Yesterday, J picked me up and we drove from Perth straight up to Sandy Cape hoping to find a campsite. We stopped in Jurien on the way and had lunch at the pub – delicious Red Emperor for me and J had a t-bone steak.
We decided over lunch that if Sandy Cape was full we would try Lake Indoon further north and inland – I think we both assumed that it would have water in it.
So at the Sandy Cape turnoff there was a sign saying that the camping grounds were full, but we decided to go down there anyway and have a look. Beautiful place, but it was like a mini metropolis with heaps of people all camping on top of each other. I noted the track leading from the information bay towards North Head, but we didn’t follow it because we wanted to make sure we had somewhere to camp for the night first.
We went straight on to Lake Indoon and discovered that it was totally dry – like a big salt lake really. There was a couple sitting at one of the picnic tables, but we couldn’t see any vehicle or camp site that they might belong to. We speculated that they might be the ghosts of a couple who died there one Australia Day a long time ago.
Other than our ghost friends, though, the place was empty so we decided to pitch camp, even though it was much hotter than it had been on the coast. Once we were set up (we’re getting faster at doing that now) we left our camp and went off to look for the Stockyard Gully cave.
Interesting point is that I noticed on the way that Drover’s Cave and Stockyard Gully cave are at two totally separate locations – I think we had both thought it was all the same place. Stockyard Gully was a fair way north, not far from Lake Indoon, while Drover’s (and a string of others) were further south, much closer to Jurien.
Anyway, so we backtracked down the main road then turned south on a signed track (Pearson track). The map said 4wd only and they weren’t kidding. It was a mixture of soft sand and a heavy scattering of very sharp limestone rocks, like little landmines all over the track. We let the tyres down to 18psi and Gertie got us through without any punctures or bogging.
The site was much more developed than we thought. There was a turnoff with a proper carpark and information bay at the end. We followed the signposts which took us on a circuit trail, part of which takes you through this enormous 300m tunnel – a subterranean river. The riverbed was dry sand, but I can imagine it would see some flooding in the right season.
We loved this place and stayed for ages. Following the track to the entrance is a wonderful walk along the riverbed amongst all the gum trees and it was lovely to feel the temperature gradually dropping as we got closer to the tunnel.
Path to the tunnel
Beehives at the entrance
Inside it was pitch dark, but we had torches and J took heaps of photos of the entry and exit points. Absolutely beautiful.
Looking back at Entry
First light
Getting closer ...
End of the tunnel
After we climbed back out to the car, we continued along the track and eventually circuited back to the Eneabba tavern where we planned to have dinner (they had put a menu on the wall of the ladies toilet at Lake Indoon – pretty cool). Eneabba was like a ghost town, but we found the tavern and ordered some food. We were the only ones there, but the couple who run the place were really friendly so we sat at the bar and chatted to them while we ate. The lady breeds long haired dachshunds so it was interesting to hear all about that ($2,000 for a puppy, in case you were wondering).
Once we came back to camp, we didn’t sit up for long. We were both pretty tired, so went to bed at around 8 o’clock, I think. The stars had just started to come out.
It was a terrible night. The wind really picked up, but it was hot in the tent. I think I spent nearly the whole night listening to what sounded like multiple tsunamis rushing across the dry lake bed and waiting for them to hit the tent, I was so hot I felt like I was suffocating and I had the worst headache ever – I got up at 1.30am, left the tent as quietly as possible and took some pills. (The stars are wonderful at 1.30am, by the way.)
I’m pretty sure J wasn’t sleeping well either, he seemed to be tossing and turning a lot.
In the morning we compared notes and yep, neither of us had slept well, in fact, we were both rather pleased that we hadn’t been blown away or crushed by branches. The front awning of the tent had partially blown down, but other than that, everything was still in place. We had parked Gertie upwind of the tent and I think she protected us from the worst of it ... good ol’ Gertie!
Interestingly a ranger came to clean the toilets and I had a quick chat with him. He commented that “we had the place all to ourselves.” I concurred and he said that there was “only one lot down the other end too.” From this I gathered that there was another campsite further around the lake and that must be where our ghost couple must be staying. Mystery solved. Oh well. The forecast was for 41 deg so we were up and packing by about 6.00 and had left the campsite by around 7am.
J suggested we go to Leeman to find some brekky. As it turns out, Leeman has the cheapest diesel we have yet seen anywhere, so we topped up the tank and then looked for some place to eat. Note: there is nowhere that sells breakfast in Leeman. However there is a beautiful bay and jetty with a lovely lawn area on the shore. I had no idea.
Next we tried Green Head – still no food, so we carried on to Jurien. The only thing we found open that early was the bakery so we grabbed some basic food there then continued on to try and find Drover’s Cave. But at the last minute, I suggested that we go back to Sandy Cape first to see if we could drive that track to North Head I had noticed the day before. J was cool with that, so off we went.
I’m so glad we did that trip. It was definitely 4wd only – mostly soft sand again – but it was absolutely stunning. The coast line there is really something, a mixture of beautiful cliffs and lovely little hidden beaches and bays. The weather was the calmest I have ever seen it along that coast and the water was like a millpond. Calm water, warm and sunny – I’d say we were seeing it at its absolute best.
All along the track we kept coming across people camping, seemingly at random places. I think that if we had gone down there the day before we probably would have found somewhere to pitch the tent, but who knew? The tracks are a bit of a rabbit warren so we kept choosing the tracks heading south and eventually reached North Head.
What a spectacular place! At least two little sheltered bays with what looked like a very promising reef for diving out from the head. We’ve made a mental note to go back there when we can and do some underwater exploring. Definitely worth camping here for a few nights, but there were a TONNE of bees. J’s allergic and was a bit worried, especially as they seemed to keep hanging around him like he was the sweetest nectar they had ever encountered! (Which he is, of course.)
There was a man there who was camping with his partner. He seemed eager for us to stay and showed us where the best camping site was, told us how to deal with the bees (put a bowl of water out and they all go to it). He kept saying that for the next few days it was going to be beautiful weather, and what a shame that we had to leave. He seemed excessively keen for us to stay - bit weird actually.
So we left there and accidentally stumbled across a shortcut back to the Sandy Cape road. Nice. Then we continued on to our mission to find Drover’s.
We found the track (quite tricky – no signposts and very narrow) and started along. The tyres had to go down again and we noticed that there was a 4wd parked at the start of the track with nobody in sight. We travelled along for a bit and then came across a man walking towards us along the track.
It was really heating up by this stage, at least in the high 30s. This guy was walking in full sun on soft sand with a small bottle of water and a torch. We stopped and spoke to him, he said that was his car at the start, but the 4wd wasn’t working. So he had walked the track to find the caves, saying he’d found three along the way. I’m amazed he hadn’t collapsed from the heat!
J filled up his water bottle and offered to give him a lift, but he was determined to walk. He didn’t have a phone on him, but J offered him his number and asked if the guy could call us in a few hours, just to let us know he was alright, but again, he insisted he’d be fine, said he’d walked much further with his livestock.
So we left him. I hope he made it ok, he still had a long way to go.
Apparently we had already passed Drover’s without noticing, but the guy had said it was all blocked off with no entry allowed so we carried on and found another one. It looked pretty cool, but the amount of bees at the entrance was hardcore. J stayed back, but I gingerly walked to the entrance to see how big it was. Turned out there wasn’t much to see and it was a bit freaky being amongst a huge swarm of bees, so I very slowly came back. Luckily, no stings.
Bee cave (don't know the actual name)
Inside the bee cave
When we got back to Gertie and started her up, there was a horrible squealing sound and the air con stopped working. Bugger! I think the air con belt is either slipping or has seized. It was a pretty crappy time to have no air con!
We didn’t find any more caves and we ended up back on the highway, so we turned south again back to Jurien to have a swim. We decided to just snorkel, rather than dive, and checked out the snorkel trail. Total fizzer! We spotted some of the concrete balls with some crays, but other than that, there wasn’t much to see. It was also getting pretty choppy by then.
But it was so nice to be in the cool sea after being out on that hot dusty trail! So we took our time and swam over to the jetty and back.
We then went and grabbed some lunch at a little place on the main road then started back home again. I can only say that it was a bloody hot drive! Plus there was a huge fire to the east of Wanneroo Rd near Yanchep, so we kept checking the dfes website to make sure it wasn’t going to cut us off. Needless to say, it didn’t.
All in all, a really nice overnighter. We would definitely like to go back to North Head and stay a few days, perhaps further along the point, away from the bees. :)
