Sandy Cape and Another Terrible Road

Driving from Geraldton to Sandy Cape, just north of Jurien Bay, allows one to catch fleeting glimpses of the bountiful waters of the Batavia Coast. Western Rock Lobster congregate in large numbers along this stretch of coastline, especially from about mid November 'til late December. It can be a bonanza time for the rock lobster fishers, whom call this time of the tear "the Whites", a reference to the colour of the lobster's shell. Later in the season their shells turn to the darker red/brown colour that most would be familiar with.

Port Denison, just south of Dongara, is a favourite stop for us and we availed ourselves of the little bakery located on the foreshore. They do a very nice coffee and we purchased some frosted buns with a jam twist to round off the snack. The marina was the scene of quiet activity as fishers checked their boats while folks walked, jogged, paddled or swam in the tranquil surroundings. It was a real effort to drag ourselves away.

Heading south, we took the bypass road through the coastal dunes and rejoined the Brand Highway near the gas fields at Pye Rd. Dongara has been the home of a small-scale gas industry for many decades, with the gas from there being the first to be piped to Perth back in the 60's. Although there are many production wells in the area, none can be seen from the main highway - which is probably a good thing.

Not so long ago, Jurien Bay and Sandy Cape required a two hour drive along the Brand Highway, many kilometres from the coast, followed by another thirty minute deviation back to the coast. The drive took in the rolling hills of the sheep grazing country between Eneabba and Dandaragan, but wasn't particularly inspiring. Alternatively, there was a pretty scrappy coastal drive, linking numerous small towns and unofficial fishing villages that all owed their existence to the rock lobster industry. In recent years a reasonable bitumen road has replaced the old track and has been named the "Indian Ocean Drive".

Stretching from just south of Dongara, right through to the northern suburbs of Perth, the recently completed Indian Ocean Drive is a more scenic route between the State Capitol and Geraldton. It is a Tourist Way, with the only trucks allowed to use it being those re-supplying the towns along the drive. Caravanners now have the exclusive rights to holding up kilometres of vehicle traffic! This is the road onto which we turned as we made our way further south.

Within minutes you find yourself back on the coast, catching glimpses and, sometimes, full-on views of the blue waters and white sandy beaches as you wind your way along the bitumen. There are few opportunities to overtake along the first fifty or so kilometres of this, sometimes narrow, stretch of road and this means that slower vehicles can, and do, hold up long lines of vehicles all the way to Leeman.

Leeman is the first official town that you come to, although you will see many small clusters of shacks, once home to the fishers whom plied the waters to make a living from the succulent lobsters. Local Government Authorities along this stretch of coast have banned the use of these shacks as none were built with planning permission and few would come close to the building codes in construction quality. It goes without saying that none of the shack-holders was paying rates, which irked the Shires somewhat. Most shacks have been removed but a smattering remain as reminders of a bygone era, some even occupied during the lobster season by defiant fisho's whom argue that they have a historical right live in the area while earning their living.

Leeman has suffered through the State Fisheries Department's efforts to ensure that the Western Rock Lobster fishery remains sustainable. This has resulted, as it did in Geraldton, in many boats coming out of the industry, leaving their skippers and crew to find work elsewhere. The Fisheries Dept. cannot be blamed for this - it is necessary to preserve fish stocks for the future and most in the industry knew that the shake-up was coming. Unfortunately, knowing about it did not lessen the impact that it was to have on these small coastal towns.

From Leeman it is a short drive to the turn-off into Green Head. Now bypassed by the main road, Green Head is named after the headland upon which it has been built. Again, fishing has been the dominant industry in the past and it too has suffered for the same reasons as Leeman, Geraldton and Dongara. Bypassing the town has not helped businesses there either.

After Green Head you will not pass another town before reaching the turn-off into Sandy Cape, requiring you to keep an eye out for the sign, which is not overly prominent. The road into Sandy Cape is just 13 kilometres of gravel but I'm sure that the Shire of Dandaragan does not even own a grader because the surface is always corrugated, exacerbated by the trucks that haul Gypsum from a nearby mine. On this occasion, the road was probably at its worst (in my experience of visiting many times) and again I made things worse by not letting our tyres down, thinking that the short drive in must have at least a few patches that would not shake the bejesus out of the car and van. Wrong!

Normally I prefer to drive slowly and steadily on corrugations like these, but on this occasion I threw caution to the wind and wound up the revs until we were "skipping" over the corro's. (Theory number: 2, on how to drive corrugated roads.) This worked after a fashion and saw us arrive at the Cape on the same day, rather than set up camp half-way in due to not being able to reach speeds greater than five kilometres per hour.

Imagine how surprised we were to find numerous available places to set up camp, given that it was during the middle of the school holidays. We chose a site that had a modicum of grass cover and importantly, was tucked in close to some of the coastal vegetation that could afford us some protection from the west-coast sea-breeze, should it blow. Just as well we did - it blew pretty much the entire time we were there, but, thanks to the vegetation we felt no discomfort.

A little bit of grass and plenty of shelter at our chosen site.

We had company, after all, it was school holidays.

Herring, also known as Tommy Roughs or Tommies in South Australia, were in abundance when I fished here about a year prior. Even though I laid out a berley trail from Sandy Cape to Green Head, not a single fish bothered my bait. This was to be the story of the stay and I later found out that an unusually warm Leeuwin Current, in the months prior, had done enormous harm to the fish in the area, with estimated losses of up to 90% of stocks of some fish. One wonders what effect this may have on the already suffering Rock Lobster industry?

Sue loves Herring and my inability to catch a fish did untold damage to my Brownie Point count, which had been momentarily looking good after fixing the caravan window issue. Thankfully, Sandy Cape compensated for this lack of fish by providing us with a splendid, tranquil, scenic venue for our short stay.

For those not familiar with Sandy Cape, it is located 16 Km north of the growing township of Jurien Bay (about 32 Km by road.) There are about fifty campsites, spread along the coast, just in behind the first line of fringing dunes. Sites vary from being suitable for tents only, right through to several that would easily accommodate a large Winnebago or bus, even with a trailer attached. Payment of $7.50 per person per night (or a minimum of $15.00 per night if you travel solo) can be made at an honour box about a kilometre short of the camp area, or will be collected by the on-site Caretaker.

Looking down from the fringing dune. Most sites have plenty of shelter from the sea-breeze.

For those "personal needs", there are reasonable hybrid toilets that are a sort of flushing long-drop and for those with their own amenities, there is a dump point at the honour box. Water is available in very limited quantities and is rainwater collected from the roof of the dunny block. With the large number of seabirds in the area, drinking that water would be at your own risk and, at the very least, it should be boiled vigorously if you do plan to ingest it. There is no power available.

The beach that runs along the majority of campsites is very safe for swimming, with the exception of some very small stinging jelly fish that are present at certain times of the year. These have a mildly irritating sting that does not bother you for long and can be treated with vinegar in the same manner as more serious jellyfish stings. The rocky headland that is the Sandy Cape, shelters the bay surrounding the aforementioned beach, providing a safe haven for boating and kayaking. Atop the headland is a walk-trail and a lookout that offers excellent views along the coast in both directions. Walking is a great activity in this area, with many beaches, trails and tracks to be explored and, if you are reasonably fit, there is a stark, extremely white and bright dune system that can be climbed.

Looking north along the sheltered beach.

Facing south offers splendid views of the sandy Cape.

School holidays and long weekends are popular, so avoid these times if you can. Bookings are not taken for sites, but you can contact the Shire of Dandaragan if you require any information about the facilities. The Shire has posted warning signs at the Cape. Some derelict fishing shacks, partially made from asbestos, were knocked down and buried there in the past. It is recommended that you do not disturb the soil in any way.

Sue and I spent most of our time "chillaxing" (a nice word I stole from our Daughter, whom is an expert at "chilling and relaxing" ), steeling ourselves for the chaos of the big city - our next destination.