Homeward Bound

Most of the 'grey nomads' had started to head off yesterday with only the 'die-hards' prepared to stay and persevere with the anticipated Mongol horde (children) on the weekend.  We were all packed and ready to go by 10AM.  I decided to see if I could dismantle and pack the trailer batwing awning on my own.  I'd been thinking of a new technique during the previous two days and devised a method which worked.  However I may need to make some modifications to the awning if I'm going to erect it single handed.

Ken suggested we take the coast road north rather than retracing our original route through the state forests.  The route took us via Hamelin Bay seen in the map below.

It's a rather attractive holiday location with a large camping ground.  There were considerably more people here than at Windy Harbour.

The remains of the old jetty can be seen in the above photo.  It was built in 1882 to support the local timber industry.  Navigation is difficult due to the nearby reefs and rocks.  Twelve vessels were wrecked here over an 80 years period.

The bay is well known for its sting rays which appear on the shoreline most days.  Sting Rays are the vacuum cleaners of the ocean which makes sense as they are flat with their mouth underneath.  Tourists can interact with them and that was happening when we visited.

They're damned sight braver than me (or perhaps more foolish).  Didn't they read about the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin being stabbed to death by a sting ray. 

More galling to me were the fisherman at the other end of the bay hauling in large numbers of Australian Salmon from a big school just off the shore.  They are behind the yellow sign!

We continued north, passing through Margaret River, another tourist hotspot.  The area is well known for it's wines and surfing.  Although the town is some seven kilometres from the coast.  Our journey involved a slight detour to Gracetown.  The location was initially designated as a holiday camp site but the state government subsequently decided to designate it as a township.  These days it's well known for it's surfing and at least one major international event is held here each year.  The town is also starting to acquire a reputation for shark attacks (sufers <burp> love them!>.  The town was almost closed when we arrived.  Apparently this isn't uncommon when there are good surfing conditions.

It was about a six hour journey back to Perth with me arriving home in the dark at 7PM.  The trailer freezer did a good job keeping all the fish frozen during the trip.  I have a few more modification to make and the trailer should then be ready for a more isolated trip.