the water but you’re then submerged into a perfect reef environment and a drifting current that presents huge fan corals, blue starfish and hundreds of coral fish greet you as you start to drift down the beach.
It was an amazing experience that had to be repeated so it was…The drift takes approx 30mins from which you have to get out of the water and the sandy beach and walk back 1km or so to the start – all the time thinking that this could possibly be the best thing you’ve ever done :) It’s difficult to accurately describe the scene seeing as how most of the excitement was underwater and made me realise how good a good waterproof camera would be to own or hire.
After a read on the nearby Turquoise Bay beach, it was time to head back avoiding the kamikaze kangaroos who seemed quite at home playing chicken with the cars along the main road. Signs are dotted everywhere but if one has got your name on it, its bye bye kangaroo and bye bye car insurance excess. It wasn’t nice seeing the remains of hit kangaroos littered along the side of the road but equally a strong reminder to watch your speed.
The volunteer camp hosts at Ned’s Camp hosted “Happy Hour” on the tables at the site to welcome new campers, share travelling stories and generally have a chat. It’s a great change from your own company and offers a great chance to mingle as the sun went down over the collection of small boats resting on the foreshore. One of the great things about Exmouth is the lack of sand flies so meant evening chats were possible without constant swatting and swearing!!!
Some of the campers children had been busy tapping into their entrepreneurial skills by creating shell necklaces and bracelets and copied details about local fish into a factsheet and decided to sell them for a dollar each. Everyone couldn’t help but take part and by the end of the evening had made about $15!!! Their Dad wasn’t sure whether to charge them for labour and materials though ;)
3,500 hours of sunlight per year is a boastful record in Exmouth that meant almost perfect conditions for more snorkelling. It was a lovely realisation that it was something that didn’t involve a tour, onward travel and importantly cost so decided to maximise the opportunity by walking along the foreshore to Mesa Beach, the adjacent camp to mine. It was deserted. Tall sand dunes sloped down into the sparkling sea that formed crescents of glistening water as the sea washed up on to the sand.
There were occasional gusts of wind but lying down under the crest of a dune looking out to sea and having a doze afforded excellent protection. Another tall dune grabbed my attention as it looked like an ideal candidate to roll down into the water – there was another strange pause where it seemed something silly and immature to do but at the same time exciting that the opportunity arose. It was just a shame there was no footage of my reaction as I reached the bottom as it seemed my face had completely lit up!!!
A quick drive on to Turquoise Bay once again gave me an experience that I’ll always remember – coming face to face with a white-tipped reef shark. Fortunately en route, I’d taken in a beautiful documentary film at the visitor centre that explained about the type of animals, fish and corals that you could expect to encounter, of which one was this type of shark…The current here was extremely strong and was glad I’m a confident swimmer. A couple on the beach said afterwards that they were just about to move to act as I looked as though I was drifting out into the deeper reef, before I calmly swam into the shore. It was like Oyster Stacks affording stunning views of the world beneath the sea and one that I’ll treasure for a long long time.
