Plan to stay 14 days in the Gascoyne region, travelling about 1500km. Will stay at the Mesa Campground for 2 weeks fishing and relaxing.
Day 44. Broome to Eighty Mile Beach. Wed 8/9/21
Up at 6am to find Chris & Jeanette pleading for help from within their camper. Strange? Somehow the lock on their sturdy door had jammed and their were locked in! So, they passed me the keys and I tried to open from the outside, but to no avail. Had to get some tools and remove the locking mechanism to open the door.
Left Cable Beach Caravan Park at about 8am, and drove to Sandfire for fuel. Then continued to Eighty Mile Beach. Managed to get two powered sites with good shade. It was a rick pearling ground in the late 19th Century. Many lives were lost on loggers and other vessels due to cyclones.
We arrived at about lunchtime, which was high tide, so unfortunately missed the opportunity to go fishing. As we were unpacking, we noticed a 4WD go the filleting table, and produce 2 blue and one white (threading) Salmon. Beautiful looking fish. So, hopeful for tomorrow!
The beach is beautiful here, completely covered with seashells. Though, not great for swimming, as it’s very shallow, and there are lots of sharks and stingers. So, for rest of the afternoon, made fishing rigs and the ladies prepared a great meal! History of Ei
Incredibly bumped into Heather and Greg again!
Thread-fin Salmon 
Eighty Mile Beach 
Lots of seashells! 
Day 45. Eighty Mile Beach. Thurs 9/9/21
Had a coffee looking over the beach at about 8am, and was surprised at how far the tide was out, considering that high tide is at 12;30pm. Looks incredibly shallow for these large fish to be swimming around in? Still have high expectations for catching fish today!
First cooked breakfast with eggs, bacon, toast and bubble/squeak to strengthen us for the fishing excursion. Three visitors joined us, mother pigeon with two youngsters enthusiastically eating food out of her mouth. I suppose that’s how parents are also treated occasionally.
So, were at the beach at around 10am. Beautiful white beach with millions of shells. Enthusiastically throw bait in the water. Mullies, squid, meat and live bait. There were many others also on the beach, also enthusiastically throwing bait in the water. As the morning progressed, we had to keep moving up the beach with the incoming tide. At about 12:15pm is was high tide, and still nothing, not even a bit. In frustration, I changed my rig, put a big sinker on and hurled it out as hard as possible. The loud “crack” was audible from a probably 100m away, as I forgot to lift the bail-arm. In disgust, I called it quits with nothing to show for the morning effort. I later chatted to an old resident here, who claims that you need to be here in March/April. Though, I’m becoming increasingly suspect of how to catch fish in North of WA!
Back at camp we had a fruit and yoghurt bowl for lunch, given that it was almost 2pm. I also purchased four ice creams for dinner!
Went to see the sunset which was beaut, and met Geoff who is a keen bird photographer. Had a chat about all sorts of things, and have exchanged details. They have been travelling since May. Another nice meal and in bed by 9:30am.
Eighty Mile Beach 
Cooked Breafast 
Feed me! 
Fishing at Eighty Mile 
Sunset 
Day 46. Eighty Mile Beach to Port Sampson. Fri 10/9/21
Left Eighty Mile Beach at 8am, for an almost 5 hour drive to Port Sampson Caravan Park. On the way we stopped at Whim Creek hoping for lunch, but unfortunately is now closed. So, headed to Port Headland and then Sampson Beach Caravan Park by about 2pm.
One small boat came in with two large Spanish Mackerel. Same story, you need a boat here for any good fishing! Not even going to try. Went for a swim, and then to the Tavern for happy hour and fish & chips – sweet lip. Very. nice, with live music.
Whim Creek – abandoned 
Fishing at Port Sampson 
Fish n Chips – Sweet Lip 
Sunset Port Sampson 
Day 47. Port Sampson to Bullara Station. Sat 11/9/21
Up at 5:45am for nice sunrise. Left at about 8am. First stop was Cossack. With low tide, you could clearly see how far the beach recedes, and why you snag your line on rocks! Cossack is a historic town, with started with pearling. In the late 1800s they found pearls on the beach! When these ran out, they used Aboriginals to help dive. The Hall family was prominent here, and also bought land in Mandurah, hence “Halls Head”!
Had a fuel stop in Karatha and was surprised at how much development there’s been here since were last here (8 years ago). Also, the demographic was lots of young people! Then drove the Nanutarra Roadhouse for fuel and lunch.
Next stop was Ballura Station. Very quirky place with lots of interesting walks, fishing, presentations and friendly staff. Also, there are lots of animals roaming around, including a very friendly kangaroo. Unfortunately we missed out on the Bullara beef hamburgers, which are served on a Friday night.
However, we did get information on how to make Damper – 4 cup self raising flour, 2 tablespoons full cream Dried milk, 2 teaspoons baking powder. 1 teaspoon salt, sugar and 500ml water. Put coals around the edge, not touching and cook 50mins over trivit. They passed around some samples, which tasted good! Lots of people crowded around, all with drinks and nibbles. Very social friendly atmosphere. Apparently some people bring boats and launch them at the bottle of the gulf 22km away.
Sunrise Port Sampson 
Cossack 
William Hall 
Cossack Timeline 
Nanutarra 
Bullara Menu 
Damper at Bullara 
Damper Demo 
Friendly Maggie 
Watching football in Wool shed 
Bullara goats 
Shower! 
BBQ hot plate 
Day 48. Bullara Station to Mesa Campground. Sun 12/9/21
Temperature dropped to 10c overnight, which was cold! Did an early morning walk to see the red sand dunes, horses and many varieties of birds. Chris pointed out a native bush with pea pods (bush tucker), which tasted like broad beans to me.
Had coffee with scones and savoury muffins at the Bullara Cafe before leaving for Exmouth. Met another traveller from NT who was also working at Bullara Station for a full season, and loving it!
Did some shopping in Exmouth and then made our way to Mesa campsite in the Cape Range National Park. Lovely site, right next to the beach. However, we had site no 23, and unfortunately, the only way we could place our camper was with the kitchen and awning facing North, which gives no shade protection. The wind was the other issue we had to consider. Tried putting up the awning, but to no avail. Flapping and banging around, so we removed it, and had to sit on the other side of the camper for shade.
Craig and Maria were already at Mesa, and shortly afterward, Robbie & Lisa turned up with the boat, followed by Shayne and Robyn. Also, Craig’s two boys are also coming, which makes it quite a crowd. Went for a walk on the beach, meal and to bed at 9:30pm.
Red sand hills at Bullara 
Bush Tucker 
Camp at Mesa 
First meal at Mesa Campground
Day 49. Mesa Campground. Mon 13/9/21
Went for a swim/snorkel at Turquoise Bay, which was completely packed out. Difficult to get a parking spot! As usual, water is beautiful, and lots of fish, turtles etc to be found. If you stay in the water for a while, will need a wetsuit.
After lunch went to Exmouth to fill water tanks, and see Kylie, Nick & Sofie. You have to pay for water on an automatic machine. I needed about 160 litres, which cost $8 which you need to pre-pay. However, the meter didn’t work properly and looked like I only needed 30litres? Damn, it’s a sad day when you have to pay for water in Australia.
Met Kylie, Nick and Sofia at the Exmouth Escape Resort for dinner. Very nice seafood tower, and Gold-band snapper was great. Met a couple with a one and four year old kids. Both doctors travelling around Australia for two years. They were enjoying it, which was great to see.
Drove back to Mesa campsite in the dark. Gratefully no kangaroos!
Turquoise Bay 
Sofia at Exmouth Escape Rersort
Day 50. Mesa Campground. Tues 14/9/21
Shayne and Craig invited me to go boat fishing with Robbie at 6:30am. They have developed a clever way of beach launching their Tatoo 4.6m boat from the beach with an extra front wheel, and ropes!
So, at 6:30am we loaded the boat, let the tyres down to 18psi, and Craig reversed the boat to waters edge. Then put the front wheel down, and manually pushed the boat the rest of the way. Using the rope, retrieved the trailer, and hopped into the boat. I was certainly expectant! In the first 10mins we saw a whale breaching, with others also splashing around.
There were lots of birds, and everything seemed perfect for fishing! So, started by trolling lures at the back of the boat. Though, after getting tangled a few times, with no results, tried sinker fishing. Lots of structure in about 20m of water. There had to be fish here! With 8 ounce sinkers and octopus bait, sent the lines down. It was difficult not to get snagged, so spent some time reversing the boat to release. Incredibly, not much success except for one charlie court and 2 sweet lip. Damn! Though, what we didn’t know was that Shayne had a banana in his bag! And, he didn’t even eat it! So, again, no real success
Kylie, Nick and Sofia joined us for lunch at Mesa. Chris managed to construct a wind and sun proof room using his 4WD, tarp and carpentry skills! After lunch made more fishing rigs in anticipation for tomorrow.
Had dinner at Adrift Cafe. Fish again. Sofia enjoyed using the sea shells lying around the restaurant to “listen to the ocean”. Back to camp by about 9pm.
Lunch after swim at Turquoise 
Adrift Cafe Shells.
Day 51. Mesa Campground. Wed 15/9/21
Up at 6am to go fishing. High tide was at 3:30am, so tide will be going out. On the beach before 6:30am, with Julie using squid, and I was trying mulie and meat. Fished for over one hour without even one bite! The seagulls gave us the most entertainment, by risking their lives to get a bit of our bait. Also, noticed how they all faced the direction of the wind. So, they certainly make good wind vanes.
Can’t even blame the banana today. In disgust, back to camp for bacon and egg burgers with coffee. Thanks Jeanette! After breakfast chatted to a neighbour with a wave ski, who went out and landed a fat Spankled Emperor! Damn.
Julie, Chris & Jeanette went snorkling again at Turquoise bay to meet Nick, Kylie & Sofia. I stayed back at camp to review some documents. Kylie & Nick came back to Mesa for some lunch. Then back into Exmouth to wash car, some shopping, dinner at Froth, and also pick up Robby and Lisa who walked from Yardie Creek over the range into Exmouth – a six hour walk.
Decided not to go fishing in the morning, and sleep in!
Bacon & Egg Burgers
Day 52. Mesa Campground. Thurs 16/9/21
Went boat fishing again, though very windy and choppy outside the inner reef. Managed to catch some fish, though unable to get into boat, as there were too many sharks! Lost three rigs. Jointly ended up catching a few small fish.
On the way to Exmouth stopped to have a look at Tandabiddi Boat ramp. I think this will afford some opportunities for fishing! Dinner at Mantaray and back to Mesa campsite (40min)
Tandabiddi Boat Ramp
Day 53. Mesa Campground. Fri 17/9/21
Very windy overnight. Difficult to sleep with the flapping of canvas! Went to Yardi Creek and did the 2km walk along the gorge. Interesting walk, as it seemed we were walking on ocean floor. Also, was easy to cross the Yardi river if you wanted to make your way down to Coral Bay. Though, at other times of the year, this might be a difficult crossing.
Another dive at Turquoise Bay with Nick, Kylie & Sofia. As we arrived, a small crab was making its way up the beach toward us. We noticed quite a few seagulls interested in this crab, so we all pitched in and protected the crab from the seagulls. The crab appeared to be fairly aggressive, and kept coming toward us. Being good citizens, we persevered and forced the crab back to ocean, for safe haven. Just as we successfully managed to get the crab back in the water, somebody yelled out “Hey guys. That’s a land crab”. Before the words were spoken, there was a flurry of activity, with lots of fish chomping into the poor crab!
So, on reflection this unfortunate crab was trying to make it’s way to the bushes to avoid the seagulls. The last place it wanted to be was the ocean. Our actions, very well intentioned led to its demise! Damn, I’m sure there’s some philosophical concept about the meaning of life here!
After an afternoon nap, back into Exmouth and went to Whalebone for the “OctoberFest” in September. Lots of people with live music, german costumes, pizza’s, pork and many varieties of beer. Kylie ended up participating in a competition to see how long you can hold two Pints in one hand. She beat all the girls, but alas some males were stronger. I think she’ll have a sore arm after this effort. Sofia loved the music, pizza and ice cream and enjoyed dancing with Nonna.
Back to Mesa for another very windy night. Julie was concerned the tent would blow away, and ended up sleeping in the car!
Yardi Creek 
Unfortunate Land Crab 
Whalebone 
Day 54. Mesa Campground. Sat 18/9/21
Up early for high tide, with high expectations of catching a fish. Sadly, not even a nibble. Very difficult to catch a fish from the beach here! One of the fisherman felt sorry for us and gave us a beaut Spankled Emperor! He even filleted it for us!
Went to Turquoise Bay for most of the day. Gratefully the wind dropped, and there were lots of colourful fish and bright coral to be seen! Ningaloo Marine Park/reef is world heritage listed with shallow lagoons formed close to shore which makes it one of the accessible coral reef systems in Australia. The tropical water brings eggs and larvae from a range of coral and fish species, to create a unique environment (Mandu Sanctuary zone). There is a variety of colourful coral, and extensive sea grass beds, which attract turtles, snapper, molluscs, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, star fish, gobies, shrimp, clams, manta rays, reef sharks and many other varieties of colourful fish. Further out, on the outside reef, whale sharks and humpback whales are commonly sighted, mostly from March to June. Certainly worth a visit here!
Had sunset drinks at Mesa, which was beaut, followed by Spankled Emperor dinner prepared by Jeanette and Julie.
Sunset at Mesa 
Spankled Emperor
Day 55. Mesa Campground. Sun 19/9/21
Beautiful morning without any wind! Went to Exmouth again to farewell Kylie, Nick & Sofia. Huge amount of boats at Tandabiddi and lots of cars all heading towards Turquoise.
The boys went fishing without much joy, except for a couple of sweet lip that Chris caught. Was amazed to find Phil and Sue McGinity in the same camp site! Small world.
Last dinner with Chris & Jeanette after 55 days of travel. Gratefully we’re still friends. Nice fish meal to end the journey with them.
4WD under Moonlight 
Dinner complemented with fish
Day 56. Mesa Campground. Mon 20/9/21
Snorkelling at Oyster Stacks, where the reef extends out about 320m form the shore. Known as Oyster Stacks because of the large clusters of oysters found in rocky outcrops. Lots of staghorn corals, and a large variety of fish. Today the water was very clear with lots of fish and bright coral. I took the GoPro with me and shot about one of footage, which I’ll use as a screen saver on home TV.
Back at the camp, a three boats full of young adults parked in Mesa bay with loud music, jet skis, tents and lots of glamour. Felt like we were in the Bahamas!
Jane and Chris turned up for a chat after we left them on the Gibb River Road. They really enjoyed staying at James Price Point near Cape Leveque. Another great sunset, dinner with Robby and bed!
Oyster Stacks 
Mesa 
Dinner
Day 57. Mesa Campground. Tues 21/9/21
Very windy and hot again in the morning. Unable to do much as the wind too strong. So, went to the Ningaloo discovery centre for reprieve from the wind. After lunch had a dive at Lakeside, and then back to camp for a swim, sunset drinks and dinner at Robin and Shayne’s camper.
Walk down the beach at 9pm to chase crabs washing up on the shoreline with a full moon.
Sunset at Mesa Campsite 
Day 58. Mesa Campground. Wedn 22/9/21
Still windy in the morning, though not as bad as yesterday. At around 10am went boat fishing with Shayne, Craig & Julie. Calm conditions, and light breeze.
After catching a few Charlie Court’s and sweet lips, I got a big hit, and the fish took off! Nearly spooled the boat rod, which has 80lb line. So, Craig started the boat and we chased the fish, trying to tire him out. After about one hour, I was completely exhausted, and asked Craig to take over. Another half hour, and the fish is still pulling the boat out to sea, and Craig is exhausted. Shayne takes over, and after other half hour he’s also exhausted and I take over again. So, after 2-3 hours of trying to get this fish, all we achieved was being dragged out to sea for about 3km! We think it was a big shark, though didn’t really manage to get a good look at it!
Got back about 3pm, filleted fish, and went to beach for swim. Cloudy conditions produced a spectacular sunset!
Yummy dinner with fish!
Craig in action 
Shayne in action 
Fish Dinner 
Sunset at Mesa
Day 59. Mesa Campground. Thurs 23/9/21
Last day at Mesa. Woke up to very still morning which is nice! Went diving with the boat out from Mesa. Turquoise water in pristine condition. Just find some “Bombies” and enjoy the coral and fish!
Went fishing again outside the reef, though become choppy. Caught a few Charlie Courts, and some some sweet lip.
Sunset drinks followed by dinner at Robin and Shayne’s tent – roast dinner, which was very nice!
Sunrise 
Sunset 
Roast Dinner
Day 60. Mesa Camp to Wooramel. Fri 24/9/21
Left Mesa camp at around 7:30am with the boat. Met Robby for coffee at the Exmouth Bakery. Arrived in Carnarvon at about 1:30pm looking for fresh Carnarvon produce to bring back to Perth. Drove down South River Road, but were out of luck. Maybe September is the wrong season? A few places had some great Cactus plants!
Had lunch in Carnarvon, and made our way to Wooramel Roadhouse, arriving at about 4pm. Had a nice meal, and the friendly staff made for a pleasant experience. Rooms for $100 per night, which were good.
Carnarvon – South River Road 
Wooramel Roadhouse Philosophy! 
Day 61. Wooramel to Perth. Sat 25/9/21
Long drive back to Perth, with hundreds of caravans going in the opposite direction – the start of school holidays. Stopped at Northhampton for lunch, and then Eneabba for fuel and another break. Was great using the new Tonkin Highway extension from the Brand Highway to get into Perth.
Arrived home at 4:45pm after almost 9 weeks, in time to store boat, unpack a bit, and watch Melbourne crush the Western Bulldogs in the AFL Grand Final.
Now, time to reflect on what worked well, and how to improve on the next holiday.
Storing the boat with Robby 
Getting home
Joe & Julie Adventures 