Ningaloo Reef Trip

[taza]

Done, you can now read it and comment.

Well as most of you know I went away on holidays and was in the right frame of mind that this holiday the Foz wasn't going to break down and cost me a fortune again. But due to Subaru's awesome reliablility we had very little go wrong :ebiggrin:

Ill start from the top.

Last Sunday the 23rd of Oct 2011 my mate Dave and me set off at 4am to head up north of Western Australia on our trip to Coral Bay, Exmouth and around the Ningaloo reef area.
Since Dave couldn't drive and im still a P Plater I took it easy and didn't push myself too far. the last thing I wanted was to crash the car or fall asleep.
Anyway we left early when it was still dark, had the foz and boat all packed ready to go the day before. We made a good 150km before the sun came up and with all my car lighting we could of gone on in the dark for many more hours. Along the way to Carnarvon (500km from Geraldton) we had to stop to fuel up. The foz was averaging about 14L per 100km which for towing a boat, car full load and stuff on the roof which wasn't too bad.

Me fueling up.

I just love the red dirt of the Aussie Outback, not something I get where I live :sad:

We stopped in Carnarvon, just under 500km from Geraldton. Since we left so early in the morning we got there at 10am which was nice and ment we could explore around.
First off we booked into a Caravan park there so we could dump off the boat and some of the gear.

Heres some of what we saw there.

The blow holes, where water squirts out over 20meters high in the air!

Salt Flats

Dave running down to the flast because it looked like ice and snow :lol:

Dave holding abit of the salt

Dave walking on the flat and me just waiting for him to fall through into the water :rotfl:

A cow that was on the road

 

[taza]

Here is our little camp setup at the Carnarvon caravan park we stayed at.

It turned out to be the best setup we had all trip, used the tarp incase of rain and for privacy from all the grey nomads. Had the tent, boat there. Aswell as the car backed up for easy access to the neccessities.

Some of the stuff in the car.

One only bad thing that turned out to be quite funny when we started setting up our camp here was that we realised we forgot the tent polls so we had a tent but no way to put it up :rotfl:
That being the part reason for the tarp and heaps of rope between all the trees to hold it up.

The next morning we packed up and headed for Exmouth, or to be more specific the Cape Range National Park and Yardie Creek area.

This was a 500km drive or about 8 hours, due to the national park and millions of animals all over the roads!!!

Just past Coral Bay.... this is Dave.

Me

Dave waiting to head off again but me having a walk around and a break from the driving.

Dave got this in Carnarvon before we left.

 

[taza]

Part of the Cape Range National park, we were over 50km from Exmouth and had about 200km to go to get to almost the otherside of this photo. you have to drive around not over :sad:

The point of the national park/exmouth where the red cross is and where these pics below are. We were heading to the yellow cross and this was about ~120km from the red cross.

Me walking, ahving a look around and a stretch. I was staring to get abit tied of all the driving.

The Foz.

Time to head off to a camp site before dark (it was abit 5pm now).

Dave looking at the map as we are heading into the national park looking for a camp site.

On the side of the road...

Now with this national park there was a check point station where you have to stop on your way in. Now by the time we got there it was closed and your ment to pay for entering the national park aswell as camping fees. Now on the board there it said ALL the camp sites were full. I didn't even know you could book online. By now I was in a real sh*tty mood from all the driving and now we may not be able to find a camp site. So while working our way back down the coast we stopped at almost every camp site to see if there were any vacant sites. There were mainly grey nomads everywhere and because I was in a p*ssed off mood I wasn't doing the 10km/hr through the camping areas. I pissed a few guys off by this and they yelled at me. I either didn't respond or told them where to shove it. In total there was proabbly over 100 camp sites in the whole park and most seemed to be full. All the way along there were soo many roo's, goats and what not all over the road, saw something about every 5minutes and had to keep slowing down which dragged out that end of the day. Ive never seen so many animals on the road in daylight, I swear I ahd about 10near misses the whole trip. Then almost had a roo jump into the drivers side of the foz!
But we kept going and went all the way down to Yardie creek (the yellow cross on the map) and went over to the camp host and asked if there were any spots. Luckily he had one and asked if we had paid our fees at the station. By now it was nearing dark and he was going on about how there were strick rules about not camping if you don't pay, etc... He was kind enough to radio into Exmouth and explain our situation to the ranger or who ever deals with the national park camping stuff. It was the most suprising that we got a camp site here asthis is the most popular one in the whole park.

We ended up paying him for our stay so we didn't have to drive 100km back to the check point. I was pretty tied after many hours of driving and now this, we then remembered that the tent couldn't be put up. So we just got a blue tarp at tied it to the roof basket on the car and down to the ground... through the swags down under that and slept.

I didn't get any photos of this as I was too tied to even think about it.

We ended up the next day heading into Exmouth and I bought a tent and a few supplies.

When we got back to our camp a few hours later it was time to do some exploring.... and since we were right next to Yardie Creek I wanted to cross it!

 

[taza]

Yardie creek was at low tide during that day when I crossed, barely ankel height so that wasn't an issue. Although I was told buy a guy with a Landcruiser that we would find it hard to cross :lol:

Here is a video of me doing it later that day with the boat. However all 6 tyres were let down somewhat :ebiggrin:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-bSRPn7rh4"]Subaru Forester Crossing Yardie Creek with boat - YouTube[/ame]

The next few days we looked around, 4x4'ed for abit, went snorkeling, took the boat out, walked around and just relaxed. By the late afternoons most days we both had a beer in our hands while sitting down having a laugh or two

Here are some pics of what we saw and go upto.

A roo over near the buish in the middle of the day.

Towing the boat along gravel corrugations to go launch it in the water. Also there were HUGE termite mounds everywhere!

Birds came right upto us and were only inches awy

Went for a little 4x4 without the boat

Exmouth Air Weapons Range

Dave

Me


Corrugations were so bad we had to let air out of the tyres to help absorb some of the bumps, it actually had a small effect on my stereo amps/speakers but was just a loose cable.

 

[taza]

Dave asleep after a busy day.

We ended up buying these but due to my Forester no having a dual battery setup while we were not driving the Engel car fridge got warm so we had to eat them all melted in cups

Me drinking Ice Cream!!!! I will say that it didn't go down too well...

Putting the boat in the water. Did a beach launch which wasn't much of an issue. Was abit worried about getting bogged but with tyres let down it was easy.

Pulling the trailer out.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJE09MUE3Zk"]Subaru Forester Boat Beach launch - YouTube[/ame]

Pulling the boat and trailer out. I should of strapped the boat down because of the bumps!!! yes it bounced around quite abit.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgR_oJ67gz4"]Subaru Foretser Beach Boat Launch with Boat on trailer - YouTube[/ame]

While camping here we did run the battery flat once and needed a jump start but atleast there were peoe around. This was because we had the Engel, car stereo and lights all going at the same time with the car off. Yes I know not smart but I learnt my lesson.

Packing up to leave Yardie Creek, Exmouth, W.A and heading to Coral bay, Western Australia.

Dave having to make one last trip to the 'Long Drop' toilet before we leave

Just out of exmouth. Australia always has big ting s everywhere. the Banana, Pineapple, Carrot, etc...

Ticked over 158,000km. And also LOOK AT THE TRIP METER. Yes thats right!!! 140km from half the god damn tank! We were driving into head on wind and with the load, boat and stuff on the roof I couldn't even maintain any speed in 5th gear. I had to drive along in 4th at about 4000rpm and even then we weren't going so well along the road. We were both somewhat worried that even with 20L of spare Jerry can fuel that we may not make it to the next fuel station. There isn't a fuel station in Coral Bay either. But the next day there was no wind again and we cruised along just fine and was back down to about 14L per 100km from over 20L per 100km.

At Coral Bay we only spent one night and got there around lunchtime. Its ment to be really really good for snorkeling but was windy when we were there. managed to do some offroading which was nice. Had to use the Maxtrax twice here but I only have footage for once. got me out first time and it was only because I had tight tyres at around 35psi. Couldn't be bothered letting them down.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6llmuDV1G8"]Subaru Forester using Maxtrax - YouTube[/ame]

 

[taza]

After a night at Coral bay we made our way upto kalbarri (home for me) for another night. This is about 750km from Coral Bay, we had to stop a few times to fuel up and so I could have a break but we got there by the mid afternoon on Friday.

Here is me concentrating after about 5hours of driving.

Then lastly on the last small 160km hike from Kalbarri to Geraldton we were driving along the all of a sudden something comes flying infront of the windowscreen and off the car. I thought it was something from the roof and Dave thought it was from the windscreen wipers.
So we pulled over then all of a sudden a big truck and a few cars go past and run over what ever it was. We ran up to grab it and it was from the drivers side windscreen that holds it down.

I wouldn't have a bloody clue how that came off

But other than this coming off, the flat battery nothing happened to the car or boat
No punctures in the tyres or anything and it was a pretty quick 2,500km in 5 days. Great holiday though and I can't wait to go up their again.
I have never seen so many animals on the road and if I plan to go up that way more often then a bullbar or some kind of protection will probably be a good idea
Oh and lastly after many hours tying this I think I need to get away from the computer before work tomorrow

Hope you guys enjoyed the trip report.

Taza

Oh im done.

 

[NachaLuva]

Awesome Taza...great report.

bugger bout that piece of trim...looks like a trip to the wrecker for a new (old) one.

The cheek of that guy in the landcruiser saying you wouldnt make it...too easy lol, even with boat! Go Super Subie :biggrin:

 

[Subaruby]

Nice report and good pics.

Love to get over to WA one day.

No mention of catching any fish? How did you go?

 

[taza]

Nice report and good pics.

Love to get over to WA one day.

No mention of catching any fish? How did you go?

Its pretty nice over hear and not all the people everywhere like over east.
No didn't actually have time to fish, well spent time sitting relaxing then kinda ran out of time. Oh well. I defernately will next time though. From what other people at the campsite said there were heaps of big fish out for the catching. Plus quite a few sharks but we stayed inside the reef.

I forgot to mention we saw turtles when we were out in the boat, about half the size of the boat. They were too quick to get photos but it was really amazing

 

[mr turbo]

Great trip report & pics taza :ebiggrin:
Sorry to hear about the trim coming off mate I'm sure you'll be able to have it fixed without too much pain for the hip pocket though.

All in all, it looks like you guys had a great time

Regards
Mr Turbo

 

[taza]

Yeah I will just go to the Subie wrecker here and see if they have the bit of trim. Can prob get it for about $20 or so.

 

[carljwnc]

A most excellent trip report Taza!!! Photos are great too.

Looks like y'all had a great time. Too bad about the trim work, but like you said, minimal mishaps for such a long journey.

 

[Davidov]

Not even a flat tyre. :ebiggrin:

 

[Dulagarl]

That looks and sounds like a fantastic trip. Also, your subie is really looking good after all the work you have done to it. Might have to paint my wheels black!

 

[lefty]

great report
yeah I found Cape Range had the most roos on the road than anywhere.
suggest changing your interior lights to LED from ebay - they are cheap, draw little power and attract less bugs.

 

[good dog]

Memories are made by trips like these with good friends. Did you not let Dave drive some, while you enjoyed the scenery or napped?

 

[taza]

Memories are made by trips like these with good friends. Did you not let Dave drive some, while you enjoyed the scenery or napped?

He hasn't got his licence, still a learner driver. We are both only young guys (18). Next big trip though he can :ebiggrin:

And you right, really good memories.

 

[El_Freddo]

Awesome trip report Taza!

Now I'm keen to pack Ruby Scoo for another 6 months on the road - I WISH!!!

Keep up the good work. Petrol's the killer of long trips, I've found that if you're camped out you can stay there for a few days to explore the area to get more out of it, after all most of the cost is getting to these places these days! Time is the next factor - trying to get off work.

Cheers

Bennie

 

[JohnA]

You young blokes

2500 kays in 5 days - not bad going - especially with some rough stuff along the way. Thanks for sharing the shots - loved it. How big is that boat by the way - 12 foot or so?

 

[taza]

That looks and sounds like a fantastic trip. Also, your subie is really looking good after all the work you have done to it. Might have to paint my wheels black!

Thanks, now Dave has just got his Subaxtreme bullbar for his Outback im defernately sold on getting one. Will keep saving for both it and uni though, hoping a used one comes up but if not then new it is
I reckon your Foz would look really mean with black rims. Easy to do and if you don't like it just paint them back to silver

great report
yeah I found Cape Range had the most roos on the road than anywhere.
suggest changing your interior lights to LED from ebay - they are cheap, draw little power and attract less bugs.

I have LED interior light and they are good but I think if I plan to do camping like this jore often then another power sorce or dual battery set up may need to be considered.

Awesome trip report Taza!

Now I'm keen to pack Ruby Scoo for another 6 months on the road - I WISH!!!

Keep up the good work. Petrol's the killer of long trips, I've found that if you're camped out you can stay there for a few days to explore the area to get more out of it, after all most of the cost is getting to these places these days! Time is the next factor - trying to get off work.

Cheers

Bennie

Come back over to WA!!! Yeah I reckon next time stay in the one place if I go somewhere but anyway was still worth the effort of going

2500 kays in 5 days - not bad going - especially with some rough stuff along the way. Thanks for sharing the shots - loved it. How big is that boat by the way - 12 foot or so?

Thanks, yeah a few km but not too bad. Worth it for the relaxing and awesome time I had :biggrin: The boat is 3.8metres or about 12 foot. Its a good size for what it gets used for... which isn't much but still. The 25hp motor on the back really shifts along. Although the boat itself has a recommended sticker saying 15hp :lol:

One thing I forgot to add about the trip was when we pulled into Yardie Creek campsite we saw this guy with an L-Series sportswagon and had a kayak on the roof aswell as a HUGE caravan. Both Dave and me called him L-Series man and kept making stupid jokes and things up about him :lol: I went over a few times to speak to him but he was either out fishing, kayaking or sleeping. I kept saying to Dave that he must have a WRX engine or EJ20T or EJ or sorts but when he started it up it sounded like the stock old EA81. I almost died laughing. I thought my towing was bad with my 2.0l foz, I couldn't imagine what it was like for him :rotfl: I reckon he would be getting more than 25L per 100km while towing that in low range with a top speed of about 50km/hr. lol

We also came up with silly stories, especially after a few beers with the main title 'The Adventures of L-Series Man' :lol: along his trek accross the Aussie desert.

Just thought I would share that.

Taza