After refilling the tank and a jerry can with desalinated water (in the end the noise wasn’t too bad, but we thought we ought to at least benefit), we drove into Denham to refuel and buy some bread and cheese (Tasty Cheese according to the label - photo enclosed for Mark).
Then we drove back to the end of the peninsula and into Cape Peron National Park where we planned to camp for the night as they have a number of designated camping areas around the coastline which are only accessible by 4WD. About 5km into the park is the former sheep station’s homestead and shearing pens which have been preserved and give a good insight into the workings of the farm when it was operational.
Due to the rugged landscape and bush it used to take three months to trap the sheep when they came to watering holes (they couldn’t be rounded up), which makes our efforts to catch Anne’s mum’s sheep pale into insignificance. The sheep were then held in pens prior to being sheared with belt driven shears, after which the wool was sorted for quality and baled whilst the sheep were dipped and released. At least after a hard day’s work the stockmen could have a soak in a hot tub, fed by 40oC artesian water, which we plan to try for ourselves tomorrow on our way back out of the park.
After leaving the homestead it was time to air down and take the sandy trail north out to Cape Peron.
It’s a 50km drive to the cape and takes about an hour and a half due to the conditions. One stretch of the track is actually two way and we almost got taken out by a hired Toyota Land Cruiser Camper that was straddling our outside tyre track. Luckily we braked in time to avoid the collision. On our way to the cape we checked out Big Lagoon, a rather beautiful spot with a lone fisherman’s Toyota parked up.
An hour later and we’d made it to the cape where there’s a walking trail along the dune tops to the next headland, Skipjack Point. Fortified by chocolate doughnuts bought at the bakery in Denham, we set off and were rewarded with seeing manta rays gliding through the water below the lookout platforms. SPOT
We headed back down the peninsula and called into a couple of the camping spots on the west side. The first was a bit busy for our liking with at least four other 4WDs parked up, so we carried on to Gregories which was deserted. As we were selecting our spot for the night we were startled by a couple of Toyotas pulling up behind us. They were in a group of four, with two more vehicles making their way through the park. Initial thoughts were that our peaceful campsite had been spoilt, but instead it turned out to be a great chance meeting. Iain, driving the lead Hi-Lux, invited us to come over and join their camp, so we moved our vehicle and everybody set up. Ted and his wife Judy, Scott their son, Iain, Barry and Jim were all from New South Wales and were on a six week 4WD trip around the country.
We sat around the fire and had a wonderful evening, being introduced to the art of camp oven cooking and the technicalities of swags amongst other things, and after one too many nightcaps we finally climbed into bed at about 1.30am. SPOT
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