We start the long journey back to perth

 

WE’RE HEADING SOUTH ON THE LONG TRIP BACK TO PERTH

 

WEDNESDAY  16TH OCTOBER   -   We left Broome and started the long trip south to Perth.   It was about 42 degrees when we left and stinking hot.   Our destination was Barnhill Station 120 kilometres south of Broome.  We were hoping for slightly cooler weather, or at least a sea breeze as it was right by the ocean.  It took us over an hour to get there.  We’d had several recommendations to stay there so we thought we'd try it out for ourselves.   There was a long dirt road (about 15 minutes from the main road), through several cattle gates  before we reached a fork at the end of the road, one road for the station and the other road leading into the caravan park.  It was a large area and not too busy when we arrived.  We found the caretaker and he showed us where to park.  It was $22 per night without power and $35 with water and power.  It was so hot, we decided to treat ourselves and have the air conditioner going.  They had a big generator on site for power, but the powered sites were restricted to 10.  It wasn’t very crowded as the main season was over.  From May to July it is impossible to get a site and they’re already fully booked for next year.   In the winter season they have gatherings by a big pit fire and the local aborigine dance troops visit the station.  There were lots of cattle freely roaming around the caravan area and lots of butterflies grouped together in the trees and flying about.  The station had a nice feel to it and the sites were quite spacious.  It was a short walk down the steps in the rocks to a beautiful long, wide beach with startling coloured rocks everywhere.  It was very pretty.  We spent 2 lovely nights there and really enjoyed the place.  We met Denise and Ben heading home to Seabird near Perth and had drinks with them both nights.  It was moderately cooler there and we had some shady trees on our spot.

THE STAIRWAY UP TO BARNHILL STATION

SOME OF THE UNUSUAL ROCK FORMATIONS

 

A ROCK FORMATION WE THINK LOOKS LIKE THE RAINBOW SERPENT HEAD

 

THE  ''PINNACLES''  OF BARNHILL STATION BEACH

 

   

 FRIDAY 18TH OCTOBER   -   We left Barnhill Station for our next destination DeGrey River 450 kilometres south.  Denise and Ben were meeting us there later in the day.   We got to DeGrey about 2pm and it was really hot.  We set up by the river in the shadiest spot we could find.  There was one other caravan near us right on the river bank, which turned out to be a couple we’d seen at Barnhill whilst we were there and a few other campers further along.  There were big groups of cattle everywhere and they weren’t too keen to budge so that we could get past them to our spot.  With the high temperatures we’d been having, the fridge and air conditioner were struggling to work efficiently.  We went for a walk along the river later that night and unfortunately Sally got attacked by a dog.  Sally was on her lead, the dog that attacked her wasn’t, and came running out from a caravan at the end of the river seemingly friendly at first until it got stuck into her neck and wouldn’t let go.  I was in a right state as I thought Sally was a gonner.  The dog’s owners (ferals who were standing behind us) did nothing to get their dog off Sally and only abused us for having a go at their dog.  The whole attack lasted about 5-6 minutes.  Richard got bitten on his thigh and hand trying to separate the dogs.  Eventually I managed to yank Sally up in my arms almost choking her and away to safety.  Richard wanted to kill the dog and the owners so I had to get him away before he did something he’d regret.  It was a terrifying experience and we were both badly shaken up from it.  Sally had a puncture wound on her neck that was bleeding but I knew she was going to be ok .  We put some antiseptic powder on it and hoped for the best until we could get to a vet in Port Headland (over an hour away) the next morning. 

 

SATURDAY  19TH OCTOBER   -   We left DeGrey River as soon as we could get up and ready and went straight to a vet in Port Headland.  They were really nice there and very sympathetic to Sally.   They had to shave around the wound to see how deep it was – fortunately not deep enough to have a drainage tube put in.  Sally had an anti-inflammatory injection, antibiotic injection and antibiotic tablets.   An hour later and $180 poorer, we walked out of the vet to a temperature of 49 degrees in the car.  It was so damned hot and uncomfortable we decided to head to The Cove Caravan Park at Point Samson 300 kilometres south to have the luxury of the air conditioner going as long as we wanted.  Point Samson is a small coastal town in the Pilbara Region and 1,579 kilometres from Perth.  The parking spots were concrete both for the caravan and awning.  It was a big open park with very little shade.  We had a small bush behind us.  It was a 4 star park, but had no swimming pool and was very expensive at $49 per night for a powered site.  The facilities blocks were very clean.  There was a good view of the ocean all around the park with a walk/cycle path going up to Honeymoon Bay which was a small beach, dogs prohibited.  We did find a beach about 5 minutes drive from the park where Sally could run around.  We stayed there for 3 nights.  We had driven around here before when we stayed at Cleaverville Beach on our way up to Broome

 

TUESDAY 22ND OCTOBER   -   We left Point Samson at 9am and had a couple of free overnight stops in mind before arriving in Carnarvon.  It was another sweltering hot day with temperatures well over 40 degrees.  Every time we stopped, we decided to press on in air-conditioned comfort, in the hope it might have cooled down as we travelled along (some hope).   At 6.30, after a very long and tiring day and 685 kilometres later, we arrived at The Top Tourist Caravan Park in Carnarvon.  We had stayed here on our way up north.   The first thing we noticed was the drop in temperature – it was at least 10 degrees cooler than further up north.  It was a beautiful fresh, chilly evening and we had to put on sweat tops (OMG for the first time in months) to set up!!  We had a great sleep that night with a fresh breeze wafting over us all night – heaven.   As we’re Top Tourist members we got a 10% discount and it was $33 per night, with the 7^th night free if you stay for a week.  As it was the off season, half of the park and facilities was shut off.  We were surprised how empty it was in comparison to when we stayed here 3 months ago, when it was choc-a-bloc with caravans and people everywhere.  The fruit and vegetable season was over for the year unfortunately and most of the plantation shops are shut until next April. 

 

THURSDAY 24TH OCTOBER   -   The car was booked in for a 100,000 kilometre service.  We had intended to go back to Quobba Blowholes for a few weeks to wait for  Richard’s Brother Bob  to come up to Kalbarri for the crayfishing season in mid-November.  He discovered the season had started a month early and decided not to come up.  That changed our plans slightly and we decided to head back to Perth to see Daniel and his new house and go further south to do the areas we didn’t see as it was too cold on the way up, rather than hang around for 6-7 weeks up this way before heading back to Perth for Christmas.

Whilst we were stocking up on shopping in town, Richard went into BWS for a carton of beer.  He was met by a lady at the front of the shop informing us of restrictions placed on buying alcohol that day.  We thought it was pretty odd.  She told us there were two big aboriginal funerals taking place the next day and the police were trying to cut down on drink related violence by limiting the amount and the strength of beer you could purchase.

 

SUNDAY 27TH OCTOBER   -   We left Carnarvon at 10am for our next destination Gladstone Beach, 160 kilometres south from Carnarvon.  We’d completely forgotten about the funerals until we tried to drive out of town.  We got stuck in a very long procession of cars going very slowly towards the cemetery half an hour out of town.    There were cars and buses parked everywhere outside the cemetery, so it must have been important elders being buried.  Once we got past the funeral traffic it was a smooth run to Gladstone.  We’d stayed here before and were really looking forward to visiting the place again.  The spot we’d stayed in before was free, so we drove straight into it and set up, had some lunch and went for a walk.   It wasn’t very crowded, about 6 vans in total.   It was $11 per night ($5.50 per person).  It was a very pretty spot, with calm shallow water and we saw beautiful sunsets and had 2 lovely relaxing days here.

RELAXING AT GLADSTONE BEACH

 

 

 

SUNDAY 27TH OCTOBER   -   We left Gladstone for our next destination Coronation Beach in Geraldton.  It was 300 kilometres from Gladstone and half way down we could see a vast change in the landscape – there were interesting undulating hills and valleys of greens and browns  – a vast change from the scenery of very flat land and low scrub further north.  It was pleasant to see a changing landscape once again.  We arrived at the camp grounds at Coronation Beach and at first thought it was full up.  We were really disappointed, but I said to Richard to at least drive around to see if there was a spare spot.  Luckily we did, as right at the end of where you can camp, was the spot we’d stayed in before.   It felt like we were coming home to a familiar place that we loved.  It really was beautiful there and we could see the ocean through the bushes from our van, with a 2 minute walk right onto the beach itself.  Weekends were always busy there with surfers and wind surfers and locals coming to camp for the weekend.  The Ranger told Richard that Coronation Beach is one of the top 5 wind surfing beaches in the World, which would be why it was starting to get so busy and particularly at weekends.  We spent 8 beautiful nights there and met some lovely neighbours to have drinks on the beach whilst watching the sunset each night.  It would have to be one of our favourite places in Western Australia that we’ve seen so far.

Our friends Ben and Denise arrived at lunch time and we caught up with each other’s news.  We had drinks with them that night and arranged to meet up with them later in the week.

AN UNUSUAL TREE WE SAW AND LATER DISCOVERED IT'S A W.A. CHRISTMAS BUSH

 

  

NEXT WEEK:   We’re going to Dongara, a lovely coastal town we drove through on the way up and earmarked for a better look on the way down.  We’ll also revisit Sandy Cape and then get to Perth by next Friday to catch up with Daniel and Min and see their house which we’re dying to see and also catch up with Bob and Shelley and AJ.

CLEAVERVILLE BEACH TO BROOME

As you may know, I went back to Sydney for 13 days to catch up with Hayley, Karina and my friends.  I had a great time and it was wonderful seeing everyone again and having so much fun with them.  Apologies to anyone I didn’t have time to see.  Richard and Sally coped ok and everyone at the caravan site was making sure they weren’t too lonely and having happy hour drinks with them.   I got back to Karratha on 4^th October.  Unfortunately, I was pretty sick for 4 days as I had a dodgy meal on the plane for the first time.  I knew as soon as I ate it that it didn’t taste right and paid the penalty over the next few days.  I’m very rarely ill and hate being incapacitated.   Richard had wanted to move on the day after I got back, but I just couldn’t face the thought for a few days.  I also got badly bitten by sand flies and mozzies and was in a bit of a mess, so spent the next    3 days recovering.

MONDAY 7TH OCTOBER   -   We left Cleaverville Beach at 9am and continued  north for 287 kilometres to our next destination DeGrey River that had been recommended  to us by so many people we met.  It was pretty hot by the time we arrived.  Lots of cattle were freely roaming around the area and weren’t too keen to move for us to get past them.  We went on to the lower level by the riverside which was nice.  There were lots of other vans spread along the riverside.  It’s a popular 24 hour free stay, although lots of vans looked like they were set up for the duration.

OUR  SPOT AT DEGREY RIVER

CATTLE AROUND OUR FRIEND'S VAN  -  EARLY MORNING WAKE UP CALL

TUESDAY 8TH OCTOBER   -   We left DeGrey River at 9am for a long  530 kilometre drive to Broome.  Coming up to Port Hedland, we saw so many big quadruple trailer trucks tearing up and down the highway, some of the back trailers were swaying back and forth as they’re so big and heavy.  Port Hedland is a huge mining area, full of red dust, dirt and willy willies swirling across the landscape.  Passing through the town we couldn’t help laughing at the rows and rows of termite nests with hard hats on top (all different colours).  There’s obviously not much entertainment in the town.  Some of the termite nests also had faces painted on them.  They’re quite a tourist feature and make a welcome relief from the red dust and dirt and flat landscape.  










We arrived at The Gateway Caravan Park (pet friendly to friendly pets), the only place in Broome that took dogs, by mid- afternoon.    It was $25 per night or $150 per week.  We were hot and tired and glad to have reached our destination.  The Gateway was 30 kilometres outside town, very dusty and hot with not much shade.  It was the end of the main tourist season and the managers were taking a break.  The off-season managers were very nice and friendly.  There were only 4 other vans in the park.  We quickly got the generator out and put on the air-conditioning to try and cool down.  In the main season it would be a good location with a big pit fire and bbq area to gather around for happy hour.  It was much too hot to even consider either a pit fire or a bbq.  

Later in the evening, we took Sally for a run along the World famous Cable Beach, which is in the World’s top 5 best beaches  (I would definitely dispute that – it is a beautiful beach but not up there in my top 5).  It was a beautiful 22 kilometre long beach, very wide and flat and great to walk along.    The water from The Indian Ocean was crystal clear and pure turquoise.  There was a kiosk on the beach to hire chairs, umbrellas, and surf boards.  From November to April there can be box jellyfish and stingers in the ocean.  At least dogs could be exercised off leash to the left of the kiosk and Sally happily ran in and out of the water to cool off and had great fun with all the other dogs running around. 

SALLY CHASING STONES ON THE BEACH

SUNSET AT CABLE BEACH

There were three daily camel rides on the northern part of the beach, an early morning, pre-sunset and sunset tour available.    

Broome is the Gateway to The Kimberley, with a population of over 16,000.  It is 2,389 kilometres north of Perth and 1,859 south west of Darwin.  It has a rich pearling history that attracted many Japanese, Chinese and Asian divers seeking their fortune, many of them were victims of the bends, drowning, shark attacks and/or cyclones.  The World’s largest fine quality round pearl was grown at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm in 2006, measuring 22.24mm in diameter. In the early pearling days, Broome produced 80% of the World’s Mother of Pearl

William Dampier arrived in his boat The Cygnet in 1688 and returned in The Roebuck in 1689.   The town was named after the Governor of Western Australia at the time, Sir Frederick Napier Broome in 1883.  Much of the coastline is named in Dampier’s honour:  Dampier Peninsula, Dampier Terrace, Dampier Creek, Cygnet Bay and Roebuck Bay. 

Cable Beach was named after the communications cable that was laid in 1889, linking Broome to Indonesia.

WEDNESDAY 9TH OCTOBER   -      We went for a drive to Ganthaume Point with stunning ocean views and colourful rock formations which were very unstable and dangerous for fishing.  Regardless of the warnings, there were still barefooted fishermen on the edges of the rocks.  When the tide is very low  (1.3 metres or lower), you can spot the prehistoric dinosaur footprints and plaster cast tracks.  They weren’t visible the day we were there. 

We went for a walk through Chinatown and saw many of the original buildings that were bawdy saloons, pearling sheds and Chinese eateries in their heyday.  Now they’re pearl showrooms, cafes and shops. 

THE ORIGINAL SUN PICTURE THEATRE  -  STILL FULLY OPERATIONAL

OUTDOOR CINEMA IN BROOME

THE FRONT OF THE SUN PICTURE THEATRE IN BROOME

Broome is filled with resorts and backpackers.  A lot of the popular activities involve spending lots of money for tours of the Horizontal Falls (around $1,200 each), hot air ballooning,  fishing and whale watching boat trips, trips to Cape Leveque  - 80 kilometres of dirt road which you can’t take a caravan to (and of course dogs are prohibited).  It usually takes 2-3 days to see all the gorges and attractions.  Obviously that wasn’t possible for us.  It was also too damned hot to be outside for too long.   Much of the coastline was surrounded by deep mangroves and we were disappointed we couldn’t drive around to many beauty spots for picnics like we normally do.   

SATURDAY 12TH OCTOBER   -   We moved to Tarangau Caravan Park – the quiet alternative, as we discovered they took dogs from the end of September.  It was closer to town and a 5 minute drive to Cable Beach.  Most importantly, it had very shady spots and was much cooler than being stuck so far outside town.   It was $38 per night - $40 with a dog – we were baffled to know what our dog got for the extra $2 per night.   It was bliss to have big shady trees above us and a cooler sea breeze and we could actually sit outside without sweltering to death in 40 degree plus temperatures. 

I was waiting for replacement glasses to be sent from Sydney to Broome.  By rights, they should have arrived on Thursday by Air Express and we could have left Broome earlier.  They didn’t arrive until Monday afternoon, so we had no choice other than to wait for them. 

We often saw the camel trains walking back from the beach at night on their way home (land beside our caravan park) and stopped to watch them and take photos. 



We were glad we made it up as far north as Broome, but we were disappointed with the place and could image just how crowded and unpleasant it would be in peak season.   The people in the caravan parks we stayed in weren’t friendly towards us and we were pretty glad to leave there.

STATISTICS:

Kilometres travelled      2.4.13   -   14.10.13           22,800

Cost of Petrol                 2.4.13   -   14.10.13          $7,200

Nights free accom           2.4.13   -   14.10.13          28

Nights accom under  $20                                           52

Cost of Accommodation                                            $4,432

Next Week:  We’ve gone as far north as we intend this year.  Now we’ll be making our way south to reach Perth by mid-December , to spend Christmas and New Year with Daniel and Min, Bob and Shelley.

EXMOUTH TO CLEAVERVILLE 3OKM NORTH OF KARRATHA IN THE PILBARRA REGION

MONDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER   -   We left Exmouth at 9am for our next destination Cleaverville 30 kilometres north past Karratha and a distance of 579 kilometres from Exmouth.  Karratha is part of The Pilbarra Coast. It was a massive day of driving, which we normally don’t do or like to do very often.  We had a possible overnight stop at Robe River half way if we didn’t want to do the full planned trip.  It took us 2 hours driving from Exmouth to get back on to the main highway again.  We had 3 petrol stops along the way.  The price of petrol was the highest we’ve ever paid  -  $1.92 at one stop and $1.99 at another.  The total cost of petrol for this part of our trip from Exmouth to Cleaverville was a staggering $300!!!

We got to Robe River at 1pm and had a lunch stop.  The stopover was very close to the highway with trucks rushing past non-stop.  It was around 33 degrees and very hot there.  There was no water in the river and the place was pretty dusty.  There was a huge boulder preventing anyone driving under the bridge where you used to be able to drive under and camp along the riverside.  We weren’t overly impressed with the place, so decided to press on to Karratha.

We arrived at the Cleaverville turn off at 5pm, pretty tired and dusty and glad that our massive day of driving was almost over.  The red gravel road leading up to the camping area took about 10 minutes and was tarred in places, with vivid green undulating hills on either side which were very pretty.  At the end of the road, we came up to the beach and camping area.  There were lots of caravans parked along the beachside in the designated parking areas.  We found a nice flat spot right on the beachfront and set up in record time so that we could go for a walk along the beach before dinner.   The fees were $7 per night, $45 per week, or $150 per month.  Most of the people parked there had been staying  for 3-4 months.  Some of them had been coming to this spot for over 30 years.  There was a toilet and dump point close by and a resident caretaker.  It was a lovely place and we couldn’t believe our luck getting a spot so close to the water.  Behind us there were high, green hills, stretching from one end of the coastline to the other.  

A LARGE LIZARD ON THE ROADSIDE 

STUART DESERT PEA SPREAD ALL OVER THE BEACH

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VIEW FROM TOP OF THE HILL LOOKING DOWN TO CAMPING AREA

ANOTHER HILL TOP VIEW 

Parts of the road in were tarred.  We were told this was because some of the movie “Red Dog” was filmed here and also further down the beach at a beautiful fishing lagoon.

THURSDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER    -   We went for a drive around some of the local towns and attractions heading north from Cleaverville.  Our first stop was Roebourne 39 kilometres from Karratha, on the Banks of the Harding River, where we found the quirkiest original stone building Visitor’s Centre.  Out the front, there was a self-serve water machine with gold coin donation.  The staff inside were really helpful and friendly and advised us we could use the washing machines right at the back of the centre and “please help yourself to a free tea or coffee whilst you’re waiting for your washing to do”.   The 3 washing machines were almost brand new and donated by The North West Shelf Mining Co.  It was $3 per wash.  Whilst waiting for the washing to be done, we visited the museum and learnt some of the history (good and bad) of the area.  We were disgusted to learn about “black birding” rife all along Western Australia, whereby aboriginal men were captured and forced to work for the diving and mining industry and kept with chains around their necks and feet. Their womenfolk were forced into prostitution.  We saw some really sickening photos of these helpless soles.

ROEBOURNE VISITORS CENTRE

BLACK BIRDED ABORIGINES

In 1969 William Dampier sailed into the Dampier Archipelago on his ship “The Roebuck”.  The township of Roebourne was first established in 1866 and named after Western Australia’s first Surveyor General John Septimus Roe.  The town quickly grew to become the administrative capital of the North West.  The nearby town of Cossack was the port that serviced this then very large town.  The early years of settlement were extraordinarily difficult with cyclones, sunken ships and a smallpox outbreak killing many aborigines and settlers in epidemic proportions.

We next went to Cossask a heritage town rich in history and a fascinating little place, with placards along the roadside for a self-guided tour of the town. In 1869, Cossack was the port for the pastoral industry and had over 30,000 sheep all over the Pilbarra.  It was also busy with gold prospectors when gold was discovered in the Pilbarra in the 1880’s.   Cossack was also a busy town for pearl divers with over 80 boats, with divers from Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and China stopping there. By 1900, the pearling industry moved up to Broome to take advantage of the pearl beds in that area.

THE OLD COURT HOUSE AT COSSACK

THE OLD STORE

From Cossack, we went to Wickham, established in 1970 by Cliffs Robe River Iron Associates as a processing plant for the iron ore mined in nearby Pannawonica.  It is now a prominent mining town with a population of 2,000.    There is a yacht club at the far end of  town.  Wickham is currently undergoing a $300,000,000 upgrade by Rio Tinto for accommodation and infrastructure to cope with its growing population.   Nearby Cape Lambert has a 2.7km open sea wharf, one of the highest and longest open ocean wharves in Australia, and is capable of loading three major iron ore carriers at the same time.

From Wickham we drove to Point Samson, a popular tourist and fishing spot, with 2 caravan parks and holiday accommodation.  At one time, Point Samson jetty handled the third largest annual port tonnage in WA.  Time and cyclones have all caused the deterioration of the jarrah jetty, which was finally removed in 1991.  Point Samson beach is bordered by a coral reef and has calm waters for safe swimming, snorkelling and game fishing.  Honeymoon Cove is nearby and another popular spot.   We had our picnic lunch here overlooking the calm turquoise waters.

The Pilbarra Region covers the towns of Karratha, Dampier, Wickham, Point Samson and Cossack.

SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER   -    We went for a drive to Dampier as I really wanted to see the Red Dog statue.  Dampier was a pretty little town with newly built parks and facilities overlooking the beach and 42 islands in the Dampier Archipelago.  The bronzed memorial to the infamous red dog is in the Information Bay as you enter town.   I just had to introduce our white dog Sally (growing redder by the day with the constant red dust from the Pilbarra) to red dog. She was suitably impressed.  It was a busy photo spot.

From Dampier, we drove along the coastline to beautiful Hearson Cove, a spectacular horseshoe bay with stunning green hills with huge red rocks scattered all over them.  It is a very popular picnic and swimming area.  We had our picnic lunch there and really enjoyed the stunning views of the ocean and surrounding landscape.

MONDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER   -   We went into Karratha to have a look around and restock food and water supplies.  Outside The Visitor Centre, we bought drinking water by putting in $1 for 50 litres of water.  It came out of a metred tank, similar to a petrol bowser. 

Karratha is 1,600 north of Perth and has a population of 24,000 and comes from the aboriginal word meaning “good country”.  It is a large mining area producing salt, iron ore, copper, fertilisers and natural gas.  Some of the world’s largest privately owned railways are located there.   The region generates about 25% of Australia’s national economy from exports, taxes and royalties.  Karratha is home to many of the FIFO workers (fly-in-fly-out) with “donger villages”  popping up all over the town.

Centro Karratha had Coles, Woolworths and many other shops and was 30 minutes from our camp at Cleaverville.

We have really enjoyed our stay at Cleaverville and would definitely come back here again.  We’ve had full internet and phone coverage,  a fantastic location,  stunning views and lovely companions for our  nightly 5pm happy hour (or 2 or 3) gatherings.  We couldn’t believe we even met a man that used to be a milkman in East Hills (our home for 23 years) until 1997.  His daughter and son-in-law still live around the corner from where we lived in Broe Avenue, East Hills.  It’s a small world!!!

I’m off to Sydney for 10 days to catch up with friends and family.  I get back on 4^th October when we’ll be heading further north to De Grey’s River for a few nights and on to Broome, which will be our last destination north before we turn around and start the long trip back down to Perth for Christmas with  Daniel and Min.  

WE'RE AT EXMOUTH

SUNDAY 25TH AUGUST   -   We left Quobba Blowholes at 9am for our next destination 300 kilometres further north to Exmouth.  We said goodbye to our friends Bob, Bev and their gorgeous Jack Russell dog Jacky and hope to catch up with them again somewhere in WA next year.  It was a beautiful day.  Daniel and Bob had left before us to get to the caravan park at Exmouth and be set up by the time we arrived.   Going past Coral Bay, we noticed lots of termite nests on either side of the road.  They were all different sizes and shape and looked liked monsters from a Dr. Who set or alien movie.  Just in case you didn’t by some chance notice them, there was a big sign further along the road advising you of “Termite Nests” with an arrow pointing to where you could see them!!!

As we came closer to Exmouth we had to stop the car for 3 scatty emus running across the road.  Apparently there are lots of emus here.

DADDY EMU AND HIS CUTE CHICKS - WE HAD TO WAIT FOR THEM TO CROSS THE ROAD

We arrived at Ningaloo Caravan Holiday Resort at 1pm and found Daniel and Bob had just finished setting up (good timing).   We were a day earlier than booked and they managed to fit us into the overflow dog area until our spot was vacant the following day which was ok by us.  We were just glad they could fit us in.  The caravan park had its own day spa/massage salon at the front and an Italian restaurant called Pinocchio’s which we were told was very good.  There was a huge resort pool that looked very inviting besides the restaurant.  It was quite a big park and the staff were very friendly and helpful.  There were gas bbqs and a covered eating area with wooden tables and chairs and 2 laundries and facilities blocks in the park.  It was a 5 minute walk to the local shops and was opposite the Tourist Information Centre and grassed ovals for dog exercising.  It was definitely in a good convenient location, but was pretty pricey at $48 a night – our most expensive stay yet gulp!!!  

Daniel and Bob were keen to get out on the boat the following day and spent time setting all the rods and equipment up as they wanted to be on the water by 7am.  We had bbq steak and vegetables for dinner and sat at the bbq tables.  Many people had been staying there for 3-4 months and were heading back down south.  All the people we met were very friendly and told us some good spots to visit on our way up.  95% of people we’ve met are heading south again now as they go north from May to September to escape Perth’s cold weather. We’re definitely in the minority heading north as it’s getting considerably hotter up north now.

Exmouth is known as the Gateway to the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area and is a very popular spot for fishing, diving with the whale sharks, snorkelling and scenic flights.  The Ningaloo Reef stretches for 260 kilometres south to Coral Bay.  It was a popular area with the pearl luggers from Broome at one time.  During WWII, a secret base was established called “Operation Potshot”.

In 1967 the Naval Communication Centre was built at Exmouth which was a radio relay station passing messages between Australia and US command centres, submarines and surface ships.  The township developed around the Harold E. Holt Naval Communication Centre.

Exmouth is 1,270 kilometres north from Perth and has a population of 2,500.  It has 350 days of sunshine every year. It was badly damaged by Cyclone Vance in March 1999.

MONDAY 26TH AUGUST  -  Richard didn’t go out on the boat today as we had to move our van onto our designated site when it was vacant and had been mowed.  We took Sally to the local beach for a run around which was really long and a popular 4WD beach.

Once we had set up we went for a drive to Bundegi Beach, 12 kilometres from town, and the start of the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park and boat ramp.  The glass bottom boat departs from there.  We went for a drive along Yardie Creek Road, past The Lighthouse Caravan Park and up to Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, which offered panoramic views of exquisite turquoise surfing beaches.  There are still some original sandbags from WWII at the top of the lighthouse and the anchor from the shipwreck SS Mildura in 1907.  The lighthouse celebrated its centenary on 10^th December 2012.

From the lighthouse, we drove further along the road to Jurabi Turtle Centre and learnt some amazing turtle facts – once the eggs are laid, the mothers go off and leave the eggs to hatch alone.  Of the 1,000 baby turtles hatched, only one or two will return to nest there as a 20 year old adult.  Most of them perish before they even reach the ocean.  Those that do make it to water are usually taken for food by either foxes or seagulls.  The odds are really stacked against them from the outset.  There are three threatened varieties of turtles along this coastline, the Green Turtle, the Loggerhead and the Hawksbill.  There are six varieties of turtles in Australia.

When we got back to the caravan park, Daniel and Bob couldn’t wait to tell us about their “catch of the day”  - two 20 kilo mackerel.  They were both tired but had had a fantastic day out on the water.  Naturally enough, we had fresh bbq fish for dinner that night and it was sensational.

TUESDAY 27TH AUGUST   -   Richard was up at 5.30 am ready for another big day on the ocean.  They set off from Tantabiddi Boat Ramp and out past the Reef.  They saw lots of turtles, dolphins and whales along the way, with one whale did a tail flip and rocked the boat badly.  They caught more mackerel but lost half of one to a shark that decided he wanted it for lunch as they were reeling it in. Bob’s fish freezer was filling up quicker than he expected.  He comes to Exmouth a few times each year and sometimes fishes for 4-5 days without catching anything.

ACTION SHOTS FROM DANIEL'S GO-PRO 

WEDNESDAY 28TH AUGUST  -   Another big fishing day , resulting in fresh tuna for dinner, yummy.

THURSDAY 29TH AUGUST   -    Bob dog sat Sally for the day as we went on Alek & Gina’s Glass Bottom Boat.    We met at Tantabiddi Boat Ramp at 9am for an hour long trip over the Coral Sanctuary   Zone.  It was a very good trip, with no minimum numbers, as Alek loves what he does so much that he will even go out with one person aboard.    He’s very passionate about what he does, but also made the trip very enjoyable and funny.  He’s been operating the tour for over 10 years and was full of knowledge.  He also does under-water photography and surfs every day after his trips have finished.   There was also a 2 ½ hour snorkelling trip.  The tide was very low the day we went out and we got a really good close up view of all the different corals and fish. We saw a few turtles and lots of Parrot Fish and the hour went so fast.  We really enjoyed the trip.

After the Glass Bottom Boat Trip, we went to Cape Range National Park.  It was $11 per car per day.  There were some spectacular limestone gorges and deep canyons and 50 kilometres of pristine beaches.  Cape Range National Park covers 50,581 hectares. We stopped off at most of the beaches along the way, Mangrove Bay, Needs Camp, T- Bone Bay and Turquoise Bay,  with superbly clear turquoise water, ideal for snorkelling.  We went to Yardie Creek which is as far as you can drive on sealed road without going through water in a 4WD.  We had a picnic lunch under a shady tree and went for a walk right along the top of the Creek, looking down into the gorge.  There was a boat trip up the gorge, but we decided to walk instead.   There are lots of camping spots available at each turnoff and most of them were quite full.  Unfortunately you can’t camp there with dogs, so we just had to enjoy the beauty of the place in a day trip.

YARDIE CREEK GORGE

TURQUOISE BAY (APTLY NAMED)

When we got back to the caravan, exhausted from our very enjoyable day out, Bob had a bbq steak dinner organised which was very welcome.

FRIDAY 30TH, SATURDAY 31ST AND SUNDAY 1^ST SEPTEMBER   -  Weather and wind conditions were good, so the eager anglers spent the three days out on the water.  They came back with their 20 kilo of fillets per person quota and were very happy.  They even got back in time for a Father’s Day bacon and egg brunchwhich I was very happy about.  The next few days were forecast to be quite windy out to sea and as everyone had their quota, Bob and Daniel decided to head back to Perth earlier than planned.  Daniel had lots of packing to do as he was moving into his own house the following week and was anxious to get back to sort everything out.   It had been really great seeing them again.  We’ll catch up with them when we head down to Perth for Christmas.

MONDAY 2ND SETEMBER   -   Daniel and Bob left at 4am for the very long drive back to Perth.  They got back at 8pm that night.

We met up with our neighbours Marion and Peter and their Sheepdog Bing (named after Bing Crosby).  They were lovely people and Bing brought back many happy memories of our Sheepdog Dougal that we had many years ago.  Oddly enough Marion and Peter had also had another Sheepdog called Dougal (from the Magic Roundabout programme in England – same as ours).  We got out our Dougal photos to show them and they said they were pretty much identical and the likeness was uncanny.  They were heading south the following day to Coral Bay.   We had a lovely happy hour with them and our neighbours Val and Barry.

I'M DOG SITTING SHEEPDOG BING

WEDNESDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER   -   We went for a drive with Val and Barry to Shothole Canyon and Charles Knife Canyon.  The scenery was breath-taking with deep gorges, high grassy cliffs and varied and colourful rock layers .  Shothole Canyon was 14 kilometres south from Exmouth.  It was named after the shot holes from seismographic explosions during oil searches in the 1950’s.  The gravel road into the canyon was pretty rugged and very slow and precarious at times, but well worth the trip.  It was recommended for only 4WD vehicles.  We did see some 2WD cars but they didn’t make it too far into the canyon.  At the end of the 12 kilometre drive through the canyon there were steps leading to a lookout over the entire gorge which was stunning.  There was a picnic table and toilet, so we had our morning cuppa there before carrying on further to Charles Knife Canyon.  Charles Knife Canyon was 21 kilometres south from Exmouth and was mainly gravel road which was much better to drive through.  It reminded me of the Prairies in Arizona – very bleak, colourful, deep and rugged.  We stopped at the many lookouts and couldn’t believe just how stunning each one was and were so glad we’d had the opportunity to visit these amazing gorges.  We had a picnic lunch at Thomas Carter Lookout and slowly came back onto the main road.  To finish a lovely day out we stopped at Pebbly Beach to give Sally and Anje (Val and Barry’s schnauzer) a run on the beach which they thoroughly enjoyed.

CHARLES KNIFE GORGE

SHOTHOLE CANYON

FRIDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER   -   Val and Barry left Exmouth going south to Coral Bay.  We said we’d drive down to see them and have lunch the next day as we didn’t stop at Coral Bay on our way up to Exmouth. 

We had dinner at Pinocchio’s Restaurant at the front of the caravan park.   It looked so beautiful at night with fairy lights underneath the balcony and around the verandah.  It was decorated with thick ropes wound through the balcony and lights in plastic tubes wrapped around the ropes.  There were ocean theme tables and chairs overlooking the pool which had an illuminated reef feature wall facing the restaurant. It was a very busy place and the service was terrific.  We had mozzarella/oregano pizza for entrée which was massive.  The mains were very large serves too.  All the pastas were home-made and the restaurant had won many awards.  I had spinach pasta with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and zucchini in a creamy garlic/chilli sauce.  It was divine.  Richard had chicken pasta in a rich tomato sauce.  We had to take half of our meals home in a doggy bag as the serves were huge.  Although we were so full and certainly didn’t need it, we had home –made tiramisu ice cream which was delicious also.   We were very impressed with the restaurant itself, the service and most of all the food.  Everyone’s servings were HUGE.

SATURDAY 7 TH SEPTEMBER   -   We drove south to Coral Bay which took us 1 hour and 50 minutes and met up with Val and Barry.  We had a drive around the harbour which was busy with glass bottom boat tours, fishing boats and scenic planes flying overhead.  The water was so clear and turquoise.  Coral Bay was a small area with two caravan parks – only one that takes dogs.  All the sites were taken and quite squashy.  It was a busy place with people swimming and snorkelling in the ocean in front of the caravan parks.  Parking was pretty hard as the streets were narrow and full of parked caravans and motor homes.  They really need some extra parking for day visitors.  We went for a drive to Mauds Landing with a beautiful fishing beach at the end of the road, then we came back to a park overlooking the main beach and had a picnic lunch with Val and Barry.  It was good to see them again.   They are now on their way back home to Victoria and hope to take off again early next year.  It was lovely to see them again as we’d had many happy hours with them in Exmouth and had all got on well, including our two dogs.

SUNDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER   -   We had a big clean up /sort out day, washing the car, caravan,  curtains and windows in the van, sorting out the back of the car and under the bed, doing all the washing and shopping as we were leaving Exmouth the next day.

We really enjoyed our stay in Exmouth and met some lovely people.  The fortnight flew by and was over too quickly.

NEXT WEEK:   We will be continuing our journey further north to cleaverville, a beach bush camping area 30 kilometres outside of Karratha.