Camille’s Big Adventure

  Next I went to Kalbarri National Park. Along the drive I passed by so many fields of amazing wildflowers. In shark bay the sounds were bright lemon yellow with flowers and as I continued down the road southward the colors alternated between fields and yellow, white, purple, and pink. The drive was incredibly gorgeous with so much color. The soils changed from a deep orangey red to a pale sand as I moved south, but up in elevation. The trees got larger with occasional canopy trees on the landscape and not just in riverbeds.   I arrived at Kalbarri national park where I got a beautiful hike in. I saw a variety of orchids and flowers and enjoyed views of the river before heading to the town of Kalbarri and going for a walk along the coastal cliffs. The cliffs were an interesting mix of sandstone and silt stone which created interesting formations as silt stone erodes more quickly. Along the remaining sandstone in places you could see the deep trails of what used to be seaworm...

My next stop was Shark Bay. I’d been on the way up, but just for a quick overnight and was excited to spend a bit more time exploring it. The first day I drove to Denham and walked in the lagoon and enjoyed the sun. That night I camped in a campground right on the beach. There were only 3 other campers there and they were far away so it made for a really lovely quiet night. There was barely any moon and the stars reflected on the ocean were lovely.  The next morning I woke up really early and drove to Monkey Mia (pronounced Monkey Maya). It’s a conservation reserve famous for friendly dolphins. The shallow bay makes the area safe from predators and a many generations of dolphins have hunted the beaches in the area. In the 80s people used to come here and pet and feed the dolphins, but it began to negatively impact the animals and now parks and wildlife have developed a plan to balance people’s desire to see the animals up close with the autonomy and conservation of the dolphins. Ho...

The next couple nights I spent in Canarvon, mostly working and resting. I enjoyed snacking on bags of Canarvon lunchbox bananas, a local type of banana that’s like 3 inches long and grown locally. It’s delicious and sweet and I made lots of yummy snacks out of them after picking them up from a local farm. I stayed in a Caravan park for the first time in a while, and I was blessed with my first real shower in nearly 3 weeks. I took 3 showers a day to make up for my long pack of showers. Let me tell you, pouring a bottle of water over your head, even if you heat it first, just is not the same as a shower. The north has surprisingly little access to showers, unless you stay in caravan parks, but it’s the first place I’ve traveled where I couldn’t find a shower to pay a few dollars for every couple days, let alone free showers. At best there are some outdoor cold beach showers, but you can’t really use soap at those as they drain right into the ocean. I was so happy to be beyond baby wipes...

  Leaving Coral Bay, I headed to Canarvon where I stopped for fuel and snacks. I went to a coffee shop and had a grilled banana bread topped with yogurt and honey which was terrific, and picked up a pork bun and some bread from the bakery. In the northwest most bakeries seem to be run by Vietnamese people which is amazing. They have typical Aussie pastries and pies, but also have take away bahn mi, sushi, chicken satay, and stir fries. On the occasion I buy myself a meal, it’s often a nice snack from these bakeries.   I stopped at a few veggie farms as I headed east towards Kennedy Range NP. I got advice from the local information office before heading out into the bush for a few days.  The road from town was long and bumpy, but the destination was stunning. Kennedy range reminds me a lot of Zion. Iron rich red cliffs form around dry river valleys. You can see in the stone the ebbs and flow of the river. Way above my stood tall cliffs and I could just make out a wedge...

  After the stunning whale shark experience I had to book another trip. I decided to book a manta ray snorkel experience for two days hence. I spent the day between working in the library before heading to Cape Range National Park in the afternoon. The drive was stunning and unexpected. Along the coast the drive is fairly flat. 10 ft tall bulbous termite mounds are the majority of the topography beyond the slow rolling hills and I expected the cape range, only 20 minutes away to be the same, but I was so wrong. I followed an ancient river bed deep into the park until I reached the end of the valley. The road wound back and forth between tall cliffs and pyramidal hills covered in loose rocks. The seasonal road intersected ephemeral riverbeds, but now, during the dry season look like a sandy desert of ancient rivers. It’s clear water runs through the area during some times of the year only by the hardy vegetation following the contours. It was a spectacular drive and I loved all the ...

Exmouth is an interesting town. At first I was a bit off-put by the sheer numbers of tourists. It is most certainly a tourist town, and most of those tourists are international. That being said, I understand why all the tourists are here. It does make life difficult though, the infrastructure for all the tourists does not really exist. Exmouth has only 2 caravan parks and same with Coral Bay. There are 6 national park campsites, but they are booked out months in advance. Same with the caravan parks which pack you in like sardines and charge you for it. Luckily I stayed at the Equestrian club where they only allow people car camping (no caravans/rvs) but they have a maximum of 3 nights. The ocean here is absolutely outstanding. There are a few places to snorkel from the coast which are lovely, but there area number of reef tours as well. They have the 'big 3' which are the macrofauna that occur here: whale sharks, humpback whales, and manta rays. Tour boats will take you to swim...

The next day wasn't super exciting, I mostly drove north stopping to wander in a few towns along the way before ending at a rest area for the night where I got some work done and relaxed with the many other road trippers.  The next day I made it to Coral Bay, a beautiful beach town. The town was absolutely chock-a-block with travelers. The caravan parks were booked solid and it looked like a parking lot they were so close together. The draw of the area was the beautiful reefs though. There are many tours you can take from the town (which I may have to consider going on when I pass back through) but there is also a reef you can snorkel to from the beach. Unfortunately, it is a bit bleached, but there are still a large amount of fish in the area. I saw probably 4-5 species of parrot fish, 2-3 species of angel fish, as well as a bunch of others I couldn't identify. It was really lovely. The weird thing about Coral Bay is there does not seem to be a single Australian in the entire ...

 The next stop along my drive was Shark Bay. The campsites there are along the ocean and limited to one night only, and you have to call the day of to book. I think it's kinda nice (if a bit short, maybe two nights would be better), but it gives the opportunity for more people to visit the area and experience the ocean campsites. I got to my site in the early afternoon and set up my tent behind my car to block the wind. The site didn't have any cell service, so I took it as a great opportunity to sit and draw and watch the sea. I enjoyed a few hours sitting, watching the sun get low over the ocean and enjoying a bit of artistic expression.  Later in the day a caravan pulled up next to me and parked for the night. They parked a bit closer to me than I thought was necessary, but I wasn't too bothered. It was filled with a family with 3 young kids who were a bit noisy, and I was entertained by their antics, but I did find it funny how the parents kept yelling at their kids to ...

After a beautiful quiet night in Xanippe I quickly detoured south 20 minutes to Petrudor Rocks. It it yet another nature preserve in the heart of wheat country. The rock outcrops had more blue fairy orchids, little laughing leek orchids, sundews, and other flowers. Under the blue sky, caressed by the cool breeze, I hiked a bit and sat drawing orchids and enjoying the most beautiful day. In the afternoon I continued north stopping off at small nature reserves every 40 minutes or so. Its such a lovely way to road trip, matching the time driving with the time spent walking around. Granted, you don't make swift progress, but I'm not in a huge hurry. I saw flowers, butterflies, blue tongued lizards, and lots of lovely wildlife as I cruised along.  Speaking of Wildflower way, I think Australia does a really good job of promoting their back country highways/roads (especially in WA). In the States people just call the highway by the number, for a country with a big road trip culture, w...