Hopetoun to Stokes NP

[the evil twin]

Thought I would pop this "Recy Report" up from my Club Website for any of you guys who might be interested


Hi everyone,

Just got back from our quick break down at Mason Bay (east of Hopetoun) and thought you would like an update on some of the spots we visited down there. The only disappointement was that the Fitzgerald is still 'totally' closed as it got smashed by the floods a while back so we kept our travels to the East of Hopetoun.


Hopetoun
Our first visit and not a bad little village all things considered. Personally I probably like Denmark better but you get way more people at Denmark whilst Hopetoun still has a very old school seaside hamlet feel about it with a new Servo, old IGA and a couple of Café’s and specialty shops pretty much making up the main drag.

They have a laconic way of naming the beaches down there. No idyllic names like Sunset, Paradise, Skippy or whatever. Each beach is just simply 2 Mile, 5 Mile, 12 Mile, 13 Mile as you travel East or if you get adventurous and head West, 4 Mile. Makes them easy to find I s’pose and you can camp at a couple of them but tent sites or small vans only.



Mason Bay Camp (2WD) only about 1/2 full after Australia Day
The first of the larger recognized camping areas heading East from Hopetoun and our base for the meanderings. A long established site with LDD’s (long drop dunnies) Ladies was OK according to Mrs Evil however Mens was putrid. There is a BBQ and Beach Boat Ramp into a huge lagoon, nice beach and lots of Abalone on the reef.

This was our view from the camper bedroom on waking every morning



The main camping area was almost full with it’s appropriate quota of morons (about 50/50) but we found a small area with about 25 metres of scrub separating it from the main area and had that all too ourselves for the 4 days. It was absolutely fantastic with full shade and room for about 4 to 5 rigs and almost right on the beach.



Starvation Boat Harbour (2WD) still some sites vacant but empty rest of the year
Similar to Mason Bay but LDD’s are more modern and cleaner due to an onsite Council dude however much less shade on the campsites with about 1/3rd being in full sun and higher percentage of morons.
In this case the moron population consisted of the dreaded “set up your rig in the middle of the chosen Camping Bay and scatter all your crap like Tinnies, Sat dishes, Kayaks, Ensuite tents, BBQ’s, Solar Panels etc on the sites either side so you manage to take up three” Moron.
This particular sub-specii of family Moronicus also has the annoying habit of parking their vehicles across access laneways and waving their stubby at you and mouthing a friendly greeting as you idle past looking for a site and knowing full well that the four of them have occupied all 12 bays on the site and you can’t drive in there anyway.

A couple of quick pics of the beach and we were out of there but definitely worth a visit when the Moron’s go into hibernation if you are a boatie.
There is a brand new area about 200 metres further along that will take about 6 rigs (no shade yet) with LDD’s and BYO Bush Showers just finished construction.



Munglinup Beach (2WD) about 4 sites taken over Australia Day
Very nice spot indeed with the camping area behind the dunes as the beach is very open with a nice deep lagoon but can be blown out on higher tides and any amount of swell.
LDD’s are new and clean and for some reason there are about 5 on a very small area. This site also has a bonus of bore water but don’t know the quality. Only about 8 sites total and ½ of them are very small IE tent or small camper van.

There is also an absolutely crap spot designated as tents only with no LDD’s and also needs 4WD to get there over near the inlet. Only useage we could determine was as a play area for quad bikes as the place was cut to bits and hellish hot as it was in a bowl.



Skippy Rock (4WD) 1 Camper over Australia Day remainder vacant
This spot was the furthers East we traveled lying ½ way between Hoptoun and Esperance in the westernmost end of Stokes National Park so unlike the first three is No Dogs and also 4WD access (soft roaders will make it if not overloaded and must be aired down) however being a NP campsite the LDD’s and common BBQ’s are cleaned daily and all spotless. There are 2 large bays that will take large campers, another bay that will take a 3rd camper or 4WD truck based motor home and 6 more tent only sites. All sites have heaps of shade and are on top of a headland but sheltered by scrub. Great swimming on one side of the headland and a renowned surfing break on the other.





Betwixt and between
There are some cracking good spots for day trips, fishing or just exploring in between Mason/Starvation and Stopes NP so the area is definitely worth a visit. There is some beach driving however most of the 4WD fun is following the tracks along behind the dunes and dropping in at the popular spots. You can take Fido to the Council Camps and almost everywhere East of Hopetoun until you hit Stokes NP (Skippy Rock).

In a nutshell
Mason Bay – very easy drive to Hopetoun and most sheltered spot for those with littlies.
Starvation – still an easy drive to Hopetoun and the best for boaties and rockhoppers.
Munglinup – good facilities and water but a longer drive to towno’s and probably best for older kids
Skippy Rock – no Dogs and a 4WD trek to get to town but THE spot for surfers and again older kids

[patch697]

Bloody nice looking spot ET & a top report too thanks mate.

Maybe one day I'll get over that way & be able to check it out for myself.


Cheers
Paul

[DX grunt]

Arrr excuse me. The fishing ?????? lol

Oops. Should have read the whole thread. Sorry. lol

[the evil twin]

Hiya Paul,

Yeah, I have been lucky enough to see about 75% of Aus and the South Coast of WA right from the border is very very special. These spots are all within an hours drive of Hopetoun heading East and West of Hopetoun is the Fitzgerald NP which is goddam spectacular. It's like that for about 1,200 K's of coastline or more but just doesn't get the raves of the tropical North and sub tropic coast like the Kimberley, Broome, and Ningaloo etc

[AB]

Great story and photos ET, thanks for sharing!!!

[DX grunt]

It's on my list. Thanks ET

[nowoolies]

thanks a lot E T
now im gunna sit here and sulk all day lol
great photo`s and commentary
i like the parts about family moronicus lot of them out there
back to dreaming of 4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4xZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz4x4x4x 4x4x4x4ing