We left North Mandu and the Cape Range NP this morning to return to Exmouth to spend the last couple of days in the hustle and bustle that Exmouth has to offer ;)
I took a drive out to Shothole and Charles Knife canyons and took a look around. Very scenic.
Here’s a photo of RUFN IT at Shothole Canyon and another photo of a kangaroo I took yesterday near North Mandu.
RUFN IT @ Shothole Canyon
Striking a pose
So I’ve had plenty of time to start thinking about the next trip to plan, but I’m torn between doing what we want to do and what we can do.
Camping/travelling/exploring with a dog is quite difficult we’ve found. Avril and I have talked about Karijini for quite a while now and we’re both keen as mustard to do it but you can’t take dogs into National Parks (unless you’re blind, but then why are you going to a NP?! I call it reverse discrimination!).
Knowing that there are caravan parks in the area you are visiting where you can stay with a dog is quite good, just hope there is a vet/kennel you can leave your fur baby while you go where they can’t.
But I digress, no matter how much it pains me to holiday without Lucy, I think Karijini may be next on the agenda. With Newman only ~1200km away from home, it can easily be reached without stretching ourselves.
When to go is the next question. The next leave we’ve got planned is July, to coincide with our 2 year anniversary, but I think the last time I looked Karijini in July can get quite cold. “Toughen up princess” I hear you all say.
Exmouth is lovely and is easily reached within a day. Could I do it again so soon? You betchya.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
As most of you know (or can tell by the photos) we carry a solar panel with us on most, if not all of our trips.
We currently use an 85w BP solar panel which at peak gives us 4.72 amps. The 60ltr Engel at peak draws ~4.5 amps (I don’t have any literature handy for the exact figure) so the solar panel puts in just a tad more than the Engel takes out.
This is fine for the time being and when we’re not filling the fridge to capacity, but what happens when we do?
I think the answer will lie in getting two 80w panels and bridging them. This way we’re only increasing the depth of the panel by several centimetres, so not a lot of additional space is required but the power gained is doubled. This should hopefully allow us to go rufn it for longer periods of time without the need to head back to the closest power point to recharge.
The only kink in my plan? Clouds. Damn clouds. Short of carrying a generator, there isn’t a lot that can be done without the sun. But to be honest, who wants to go camping when it’s cloudy or raining?
With the wind picking up the second night, I didn’t get the best sleep, but enough nonetheless.
I drove into town to pick up the old man and to have a quick shower. I will definitely be adding a shower to the 4wd in the not too distant future, it felt great.
On the way back to camp we saw a large lizard and a mother emu with 4 babies.
Took a snorkel at the local beach which was very serene as I was the only person there. Thankfully the previous day’s invading jellyfish had disappeared.
Saw the usual fish you’d expect around this area in all colors if the rainbow, and then some! There were also a large number of seaslugs down there too.
Now it’s lunch time, and I’ve had a swim so no excuses for not cracking open a beer.
After lunch and a few beers I decided to take a walk through the coastal shrubbery to see if I could find some wildlife to photograph.
I saw a number of roos, however as I was down wind of them it was difficult to get close enough for decent shots. Thankfully my friend Jeremy lent me his 70-300mm lens and I was able to get some long distance shots.
Then I came across an echidna. Unfortunately he didn’t feel like posing for the camera and decided to bury his head in the sand. I was able to get some amazing shots of his spines though.
The day ended with Pierre, the Belgian bike rider, joining us for drinks, cheese and deep discussions about music, movies and Angelina Jolie-Pitt’s boobs.
Pierre has been in Australia since September 2008 and where possible (and realistic) rides his bike. He is catching a bus to Broome and then plans on tackling the Gibb River Road on his bike. You can find Pierre’s blog at http://tommy.kikooboo.com.
Kangaroo and joey
Boing
Eek! Hide!
Sharp - do not touch
With all camp sites within the NP being full, we decided to pay for 4 nights at North Mandu, taking us through to Thursday morning.
Unfortunately the old man wasn’t feeling the best this morning, so I dropped him off at the “mansion” (his caravan) and he’s spending the night there, whilst I continue rufn it. As the saying goes, “every cloud has a silver lining”, when dropping the old man off I stopped at the bottle-o and got some real beer :)
I went for a skorkel at Turquoise Bay today and due to the large number of jellyfish in the water, it was very disappointing. Hopefully it’ll improve tomorrow or the next day.
The wind has picked up a bit this afternoon but is still bearable. Nothing like we had at Jurien in November 2008 whilst camping with Shawn and family where it felt like the whole 4wd was going to take off!
Tomorrow morning I may get up very early and head slightly north to a strange ruin I’ve spotted and try to take some sunrise photos of it (or more likely wake up early and just roll over and go back to sleep ;)).
That’s enough nerding for me, I’m signing off and heading back to drinking my real beer, eating some cheese, crackers and gherkins and waiting for night to fall to look at the wonderful stars.
Evil red jellyfish
Our first day in the Cape Range NP was fairly uneventful. We managed to get the last site of a total of 3 at North Mandu, which is about 25km south of the rangers station.
The “beach”, which is entirely made up of pebbles, doesn’t appear very friendly. We’re heading off to Turquoise Bay first thing in the morning for a snorkel, and once we get back I’ll try my luck here at North Mandu and see if it’s any good.
Unfortunately the old man forgot my order when he went into town and I ended up with Pure Blonde stubbies, and although I’ll survive, it’s going to be tough! ;)
RUFN IT set up
View from the penthouse
Well it took just over 12 hours to get to Exmouth but well worth it for the worlds greatest beer which was sitting in the Engel the while way here YELLING at me to drink it. More later.
Well, only 10 hours to go before I leave for Exmouth. I’m leaving at 3 in the morning and hope to get to Exmouth by no later than 7 in the evening.
Here’s another photo of RUFN IT while doing my final check over it.
Well, I just spoke with the old man who arrived in Exmouth yesterday. Apparently all of the free camping spots in the national park are full, have been for the past 4 weeks and are expected to be for the next 6 to 8 weeks!
Thankfully dad was leaving his van in a caravan park while we were rufn it, so we can use that as a basecamp to explore the area and hopefully snag a camp site when/if one becomes available!
