Cape Arid trip report [WA]

[jstanovic]

The EV trip report was a winner, I enjoyed it so I thought I would throw up a camping trip report from a trip we did mid January with the family.

We love getting out to nature and exploring what is out there. No cafes, no rides, no parties, no phone reception, just enjoying the simple life. We are fully self sufficient with plenty of water/solar etc and off grid is what we like.

Disclaimer: if you are not interested in nature/flora/fauna etc this thread will bore you to death.

[jstanovic]

After a busy 2023 we finally got to take a family holiday. Cape Arid National Park, located about 150km east of Esperance (880km from Perth), was our destination of choice. Been here a few times over the years and we never get sick of it.

Passing through Corrigin, the old Holden ute on the roof



We stopped overnight at a small sand pit near Hopetoun then onto Thomas River campground via Esperance. It’s a great clean campground with 16 sites, 2 pit toiltes and 2 camp kitchens with gas BBQs. Camphosts are there each summer to collect fees and keep things clean. Price has gone up a bit since we were last there, our family of 5 was $45/night. A couple years ago it was just over $30.
We didn’t even unpack, straight into the boardies and down to the beach. The place has more than recovered from a fire around 10 years ago, bush is thriving.







Yokinup bay has 29km of beach to explore, mostly firm sand but a few soft bits and some rocky sections, nothing to trouble a standard 4x4 with lowered tyre pressures. I run the Ranger at 15psi all round whenever I hit any sand, just floats over it.



Over the next 5 days we just pick a random spot and stay there all day. The water is so clear and the sand so fine and soft.

[jstanovic]

The kids could spend hours wandering and exploring the rocks and bush. You do need to be careful as there are snakes about, mainly tiger and dugites so a bite from them this far from a hospital isn’t a good thing.











I know nothing about flowers but I love all the colours in the native bush and their ability to thrive in this tough land.















Plenty of fauna around, even old mate the frog visited the toilet each night. A few soldier ants too, they bloody hurt when they bite so keep an eye out for them.








Plenty of ants around too. Woke up the first morning and there were heaps of ants that climbed the table, then onto the chairs, then onto the van where they were snacking on the dead insects on the front of the van. Got rid of them then made sure everything was packed up each night from then on…

[jstanovic]

The skies always put on a show, even the clouds were in on it.











Eldest went for a drive too, un-Australian not to let your kids drive on the beach if you ask me. One other thing when you’re 4x4ing down here, the fine sand gets in EVERYWHERE. I swept the car each day but you’re fighting a losing battle.





After 5 nights it was time to pack up and head to Jorndee Creek, still in Cape Arid NP but only accessible via 4x4.

[HIPO]

Would love to have a poke around down there!

[jstanovic]

Originally Posted by HIPO

Would love to have a poke around down there!

Yeah it's pretty awesome! Voted some of the best beaches in Australia, Esperance really is a nice place.

[jstanovic]

40km of dirt roads/corrugations later we arrived at Jorndee Creek, still in Cape Arid NP. Sandy track in was just wide enough for our small van, door copped a few branches and a bent corner but easily sorted.



There are 9 campsites, not very level or roomy but enough distance between campers. Only facilities are a pit toilet and picnic bench. Only 2 other campers here, we got the most open site available.





From here its walking distance to everything so the Ranger didn’t get started while at this camp. Again the weather was great and we spent the days exploring the bays and rocks.









Walking east we found what we called “shell bay.” The small private bay was completely filled with shells, some so small I could barely see them with my dodgy eyes. The youngest managed to catch a tiny crab too!

[jstanovic]

One morning I took one of the kids for a fish, we were surprised to see a pod of about 12 dolphins. We went splashing in the water and they came within 5m of us, was super cool that they came for a look! This lasted a couple hours until they wandered off. After that a play on the stand up paddleboard kept us entertained for the day.







One of the other campers left early one morning, while walking to the beach we noticed that he forgot to wind up his jockey wheel. The gouge in the sand went on for as far a we could see so not sure if he will have a jockey wheel when he gets home haha!



Again the colours of the flora were fantastic.

[jstanovic]

Sunsets again were amazing, as was the full moon.







Sometimes you need to be creative to get the solar panels facing the right way, strategically placed recovery tracks did the trick this time.



Plenty of signs of the critters around us. This small bird flew into the window of the car and fell to the ground, half an hour of coaxing got him flying away.







This dugite had been run over not long before we got there. Even in his worse-for-wear state, he tried to rear up at us to defend himself. He is the biggest dugite I’ve ever seen, would be close to 2m long.



After 5 nights, we had a slow pack up, last swim at the beach then on the way home. We stopped at Holt rock, approx. 400km from home. There are remnants of the old water tank and machinery. A galah was making a racket until sunset.







We were on the road by 5:30am, stopping at Hyden for brekky, Corrigin for a toilet stop and home at 12:00. All up we did 2302km and used 400L of diesel, tried to stay at the speed limit but sometimes there was a 30-40kph headwind so I slowed down a bit to give the Ranger a break and keep temps down as it was mid-30s outside. Average consumption was 17.4L/100km towing our 2T poptop van (worst 20.1L/100km, best 16.3L/100km).

The area has pristine beaches, you don’t see too many others while you are down there and no phone reception makes for a nice relaxing break!!

[Itsme]

Thanks for posts, I was down at Esperance way years ago and never forgot how pristine the coastline is with white sandy beaches, might try and visit the area again next year after retirement.
You guys have one big, magnificent state to explore, consider yourselves lucky.
Cheers

[Sprintey]

Thanks so much for this, it's an amazing area around the southern coast!