I went to Martins Tank Campground this Monday with my friends and their spouses totaling 12 members. The camping period was momentary but it was filled with so much joy and happiness. Martins Tank campground is located 128km to the south of Perth and 62 km to the south of the coastal city of Mandurah. From Mandurah, we had two routes but decided to travel through "Old Coast Road" then to Forrest Highway, and then take right to Preston Beach Road to reach our destination.
It didn't rain much during our trip on Monday which was opposite of our expectations. We left our destination from Perth at around 3 PM and reached the campground at around 5 PM with one stop in Mandurah to get our supplies. Martins Tank campground is located on the bank of Martin Tanks inside Yalgorup National Park. As seen on the map, the national park has 10 popular lakes that run in a chain. "Yalgorup" is an aboriginal word that means lake.
Martins Tank campground has 33 campsites suiting different groups for camping and they are numbered along the road and walking trail. Since we were 12 in total, I was left with campsite numbers 22 to 26 while making a booking. The booking link can be found here. 22 to 26 campsites number are for a larger group of people. From 26 to 33 the campsites are for people with UTEs and caravans. I chose campsite number 25 because it was the one that was very near to every facility like the sheltered BBQ facilities, toilet, and outdoor pit fire. We needed the sheltered BBQ area because we knew it would rain eventually.
The most fascinating part of our camping trip was that we were the only camping group that day. So we had the whole forest to ourselves. It was very quiet, peaceful with serene atmosphere and chirping sounds of the birds. As it was also the first time camping experience for every one of us in the group, setting up the first tent was a bit difficult and took 30 minutes. The second tent setup took only 5 minutes and all 5 tents were set up nearby to each other.
This was our parking spots. The booking site stated that 3 parking were permitted but we had a change in some of our schedules and we had 4 cars in total. The forest rangers were very kind and we were allowed to park. Our camping site can accommodate more than 4 vehicle. The rangers gave us valuable information regarding our camping trip and sites. The place is frequented by Brushtail Possum in the night that steals your food. So we brought motion sensor light to keep away these animals. Possums are tree-climbing marsupials and are nocturnal. We saw many of them during the night and had to keep check continuously on our food supplies regularly.
We also took Jack Daniels and coke to enjoy for the trip and there was also wine for the ladies. Drinking whiskey in the forest gives different emotions and vibes. The sheltered BBQ space was wide and suitable for two groups with a seating area. I knew there was also a cooking area alongside the BBQ but for some reason, it was locked. We had rainwater for dishwashing. We brought drinking water on our own.
What was different from our expectations was the weather itself. The sky remains clear throughout the evening and night. It happened when everyone was sitting at a campfire and we could see the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) with our naked eyes. Sadly I didn't take the photo as we all were drunk with our batteries dead. The view would be even great if you go to the lake during the night. The galaxy is visible from the Southern hemisphere.
It rained occasionally throughout the night and when the rain had subsided we came outside our tent and were greeted by the western grey kangaroo. They were harmless and sitting near our tent.
This is the communal fire pit and there are only two in the whole campsite. We sat here throughout the night till 3 AM when there was heavy rain and we went to sleep. In morning, while the sun was out after the rain, the fire was still burning. It was so strong that it kept on burning even after raining and cold wind.
There are also open BBQ space and seating area throughout the campsite. The place is inhabited by native species of Marri, Tuart and other types of trees. From the above long lasting campfire I came to know that woods of these trees are much more durable and longlasting.
This is the walking trail from our campsite to the lake. The lake is around 3 minutes walk from our campsite. We were warned at our arrival i.e. no swimming, boating, fishing, and kayaking in the lake. The water in the lake is extremely saline and contains harmful bacteria. The nearby beach is Preston Beach which is about 8km from Martin Tanks. Martins Tank has a fragile ecosystem so there are many restrictions put in place like not disturbing the organisms in the lake, no pets allowed, a total fire ban during the summer, and so on.
This is from the shore of the lake where I was standing. You can see calcareous materials originating from seashells and other organisms during the evolution of life. Another thing to remember about the site is that there's network coverage inside the forest. There are no dumping sites for waste and you need to dump it in the designated place in the southern end. There's no electricity and generators are permitted till 10 PM. Noise is only allowed till 10 PM.