Two day's / nights to get to Ningaloo - 1st camp - Gladstone scenic lookout camps # 423 complete with Elf and other memento's to the passing! 338k's 4 hrs 30 minutes.
Camp # 438 - 32k's North of Minilya Road House 318k's easy driving on the black top.
to camp in the Weapons Range. In force for several years now apparently.
installed a UHF Simplex repeater tower on the range
South Lefroy camp, now locked gates with
$100 deposit fees for the key return on departure
Aussie humour - Trailer signage - BABY BUSHTRACKER
All set up within 2 hours - only the BBQ to go!
View from the step ladder - great viewing the whales who were going nut's very close to the reef, breaching, rolling, tail slapping.
At night you can hear the tail slapping.
Beach walk before offloading the tinnie
Early AM - Now this is more like it - but how long will it last?
Quick let's get the tinnie into the water before the wind get's up
MAGIC - Yep! this is the colour of the water - no photo enhancing.
A West Coast Banded snake.
| Taxonomy and Biology | |||
| Adult Length: 0.25 m | |||
| General Shape Very small in length, cylindrical, medium bodied burrowing snake with a very short tail. Can grow to a maximum of about 0.39 metres. Head is medium in size, no canthus rostralis and indistinct from neck. Snout is depressed, angular in profile ( but not tipped with cutting edge ) and rounded when viewed from above. Eyes are small in size with vertically elliptical pupils. Dorsal scales are smooth and glossy. Dorsal scale count ( 15 to 17 ) - 15 - 13 ( 15 ). |
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| Habitat Coastal and near coastal dunes with heaths, chenopods and spinifex. |
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| Habits Nocturnal, secretive and fossoria snake. Active on the surface only at night. Shelters in loose sandy humified soil under shrubs, trees and fallen timber and limestone rocks. Head is often protruded above the surface ( snout is well camouflaged ) to ambush prey. Very shy snake which attempts to flee for cover if disturbed. |
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| Prey Feeds on small skinks |
Hey! dog, can you find a smaller stick to throw.
Not going to throw that fire wood log - sorry!
Campers behind us departed today, and this left in the spinifex. Murhpy's Law - I had just purchased a reef anchor for this trip to Ningaloo - Oh! well now have a back-up - 1 more Kilo to the load
Winds up might as well practice his sand chipping
Guess whats for TEA! - Yummy Thai chili and basil stir fry
One landed in Gary and Pam's freezer
Sue's happy a large squid landed
Flicking a weighted fly in the shallow's
Sue was sure surprised when this landed on the beach,
you just never know whats cruising the shallows
Baking day - ripe banana's - Banana fruit loaf,
and Sue scrumptious thai spiced Lasagna
Norwegians operated from Jervis Bay, and Frenchman’s Bay (Albany), before
basing their activities from Norwegian Bay (Point Cloates) in the State’s North-
West. Between 1913 and 1916 they caught more than 4,000 whales making
considerable profit from the whale oil and fertilizer they produced. In 1916 they
abandoned whaling when dwindling numbers made the industry less viable.
basing their activities from Norwegian Bay (Point Cloates) in the State’s North-
West. Between 1913 and 1916 they caught more than 4,000 whales making
considerable profit from the whale oil and fertilizer they produced. In 1916 they
abandoned whaling when dwindling numbers made the industry less viable.
The following photo's a what remains of the Whaling Station
Between 1925 and 1929 the Norwegian Bay Whaling Company operated profitably
from Point Cloates once whale numbers had recovered. Then again from 1936
foreign whalers operated off the North-West, killing 7,000 whales in three years.
The Second World War put the whaling industry on hold, but by 1948 a world
shortage of fats caused the price of whale oil to rise to six times the prewar price.
With whale numbers up, whaling became a highly lucrative industry, with three
companies operating off the Western Australian coast at Albany, Point Cloates and
Carnarvon. By 1955 the Western Australian stations accounted for 1,126 whales,
or about 60 % of the Australian total.
By 1956 whaling operations in the North-West had been consolidated at Babbage
Island, near Carnarvon under the Nor’West Whaling Company before eventually
ceasing in 1963 due to a fall in the number of humpback whales. A ban on their
capture closed all Australian whaling stations except the Cheyne’s Beach station at
Frenchman’s Bay, Albany. The hunting of sperm whales continued until 1978 when
the dwindling numbers led to its closure. In 1985 the International Whaling
Commission introduced a ten year moratorium on whaling, a ban which was
extended during the 1990s, in spite of some whaling carried out for “scientific
purposes”by Japanese, Norwegian and Icelandic whalers.
Trolling hooked this Lizard fish on a weighted fly
This guy was hungry - took the squid jig
A monster - weighed in at 1.236kg
One of the locals
always look before you step into the dunes.
The Yellow-faced Whip Snake is a slender and fast-moving snake,
active during the day. It is common throughout most of Australia. It is
often confused with the Eastern Brown Snake, and it is hard to observe
closely, being alert and fleeing quickly when disturbed.
Identification- It is pale grey to brown in colour, with reddish colouring on the head, and sometimes on the tail as well. The belly is grey-green to yellowish. A dark comma-shaped streak runs from the eye to the corner of the mouth. The face is usually but not always yellowish, with a narrow, yellow-edged dark bar around the front of the snout from nostril to nostril. The average length is 80cm, with a maximum of 1m. Males are larger than females. It can be distinguished from the Eastern Brown by its facial markings, and smaller size.
Size range - 80 cm - 100 cm
Distribution - The Yellow-faced Whip Snake is common throughout most of Australia.
Habitat -The Yellow-faced Whip Snake is found in a wide range of habitats, except swamps and rainforest, from the coast to the arid interior.
Seasonality-During winter theYellow-faced Whip Snake may shelter beneath rocks, and has been observed aggregating with several other individuals on occasion.
Feeding and Diet-The Yellow-faced Whip Snake feeds mainly on small diurnal lizards, as well as frogs and lizard eggs. They have good eyesight, and can chase and capture lizards on the run.
Life cycle-The Yellow-faced Whip Snake lays eggs in early summer in the south of its range, with clutches of 5-20 eggs (the average is six) being recorded. Communal egg-laying of up to 200 eggs, in deep soil or rock crevices, has also been reported.
Danger to humans and first aid -The Yellow-faced Whip Snake is a venomous snake, but is not considered dangerous. However, a bite could be extremely painful, with much local swelling.
Sue and Pam
