On the road again! Click 4 german version
Its end of September and spring is about to start. The daily temperature in Fremantle is around 25 degrees and people enjoy strolling along Leighton beach heading out for a swim. Soon the daily sea breezes (Fremantle doctor) are kicking back in. Its time for me to take a break and go traveling again. A roadtrip up north to Gnaraloo and Exmouth is on my agenda. I haven't been to Exmouth's Cape Range National Park before. It should be unique with lots of wildlife and an amazing underwater world. This time of the year Gnaraloo, a wind- and kitesurf spot at the outback coast is supposed to have the biggest and most consistent swells and the humpback whales are migrating, which means they will be very close to the coast at this spot. This place rocks. Its where the outback meets the ocean. A fair bit of a drive for my old Kombi, but that doesn't matter as I have about six weeks to spend.

Two days after leaving Perth I arrived in Carnarvon. The Kombi was running well so far and I did one stopover next to the road. I' ve just reached the petrol station and wanted to refuel as my clutch-cable broke down. Shit. It is Saturday 10 o'clock and a long weekend is ahead of us. A big motorbike race is inland at the Gascoyne Junction and everybody is going there. I have a replacement cable with me and hopefully I will find somebody who is able to fix it. Otherwise I have to wait until Tuesday and wait on the boring campground here in Carnarvon while a good swell passes by.

I am a very happy man now. What more can I want then to be here in Gnaraloo this time of the year? So many whales are slowly passing by on their way south. Mostly females with their new born calves. When they jump out of the water right behind the reef the calves are following their mothers. In the morning the whales come so close to shore that they are about 10 metres away from the surfers, which sit in the water, waiting for the next set to come. This is a very special spot. Almost magical.

I finally found a mechanic in Carnarvon the same day and could continue my trip to 3 mile camp, the camp site here in Gnaraloo. It is school holidays now and I am happy that I booked my campsite one month in advance. It is very nice to live in my comfortable kombi with fridge, sink and stove. I had to buy water, beer, pasta, veggies, etc. for my two week long stay as there is no way to go back to Carnarvon with my 28 year old van. It is an old van and not build for this type of roads. I had to drive around 80km full-on dirt road to get here and the same when I get back. You wont drive that distance just to get a new carton of beer (ok, some people would ;-).

As always when I am traveling I bump into new people. The first week into Gnaraloo I ran straight into the Freo crew, which where Nik, Clive and Jamie living now in Sydney. We were having a lot of fun surfing and cooking together. Everybody knows that I am passionate about cooking and so I cooked curries and pasta most of the nights. We were all stoked to be able to spend time here and we had a great time playing drums, playing the egg, windsurfing and kitesurfing. Thanks guys.

The second week I met a New Zealand crew and we had a really good time as well. Then I ran out of any supplies and we were running out of waves as well, after having very good conditions and some days with 3-4m waves. I returned to Carnarvon, stayed here for a night, updated my website and were eating a nice seafood basket at a fish restaurant (there is only one in town, but I cant remember the name).

Next morning I left Gascoyne's biggest town and its eight thousand people to continue my trip northwards. Back on the Great Northern highway the van is sitting on 80km/h. Its stinking hot outside, must me around forty degrees and I wish I had air-con. There is no oil-temperature gauge and so I am stopping from time to time to make sure the engine is not running hot. The more the highway leads inland, the hotter it gets. I've got no idea why they didn't build the highway closer to the coast. 60kms inland is no breeze, just pure heat. That's Australia. I am not complaining, I love it :-). My next stop is next to the road at the turn-off to Coral Bay.

Coral-Bay has not that much to offer. Two large campgrounds and a lot of tourists. I've been kiteboarding here, that was nice but choppy as well. I recommend to visit the restaurant at the petrol station (end of the road to the left). They are offering very good food and, believe it or not, excellent cafe latte as well. Back on the road again I am heading to Exmouth. Exmouth is on a large peninsula which is about 250km long. The Ningaloo Reef ends just south of the town at the entrance to the Cape Range National Park. This is the only place in Western Australia and one out of two in Australia where turtles lay eggs. The nesting season is from October to March and there is a great visitor center at the Rangers place in the National Park.

You need a permit to stay in the park, which is cheap. One night is about 5 Ozzie dollars. The amenities in the park are excellent and you can even stock bore water inside the park. There is a Telstra phone both as well.

The wildlife here is absolutely unreal. I have been snorkeling in Osprey Bay and saw a white tip reef shark, a turtle, a lionfish, stingrays and so many other fish all within a very small area around fifty metres away from the beach. The water was only two metres deep and the reef is right in front of you. Another good spot for snorkeling is Turquoise Bay and Kurrajong a secluded quiet campground right behind the dunes. If there is not a public holiday the animals are everywhere.

I had a Kangaroo standing on my surfboard at nighttime and others coming very close. One evening I drove along the road for twenty minutes and stopped counting when I counted 80 already. Make sure you drive very slow and carefully. Roos are absolutely unpredictable. What else is too see in the park? There is the black-footed rock wallaby down at Jardie Creek and a lot of Kakadus as well as other birds and eagles in the North end of the park. You will see big lizards, water spitting crabs (look at Kurrajong), snakes, Echidna's (very rare) but they are there etc. A good hint is to drive along the main road early in the morning when the wedge-tailed eagles are in the air and spotting roadkill, mostly roos from the previous night.

There are some very nice kitespots in the park and make sure you are bringing small kites. I had the most amazing time here and the water colors are unreal. As turquoise and blue as it gets. It is windy here most time of the year and very hot all year round.

After almost three weeks in the park and catching up with Sim & Ilana from Scotland and Richard from Perth I left this beautiful part of the world to get back to Fremantle. I took it easy and drove the 1400k's slowly back. Another amazing trip in and even more amazing part of the world.