Cape Range National Park

After getting Sander some snorkeling gear we left for Cape Range NP. 

Our first stop was at the Vlamingh Head lighthouse. Named after Willem de Vlamingh, a Dutch see captain.

From there we drove to the National Park entry and payed for one night camping. The ranger recommended 3 camp spots to us and as one was nearby we checked it out. As it was small and already fairly busy we drove on to the park’s Visitors Centre. 

We gathered some information and then drove to the ‘Oyster Stacks’ beach. Here we snorkeled from the beach at the famous Ningaloo Reef that is situated right along the coast for 260 Km down south. It’s a fringe reef which means it’s close to the mainland and therefor has an entirely shallow backreef (also called lagoon). 

The snorkelling was really nice. The corals are not too colorful due to the low(er) temperature of the water (not tropical) but the variety in fish was still amazing. We saw heaps of fish and a squid. A great first impression!

After drying up a bit we drove to Kurajong North camp site and decided to stay here as it was nice and quiet and very spacious. It was just behind the dunes.

We met a lovely Swiss couple that night with whom we had a lovely evening exchanging travel stories.

The next morning Monique got up early to go for a walk along the beach and take some pictures. It was low tide and there was heaps happening in the shallow water. Stingrays, fishes, crabs and a reef shark were enjoying breakfast at the beach.

After breakfast we decided to stay another day. We drove to the most southern part first, Yardie Creek. From there on we went back up again to Sandy Beach. Monique fell in love with this beach straight away. The bluest water you can think of and a nice long beach with white sand. We spend an hour swimming, throwing a ball, watching a turtle and just enjoying the view.  Loved it.

Turquoise Beach was up next. A beautiful lagoon which also is good for snorkeling. While the lagoon looked great, the snorkeling couldn’t match what we saw the previous day at ‘Oyster Stacks’.

Back at the Visitors Center we booked ourselves in for another night of camping in the park. 

We drove around the park a bit to see if there were some other nice camp spots but in the end we found ourselves back at Kurajong North camp spot as we liked it most.

And again we had a lovely night with Ursula and Roland from Switzerland!