Cape Range National Park - Kurrajong Camp Ground

1 – 6 October 2018

Driving north we stopped at Minilya Roadhouse for coffee, then Lyndon River Rest Area for lunch. This was the last rest area with toilets before Exmouth. There was also a number of sheltered picnic tables. It looked like a popular spot for camping as well.  We were looking forward to 5 nights in the National Park and were prepared for the windy conditions. I had organised meals that either required short cooking times, or frozen meals that just needed to be reheated.

Cape Range National Park is within the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area and provides easy access to Ningaloo Reef. Camping spots in the Cape Range National Park must be booked online prior to arrival, and being school holidays, we had booked about three weeks ahead. We considered ourselves fortunate to get 5 nights in what we hoped would be a good spot. A park entrance fee is also payable with the campsite booking. At $22 per night (for two people) and $13 park entrance fee (not per day) we consider this to be great value.  After a late start, and more than 400km drive, we arrived at Kurrajong campground and checked in with the volunteer camp hosts. We set up camp and were pleasantly surprised that the wind wasn’t as bad as we had thought it might be. We kept our fingers crossed that it would stay that way.

Kurrajong campground.

Our spacious campsite.

The dunes behind our campsite at sunset.

Kurrajong campground is very large and spreads out behind the dunes. There are toilets scattered throughout but there is no water. Campers must be self-sufficient in the national park. There are a couple of covered picnic tables on the top of the dunes which made great vantage points for watching the sunsets, and as an added bonus we were able to see humpback whales moving along the coast. We were glad we had binoculars to observe these magnificent creatures.

The viewing area plus kangaroo.

Some essential whale watching gear.

View from the picnic table on top of the dunes.

View from the picnic table on top of the dunes. Humpback wales beyond the fringing reef.

Rufous Fieldwren were quite common around the camp. On top of the dune, early in the morning was best.

White-winged Fairywren

 During our five night stay we visited a number of sites within the park. The main road through the park is sealed and short unsealed roads take visitors to beaches and gorges. We visited most of these – for swimming, snorkelling and walking.

Milyering Visitor Centre -  although we didn’t visit here until after we'd been in the park for a couple of days, I would recommend making this your first stop. Lots of park information, including maps is available, as well as merchandise and hire equipment (snorkels, goggles and flippers).

Mangrove Bay Bird Hide Walk - Who doesn’t love a walk in the mangroves? Of course the bird photographer had to visit this site. Access to the beach was easy and the bird hide was well situated, and well maintained.

We watched hundreds of these little fiddler crabs signaling each other from near their sandy burrows.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper on the flats.

Common Sandpiper. I've always found these very hard to get close to.

Yardie Nature Trail -  Yardie Creek is the end of the sealed road which runs through the park. There is a picnic area and toilets. Visitors can also take a boat tour through the gorge. The nature trail is along a well-made sealed path which is wheelchair accessible (with assistance). The walk along the creek is a very pleasant Grade 1 of 1.2km return. The guide book said that walkers may see fish jumping (we did) and black-flanked rock wallabies (and we did). You had to look hard to spot the rock wallabies, but by sitting still and watching for movement on the gorge wall, we were able to spot a few.  

The first part of the walk done.

An ospreys eye view of Yardie Creek.

Black-footed rock-wallaby

Black-footed rock-wallaby

Yardie Gorge Trail - At the end of the nature trail, another track takes you along the gorge trail. This is only another 750 metres return but is a rough and rocky Grade 4. We started off along the track, and made it through the first gully crossing easily. At that point we stopped for a while so Mick could photograph the osprey which sat for some time on a rock nearby. We continued on to the second gully crossing which was much more difficult. The track is not very well marked in parts, but we found the third gully crossing and stopped there. My fear of heights prevented me from going any further. The track was rocky, loose, narrow, steep and too high for me.

This Osprey was looking for fish in the creek below.

South Mandu – Another camper had recommended this as a good spot for snorkelling so we were pleased to discover we were the only ones there – when we arrived. After we exited the water a large group arrived and set up all their gear about 5 metres away from us. They had the whole beach to choose from!

Our first snorkeling site. Very nice but a little shallow when we were there.

Having a rest.

These are very territorial and will sometimes give you a nip.

I'm guessing... a Four-spotted Dart.

A mixed species hunting party hangs around in case we uncover something in the sand.

Sweetlip, dart and goatfish.

Yellowspot Goatfish in the shallows.

Turquoise Bay – This is probably the best known of the snorkelling sites, so we had to give it a try. Access from the beach is easy, but this spot was the most crowded of all we visited. For those with experience, there is a drift snorkelling area which involves entering the water at the southern end of the beach and allow the current to take you across the coral garden. We took the easier bay option and noticed the very strong current. 

Speckled Butterflyfish

Lakeside - Another popular spot but this one involves a walk of about 500 metres along the sand to get to the snorkelling area. Despite the long trek we decided this was our favourite spot so we visited twice.

On the walk to Lakeside.

On the walk to Lakeside.

Sea star

Christie enjoying the reef.

Reticulated Parrotfish

Reticulated Parrotfish

Female Bird Wrasse

Male Bird Wrasse

Bullethead Parrotfish

Stars and Stripes Puffer

Bridled Parrotfish. We saw lots of large colourful wrasse.

Bluespot Butterflyfish

Blue Angelfish

Venus Tuskfish and friends.

Venus Tuskfish

Yellowbar Parrotfish in the background.

Saddleback Pigfish

Thicklip Wrasse (in front)

Red Parrotfish

T-Bone and Pilgamunna - no snorkelling, but more lovely spots to visit. We were constantly amazed that even though all campsites in the park were fully booked, and there were heaps of day visitors coming in from Exmouth each day, we would often find ourselves totally alone on a beach.

Trealla Beach – we visited here after our camp host, who is a birder, told Mick about an osprey nest right on the beach. Mick’s patience was rewarded with some good photos.

Osprey nest

We were fortunate that even though it was windy during our stay at Cape Range, it was not as bad as we had expected . The first couple of days in particular were quite calm.  Sightseeing, snorkelling and whale watching will be enduring memories of our time in paradise. Next stop – Exmouth.