Camping at Herron Point, Coolup.

We have been saying for ages that we should go crabbing again.  Not take the boat out but just scooping for them.  Well this happened on Wednesday.

We mentioned it to daughter and she was keen so it was decided, we'd go out for a few hours and see what we could get.  Then there was talk of staying there and crabbing again the next morning.   So a plan was hatched, we'd camp and catch crabs.   And I know that some of you sniggered at that.  We did too.

Husbands car is not here and the van needed a run so it was decided that we'd take that.  Daughter has a station wagon and a mattress so that would be fine for her.  We needed crabbing gear, extra stuff for the daughter and her 4 year old, the rubber boat to tow the 4year old in, the bigger table, the bigger gas stove...by the time Hubby had packed what we needed poor little Wanda was packed to the roof.  Daughter took the nets and esky in her car but the van was still pretty jammed.

I commented again about how we always seem to have too much stuff but he says  "we'll need it"  

And as usual he was right. 

We didn't leave home until around 4pm but it didn't matter too much as Herron Point is not too far away.  We get there, check-in with the caretaker, I drive around the camping area, decide I want a spot with water views, park, reverse and park again, decide I want to be over a bit further so repeat...Finally decide that I have it right so park up.  Daughter then does the same but with less mucking around.  We all unpack and get things set up then we gather our scoopnets, the tub to put the crabs in and the boat to tow the kid in and off we go.  We walk in the water for a couple of hours.  I catch the first one but it is a too small female.  That was it for me, the daughter and husband caught the 5 we ended up with.  Back in to shore where we find that the mozzies have come in and we were covered with the bloody things before we got back to camp.  A quick spray around our area with Fogger, some insect repellant on, mozzie coils lit and placed close by...I hate using all these things but they do work and we did need them.

It is now dark, we are hungry, the kid (and me!) is ready for bed... so I get the stove ready and start cooking up some sausages.  Sausage and bread while we wait for Hubby to come back and do the crabs.  I have the water on getting hot while he has gone off to talk with a fisherman that had a gill net out.

Big Blueys.  We call them Blue Mannas but some people call them Blue Swimmer crabs.

 Cooked and being cleaned for the hungry hoards...who aren't as hungry now because we had sausages!!

 So we eat, a quick tidy-up in case of visiting night creatures

 Then we had a visit from the fisherman that the husband had been talking to and he gave us some of his catch, 4 nice size Herring.  Husband skinned and fillited them, another quick cleanup then bed.

Into our screened vehicles.   We, husband and I, slept in the van with the back door up with the screening  up.  It worked great at keeping the mozzies out.  Husband took a mozzie net that usually goes over a bed up for the daughter and we draped it over her car so she could have her windows down and that too worked a treat.  Unfortunately I couldn't find my windo socks that I had made so we couldn't have the front windows open at all and it was a bit stuffy but OK.  I now need to figure out where they have been put so I can get them back in the van where they belong.

 Below is the view I had while drinking my coffee and the camp setup on Thursday morning

 We didn't have many choices of where to camp as we had arrived quite late in the day and I wanted to be able to see the water so we were quite close to the toilet block.  It wasn't too bad though and did come in handy with the kid being there.

 I had forgotten about an appointment we had made for Thursday so we couldn't hang around too long and were packed up and ready to leave by 9am.
It was a quick but nice stay and we all plan on doing it again sometime soon.

We did get a visit from some night time critters.   Bandicoots came into camp, the daughter was awake, it was 1am, and she has photos that I will put up here when I can.

Mason Bay.

Going back a few weeks now, after the couple of days in Hopetoun, we drove East, maybe 35, or thereabouts, km to Mason Bay camping area. 

Only a halfhour or so from Hopetoun.

MASON BAY is a lovely, sheltered, quiet spot right on the beach. No fresh water but there are toilets. Fires are allowed during the correct season but you need your own wood as it's not allowed to be collected from the area.

Fees apply to MB but no one came to collect while we were there and there was no place to leave them so may be seasonal.

Gets busy, we were there during the week and the were up to 7 others with people coming and going. I think it would be packed during holidays.

We were close to the beach, seperated by a log railing and a few bushes.  There were quite a few areas that had water views.  The camping area is protected from the winds by trees and bushes. 

We had fresh fish, only minutes old, for breakfast both mornings.  Saw a few stingrays just offshore.

I'm no good with directions but if you stand and look at the water then turn right, west?, there is a lovely walk around to a point.  Might be a couple of km but an easy walk on hard sand and over a few rocks.  Back to your camping area and the other way, East?  takes you around a curve and there are these great flat rocks to climb over. 

The water looks safe for swimming but it was too cold for us.

It gets very windy though and the sand can sting any uncovered bits.

No mozzies but plenty of flies so take some netting of some sort.

And of course no photos because the batteries were flat.

We had Hubby's Cruiser and camped from that.  He has built a bed base in the back and we have the swag on top of that. 

We take our own loo and have had 2 water tanks put in under the tray so no worrying about drinking or showering.

 

Mason Bay...I like it. Possibly nicer than Starvation Bay which is just down the road but SB is bigger with more places to camp, fish, explore and walk.  But further away from the water...