Cape Range National Park

Arrived in Exmouth drenched. First time on the trip riding in rain. Took the soft approach and got ourselves a hotel room for the night. Next day we went to the DEC office in town to get some info on the road conditions in Cape Range NP (they had had a lot of rain). We asked them if they happened to be needing any camp hosts at the moment, not expecting anything. But to our surprise they said "well, yes actually". Turns out some of their camp hosts had had to cancel because of illness and they were now in a situation where they had a camp ground without any hosts. Enter Mark and Sanne! We had a quick interview with the ranger (who Mark had actually met earlier at Quobba) and an hour later we were on our way to Tulki Camp in Cape Range. We ended up being there for 5 weeks and it was by far one of the best experiences of our trip. 

The "work" consisted of collecting camp fees from people, keeping the camp ground tidy and dealing with French backpackers who thought they were exempt from having to pay camp fees. The latter happened so often that it was a complete joke. We even had a bunch of French guys trying to steal some other campers' camping gear, right in front of us. We feel sorry for the nice ones (yes, there are a few) because the French have a VERY bad reputation in WA.

But luckily the majority of people we met there were incredibly nice! We think they probably felt a bit sorry for us doing it a bit rougher than everyone else and of course we weren't your typical camp hosts, which usually consists of retired couples in Winnebagos. Our little campground became almost like a little community and we befriended especially the few long-termers that were there. Everyone looked after one another.

Life was truly a beach at Tulki! We went snorkelling almost every day and saw turtles, sharks, rays and lots of  fish always on a daily basis. There was an abundance of life beneath the surface and a colourful one at that. 

Tulki Beach

Campground Host Base

We met a fellow motorbike traveller, named Nathan who was travelling around Oz on his DR650. 

He stayed with us at Tulki for a couple of nights.

The view from the range looking out towards Ningaloo Reef



Yardie Creek

Black-footed Rock Wallaby

Pilgramunna

Osprey Bay

Mark snorkelling

Sandy Bay (notice the dead jellyfish on the beach - there was a lot! And they hurt!)

Shothole Canyon (and one of the few photos of Mark and together on the bikes).

(Mark looks like a midget).

A couple of wild horses that lived just outside the national park. They belonged to a station many years ago but the station shut down and the horses were left to fend for themselves. These two are the only ones left after the council have shot the rest and basically rely on friendly tourists for food and water.

This photo doesn't really show the amount of kangaroos in Cape Range.

 Never have we seen more roos in our life! From 4pm onwards they would congregate (mostly along the road) in huge numbers. Had a few near hits driving back to camp in the late afternoon when kamikaze kangaroos would jump right out in front of the bikes. It was pretty nerve wrecking! Thankfully we never hit one. Could have been very nasty - both for the skippy and for us!