Sandy Cape – Camping

Posted on by under Australia, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Street Photography

Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.25.27 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.25.18 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.24.54 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.24.46 PM

My personal interpretation of the wind and waves…  Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.24.39 PM

Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.24.20 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.24.03 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.23.54 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.23.47 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.23.24 PMOur first night was spent at Sandy Cape.  Which is about 10 minutes North of Jurien Bay.  It’s family friendly, and is adjacent to a beautiful beach and sand dunes. Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.22.48 PM These bees were in Brian and Tessa’s garden, when we went to pick up our beloved Tessie.  It was nearly 40 degrees and the poor little bees were desperately trying to find cool shade and safe landing spot.  Lucky timing for this bug stalker… Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.22.32 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.22.20 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.21.59 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.21.41 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.21.31 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.20.48 PMOn our second day we spent a few hours at our old beach stomping grounds/oasis in Greenhead. Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.20.42 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.20.30 PMTessie has been with us during our camping adventure. She slept in a tent for the very first time.  She’s also become a bit of a shadow.  Everywhere I go, she goes.  If I start walking, she’s right beside me.  This also includes going to the washroom.

I squat in a bush…she literally poops beside me.  Which was awkward. Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.20.23 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.20.14 PM

She also drove the car and got us stuck.Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.20.06 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.19.59 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.19.52 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.19.34 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.19.10 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.18.38 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.18.30 PM We met up with a couple of old friends, who took us to this private (locals only) beach for some fishing and relaxation.  It was such a beautiful sunset…  Tessie nearly got killed by one of the other dogs.  I’m slightly exaggerating, but things did escalate rather quickly.  Thankfully someone jumped in… Tessie is fine.  Just not top dog in this lot!Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.18.19 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.18.04 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.17.57 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.17.35 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.17.25 PM Apparently there is a larger breed of puffer fish, that can grow to be one meter in length and will bite off your fingers.  Which is absolutely insane.  I made sure the guys tossed them back into the ocean unharmed (they are a pain when fishing).Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.17.16 PM Screen Shot 2015-01-18 at 10.17.04 PM

We stopped on the way home to admire this valley.  There are thousands of these “tall boys” that have sprouted out of the sand.  They can grow to be 600 years old, and only grow at a rate of 1 cm per year.  They are quite a common site in Western Australia, however knowing these facts I suddenly have even more respect for them.  They are quite quirky to look at, and yet they were also incredibly useful during pioneering times.  The seeds were ground into flour and many other parts of the plants were processed to help industry.  They can also lead the most observant people to a grub mecca beneath the ground.
Tessie has returned to Perth with us for a little while.  It’s nice to have our little family back together.  She’s here to help keep my company as some days when I am home and Mike is away, I can get really sad.  It’s nice to have some company and feel love when the day winds down.
Our weekend was really relaxing.  I didn’t shower, wear deodorant, makeup or brush my teeth very regularly.  It’s nice to disconnect from the churn and grind of the city and appreciate nature… It’s peaceful to listen to the waves and hear the wind howl around the tent in the middle of the dark night.
We also were witness to the milk way our first evening.  It was stunning, emense, powerful…
Western Australia is an amazing place.
Have you been here?  What did you love most?  
Are you from Western Australia?  Please, let me know where you’re from, tell me what it’s like.  I’d love to know.

13 thoughts on “Sandy Cape – Camping”

  3. Thanks for the follow. I was just admiring your lovely photos. I may be photo challenged myself, but really appreciate what others are able to do with a camera. Australia is one of the few parts of the world I have not lived. I regret not visiting when we lived in Singapore, but my children all got to go to Melbourne on school trips. I guess there were just too many places closer by to fly all the way there.

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    • Hello Hilda, wow where have you lived? Also what was it that had you moving around the planet so frequently? You must have had an amazing life so far full of adventure and culture. Living in Western Australia, we’re very close to asia, but have never been on a trip there specifically (usually stop overs to canada!). I have an enormous list of places I’d love to see. Melbourne is amazing, if you do ever decided to travel to Australia, WA is definitely not to be overlooked. I am in love with this state…there is just so much to see.

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      • Well, since you ask… I lived in a few countries as a child, and then married a diplomat and he had a great career consisting of 10 foreign postings. We are retired now, but I do miss it, although it sort of makes sense to be here now that children have all grown up and have, so far, careers in NA. We still travel often, but it is not the same as actually moving somewhere. We tried to take non-English speaking postings since we are both keen on languages, so it tended to be the uni-linguals who got postings to the States, UK and down under. I have recently learned to love travelling in the States though. I can understand why you would like where you are, and it is interesting for me to read about it.

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          • Hard to choose a favourite posting – each one had its charm. Switzerland was the most comfortable – I could have stayed there forever, India was the most interesting and USSR and later Russia was the most life changing – and so on. I am most comfortable in Spanish, speak French well but don’t really like it, and wish my Russian were better but still working at it. I studied a few other languages but never became close to proficient. What part of Canada are you from?

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          • That’s incredible, how did you find it learning the languages? Is Russia as hard and intimidating as the American films make it out to be? I’ve read a lot about WW2 and Stalin, Stalingrad…and the horrible things that happened to the people there. I often wonder if they are oppressed from my reading they are very loyal to the motherland… Is it natural or conditioning that fosters such intense loyalty? I’m not sure… I’m from Niagara Falls region…but have spent about 8 years living in Banff National Park (amazing place…the most beautiful place I’ve lived) and also Toronto (which I loved for the culture and diversity and acceptance, it’s a really urban city). India would be quite different, I’d love to go but it may be a trip I do solo as Mike is not that keen…

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          • No language can be that hard, I figure. After all, they can all be learned by 2 year olds. It does take some determination and confidence, and occasionally the willingness to look a fool, but I am used to that. I was not so keen to go to India myself, but I loved it as soon as I got off the plane, and have missed it since I left. You would probably love the Himalayas – there are some beautiful old villages where you can rent a cabin and go hiking to your heart’s content without the danger bumping into a Tim Horton’s – just lots of history. One of the hill stations I have fond memories of is Manali. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manali,_Himachal_Pradesh
            although it looks a lot more built up than when I was there. I look forward to seeing your photos of Japan. I would think that would be a photographer’s dream to visit there, especially in the spring.

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  4. Hello Holly, this camping trip of yours sounds so wonderful – I’d love to do something like that someday. Two things I’ve always wanted to do: spend a night in the desert looking up at the stars, listening to the wind and then watching the sunrise. Same for a night spent on a deserted beach: watching the stars and listening to the waves. Not sure if I’ll get the chance as my husband isn’t as keen, but you never know. In the meantime, I have your images and words to enjoy so thank you for that. BTW, I’m originally from Michigan but now live in northern California. My best friend moved here from Melbourne over twenty years ago. She has a poster of Australian birds in her kitchen that I study every time I visit – so many beautiful birds! Between her stories and photographs and your blog, I’m itching to visit Australia.

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    • Thank you for commenting red-haired-gal. Yes, watching the stars at night and wasting a sunrise… Do you get the change to at least watch the sun rise at the beach in California? I hope so. Does your friend ever travel back to Australia? There are some incredible birds here, in fact I was never much of a bird watcher before I came to Australia, and now I take note… they are stunning. I hope you’ll be able to come here some day soon!

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