Island Hopping From Dampier To Exmouth
I had just come off a 2 week solo paddle around the islands off Dampier and was waiting
in the caravan park for 5 mates to come up from Perth to join me on the next leg of my
trip island hopping down to Exmouth. For me, island hopping is what sea kayaking is all
about. I love the idea of staying on remote islands surrounded by the ocean, with that
Robinson Caruso feel and no mobile phones. Well actually you need a mobile phone or
more accurately a mobile satellite phone. One of the problems with island hopping,
especially if you are up to 60 km off the coast, is getting good weather forecasts. In the
Pilbera region of WA the islands have no water, the weather is always hot and they are
very remote. It is possible to get up to a week of very high winds in this area and if you
don’t have enough water the option is to tackle very rough conditions or get rescued.
Satellite phones are a brilliant safety line and on this trip we would be taking two, just to
be sure.
When the boys arrived they were one short. John Di Nuci had cut his foot the night before
the trip and could not come. This was a real shame and the first time I would be doing a
big trip without him. The other blokes, Tel, Garry, Geoff and Dennis were also sad for
John but looking forward to getting on the water.
Two weeks ago this area was facing ferocious winds from cyclone Inigo but since then
the weather has been fine and mild and the day we headed out was just perfect. We
paddled out of Dampier Harbor and turned south into Mermaid Straight with a light tail
wind. Day one was to take us 35 km to Eaglehawk Island. It is a magic little island with a
wreck of a huge derrick beached on the northwestern corner. Just off the island is an
older wreck of a Catalin a floatplane that was sunk by a Japanese air raid in the Second
World War. There is also a memorial plaque for a lost sailor. We landed at 2.00 so there
was plenty of time to rest. Lying back on the sand it was hard to believe that such a
tranquil place has such a violent legacy.
After we set up camp I was keen to try out my new hand spear. The water was a little
murky from the tidal current but warm as bathe water. After about 5 minuets and still
only about 15 meters off the shore a school of Golden Trevally swam by. I took aim and
wham, I had a 20 cm fish for dinner. I gave the fish to Garry and went back in. Another 5
minutes later I had another one. As this was enough for all of us I gave up the snorkeling
feeling very happy with myself. Garry had been nicknamed “Fang” because of his
constant eating and huge variety of food and condiments he takes. In fact I cannot believe
a Mirage can hold so much food. Not that I am complaining though as Fang took charge
of the fish and cooked up a magnificent fish curry for 5. Not bad for the first night out.
The first couple of days were reasonably hard as we had to do 35 to 40 km nonstop.
Unfortunately there was nothing we could do to change that. After the first 3 days things
get a lot easier as the islands are more numerous and they all have little beaches, just for
kayakers. The weather had been kind to us with only one day of moderate winds giving us
a 1.5 mt following sea on the third day as we headed for Shoal Island.
Shoal Island is 100 km south of Dampier and is the start of a group of 20 islands that
span the next 120 km to Onslow. These island are low limestone outcrops in amongst
shoals. In calm conditions like we had the shoals were no problem but that would be a
different story in a 20 knot wind as you would get bomies everywhere. The islands have a
variety of bird life but the shoals are just amazing with the huge variety of marine like. It
was absolutely stunning the seeing the large fish shoals, turtles, snakes, sharks, soft and
hard corrals. Snorkeling was a delight and the hand spear was deadly. I was able to feed
us all without any problems. Every time I took it in the water I bought home some food.
Tel and Dennis were just as successful with lines and had to put back some fish, as we
could not eat it all.
This area had us all amazed and vowing to come back. The easy way of getting here is to
leave from Onslow and head north. It would be very easy to spend 2 weeks going from
island to island ending up back in Onslow. That way you would miss the tough first 3
days from Dampier.
We landed at Onslow to re-supply with water. It would be possible to do the trip without
landing but that would mean cutting back on our emergency supply and in this country it
is not worth the risk. On the way in I kept an eye out for the wreck of the fishing boat that
sank in cyclone Vance, killing a female deck hand, but unfortunately missed it. That night
I was forced to go to the pub with the boys where we had a great meal, then drank them
out of red wine. Not being a drinker, the copious amount of alcohol they forced on me
made breakfast and packing a 2 hr hellish operation. About 2 hrs into the paddle my
stomach stopped churning but the headache stayed thumping in time with my paddle
strokes for the rest of the day. Never ever go to the pub with Tel Williams or Garry Nixon
as they will get you into trouble.
At about 50 km from Onslow is a small island called Flat Island. We arrived at 3.00 in
the afternoon and set up camp. I was in the habit of snorkeling every afternoon and this
day was no exception. The difference with this day was the school of fish the size of 4
bedroom house right on the shore. As I entered the water I saw a small shark. This was
not unusual as we had seen lots of sharks on the trip so far. What was unusual was the
way the school reacted. I was able to swim in them. It was truly unbelievable, as I swam
they melted away and closed behind me. In the middle it was quite dark. I swam to the
edge and saw a larger 1.5 mt shark cruising past. He was big enough to concern me so I
headed straight at him with the hand spear in front. He turned and disappeared. I stop
and next minute the school of small fish engulfed me again.
The next morning at a blood red dawn a stunning sight unfolded. Large 1.5 to 2.5 mt
sharks were attacking the school of fish I was swimming with the night before. They were
charging in, taking fish right on the beach. Tel reckoned he could have grabbed a tail
they were that close. I was able to get some great vision of the sharks at work. We had a
late start that morning as the sharks entertained us for a long while.
The next leg was over towards the Murion Islands and the weather picked up a little. To
quote Garry “it wasn’t a following sea but a wallowing sea”. We were in deep water now
and I was enjoying the sea as we had had flat paddling for most of the trip. As we got
closer to the Murion’s we felt the effect of the current flowing around the northern end.
The chart shows over falls and as they were against us it was a matter head down and
paddle flat out. The last few kilometers were very hard work. For the first time in my
paddling career we had sharks bumping us. Dennis, Tel and Gary all had hits. They
weren’t major problems but certainly got the heart rate up for those affected.
We had a rest day on the Murions so the boys went surfing after a game of beach golf to
fill in the “rest day”. My wrist was sore so I had a paddle free day. In the morning I had
a revelation. All the time in Perth I wish I had a day to do nothing. Well now I did and it
was great. I rested, walked, filmed and rested some more.
The next morning we had to beat the tide to get back to Exmouth so it was a before dawn
start. As we got to the end of the islands dawn was starting to break and we could see
well. This was a bonus because the waves and tide were opposing creating a messy
washing machine sea. Once we were a few kilometers off the islands the sea settled down
and we flew into Exmouth on the flooding tide.
On the last night it was back down the pub but this time I didn’t drink, unlike some of my
mates. This was probably the best rip I have done because it was so relaxed and the
marine life was truly stunning. I will be taking a club trip up there one day.
Les
