4WD-ing with Calimero: Tamala Station

Saturday, 27 December 2014

Visiting Shark Bay, Tamala Station and Francois Peron National Park, Western Australia

Last year at Tamala Station we had a great time so decision to go there again was not a tough one at all.
This time due to low tide we picked another beach a bit more north on peninsula, called Nannas. It was purely bush camping so no facilities available beside BYO but that's what we liked.
With an early start from Perth with a couple of usual stops for breaks we arrived at Nannas late afternoon and just in time to setup the camp. There was just one spoiler and it was enormous amount of flies this year which made almost impossible to breathe without covering face with mesh. Other than that a perfect start of our little holiday.

After a couple of nights we moved to Denham so we could visit Monkey Mia in mornings for sessions with dolphins.

Niki enjoyed ride at Aristocat 2 which included visiting a pearl farm, feeding fish and watching dolphins racing with the boat.

Driving slowly through Denham was highly recommended to make sure all local residents were not disturbed.

Next day we went to explore Francois Peron national park. Access to numerous camps and beaches was available only via corrugated and soft sandy tracks.

Hence the name Shark Bay

A "golden" view

Wednesday, 1 May 2013

Camping at Tamala Station, Shark Bay, Western Australia

This was one of those famous last moment decision trips. Just a day earlier after checking weather forecast we packed up camping gear and decided to drive north to Shark Bay for a couple of days.

Although we had visited Denham and Monkey Mia (Peron Peninsula) previously at least five times, we never explored Edel Land and Henri Freycinet Harbour before. Following a quick research about where to stay for two nights and recollection of few recommendations from other people, the choice was made in favour of Tamala Station. We've got in touch with owners Brian and Joke who managed to slot as in Huts Beach on such a short notice.

It was a while since we did camping last time and a good opportunity to try out few recently bought camping bits.

We wanted to reach Shark Bay in a day so an early start was a must. Also a decision was made to go via Brand Hwy. Yes it is quite boring to drive but still the quickest route from Perth to Geraldton. We hit the road just a little past 5 am and lost a part of the early start advantage just 30 min out of Perth. There were Great Northern hwy closure due to a serious car accident. The de-tour cost us around extra 45 min but nothing we couldn't compensate along the way.

The first stop was in Dongara for fuel and breakfast. The next stop was our friends place in Northampton for a quick catch up and cup of coffee. We reached Tamala Station late afternoon and still had enough time to let our little daughter to play with little goat the owners let out to entertain her. After taking the gate's keys and driving few kms through a narrow sandy track down to Huts beach we had just enough time to setup the camp before nightfall.
Those few days we stayed at Huts beach were really relaxing. There were few campers on the main beach but took us just a 15 min driving along a local track to find a small beach just for ourselves. The weather was almost perfect with daily max of 26C and night time temperature stayed above 18C.
There are no many mainland places where you can watch both sunrise and sunset above the ocean from the same spot, Tamala Station's Huts beach is one of them.

On the way back we decided to go via Scenic Ocean Drive as it seemed like a more interesting option and we were not concerned about being late and driving few night time hours close to Perth.

All in all, this trip proved once again that least planned and expected trips tend to bring the most of joy.

Below are few photos of a small beach at Huts where we stayed at.