Kalbarri

Can't believe that we will be waiting to board the Spirit in 5 weeks, the last 15 weeks have flown. We have travelled so far, seen and done so much that we sometime have to go back to our photo's and blog, just to refresh our poor old memories of where we have been, what a great time we have had.

Leaving Shark Bay we stopped to have a look at Shell Beach which is approx 50 kilometres from Denham the beach is made up entirely of billions of tiny cockle shells which are about 8 metres deep and stretching for over 120 kilometres. The shells were once used to build walls of buildings in the area some of these buildings we saw when we were in Denham.

We have spent this last week here at Kalbarri and what a lovely picturesque spot it is situated on the mouth of the Murchison River, we are leaving tomorrow and we would loved to have stayed longer. We have also been lucky to have had the company of Carlene & Rex also Maree and Brian but the happy hours and the walks via the Bakery and the occasional morning coffee along with long lunches at the other eateries around the town, have not been so good for our waist lines. Maree and Brian have since left us and are now down in Perth. We will leave Carlene and Rex tomorrow who will be staying on here at Kalbarri for a few more days.

On our walks along the foreshore we usually end up sitting at the lookout at Chinamans Rock where we are able to watch the whales as they come in close to the shoreline. A couple of days ago we hired a double kayak and paddled to the mouth of the Murchison River, it was very pleasant in the bay as it is protected by Oyster Reef, a very hazardous reef that as the boats leave the river mouth they head straight out towards the reef and then turn parallel to the beach for about 40 metres before heading out into the Indian Ocean, quiet a maneuver.

Yesterday we went out to the Kalbarri National Park where we were able to view the Murchison Gorge unfortunately the road to the Z Bend & Natures's Window was closed due to upgrading of the road, had heard it was in very poor condition so they are now sealing it and only allowing tour buses through until it is completed.  In the afternoon we went south of Kalbarri to view the coastal cliffs and beaches very stunning scenery along the cliffs, with plenty of access roads and paths giving you great vantage points.

Today we awoke to an overcast sky and a drop in the temperature, it was not long after that we heard the rumble of thunder and now we are experiencing our first rain since Coober Pedy back in May. It is a good thing that we have the Pajero booked in for new rear tyres at Geraldton as we expect the weather to deteriorate as we go further south. We did not expect to have to replace the tyres as we had new tyres fitted before we left home, but they are now illegal  have only done 15 thousand kilometers, hot roads and towing the van have taken a toll.

Shell Beach Shark Bay

Carlene,Rex, Maree and Brian enjoying a long lunch!

Mouth of the Murchison River

Kalbarri from the lookout

Kalbarri

Murchison Gorge

Rugged coastline (Pot Alley)

Denham - Monkey Mia

The trip from Carnarvon to Denham is endless flat scrub a very boring drive for about four hours, with only a roadhouse to break the journey along the way. About 90klms from Denham we stopped at Hamelin Pool Marine and Nature reserve where we were able to view the Stromatolites they are the largest and oldest living fossils that dot the shore in rocky lumps and are around 3,000 years old. There is a very good boardwalk which allows visitors to get a good view of these extraordinary formations.

We had booked the Seaside Tourist Park in Denham and were only able to get into the overflow area for the two nights that we required, $34 p/n for no power or water. Denham is a very popular seaside town with holiday makers from southern WA, overseas tourists and of course all of us grey nomads and is only 25klms from Monkey Mia which is world famous for it's Dolphin feeding.

We were told it is best to go out to Monkey Mia early morning as more Dolphin's come to the early feeding. Today I finally saw a sunrise! I usually try to keep my eyes closed to well after sunrise and then Baz will bring me my breakfast, but not today. We arrived at the beach around 7.45am and the weather was rather chilly and a brisk breeze blowing, but of course you ignore these discomforts as you wait in the shallow water along with a hundred other hopefuls for your first glimpse of a Dolphin. Finally the Dolphin's arrive but of course you are not one of the lucky ones picked to offer them a fish, but to be in the water just metres from them is still all worth the early rise and the little bit of discomfort from the brisk morning temperature. It was great to pop into the Resort after the feeding to enjoying a lovely HOT buffet breakfast, we made sure we beat the crowd.

Hamelin Pool Broadwalk

Stromatolites

Dolphin's arriving for the feeding

A Pelican lives in hope for a spare fish

Later in the day, wind blown and looking very
tired from my early morning rise

Carnarvon

Feeling the chill!
Thursday we crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn and we have certainly noticed the drop in air temp. We have now spent the last two and a half months in temperatures 25 degrees and above and are not looking forward to the cooler weather as we head south towards Perth.

We stopped in at Point Quobba on our way to Carnarvon, we had thought we would have spent a night there but all the good camp sites were taken, only spots left were soft sand surrounded by scrub and no vista. So we retraced our steps to the highway and went onto Carnavon. The Blow Holes at Point Quobba were very impressive and the coastline was very rugged a big difference to the sheltered calm sandy beach at Coral Bay that has the outer reef to break the rough seas of the Indian Ocean.

We were lucky to be able to book into the caravan park a day earlier than expected at Carnarvon and Rex & Carlene were surprised to see that we had rocked up while they were out and about. Fresh produce is readily available, as the plantations surrounding Carnarvon are on fertile river flats where they grow fruit and vegetables which can be bought direct from their doors or from the growers market that is held on Saturday mornings in the town. We were able to stop in at the market as we left town and pick up some lovely fresh fruit and vegies to take with us. We were only in the town for a couple of nights but we did manage to fit in a visit to the One Mile Jetty which is one of the longest in WA, it was late afternoon so thought it would be best to catch a ride on the small loco which was a lot quicker than we could walk. The Jetty has certainly seen better days, as while we were out on the end of it you could feel a slight sway caused by the gentle waves rolling in through the piers.

Point Quobba coatline

Blow holes Point Quobba

One Mile Jetty Carnarvon

Coral Bay

Coral Bay is a coastal paradise for tourists, with two caravan parks a resort, backpaker accommodation and a small shopping centre all located just meters from the pristine white beach of Bill's Bay. Bills's Bay is calm and protected and is ideal for snorkelling and swimming with plenty of marine life to be seen as the coral gardens are only metres from the beach . The fish feeding at 3.30 every afternoon is amazing with large northwest snapper coming right up into the shallows and weaving in and around your legs sometimes touching you as they swim past. As there is very little here we have been relaxing and enjoying the beach and the lovely weather with temperatures around 27 degrees daily, the wind seems to come up late afternoon and drops out again around midnight most days. Our week here is going by much too fast.

Yesterday I excelled myself and cooked a batch of scones which we shared with Carlene and Rex when they arrived, they will be here at Coral Bay until we both leave on Thursday It has been great to see them and hopefully we will be able to catch up some more as we both travel further south. 

We have been unable to hook the van up with water since being here as it is bore water and very salty, we have been using the van's tank water for our drinking water as we had filled them at Exmouth before leaving there. We are having nice salty showers at the amenities, lucky I have a good supply of leave in conditioner as my hair is like a straw broom after washing it in the bore water. There are numerous taps around the park where you are able to get desalinised water for drinking, and we go to the camp kitchen to get hot water for washing up. We are trying to save as much of our water as possible as we are hoping to stop in at Point Quobba on our way to Canaravon  for a night and there is no water available at the campground.

The TV reception here at Coral Bay is very poor or non existent have managed to tune in ABC and 7 on analog, I was unable to pick up anything at first. After a process of elimination as our neighbours were able to get the two channels, I worked out that we had a bad connection with our aerial cable. Baz with some reluctance got his long nose pliers to do some repairs. I was holding the torch, there was a lot of cursing from Baz about the poor light only for me to realise that he was wearing his sunglasses to do the job instead of his reading glasses! What a giggle, I think he had a few too many beers at Happy Hour.

Bills Bay - Coral Bay

Bills Bay

Bills Bay

Snorkelling

Beautiful pristine white sand
and clear turquoise water  

Marina in the calm waters
inside the reef

Boats moored in the calm waters
inside the reef 

Floral Coral beds along the coastline

Fish feeding - northwest snapper
crystal clear water

Exmouth

It has been lovely being back in civilisation again after the four nights spent out at the Cape Range National Park, we do not regret spending our time there as it was superb and loved the snorkeling it was just so nice to be able to have nice long showers and our electronic devices to have reception. We have now been here at Exmouth for four nights had only planned to stay for two, but after a day spent washing, cleaning and restocking we realised we needed a little longer to take in the sights.

Maree & Brian were still in the park with us for a couple of days before they moved further south to Coral Bay. We enjoyed a couple of Happy Hours with them and also on their last day here going for a trip to see some very impressive Canyons along the Charles Knife Road, we were able to see the splendor from the car did not have to trek on foot only getting out to take a photo or two. Leaving the canyons behind it was then back up the road to take in the view from the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse of breaking waters along the reef and the surf coming in along the coast. In the distance we were able to make out numerous gas rigs and watch for whales breaching as they headed along the coast. Looking to the East we were able to see the tall communication towers at the Naval Communication Station that plays a vital role in the secure operation of the Australian submarine fleet.

The last couple of days we have spent the morning around the caravan park or visiting the small shopping centre and the afternoons have been spent at the beach where Bazza's  enthusiasm for the beach has been revived with the sighting of a couple of white pointers!

Last night we tidied ourselves up and walked the short distance to Pinocchio's Italian Restaurant, the meal was delicious and the homemade gelato even better. We enjoyed the  Ferrero Rocher Gelato so much that once the washing up was done tonight we again walked to the restaurant to indulge. Bazz had the Tim Tam Gelato and I could not resist the Ferrero Rocher again, wishing I had room in my freezer to buy a litre!

Tomorrow we leave Exmouth and travel 155klm to Coral Bay, we have booked into the Bayview Caravan Park for a week. The snorkeling is supposed to be amazing  in Bill's Bay which is just a short walk from the caravan park.

Canyons along Charles Knife Road Exmouth

Maree,Brian & Bazz at Bundegi Beach Exmouth

At Vlamingh Head Lighthouse

View from Lighthouse looking towards the
Aust.Navey Communicaton Station in the distance

Cape Range National Park Exmouth

This is now our fourth night in at Cape Range National Park and I have been unable to post this blog at the time of writing as we have not had any internet, mobile phone, tv, power or access to water only what we have brought in with us, until we get back into Exmouth tomorrow.  Our first night here we spent at the Yardie Creek Campsite, we had a beautiful vista from the van overlooking the sand dunes and out to the Ingaloo Reef, unfortunately we could only stay there the one night as the site was book from the following day. Our camp host was able to get us a transfer to Lakeside Campsite, the site is a hundred metres from the beach and you only have to walk 500 metres along the beach to the most magnificent snorkelling reef. Hopefully Bazz will come for a snorkel today as he has been quiet happy to sit on the beach while I have been enjoying the wonders of the marine life. We have been lucky enough to see pods of dolphins, turtles, whales and I have seen many species of tropical fish. We have been very lucky to have been able to spend this time here as the area is very popular and is booked months in advance there are five campsites that can be pre booked and four that you can stay for up to 28 days and you just have to be there at the right time when someone moves out.  We would have not had a chance in the school holidays even getting in for a night we heard that they were lined up at the rangers  gate from early hours of the morning. We would have had to come in for day trips to be able to enjoy the beach & reef each day, being  here is like being on a tropical island the water is such a turquoise blue and so very clear with beautiful  pristine sand, we are loving it.

Bazz has taken to reading my Kindle, lucky that I have had some light reading to keep me going or we may have been fighting over it. This has been a very good time to sit and read and enjoy the very quiet evenings listening to the sounds of the wind & sea.  When we leave here we are booked in at the Exmouth Cape Holiday Park where we will again catch up with Maree & Brian who we last saw booking in at the caravan park four days ago with their friends, hopefully they have been able to catch some fish.

Yeah finally got Bazz in the water for a snorkel !!!!

Campsite Yardie Creek

Yardie Creek Gorge

Yardie Creek 

Beach at Yardie Creek

Lakeside Beach

Lakeside Beach

Lakeside Beach

Lakeside Beach 

Bazza finally got wet!

Point Samson

Wednesday we left Eighty Mile Beach and headed for Port Hedland. Port Hedland is one of the busiest Ports in Australia, with a good vantage point in the town to observe the massive ore-carriers and salt ships passing through the harbour. The massive salt piles meet you as you arrive in the town and is one of the major exports leaving the port. Iron Ore from Newman and Tom Price arrives by rail then it is loaded onto the ore-carriers that are headed for China. After checking out the town and stocking up with groceries we then headed south down the Great Northern Hwy for around 90 klms and stopped at the Peawah River Rest Area for the night. Just before the Newman turn off we met with a shower of Iron Ore Pebbles that came from a north bound Road Train, giving us a crack in the windscreen from the bottom that extended to the top plus a couple of star chips.The caravan did not come off unscathed with a crack in the front window as well, looks like a couple of insurance claims coming up.

On the way to Point Samson the next day we stopped off at the Roebuck Information Centre which is located in the Old Gaol Museum where iron bolts and rings can be seen on the interior walls where Aboriginal prisoners were shackled at night.

We arrived here at Point Samson by around 11am and were pleasantly surprised with the Cove Caravan Park, large concrete slabs for the caravan and awning area, large gravel area to park the car and really good amenities. During our stay here we took the opportunity to clean both the car and van as both had a good layer of red Kimberly and Pilbara dirt and dust, lovely to feel clean for a while not sure how long it will last.
Staying here at Port Samson enabled us to explore Karratha, Dampier, Wickham and Cossack. Cossack is an old Heritage Port with only a few well preserved buildings remaining, As the ships became larger this port was less utilised and the final death knell was when the town was devastated by a cyclone. Wickham was built to service the Pilbara iron workers and is the home for the massive port facilities of Cape Lambert. Karratha is a fast growing town with plenty of new housing developments and a good shopping centre and is home to many workers from the mining industries both iron and gas, there is an abundance of runabouts all shapes and sizes in the suburbs due to its location close to the coast. Only 20klms away is Dampier another large shipping port that houses the massive export facilities of Pilbara Iron, Dampier Salt and the North West Gas Shelf Project. Dampier is also the home of the statue of Red Dog, who was made famous by the novel and then the film Red Dog. We also went to the visitors centre at North West Gas in Dampier where we watched a very informative video on the building of the facility and the production of gas at the drilling sites offshore, the centre overlooks the Woodside operated Karratha Gas Plant which is the onshore production plant for natural gas.

After four very enjoyable nights at Point Samson and a see you tomorrow to Maree, Brian and their friends it was time to hit the road again and  head south to Onslow. We stopped in at Karatha for a quick shop at Woolworths and for Bazza to visit the camping and fishing shop, where he once again was able to drool over the wide range of fishing gear that they had in stock. We had thought that we would stop for the night at the Robe River Rest Area, but the site was not appealing as it was too early in the day and there wasn't any shade, and we are a little over the red dust at the moment, so we continued onto Onslow. The Ocean View Caravan Park at Onslow it not much better than the free campsite and we have had to pay $45 for the privilege, a very tired, dusty and dated caravan park. We had previously booked for two nights but have now cancelled that booking and will leave here tomorrow, as the town has very little to interest us. Previously grey nomads had chosen Onslow as a destination unfortunately the town has changed the Discovery Caravan Park is now full of dongers and closed to tourist, there is a shortage of accommodation due to the growth in the mining industry in the area.  We will now head down towards Exmouth maybe have a free stop along the way.

Iron Ore Carrier

Port Hedland 

Point Samson

Red Dog Statue Dampier

North West Gas memorial to the workers who were either killed or seriously injured during the construction

North West Gas

Historic town of Cossac

Sunset Onslow