Maude’s Landing to Exmouth
by Margie
It is Sunday 29th June and we
are still firmly ensconced in the Marina at Exmouth.
Exmouth, situated on the Eastern tip of the
North West Cape – the Exmouth Gulf separating it from the mainland- was first
established in 1967 to support the nearby USA Naval Communications Station,
Harold G Holt. It is home to an Antennae Farm,
comprising of 13 very tall structures used to communicate with the US Subs in
the Indian Ocean. It was formerly
run by the US navy and is now run by the Australian Navy.
Nowadays Exmouth relies more on its tourism
for its existence boasting the ‘range to reef’ experience. The west coast of the cape is dividing
from the east coast by the Cape Range National Park and its ranges. The rugged gorges and these spectacular
ranges give way to the pristine white beaches and clear blue water and vibrant
coral reef of the Ningaloo Marine Park.
Exmouth is often referred to as the northern gateway into the Ningaloo
Marine Park – which is the largest fringing reef in Australia and is abundant
with marine life - therefore known
as the largest underwater playground of the world – where one can experience
interaction with its manta rays, whale sharks, dolphins, turtles, not to
mention the fishing, snorkeling and diving possibilities.
A fisherman’s paradise.
Exmouth itself is a very interesting little
town, very well spread, probably stretching 5kms from north to south on the
east coast of the north–west cape peninsula. It has a main shopping precinct situated on a semicircle
exiting and entering from the main drag north and south. Very quaint and well organized
and clean with little specialty shops scattered throughout the little shopping precinct…BUT
they have 2 IGA ’s directly opposite each other !!!– That causes some head
scratching. Rumor has it that the
original IGA owners bought out another supermarket outlet and called it IGA
Express. Hmmmmm!
We have also noticed, on our many 3km walks
to the town from the Marina, that there are many 4 wheel drives towing caravans,
camping vans of all shapes and sizes and the odd touring motor bike or four……. I suspect the grey nomad brigade is
thriving and doing very well.
We arrived in Exmouth Saturday 22nd
after a beautiful ‘motor’ from Tantabiddi, having moored the night there. We have had a great week since our rude
arrival in Mauds Landing.
The weather gods have been good to us and given us a reprieve.
Mauds Landing was interesting – miles and
miles of deserted beaches and low-lying sand dunes. Breakers sending up sprays of white water over the
Ningaloo Reef forming a protective arc around Bateman’s, Bills and Coral
Bays.
Mauds landing itself is situated on the
southern tip of Bateman Beach, a huge beach that sweeps north 8km from Point
Maud. The beach itself is hugely
spacious, remote and wide and open.
We spotted the odd beach fire happening.
On arrival we hadn’t managed to find the
promised moorings so anchored west of the old jetty, as per the Cruising
Guide. The next morning, however,
we discovered this was probably not a very good idea. We had two reminders coming from the tourist boats heading
to go Manta Ray watching, that we were in unsafe waters as there was a swell on
the way, and it was known to break just where we were. We did find out that
Bateman Bay itself is less calm and protected than the other Coral Bay beaches
– and that sometimes large waves break along sections of the beach. Mental
note to self – must let the editors of the Cruising Guide know for future
reference.
In Tinnie it was, to go and survey the area
to find the errant moorings. And find them we did. They
were most definitely where the harbourmaster had said they would be – and had
yours truly examined the map with a little more intensity they would have been
seen. Two little orange buoy
marks! How could one miss them! I called the number of the Dept.
of Parks and Wildlife and, yes, we could have the mooring for as long as we
needed. So official paperwork
completed, via phone, we lifted
the anchor and steered Moonshadow towards our secure resting place for the next
few days.
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| Moonshadow safely moored in Bateman's Bay |
(There
is always an underlying sense of relief knowing that one’s yacht is tethered to
a very secure mooring – it definitely lends to a very good nights sleep without
having ears pinned to the open hatchway listening for dragging anchor alarms.)
Moonshadow safely attached to her mooring,
we decide to explore and find Coral Bay for our obligatory cappuccino
outlet. With the warnings from the
DP&W still firmly ringing in my ears regarding restricted areas for ANY
sort of boating, we head off in Tinnie following the marked channel. It takes us around the restricted area
and south of Coral Bay itself, a 2 hour tinnie ride - and we find ourselves at
Monk Point. Not a café in sight! Hmmmm! Not quite what we were after. So back into Tinnie it was and we did a short cut, edging
around the restricted area and to a little beach on Skeleton beach just north
of Coral Bay. The establishment of
Coral Bay was about 1km south, and after anchoring Tinnie securely we set off
on foot. I remember clearly
friends of ours, Mark and Cathy, who lost their dingy in Coral Bay, only for it
to be rescued by the research vessels 2 nautical miles away. As I was not quite ready for a long
swim back to Moonshadow, I was hugely
hesitant to leave our only means of transport back to the mother ship. However a cappuccino was beckoning
and it had been a very stressful ride in!!
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| Coral Bay from Skeleton Beach |
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| Tinnie not so safely anchored to the rocks |
We finally sat down for our long awaited beverage
nearly 4 hours after we first set off.
Not quite what we had
planned – and not sure that the cappa itself was worth it!
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| Fin's Cafe at Coral Bay |
Coral Bay has changed since I was last
there 30 or so years ago. I
can’t help but think that progress and protocol gone mad has destroyed this
beautiful little bay – the bay itself now graced with 2 very busy caravan
parks, with 'keep out' notices dotted over the little lawn allotments everywhere,
a small shopping centre, hotel and resort and little cafes and restaurants
dotted throughout – all in the name of tourism. Although I must add that the environment is beautifully kept
and preserved – because of stringent environmental laws – and the failure to
have a resort built in the area.
It still feels like a family holiday area, relaxed, quiet, beautiful and
pristine.
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| The peaceful bay of Maud Sanctuary |
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| Coral Bay beach towards Point Maud |
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| Towards Bills Bay from the Coral Bay lookout |
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| Margie enjoying the scenery |
We finish our coffees and head off to
explore the ‘town’, buy an ice cream and prepare ourselves for the 1km walk
back to Tinnie. Somebody has pulled her on to the shore and anchored her more securely
around a post……a very big silent thank you from me.
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| The walk back to Skeleton Beach and the rescued Tinnie |
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| Margie on the shore at Skeleton Beach |
We take a long slow motor back to
Moonshadow admiring, with absolute wonder, the breathtakingly beautiful coral
beneath us…the water is pristine and clear and the rainbow colors are clearly
visible through the clear crisp water.
We arrived back on Moonshadow, hoist the
engine off Tinnie onto its bracket and secure Tinnie behind Moonshadow, in
preparation for our departure the next day. About 20m away a giant manta ray swims along the
surface, gracefully flapping its wings giving it just the projection it needs
to skim the surface– what an incredibly graceful animal. It comes close to Moonshadow and then dives.
Another one of the elusive sea
creatures that gives us a little peak and then disappears. Jeremy and I settle down for the rest
of the afternoon and evening…planning our exit and our route up to Norwegian
Bay.
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| Catching the surf out of Bateman's Bay through the Cardabia Passage |
At 0915hrs on Thursday 19th
June, we drop the mooring in Bateman’s Bay and commence the next short leg of
our journey up the North West Cape. We have a lovely motor to Norwegian Bay…we have given
up being disappointed about the lack of sailing weather. The south/south easterlies we had
expected have eluded us and we are constantly motoring into north/north
easterlies. Tacking is an
option but the breeze is not even strong enough, at this point, to give us any
headway. We enjoy the
gentle motor up the coast and follow a catamaran that has come from Tantabiddi,
into the bay. We drop our anchor
just opposite the old whaling station remains and relax.
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| The remains of the old Whaling Station at Norwegian Bay |
We do not leave Moonshadow, and settle
in for a quiet night, planning the route for the next day to Tantabiddi. What a secluded coastline this
is. Photos just don’t seem to do
it justice. We live in such a
beautiful country – and seeing it from the ocean point of view is quite an advantage.
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| Looking east from our anchorage at Norwegian Bay |
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| Looking north from the same anchorage |
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| Sunset at Norwegian Bay |
The next morning, 0800 hrs, we lift the
anchor and follow the catamaran out of Norwegian Bay – clear of the reef, they
turn to port and head south – we turn to starboard and commence our passage
north to Tantabiddi.
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| Avoiding the reef while leaving Norwegian Bay |
We give
Yardie Creek a miss, as we need to get to Exmouth before the weather set comes
in. The weather god’s once again
are kind but we still experience north/north easterlies. At 1400hrs Tantabiddi appears on
our starboard bow – the breaking waves of the Ningaloo reef between us and the
cluster of white ‘stink’ boats moored in her protective bay.
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| Tantabiddi anchorage with the North West Cape Range in the background |
To our port we spot 2 humpback whales
playing – treating us once again to a show of breaching and flipper flapping
and diving. I can never get enough
of seeing them. Jeremy retrieves
his camera and his long lens but cannot get a photo close enough. I sense a huge 500mm telephoto lens
becoming part of the huge photographic arsenal.
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| A breaching whale |
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| A splash back |
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| Following the channel markers into Tantabiddi |
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| The view from our mooring at Tantabiddi |
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| Sunset at Tantabiddi |
The next morning we wake bright and early,
excited about the fact that we are almost at the North West Cape – where once we
leave, we will turn north-eastward on our way up to Broome and the
Kimberley’s. It has taken us
nearly 2 months to get here – but what a fabulously interesting 2 months. We have had a ball.
At 0810am, breakfast is had, dishes away,
we prepare Moonshadow for her exit, once again, out through the reef exit via
the channel markers and, we once again, steer Moonshadow to starboard to follow
the coast north.
The coastline, as it appears from our point
of view at sea, is one long range of rugged limestone ranges, broken with the
odd gorge, dotted with white sandy patches representing beaches and the odd car
traversing the coast road, which stretches, from the tip of the Northwest cape
down to Yardie Creek. The Ningaloo Reef is apparent by the
constant surf and spray visible as the water breaks over its coral.
The lighthouse comes into view and then the
tower farm, which can be seen for miles and miles ……
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| The lighthouse at the North West Cape comes into view |
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| Tower farm in the background and 'soon to be rescued' fishing boat in the foreground |
We inch closer to the northwest reef ready
to turn to starboard and round it when the silence is broken by a plea from Exmouth
marine rescue to any boats in the vicinity of the north west reef. There appears to be a 25ft fishing boat
minus it’s battery power, minus any radio communication, and Exmouth
Marine Rescue minus their rescue boat, which is out of action due to
repairs!!
We answer the call and on advice from EMR
we head north west of the reef – no fishing boat to be seen! We contact them again and they advise
us that the boat occupants can see us and they are south west of us…so south
west we go…By this stage we have performed a perfect circle – to anybody
monitory our movements on AIS (Automatic Identification System), it would seem as if Moonshadow had either
a stuck rudder, we had changed our minds and were heading back to Fremantle, or
we were totally bamboozled! - It
was of course the latter - this boat was just nowhere to be
seen.
On some hunch I pass over the helm to
Jeremy, grab the binoculars and suggest that we head southeast…. and sure
enough, there they were. Small
little boat bobbing up and down on its anchor with two very tired, weary and
relieved fishermen ready to catch the tow rope we would throw them. We pulled Tinnie closer to our
stern and hoisted a towrope to the anxiously waiting crew of the said fishing
boat and off we motor. We
must have looked quite a sight, Moonshadow, Tinnie and fishing boat – in that
order. The 2 hour slow motor
was quite uneventful, although I did not relish the occupants of the boat
behind us who, I imagine. by that time must have been feeling quite queasy.
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| Moonshadow to the rescue towing the stricken fishing vessel back to Exmouth |
The channel markers into the marina were
close and I was scratching my head wondering how we would get this little boat
into the marina safely without damaging Moonshadow or the little boat! We had planned on dropping them at the
fuel jetty where there were many hands waiting to take the ropes from them
before they careered into the Moonshadow’s stern. The message came over the radio that the fuel jetty was fully
occupied by three fishing trawlers.
We would have to drop the towrope at the entrance into the marina…. which
we did…and a small boat was sent out to tow them in. Problem solved!.....
We motored into the marina, attached
Moonshadow to the end of the T jetty.
It is Saturday 21st June, we have arrived in Exmouth, and there we remained for the next 10
days.
The weather has been a little unsettled at
Exmouth. We don our wet weather
jackets and walk into Exmouth to explore the facilities. We had a initially
decided to have a sabbatical in Exmouth, to revisit our plans, clean Moonshadow
and do some well overdue washing and shopping. But we decide that the 3km hike is just too long a
stretch to carry the washing and bring back the bags of shopping. So we make the well thought out decision
to hire a car for a few days, and whilst we have the wheels, we may as well
take a drive down to Yardie Creek to have a look at what we missed on our way
in.
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| Rough surf at North West Cape |
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| The wreck of the SS Mildura at the tip of North West Cape |
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| Lighthouse Bay from Vlamingh Head |
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| Cape Range National Park from Vlamingh Head |
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| The disused lighthouse on Vlamingh Head, North West Cape |
Car delivered, paperwork completed, camera
collected and off we go. We had
elected to decline the extra $25 per day insurance added to the standing
insurance premium, which would cut down the excess payable on any damage
sustained - from $2500 to $500. We are safe careful drivers and we were, after all,
trying to save our non-existent budget!!
At 1315pm, Tuesday 24th June, on the Yardie Creek Road,
having just paid our entrance into the Cape Range National Park, a kangaroo
bounces out from the bushes and hits the left front panel of our now very
expensive hire car. In the
flash of a kangaroo bounce we are $2500 poorer. $50 extra now seems so minute! Oh well! Damage is done – there is nothing we
can do about it and after feeling physically disabled and ill for about an
hour, Jeremy and I shake ourselves off and continue to enjoy the rest of our
stay. Said kangaroo – by the way –
was undamaged. Just a little
winded before hopping off to surprise some other unsuspecting motorist.
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| Anyone for a joy flight? Looks legit! |
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| Cockatoos at the Discovery Centre |
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| Yardie Creek |
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| Mouth of Yardie Creek from the Gorge roof |
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| Yardie Creek Gorge |
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| Rock wallaby in Yardie Creek Gorge |
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| White cockatoos at home in Yardie Creek |
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| Mouth of Yardie Creek with the Ningaloo Reef beyond |
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| A beautiful crested bird! |
We returned to Moonshadow just a little
forlorn and decided to drown our sorrows in some wine and a meal at the
beautiful Grace’s Tavern. We were
accompanied by our next-door neighbour, Terry, and had a fabulous evening. The day’s events were forgotten and we
merrily talked through dinner and drinks.
Time to pay the bill and we find that Terry has paid for our meal…I am
so humbled at times by the generosity of people we meet. Thank you Terry.
The next day we do the long planned washing
and shopping, we give Moonshadow her well earned clean and scrub and tidy, and
she is once again organized and ready to take on the Exmouth Gulf and beyond.
And then we wait for the next 7 days before
finally finding a weather window, which will give us a gentle sail northeast. During this time we determine our
course for the journey northeast to Broome. We need to be there for the 21st July as my
daughter Heidi and her beautiful children and husband will be visiting us. I have organised for a mooring in
Broome, which has been confirmed, and a hire car - with extra
insurance premium taken out to waver any excess - booked! We are all set for Broome.
We plot our course to Serrurier Island and from
there on to the Montebello’s and will revisit further plans from there.
Finally, Thursday 3rd July at
0900hrs, we drop the dock lines, refuel and head off through the channel into
the Exmouth Gulf. On our way out, Moonshadow carefully
nudges the sandy bottom (so much for lateral markers) – on reflection it was
probably the helmswoman!!.
Once out of dangers way we point Moonshadow’s bow towards Serrurier Island. We both look behind us and marvel at
the majesty of the limestone ranges of the North West Cape Range with the
Ningaloo Reef beyond them. The
beauty of this coastline counteracted by its ruggedness is a constant reminder of
the respect this area of coastline is due.
Exmouth is a lot richer for having us visit
– almost $3000 richer and we could say we are a lot poorer – but in fact we are
richer for the experiences we have had and the people we have met.
Life is really good
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