Where are the fish?

Cameron's been spending a lot of time with the fishing rod on this trip. (Yes thanks, I've recovered from the fishhook in the finger incident. And no, I don't go anywhere near Cameron now whilst he's wielding a fishing rod.)

So the question is often asked: Where are the fish?? Well, we've been to a lot of lovely waterways, but apparently - despite what the experts might say - there are no fish in the Collie River. Big Brook Dam only has a few teeny red-fin perch. There's nothing to be caught off Mandalay Beach in D'entrecasteaux National Park. And Walpole Inlet's “Bream Fishing Spot” is a misnomer.

However, we've just spent a 8 nights camped at Shelley Beach, West Cape Howe National Park (between Denmark and Albany). And... the fish are all here! Fisherman Cam has redeemed himself. Every morning, he'd head down to the beach and he'd bring back herring, cleaned and scaled (this is an important fishing skill that unfortunately I've never mastered). We ate fresh fish every day. Delicious!!

I'm going to nominate Shelley Beach as “Best campsite we've stayed at on this trip (so far)”. The campsites have stunning ocean views. The water was sparkly blue, and though the waves were sometimes a bit dumpy for my liking, the southern corner of the beach was more protected and good for a bit of snorkelling too. You can go for walks in the granite hills surrounding the bay - you could walk all the way to Albany if you wanted to follow the Bibbulmun track to it's end. And there was a never-ending source of fresh water in a stream running down to the beach. (Remember we're in a National Park campground – so it's BYO fresh water. And loo paper for the pit loos.)

It was a Paradise that we didn't want to leave, but we were starting to run low on supplies (despite Cameron's valiant efforts to top up the larder with fresh fish and we were onto the last inch of our zucchini of mass destruction),and the weather reports were warning of Cyclone Bianca.

So we've moved onto Albany. Where so far, the fishing has not been so good. So far, Cameron has only caught a seagull.
Hope everyone is taking care with the dreadful weather we're having around the world.