All day on a boggy road..............our adventures in Cape Arid National Park.

The beaches of Cape Arid National Park have the potential to be some of the best in WA but unfortunately our visit coincided with some massive dumps of seaweed caused by abnormally large swells and strong southerly winds. The usually pristinely white sandy beaches and turquoise water were disappointedly covered with ribbon seaweed on all beach areas facing south. Luckily we were able to find a few lovely bays that only had seaweed on half of them but they were all a drive from our camp spot. We ended up only staying 3 nights as the weather was also not in our favour. We had cloudy, drizzly and windy days. We made the best of it though and used our time to thoroughly explore the park and take advantage of the many 4wd tracks available.

We checked out a few nearby beaches and whilst the kids and I played in the sand and Daniel snorkelled for abalone and a dolphin came close into the bay and did some huge jumps. It was very exciting to see. We also attempted the beach drive to Mt Arid (the only way to reach it), however with all the rain of the previous few days, coupled with high tides, the beach was very boggy and we stopped about halfway. Storm clouds were also coming towards us and I didn't fancy being bogged on a beach in a storm in a remote location!

That morning, whilst we were getting ready, the kids showed how much they had learnt from watching Daniel fillet fish. They were playing with toy lizards and picked up small sticks then started to 'fillet' the lizards. They remembered to scale them first then fillet them from tail up. They got very involved in their task and it was hilarious to watch (though a timely reminder that they are watching and learning from everything we do, good or bad!).

The next day was spent doing the 4wd track to remote Israelite Bay to see the ruins of a Post Office and Telegraph Station built in 1895. It took us over 2 hours on a very muddy, boggy road and I was grateful we had decided against bringing the van in, as was our first intention. The ruins & gravestones were interesting and we reflected on how challenging bringing up a family would have been in such an isolated place. Unfortunately the beaches were also covered in weed so we didn't stay long.

On our return journey we actually managed to get muddier as more cars had come in so the track seemed worse (to me anyway). The kids loved driving through the muddy puddles, especially when the filthy water splashed up to their windows! Whilst we were out and about we decided to continue exploring the park and ended up not getting back to camp until 6pm, after leaving at 9am. It was a crazy day but it satisfied us that we weren't missing anything if we left the next day. We awoke tired and sore from our long bumpy day in the car the day before so it was a slow and grumpy pack up. Cape Arid NP certainly has potential but the weather and weed meant we couldn't fully appreciate the natural wonders of the park (a return visit during whale and wildflower season would be great!). 

Walking down to Tagon Beach, where we saw the dolphin jump.

The waves were the perfect height for Emilia to frolic in.

Mt Arid in the distance (under the storm cloud), we decided not to risk getting bogged by driving any further.

'Filleting' their toy lizards - they have obviously been watching Daniel closely (check out Emilia's concentration).

Jackson getting right into 'filleting' his lizard (correctly starting from the bottom to get the fillet off!).

A salt lake on the way to Israelite Bay (and a mud splashed car).

Honeycomb from the many beehives in the old building (it still smelt like honey).

Checking out the old postal chutes (we still don't know who would have been posting letters in this isolated place!).

The extremely well preserved Postal and Telegraph Station (built 1895).

One of the many 'muddy puddles' on the 4wd track to Israelite Bay.

The burnt banksia (from the bushfire in Dec 2015) were a striking part of the landscape.

Poor kitty - a car wash is definitely needed!!