Cape Range National Park – Kurrajong Campground

10 – 12 October 2022

We had booked 4 nights at Cape Range in the same campground we had stayed at in 2018. On the way we stopped in Exmouth to refuel and resupply, and have lunch before making our way to the western side of the peninsula.

We know that the west coast can be windy at this time of year but what we experienced was way beyond what we had anticipated. The wind was in excess of 35km/h as we were setting the camper trailer up. This required a carefully co-ordinated sequence of steps that included extra ropes and tie down points. Once we had managed to get things in order we went for a walk over the dune down to the beach. The camp hosts had told us that there were still whales about, making their way slowly south after calving in waters of the Kimberley coast. Unfortunately the strong sea breeze (there was actually a strong wind warning) meant the sea was far too choppy to see anything other than white caps inside the reef and surf outside it. Mick did manage to get some nice photos of the sunset, but no marine life this time.

After a restless night with the wind hammering the canvas we drove to the Milyering Visitor Centre to check the weather forecast and have a look at hiring snorkelling gear. Our worst fears were realised when we saw that the weather would remain the same for the duration of our stay – winds in the 30 – 35km/h range with gusts up to double that. This would make snorkelling and swimming very unpleasant.

While we were out we drove down to Lakeside which had been one of our favourite snorkelling spots on our last visit but this time we just walked on the beach. We also revisited Trealla Beach where Mick had photographed an Osprey on its nest, but there was no trace of it.

Once we were home we carefully considered our options and decided that there was no point in staying if we couldn’t do the things we had come to do so, after lunch, we went back to the visitor centre and changed our booking to leave the following day. We also brought forward our booking for Karijini which would give us a couple of extra days on the way to Perth.

We were very sad to be leaving early but it was such a struggle to manage camping in the wind, especially trying to cook. When we were packing up the winds were recorded at 37km/h by the BoM. That was not much fun but we did somehow get the trailer and awning packed away without too much fuss – just a lot of planning and working together which we always do anyway.

On the way back in to Exmouth Mick spotted some birds on the oval so he had a pleasantly unexpected session with the camera before we went into the visitor centre for a coffee.