Hamelin Bay

4 – 7 November 2022

We left the caravan park at Woodman Point and drove down to the beach for a quick look. As we were walking along Mick stopped to talk to some fellow birders who told him about some birds much further along the beach, on the point. I waited on the beach and an hour and a half later, he returned, well pleased with having seen and photographed another new bird for the trip.

Finally back on the highway we drove south towards Busselton, stopping at Old Whittaker’s Mill rest area for lunch. There are no facilities at this spot, but it was sheltered from the wind by the trees. There are tracks looping through the trees all around the area, which looks like it is used by campers.

From there we continued on to the Bussel Highway and on through Margaret River, then on to Caves Road and Hamelin Bay. We called in to Hamelin Bay on our last visit to the west and it looked like a good spot. The caravan park is in the national park so dogs are not allowed which suits us perfectly.

Hamelin Bay is famous for the stingrays which gather in the bay, but we had come for the Rock parrots and other birds. The weather when we arrived was almost perfect – warm and with little breeze, but we knew that would probably change and that the nights would definitely be cold. We went for a walk along the beach and up onto the cliffs where the walking track forms part of the Cape to Cape Track.

On Saturday morning Mick was up early to photograph the birds, and after a late breakfast we headed to Augusta. We called in to Cosy Corner along the way so I could take a photo for a friend who was camped at Cosy Corner in Tasmania. Both beautiful spots but the WA one was very windy at the time so we didn’t stay long.

In Augusta we drove down to the water and found a lovely café for morning tea, before doing some shopping. The local Baptist Church community was holding a free sausage sizzle so we gratefully accepted a sausage and some fresh cinnamon donuts too. Despite their church affiliation there was no hard sell – we were happy to accept the free food along with a small flier which was discretely handed over with the food.

Hamelin Bay is famous for the smooth stingrays, black stingrays and eagle rays which live in the shallow waters of the Ngari Capes Marine Park and feed along the beach and around the old jetty. We were lucky enough to see a couple each time we went to the beach. It was difficult to get a photo because there were so many others trying to do the same thing and despite warnings to look but not touch and to stay a couple of metres away from these graceful creatures, many people were running along beside them and reaching out to pat them. We did manage a few photos when we noticed one further along the beach.

We left Hamelin Bay to travel to a friend’s place near Manjimup which would only take a couple of hours so we planned a couple of stops along the way.

Woodman Point

3 – 4 November 2022

We left our Perth accommodation early so that we could deliver the camper trailer to the Cub agent near Fremantle for a much needed service. Travelling through the city was very stressful, especially when we found ourselves in the wrong lane and had to double back after exiting the freeway at the wrong spot. Fortunately we had left home allowing plenty of time to get there and weren’t late after all. We then had the whole day to fill in as there were also some necessary repairs to be done.

After leaving the trailer we went to yet another lake – North Lake in the Beeliar Regional Park. We stopped on one side of the lake and could see a bird hide across the water so drove around to the other side. Unfortunately, lack of signage made it quite difficult to find the right spot to enter the park but we eventually took a punt on a small parking spot, and with the help of the gps on the phone, found the bird hide. Mick was pleased to find some more ducks to photograph. Driving back around the lake we stopped at a coffee van for morning tea, then set the gps to take us into Fremantle.

We stopped at a couple of op shops along the way and then had lunch in the city. With a few hours left before we could collect the trailer we found Brack’s Library and spent the rest of the afternoon there. With good free wifi and nice comfortable surroundings it was perfect. We have made a bit of a habit of spending time in local libraries and noticed a couple that we thought we had seen before. I asked, and sure enough, it was the same people we had seen in Darwin, Broome and Esperance! I wonder whether we’ll see them again somewhere.

Because we weren’t able to get back on the road until after 4:00pm we chose to drive just a short distance to Woodman Point where we spent just the one night. In the morning we went for a walk to the beach, didn’t find it. Instead of following the signposted bike path we followed a track that we thought would take us there – but it didn’t. Taking another likely track we stumbled across information about the old quarantine station that occupied the site – but still no sign of the beach so we gave up. We decided instead to drive down on our way out.