Ningaloo South Lefroy Bay – Continued

A lot has happened in the past week, yet not a lot is any different to what our previous weeks have been. I have mentioned Groundhog Day previously and it certainly can be like that camped along the Coast, we fall into a routine of Kayaking, Fishing, Swimming, Snorkeling, collecting water, emptying the toilet cassette – the last is not the most enjoyable but needs to be done, actually since using nappysan [home brand] as a sanitizer in the cassette the odours have not been greatly noticeable, plus i empty the cassette every couple of days ... a great topic huh? Bet your pleased you checked out what we are up to now ... lol

Getting back to the fun stuff, we have had mate’s John and Wendy arrive in the area last week and we caught up with them on the weekend. They are camped near their mate’s at Point Billy, not our ideal camp site with very little beach and but each there own. They came to our camp area and liked what they saw, being with other friends makes decisions difficult. Regardless they are loving the place and we expect to catch up with them a few times while they are here.

We were surprised to be contacted on the UHF radio one day by the adult children of friends Barry & Kerry whom we know in Mandurah. Vaughan and Rennae along with baby Shiloh and other family, Craig and his G/F and Leon are camped up the beach from us, We have known Rennae and Craig since they were baby’s and we attended Rennae and Vaughans wedding so it was a lovely surprise seeing them here with their bub.

We have had a few night time fishing sessions but none produced the results of our earlier attempts, the tides are all different along with the moon so hopefully things will swing around as the weeks roll by. Not sure if i mentioned about the huge shovel nosed ray that i caught, certainly the largest we have ever seen caught with friends over the many years we have been coming here. An estimate of 3mt long with a head almost as wide it took a while to reel in and when close to shore Kimbo attempted to grab it’s tail and haul it in the last few feet but was thrown to the ground by the force of it’s tail, with Big Trev and Kimbo grabbing the tail they managed to drag it in with Kimbo getting thrown again at the last few metre’s. A few quick photo’s and we dragged it back in the water and spent some time allowing it to get it’s gill’s flushed with water before it slowly swam away.









Trevor and i had a near death experience when we and Dave decided to go and check out the surf with the kayaks, we had been fishing and with nothing happening we thought some wave catching could be fun. We started off small and kept getting closer to the bigger rolling waves, i had broken my paddle and was having to use the pedals & rudder to keep me straight, the 1st wave i caught was a ripper, i went flying past Dave and Trev, hooping and hollering like a teenager, it was very exciting but on the fine line of ‘Ooops this could end in tears’. Peddling back out i saw Trev catch a beauty but within seconds it turned him around and dumped him, i shouldn’t have laughed but it did look funny. It did cause me to think about securing the gear i had on and locking it away in the water proof hatches, luckily i did because the next wave heading our way was a lot larger than the 1st, I called to Trev to start paddling and he did only to be dumped again, no time to laugh this time as that wave was followed by an even larger one and i was in it’s path, all i could do was start peddling and hope for the best. 

The wave picked me & the Kayak up and sent me flying down the other side, the nose of the kayak was dangerously close to burying itself and i was laying back as far as i could to counter the balance, all went well for around 10 seconds and then i was broached with me chucked off the kayak and the kayak spiralling away. Unbeknown to me Trev was fighting his own survival with his anchor rope caught around the reef he was trying to free it, his paddle had been torn from his hands and the strap broken. 100mts away i was being dumped by a succession of large waves, coming up for air i called to Trev & Dave to come help, Trev of course couldn’t, Dave started paddling towards me and caught his one and only decent wave and went flying past ..... See You in 5 Minutes he called out .... i started swimming towards my Kayak but the waves kept pushing it further away, finally Dave turned up and was able to hold it still and i got hold of it and we both turned it over and i climbed back on. 

Trev had sorted his own problems out and Dave found his paddle floating and took it back, the three of us headed back to safer waters. I must have swallowed some water and i was having difficulty getting air into my lungs but after a short time it came good. Both Trev and i suffered numerous cuts to our feet and Trev a nice graze across his back, i have also aggravated a shoulder problem. I think back and still enjoy the moment of that 1st exhilerating ride and if we were to do it again we would be better prepared with life jackets and leg ropes & stronger paddles. But perhaps i should just stick to fishing ......

Yesterday Kimbo and i took the tinny outside the reef, the ocean was reasonably calm but it was a new experience for Kimbo and rightly so he was a bit anxious heading out to Sea in 180’ of water in a 3.45mt tinny. There were other tinny’s already out and about and though we didn’t venture out as far as them, we did have a good time hauling up Gold Spot Trevally, Red Throat and unlucky for me a huge ‘something’ that took the bait and towed us around a while all the time ripping of line on my Saltiga reel. I knew i would win if i just took the time BUT sometimes things just don’t work out and this time it was my fault with a knot that seperated either by breaking or coming loose, either way the fish left with a brand new Owner Circle hook and 30cm of line in it’s mouth, everything else was undamaged.







Vickie had more luck with ‘keeper’ fish than us fishing from her Kayak inside the reef, catching another good sized Queen Trevally, unfortunately Vickie has hurt her back and today it got a lot worse after we drove into Exmouth so we went to the Hospital. The staff there were very helpful in having her seen by the Nurse’s straight away but frustrating that the Doctor couldn’t find the time to check her over and left the Nurse to relay her diagnosis to the Dr. They decided a pain relieving injection and some panadol and muscle relaxent would help and sent her on her way. Lets hope that she gets better and it’s not another 400klm round trip back to town. Vickie has also had another eye bleed, her 4th now and not much she can do about it, so things are really not that crash hot at present.







The positives are we are still in love with this place & [each other] & enjoying the lifestyle.

South Lefroy Bay Ningaloo - 25th May 2011

Another week has gone by, life here in Paradise continues to roll along. Some days are very groundhog day but even then there is always something to do, catch up on little jobs, go for a drive, kayak & beach fish or just relax and read a book. I am reading an excellent story written by Hugh Edwards titled 'The Reef, The Range The Gulf' it is all about the history of the area and gives a great insight on how life must have been for the early explorers, i can recommend it.



We all had a Gourmet Pizza night with the girls all making a couple of pizza's, Trev and Ashley made their own separate versions and they were all fantastic! better than any Pizza Shop!



The weather has not been the best with windy day's and some overcast sky but it hasn't stopped Vickie from getting out on her Hobie Kayak, she loves being on the water and throwing lures around, she does very well with a couple of Queen Trevally [Queeny's] being her latest catch.



Kimbo and i have been squidding most days and though we haven't scored a bag like we did earlier we have still caught enough to keep us in bait for our beach fishing. The moon and tides have changed and we have not fished for nearly a week, we did catch another five Spangled Emperor between us on the wane of the full moon and Trevor caught another big Spangly the next night but nothing since.



We have driven into Exmouth again and also we took a drive to Yardie Creek along the coastal track, one section had thousands of locusts swarming out of the grass as we drove by, fortunately we were only going slow and they didn't splatter when hit. Coming back we had to deal with lots of Roo's jumping across the track, they didn't splatter either so all was good.





Last night Kimbo tried cooking us a camp oven roast Pork but had difficulty with getting enough coals hot enough so he admitted defeat and we stuck it in the Webber Baby Q and cooked it to perfection.

Tomorrow we go into Coral Bay along the track exploring the many side tracks to the ocean for a spot of beach combing.

South Lefroy Bay Ningaloo - 17th May 2011

Almost another week has gone by, we had another Birthday celebration with Trevor turning 26 unfortunately the weather wasn't as nice and we had rain during the day but we were lucky it held off during the evening when we all had a BBQ down at Camp Meercat Manor [The Billy's new name for their site] Dave cooked the best Rib Eye Steaks and along with potato bake & coleslaw, Vickie made vanilla slice and apple turnovers, and Jo made Chocolate Mousse for desert. We all got into the spirit of playing Celebrity Head, even Kimbo who had kept saying he would only be the referee enjoyed the game.

Kimbo's hair was looking a bit wild so a new haircut was required,



Us blokes had a beach fishing night where we had a purple patch catching some Spangled Emperor, between the 4 of us we caught 10 with the smallest measuring 550mm, four of them were absolute stonkers all over 700mm.


Vickie bought the camera down when we had caught 5 and took the camera back so you will have to take my word.

Photo of Dave with one that went back to grow bigger.

Last night we had the best camp cooked Fish & Chips at Camp Meercat Manor, i didn't set a new record only managing to eat 10 portions of fish - they must have been larger sizes LOL - With lots of time sitting and watching the ocean we have been lucky to see some whales jumping out past the reef, plenty of dolphins cruise past along with many turtles & a few large stingrays.

The weather has been teasing us with one perfect day followed by 2-3 not so good, we have been collecting the rain as it has fallen so that's been good.

South Lefroy Bay Ningaloo - 12th May 2011

Yesterday was the best day weather wise so far, we all got out on the water with Dave & I venturing out near the main reef in the kayaks. The fishing was good with large Golden Trevally taking the plastics and Dave caught a good sized Spangled Emperor which he was rapt about. Trev & Ashley have their camp set up next to Dave & Jo's and are here for the same length of time. We have heard that friends John & Wendy are also making their way up and staying at Billie's Point for 4-6 weeks in a couple of weeks time, so looking forward to their arrival.

We have been for a drive to Norwegian Bay and the old whaling station,we have been visiting it for many years, each time we have stayed at Ningaloo a visit to the Whaling Station is a must. Years of Salt, wind & cyclones have almost destroyed the area but still some old rusted machinery & boilers remain. The girls did some fossicking along the beach and i found a 3mt length of timber that i took back to the camp and used it for a base pole for my Internet antenna. Things have improved in that regard and i am able to connect on to the NET most times.






May the 7th was my Birthday and Vickie made me a lovely meal of Lasagna with home made sausage rolls for entree. We had Dave & Jo & Ned & Kimbo over and had a few drinks. Joanne made me a beautiful cake which is simply the best!

Kimbo's 200 Cruiser broke a rear shock absorber and luckily we were able to organize for Trev to get two new ones and bring them up, Yesterday we changed them over, not an easy job when you don't have a hoist or air tools to get into tight places. Perseverance and a few bruised knuckles and couple of hours later the job was done.




The weather forecast is for thunderstorms this evening and rain for the next few days, the sky is dark and cloudy so they may well be right. If they are we go into water collecting mode.

South Lefroy Bay Ningaloo

We have been camped at South Lefroy Bay, Ningaloo for the past nine days but this is my 1st chance to upload any updates and check email. We have driven in to Exmouth today to buy another Next G Antenna so hopefully that will give us greater signal strength. A trip into Exmouth isn't complete without visiting the Bakery and re-stock on the essentials like Beer & Wine.

The weather so far has been a pattern of mostly windy days but drops off enough to see us out in the Kayaks everyday. So far the fishing has been quiet, i have caught a small shark of the beach and a couple of small spangeld emperor, the Shark fed us all, the spangled went back in the water to grow a lot bigger.

Kimbo and i had a good afternoon squiding, between us we caught 10 squid ranging in size from large to medium, I cooked up a couple of tubes to go with our battered fish and Vickie's yummy coleslaw for tea the night Jo & Dave arrived.



Vickie has had a couple of experiences with having two sharks swim close to her Kayak, one was a Hammerhead and unsure of the other species. I spotted a very large Tiger Shark swimming past our camp in shallow water a week ago, we have seen a large Tiger Shark cruising in shallow water at previous times we have been here so mostl likley the same one.




The Mozzies and bugs have been a nuisance, one evening we had hundreds of Dragon Flies circling around our camp, we hope they were there to eat the bloody mozzies.
Other than that life here is enjoyable, we are certain that we will have perfect days to come and even the worst day is better than any alternative.

Buntine Rocks - Ningaloo - 6th May 2011

Our 2nd night on the road was spent at Buntine Rocks, a camp spot in the bush 18klms NW of Wubin. The bush flys were in their thousands and very friendly, our fly nets came in very handy.



We were on the road around 8.30am the next morning and heading North on the Wubin / Mullewa road, I had the GPS waypoint for Wilroy Nature Reserve programmed in to the GPS and it lead us up the path again, approximately 3klms before the camp area the GPS directed us to turn right off the road and turn onto a dirt track, immediately it then directed us left down another narrow track. We followed the track for 3klms not being too concerned as the moving maps showed that we were on the correct track and heading in the right direction, - it was just that we were driving alongside the bitumen road we turned off from .. sure as eggs we arrived at our camp for the night only to be confronted by large rocks stopping our access, the camp was only accessible from the main road! So on we went another klm before we could turn around and finally pull into a recently upgraded road side camp. So recently upgraded the grader marks & tracks were clearly visible.

Our afternoon was spent either chatting or reading & listening to the local radio 666, that broadcast lots of good music. Kimbo and i were sitting under his awning when we spotted a dog wandering through the bush, oh no i thought – In our travels we always seem to come across lost or abandonded dogs and i didn’t want this one to add to the collection, i was hoping it would spot us and take off but of course it did the opposite and came over tail wagging, just then Vickie came out of the van and i knew we were in trouble.



A bowl of water was consumed and then some cut up chicken, How Good Is This the dog must have thought, it was a nice looking Kelpie with a chain for a collar and a couple of cattle ear tags and we figured that it had wandered off from a local property. I tried calling on the UHF but didn’t get an answer, we decided to drop it off in Mullewa the next morning but when we awoke it had gone, perhaps it was just a local dog that got what it wanted and went back home to sleep.

Fuel consumption with the V8 Toyota Ute has been very good considering the weight of it and the Van, it is easily under the 20lt per 100klm figure and a few times it has averaged in the 17lt / 100. Kimbo’s 200 series hasn’t been too much different but the manual V8 certainly has it over the more powerful twin turbo auto in overall figures.



We called in and visited mates Geoff & Vickie at Geraldton, we have known them for 30 years and way back then went camping with them when we both owned VW Kombi’s. They now own a 20’ Bushtracker and last time we caught up with them was at Gregory River in the NT when they were heading back West after taking delivery of the van. It was lovely to catch up again and introduce them to Kimbo & Ned, their is a very good chance we will meet again in SA where we will both be in September.
With our due arrival date at Ningaloo still four days away we decided to head to New Beach / Bush Bay 30klms south of Carnarvon, a 12 klm drive in on a corrugated track and a T junction decision by Vickie and we turned left to go to New Beach. The area had recently received rain but nothing to be concerned about and we soon found ourselves camped just metres from the Ocean edge, the flys were not as bad and we had a lovely evening by the kimble fire counting satellites – before the rain started.



We listened to the rain pelting down for most of the night knowing that the track out would be a challenge, up early we left and with the track already cut up and slippery we came across a ‘Wicked’ Van that had left the track and was firmly bogged in the bush, they were very lucky not to have rolled it. This was something we didn’t need but could not ignore them so i drove forward and un-hitched the van and turned around to winch them out. I soon had them back on the road and with instructions to them from Kimbo to drive slower they were on their way. I hitched the van back up and continued on, i was very glad i had the mud tyres on the Ute as we were able to get reasonable traction and maintain control. Watching Kimbo in front slipping and sliding reminded me of our time at Cobold Gorge in 2007. The ‘Wicked’ Van was having a difficult time being two wheel drive and tyres plugged with mud, at one stage two of the guys jumped out and had to help push the van up an incline, once moving the van didn’t stop and they were left running after it.
Back on the highway it was pleasing to have it still raining as it helped wash off a lot of the mud under the rig’s, on the 30klm drive into Carnarvon the highway was flooded in sections, another good opportunity for an underbody wash. Apparently the area had around 45mm of rain overnight, not a lot compared to say Qld but the area had already been flooded a few weeks back and didn’t take much to re-flood. The Shell Servo was closed due to the past floods and i think also the BP was closed also. We refilled at the Caltex at the junction and they were doing a lot of business.




Re-stock with provisions in town and it was on our way, i had decided to try and call the Ningaloo Homestead and see if we could come in a few days early, even though i had phone signal the calls failed so on we went eventually stopping for a night at Lyndon River rest area on the Exmouth / Minilya road. A quite afternoon before being joined by ½ a dozen WhizBang’s, they were ok though no noise apart from the sound of the door’s Whiz – Banging each time they were opened or closed.


Next day it was a short drive into Coral Bay, visit the Bakery and made a call to Phil at Ningaloo who said ‘No worries, Come on In’ and we did. Being 3 days early we were not expection to get onto our pre-booked site but luck was on our side with the previous campers leaving as we arrived. So now two nights after being at Paradise we have our camp set up, it is windy but not horribly so. No Kayak or boat action yet though, we have been happy to just sit and relax and watch the ocean. Phone signal is good in the car but Internet signal is low so unsure when i will be able to update the blog. Jo and Dave should arrive today, we are looking forward to that.

Back on the road - New Norcia

Vickie's father flew to Melbourne last Friday but it took us a week to be ready ourselves before we could get away. Waiting for last minute Dentist appointments which didn't happen due to Vickie having the flu. So finally it's back on the road again for us and travelling with us are our mates Kimbo & Ned, We have ten days before we we arrive at Ningaloo where we are booked in for two Months at South Lefroy Bay, we call it Paradise and can't wait to get there. Vickie's Sister and Hubby Dave are catching up with us at the end of the month, their Son Trevor & his girlfriend Ashley arrive a fortnight later.

A lazy 180klm drive yesterday bought us to New Norcia where we are camped across from the Benedictine Monastry, a lot different to the last time we were here when the grounds were a lush green, We took our mates on a walk around the buildings & gift shop and the rest of the afternoon was spent laying back in the camp chairs watching the comings & goings.

We will probably move on today, it won't be far and i will update this when i can.