"The Bluff" Insane fishing & racing waves......

Cape Range NP – Ningaloo Marine Park and Red Bluff…..

Hello everybody, as I write this we are coming to the end of sixteen days at the magnificent Red Bluff. We have had an amazing experience here including great surf, incredible fishing and met some special people – a special thank you to Greg & Karen. Please read on for the kid’s perspective too …

Cape Range

Prior to the Bluff we explored the Cape Range National Park and the Ningaloo Marine Park. Cape Range NP is a peninsular of land jutting into the Indian Ocean with the Exmouth Gulf to the East, see the map   below.

Cape Range

NP is dominated by a rugged limestone Range, remains of an ancient sea floor. The range descends to sea level along the coast with arid coastal plains and sand dunes predominating.

Ningaloo Marine Park

Ningaloo Marine Park is a protected marine sanctuary which extends from the North East corner of the Cape all the way down to Red Bluff. World heritage listed Ningaloo protects Australia’s largest and most accessible fringing reef system. The shallow lagoons formed by the reef and the deeper off shore waters, create a diverse array of habitats for a multitude of colourful corals and more than five hundred species of fish. Many other creatures are found in the park, including whale sharks (the world’s largest fish), turtles, dugongs, dolphins, manta rays and hump back whales.

Flynn’s Journal – November 1^st 2014

It was early morning when I got up. Mum and Dad had made a cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie. We set off to Turquoise Bay, on the way there we spotted a King Brown snake on the road. It wasn’t long until we were in the sea snorkelling, Tilly spotted a turtle. We also saw some sharks and heaps of different species of fish. After that we drove back to camp, we had breakfast and did our journals. Then we set off down to Yardie Creek. We did a walk there and had lunch. For the rest of the day we hung out at Sandy Bay, flying the kite, it crashed in the water five times. That was my day of experiencing how fun the kite was. 

Red Bluff……a special place, living on the moon……..

For those of you who don’t surf, North-West Australia is famous in surfing for long range powerful swells originating in the Southern Ocean. The two most well-known locations being “Tombstones-Three Mile Camp” at Gnarloo Station and Red Bluff on Quobba Station. Due to the quite strong south-westerly winds we parked ourselves at Red Bluff and my……. did we have some fun! The prime surf season is the Bluff’s winter (June-September) but waves can be had all year round and we were blessed with two good swells. The Bluff is a very fast breaking left hand break over a sharp reef system covered in sea urchins, which can throw up great barrels on its day. Of course the day we arrive the swell was up and a very nervous Paulie had a dip at the Bluff on his back hand for the first time ……….in your face fun! The shore break at the Bluff is probably one of the biggest I’ve ever seen. Waves tower above you just before detonating on the beach. The kids have become extremely brave and love getting bowled up and rolled on the sandy shore.

We met a great couple – Greg and Karen. Greg is a great surfer with the freakish ability to ride switch-foot and thus never surfs a wave on his backhand. They have been coming to the Bluff for over 18 years. They are both keen fisherman and little did I know just how crazy the fishing was to be…….Greg asked me to partner him on the tinnie for a fish early one morning, this entails launching from the beach in Greg’s 3.5 metre tinnie, negotiating the shore break in between sets and venturing out around the bluff into the Indian Ocean. What followed was the most amazing fishing of my life, where I caught the biggest fish of my life, including 1.3mtr Spanish mackerel, Yellow fin tuna, Rankin cod, Cobia and half a 20k Northern blue fin tuna (the other half was lost very near the boat after a long battle, to a hungry hammerhead shark). I hope you enjoy the images....….

Jack’s Journal – November 18^th 2014

I woke up today and heard Dad go fishing with Greg. We all went for a morning swim, we went out to the deep bit and went over the waves. We came back and had Weetabix with Banana on top. After that I saw the boat coming in, so we ran over, when we got there, they had two yellow fin tuna, a job fish, a spotted Mackerel and a half eaten tuna that had got bitten off by a shark. After that Flynn and I went out fishing on the boat but we didn’t catch anything. Then we had lunch and hung out and did our journals. Later on we watched a movie.

A story by Tilly Hopkins

Tilly has been inspired by a Hawaiian surfer, named Bethany Hamilton who lost her arm from the shoulder down to a tiger shark while surfing in Hawaii. She continues to surf competitively with one arm. Whilst in camp a one legged seagull arrived which Tilly named Bethany. One afternoon she produced the following story.

SOUL SEAGULL

There once was a seagull named Bethany. Bethany was a seagull who lived with her family at the famous Red Bluff. She would play with all the travellers, who visited Red Bluff and the local kids. When she was really in need for adventure she would go surfing with all the other seagulls.

One day Bethany and her family were getting ready to migrate to a warmer place for summer. They left and met up with all their other friends and relatives. After a long fly of hundreds of miles, Bethany needed a rest. So she flew down to the sea and sat there where she fell asleep.

All of a sudden…..Something came from the deep and bit Bethany’s foot! She woke up and caught a quick glimpse of a seven metre great white shark. She looked down and saw a puddle of blood underneath her, Bethany was so shocked she fell unconscious. As the weeks went by Bethany drifted for miles until one day she found herself on her home beach, Red Bluff again.

She limped up to a soft bed of grass. The local kids found her and brought her up to their house, their Dad called the vet who came and cleaned up the remains of Bethany’s foot. Bethany was looked after for a few weeks, she began to feel much better. She taught herself to walk with her one leg, she would hobble and trip on the pole and would fall off but that only made her stronger.

The years went by and Bethany stayed the same, she could now walk with her one leg. One day Bethany’s parents turned up and found her. Her mum broke into tears and her dad just turned away. They asked Bethany so many questions. The local kids came down to play with Bethany but she was a sleep with her Mum and Dad.

The next day Bethany flew over to the point for a surf.

A book was written about her called ‘Soul Seagull’, she is now a famous seagull.

Written and photographed by Tilly Hopkins.  J

I hope the following images give an insight into the amazing, raw and inspirational experience the “Bluff” offers.

Cheers Hoppo- Hopkins go walkabout 2014