Mutee Head

 

The sound of the small waves breaking on the shore wafted on the gentle breeze to our camp at Mutee Head. Shade from the native almond tree made the days cooler yet there was enough sun on our panels on the roof to keep the batteries topped up.

Walking along the beach in the morning, you could see tracks of dingoes patrolling by night. Also there were turtle tracks up the sand to above high tide mark, where they make nests of sand and lay their eggs. This was breeding time.

Also, in the damp sand, tiny tracks of newly hatched turtles as they climb from their nests and make their way to the sea. Dingoes roam the beach hoping for an easy meal as the hatchlings scamper for the water. Crocks too, hang about the area in bigger numbers at this time of year, for the same reason we were told by one of the indigenous rangers.

We had been at this camp for four days, not in any hurry to leave, when a 4x4 with 3 rangers pulled up and unloaded five long coppers logs onto the beach. Din got to talking to one of them and he passed on some info about the area. As they left, he asked if we could keep an eye on the logs till they come to pick them up with their boat in a couple of days, we agreed, it gave us an excuse to hang about for a couple more days.

During the night at high tide, the turtles come up to lay their eggs, I waited till high tide one night and went to see if any were coming. Didn’t get to see any that night, so had to be content with examining the tracks and the mounds in the small dunes.

Spent a relaxing, enjoyable week at Mutee Head, with I must say, reluctance, after the rangers picked up their logs, we packed up and continued our trek to the tip.

On the way out, we took a road that led to the Jardine River, near the mouth, not far from where we camped.