8 nights at some of the secluded beaches along the Southern WA coast

Cape Richie

Sunday 22nd – Tuesday 24th January

It was cold and rainy on the day we arrived but we still managed a walk along the beach before we explored a few of the 4wd tracks that took you down to different beaches, where we sat and watched the lightning as the storm rolled in from the ocean. 

Monday was a much better day and we enjoyed the ocean:

• The boys went for dive and got a brown lipped abalone
• Emilia and I went for a big walk behind the dunes, over the rocks then along the surf beach – I couldn’t resist a swim.
• We all went to the surf beach – Emilia tried surfing again and she managed to stand for a little bit (Jackson’s knee was still store so he just boogie boarded and swam). Emilia and I had a boogie board while Jackson and Daniel went for another dive.
• The kids enjoyed playing in the inlet as the water was unexpectedly warm
• When we got back to camp we all swam out to the pontoon and had fun jumping off trying to do the biggest splash.

There was quite a bit of wildlife around camp – we were lucky enough to see 2 Tawny Frogmouth Owls and 2 owlets, as well as lots of kangaroos in the campsite. The kids and Daniel even saw a big carpet python. 

Although I was unsure at first, Cape Richie ended up being a great place. Ocean views from our campsite and a fire each evening really topped it off for us. 

Watching the stormy skies from the surf beach at Cape Richie.

Preparing the abalone (the pontoon out the back is the one we had fun jumping off in the afternoon).

One of the Tawny Frogmouth owls and her babies (you can only see one but there were two - they were so fluffy).

Hopetoun

Tuesday 24^th January

We had a relaxed morning before heading to Hopetoun via Fitzgerald River NP. It was a picturesque drive, but the road was terribly corrugated (so bad that it wobbled the caravan table out of its holder and it was laying on the couch!). We stopped for lunch at Mylies Beach, one of the amazing beaches in Fitzgerald NP, and couldn’t resist a quick swim as the water looked so inviting. We’d planned on spending the night at the free RV camp in Hopetoun, however just after Daniel took the kids down to the foreshore for a swim, and I got my computer out to take advantage of the good internet, a ‘Compliance Officer’ came to inspect the caravan and make sure we were self contained. She was not happy with our set up (we didn’t have plug on the end of the sullage pipe), so, even though I told her (truthfully) that we don’t use the shower she issued me with a ‘you-have-to-leave-in-2-hours-or-you’ll-get-a-$125-fine’ notice. Although I was quite upset (I don’t like getting in trouble) Daniel calmed me down and we moved to the nearby Hopetoun Caravan Park for the night.

A quick swim after lunch at Mylies Beach- one of the many beautiful beaches in Fitzgerald NP

Munglinup Beach

Wednesday 25^th – Sunday 29^th January

Turns out getting kicked out of the free camp was not the worst thing that happened to us that week…after leaving Hopetoun we were driving on a wide, well made gravel road when a very large emu darted out from the scrub. Daniel did his best to avoid it, but it was impossible. The emu hit the front left hand corner of the caravan with a very loud thud. We came to stop to survey the damage and there were a lot of curse words thrown around! Daniel went back to check on the emu, and said it was safe to say it had a quick death. Thankfully the damage was confined to the external panels, so we can still live in our van and our insurance will pay for the repairs once we get back to Victoria. Although a massive inconvenience and certainly not something we wanted to happen, it could have been a whole lot worse.

Our moods were lifted by the lovely campsite (about 50m from the beach) and the pristine beach and reef at Munglinup, where we spent the next 4 nights.

During our time at Munglinup:

• Daniel and I had our coffee on the beach every morning (sometimes after a run and a swim)
• We did lots of walks along the beach and the rocks- where we had a great time looking for crabs
• The boys did an early morning dive on Australia Day and got 3 brown lipped abalone and a big cuttlefish
• I went snorkelling and got to swim with an eagle ray – it was incredible and I stayed with it for about 10 minutes.
• Jackson did well with his hand spear – he got 2 Wrasse, a Trevally and a Leatherjacket
• Daniel got a crayfish- he couldn’t get him the first day but managed the second day, although it was hard work as the crayfish backed himself into a reverse ledge, so Daniel ended up diving through caves to get it.
• We took the 4wd track down to the inlet and saw heaps of Carnaby’s Cockatoos along the way
• We took the 4wd tracks down to nearby beaches where we walked along beach collecting gorgeous little shells, the boys tried their luck fishing, and we explored all the rocks (the kids loved playing with the dried up salt in the little rock pools!)
• We went snorkelling further down the beach, where there was a big deep hole with lots of different species of fish to look at (although the current was very strong so we had to be careful)
• We watched the sunset over the ocean
• We feasted on fish and crayfish for dinner

Jackson loved it at Munglinup so has decided he wants to spend his birthday here, as all he wants to do on his birthday is dive (he is loving it so much and wants to be in the water ALL the time!).

Morning coffee (and hot chocolate) on the beach- they boys had already been in for a dive!

The cuttlefish Daniel caught - there was black ink all through the kayak!

The cuttlefish's skin kept changing colour - even though it was already dead! It was so unusual and VERY interesting.

One of the wrasse he speared on Australia Day.

We scored with our campsite- closest to the beach and with a cute windmill.

Enjoying the sunset while laying on the warm rocks- splendid.

I think this is another wrasse (though fish species is not my area of expertise!!).

While Jackson hunted, Emilia sewed & read (unknown to me she was actually working on my birthday present). 

Another day...another cray. Daniel has definitely perfected his crayfish hunting skills, we have been eating like kings.

Some of the hundreds of Carnaby's Cockatoos (white-tailed black cockatoos) on the 4wd track down to the inlet. They are so majestic, but so loud!

On one of our 'crab-spotting' walks on the rocks.

This rockpool looked so tempting but the waves were crashing in furiously.

One of the other beaches/rocky points we explored- there are just so many lovely beaches around here.

Running to the beach for an afternoon swim.

Although the sun was out the wind was COLD- it was a very quick swim!

A feast with all the seafood the boys caught (this was shared between all of us, though Jackson pretended he was going to eat it all as he'd caught 4 of the fish on the plate).

Sunset on the last night- a mere 50m from our campsite.

Quagi Beach

Sunday 29th January

We spent one night at Quagi Beach on our way to Esperance. The campsites are nestled within dense scrub with loads of Banksia trees and some very creative people had made a montage of Banksia men near the walkway to the beach. The kids were keen to add some of their own so spent the afternoon collecting materials and making a whole family of Banksia people. It was super windy but we still managed a few walks on the beach, and Daniel had a fish off the rocks. We also spent a lovely half an hour sitting on top of the dunes watching a big pod of dolphins cruise up and down the beach catching fish (they even jumped the waves which was really cool to watch). 

The original Banksia men that inspired the kids

Emilia's favourite creation

Jackson made a fisherman Banksia man with a dried out puffer fish he found on the beach.

Jackson ended up making all of these- he was clearly in a crafty mood!

In the afternoon we went for a walk/bike ride and ended up on this rocky point where we watched the waves crash on the rocks.

Jackson and Emilia with all the Banksia men they added- they were certainly very creative (there is a crab, a surfer, a monkey, a lady with long hair and loads of others).

I thought this one was super cute!