After watching for a while , we unloaded the bikes , loaded the kayak , and headed off to Francois Peron National Park - it was time for some 4 wheel driving !!
The tracks in the NP are accessible for 4wd's only - are red sand , with some more sand and corrugations thrown in for good measure !!
I forgot to mention that the NParks people supply an air lead and gauge at the start of the sand section , so you can deflate your tyres , and then reinflate them when you get back - one lead on either side of the track - That's impressive !!! We dropped ours to 20psi .
They didn't waste any money on corners either - mainly straight sections that disappear into the distance .
As you can see , there are still wildflowers out - predominantly pink at the moment , although there were some small yellow ones as well . The next photo is a close up of the second photo .
After travelling 9klms on sand , we arrived at Big Lagoon , drove through the last section of very loose sand and parked , changed into swimmers and unloaded the kayak . There was some wind blowing , not as badly as our last paddle , but wasn't too bad . We set off into the wind , and crossed to the other side of the lagoon . The stand out feature was the sand dunes - they are orange !!! then at the waters edge the sand is white , the water is green & blue and then there are the plants & shrubs , how could you forget the blue sky on top of everything else !!
After going to the aquarium yesterday and learning and seeing all these creatures that live here , we started to see some wildlife , first there was a turtle - we must have startled it , as it took off like a scalded cat from the seagrass bed it was in . Next up , there was a dark object swimming not far from us , it was a lemon shark about 2m long , just cruising along in about 600mm of water . The water behind us started to surge and splash , fish started to jump out of the water , it was a school of fish being chased by what looked to be a nervous shark about 900mm long , trying to get a fish for lunch ! This was turning out to be a cracker of a day , before long we had spotted a stingray , then another , then another !!!
The orange dunes seemed to fade into the distance as the wildlife took over from the views !!
We drifted with the breeze , just staring at the water and anything that looked like it was moving - we circled rocks & weed , just in case it may have been something alive . We drifted across the lagoon and ended up about 2klms from the ute , at the end of a sand dune , at the start of the sanctuary zone .
Just as we were drifting into the beach , we saw 2 shovel nosed rays in about 300mm of water , they just swam away a few metres before relaxing on the sand again .
We jumped out and walked down the beach and around the corner to check out what was there , the lagoon just keeps on going several more kilometres . The water is different colours due to the seagrass and water depths - it would look amazing from the air !!
Back in the kayak and up the beach about 600m , we decided to have lunch . The dune behind us was orange , the beach white and water crystal clear , we chased another stingray away as we came in to the beach . We ate lunch and soaked up the view - it was extraordinary !!!
Off again and back to the ute , scaring off another turtle as we went . We had the lagoon to ourselves till we got close to the ute , when a few other cars arrived .
The breeze was keeping the temperature down , it was 35 degrees at the ute !! We loaded everything up and headed off , not getting too far as we got stopped by the soft sand - some tourists in a camper ute parked in the middle of the carpark area and blocked our run into the sand , not going forwards , we selected low range and reversed out , before getting some more speed up to carry us through the sand - made it this time , getting up the hill !! Back out to the main access road , we headed toward the tip of the NPark - about 30 klms away . Other than about 5 corners , the road was again straight and sandy - it's almost like driving on train tracks - you get into the tyre grooves and that's where you go - they go left , you go left , they go right so do you . Fortunately there wasn't too many other vehicles on the track , although there were passing bays on the side at intervals .
We arrived at a very large claypan , and drove beside it for a few klms , before getting to the next sandy part .
Away we went down the sand again , gradually slowing as we went - the sand was getting deeper and softer - finally after about 100m , our forward progress was stopped - hmmm - not good !!
Into reverse with the diff locks engaged to give us some more traction , we reversed back about 40m , we hit it again and made it 2m past our previous attempt -decision was made to not try a 3rd time - don't want to push our luck on Sunday afternoon with very little other traffic about , and no snatch strap or shovel !!
Annoyed we were so close ( 5klms from the tip ) , but couldn't continue , we turned around and decided to head back to the last turnoff to Herald Bight - it was only 5.7 klms from the main track - what could go wrong !!!
The track in was much the same as we had been driving on , till we got close to the beach - the track split into 2 - one in , one out - both of which were in a grey sand and looked to be a bit deeper !!!
We made it into the beach , or 10m from the beach before our forward progress stopped - this was not pretty - we were on a downhill slope to the beach , and had to try and turn around and drive back up the track to get out - back in low range , diff locks engaged , first gear selected and off we go - oops someone forgot to tell the ute to go forward or backward - some movement would have been good !! This is where we stopped to take in the view !
The situation demands some action - we couldn't see anyone else yet , so we had to get ourselves out! We didn't have a shovel , but in a Bear Grylls moment - we had paddles that separate into 2 sections - 2 shovels !! We dug and smoothed , moved forward 3m , dug and smoothed , moved forward a metre , dug and smoothed forward 5m , dug and smoothed - you've got the idea now I'm sure - we continued to do that until we were out ( dropped the tyre pressures to about 17psi - the fronts had gone up to 25 while we drove - must have heated up !! ) The sweat was rolling off us , the sand was hot , fortunately the flies weren't there , but we were OUT - it took about 40 mins , but we were out !!!
Back to the main track and back to Denham . The lizards here must like playing chicken with the ute, as they would run into the tyre tracks and just before we got to them , they would dart off to the side and sit and watch us go past - sometimes by mere millimetres .
We arrived back and pumped the tyres back up , before hitting the main road again . It was definitely time for a cool beer and some salsa and a bit of a laugh at our day !! and what a day it was !!
Todays map link :-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.k6V9q0ATWgCg&usp=sharing
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