Day 127 – 23rd September – Coral Bay

Who’d have thought?  We have less than a week to go on our big trip and we still manage to have a ‘Top 10’ experience… today was an adventure on a boat for some awesome snorkelling and a swim with a manta ray…

Here’s the excited family, waiting to board the bus down to the marina

And here’s some cool kids just about to board the boat 

A short half hour-ish trip brought us to our first snorkelling location on the inside edge of the reef 

The water was crystal clear so the visibility was awesome and the coral this far away from town is still alive and vibrant.  I thought it was one of the best snorkels we’ve done this trip…  No fish photos to show but how’s this for a family photo? 

Back on board and we headed a short distance further north to find ourselves a manta ray.  We had three goes at jumping in the water and swimming alongside it.  Unfortunately, there were no barrel rolls as the manta ray was in cruise mode, but it was still an awesome experience.  Thankfully, the kids coped really well and had no trouble at all keeping up with this gentle giant… 

Back on board once again for lunch while we putted along to our final snorkel location.  We were one of the first groups into the water so we had to wait around for everyone else to jump in… so what better opportunity for some fun with the GoPro? 

Another amazing snorkel took us to some deeper water where we found this massive cauliflower coral.  Apparently it is a ‘cleaning station’ for sharks and turtles.  The small cleaner/sucker fish live around this big lump of coral and so the sharks and turtles swim along and hover over it expecting to get cleaned.  We were fortunate enough to see four grey reef sharks cruising around and around… 

The deeper water meant an opportunity for some bigger pelagic fish.  We saw an absolutely massive school of trevally and Aiden and I cruised past a school of barracuda.  The snorkel eventually ended up at some shallower reef where once again, the clear water and brilliant sunshine made for awesome viewing.

Of course, we can’t have a massive day without some foot shots… here’s one with a difference 

And my last foot photo as the boat cruised for home was photo-bombed by an eight year old… 

Day 126 – 22nd September – Coral Bay

Another cruisy day today… we spent the morning at the beach with Jenny & Jeff again before they head for home.  At least we managed to squeeze in a snorkel off the beach.  Unfortunately, it’s no Turquoise Bay drift snorkel… the coral has clearly been affected by years of human and boat traffic so there just aren’t the same number or variety of fish.  

Day 125 – 21st September – Coral Bay

We have officially started our week long ‘holiday from our holiday’ before we head home.  We have adjusted from adventure mode into sit back and relax mode…

We arrived in Coral Bay just after lunch where we finally met up with Jenny & Jeff.  We had been leapfrogging each other since Kununurra and hadn’t managed to be in the same spot at the same time until now.

We did a quick camp set up, had some lunch then headed straight for the beach.  Coral Bay has become quite a busy spot in the last 12 months.  Both times we have been here we have noticed how packed the place is… people everywhere…

We spent a lovely afternoon chatting on the beach before heading to the pub across the road for more chatting over dinner…

Day 124 – 20th September – Exmouth National Park

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a morning coffee photo… check out this view…  

To top off this awesome view, while I was drinking my coffee we were lucky enough to spot heaps of whales swimming past.  After our coffee was done we grabbed the binoculars and headed up to the highest dune we could find to sit and watch the whales… just in time to see a few of them breaching and fin slapping.  At one point we had three whales all breach at the same time… so, so cool. 

After about an hour of whale watching we dragged ourselves away to hit the water again.  The current at the Turquoise Bay drift snorkel was screaming along so Megan sat this one out. 

We wondered if the white tipped reef shark would still be there so we headed straight for the lump of coral where we found him yesterday… and guess what?  He was still there… AND he had a friend!  

The other highlight of our snorkel was our first sighting of a sea snake… I thought I would be a bit nervous around one of these but the excitement took over and we swam along after him for quite a bit… 

The weather turned a bit in the afternoon and it became quite windy so we spent a quiet afternoon watching the whales cruise past.  On a different note, our day was made complete when we finally spotted two brilliant blue White Winged Fairy-Wrens.  We have seen loads of the female birds which are a non-descript brown colour so we had been hanging out to spot the blue males.  Unfortunately my camera isn’t up to taking long range bird photos… so, thanks to Google for the photo...

Day 123 – 19th September – Exmouth National Park

Today we had the pleasure of snorkelling at one of our favourite spots, the drift snorkel at Turquoise Bay.  We were super excited to get out there and happy to finally have Megan big enough to join us.  Here’s the kids getting kitted up…  

As usual, we were treated to an abundance of marine life.  We saw a couple of turtles and some octopus along with a multitude of weird and wonderful fish.  

On our last snorkel we even managed to find a white tipped reef shark hiding in a cavern under a big coral boondie.  

We came back to camp for lunch and waited out the afternoon sea breeze.  Once the wind died down we thought we’d try a snorkel off the beach where we are camped.  Unfortunately, it was no Turquoise Bay.  What we had assumed was coral turned out to be just rock and seaweed.  The only thing of significance we saw was a turtle coming up for air right in front of us… that was pretty cool…

Day 122 – 18th September – Exmouth National Park

We have been eagerly anticipating our stay in the Cape Range National Park.  We have seen some amazing things on our adventure but my favourite part of the world is still the Ningaloo Coast…

We arrived in the park late in the morning only to be told today, between 12pm and 1pm , would be the only day where the tides were high enough to snorkel over the Oyster Stacks.  So we did a super fast set up, bolted down some lunch and before we knew it, we were in the water for some snorkelling action.

Here’s our camp spot with a million dollar view.  We were lucky enough to book a site right on the water front. 

In the water 

The sea breeze picked up by the end of our snorkel so we were back at camp by mid-afternoon.  As we were lazing about I was watching some fairy-wrens in the bushes right next to our camp.  Out of nowhere a goanna starts slithering through the tree trying to catch one of the wrens… it was very cool… I love nature up close and personal!  Never fear, the goanna didn’t catch his lunch this time… 

After the sea breeze settled down a bit we went for a wander up the beach.  Did I mention how much I love this part of the coast? 

Looking back at our camper – the one furthest to the right

It’s been a while since I’ve done a foot shot… 

As we were walking we noticed this shell just at the shoreline.  It was massive!  The animal was still inside but it didn’t seem to be alive… we weren’t sure so we put him back in the water and left him in peace… 

Day 121 - 17th September - Exmouth

We have just arrived in Exmouth.  We have a quick overnight stop in town to stock up on food before we head into the national park tomorrow... looking forward to the snorkelling at Turquoise Bay...

Day 120 – 16th September – Onslow

Today’s task was to go exploring.  We headed back out of town 20km and out to the Ashburton River to find the ruins of the Old Onslow town site.  There is a common theme with all these early towns… they began in the late 1800’s, lasted a short time during a pearling/gold/mining boom, then inevitably died a slow death due to a lack of access to fresh water… 

Here’s the old Police Station

I like this photo… the old meets the new… The pillars in the foreground are from the old tram tracks from the town to the jetty built in the late 1800s and the construction in the background is the new Wheatstone Gas Plant. 

On the way back into town we stopped at several places along the Ashburton River.  What a magic spot!  You can camp all the way along the river in spots that are away from other campers and perched right on top of the river bank.  The only thing that stopped us from packing up camp in town and moving out here were the lack of toilet facilities.  There are not too many things we have missed out on this trip, but spending a night on the Ashburton River will be one thing we are disappointed we didn’t do…

This is the causeway crossing the river.  We saw the largest flock of brolgas we have ever seen just standing around in the water.  Unfortunately they were a bit too far away to get a good photo, but here are a few a bit closer. 

A bit further along the river was a spot called 5 Mile Pool… just stunning! We could have camped right where I am standing to take these photos… 

Day 119 – 15th September – Onslow

We left Karratha this morning and made our way to Onslow.  Our expectations were not high as we were expecting a rather small town.  It turns out we enjoyed our stay here and were glad we dropped in…

The caravan park is right on the beach.  Here’s the view from our camper.  As with Cape Keraudren, there were zebra finches all along the beach front.  The special treat were the numerous ospreys constantly hovering around our little beach. 

We arrived early in the afternoon so there wasn’t much time to explore.  We managed a 1km walk along a coastal boardwalk then followed the beach back to the caravan park. 

Unfortunately, like Cape Keraudren, we discovered Onslow has its own share of sand flies… so we have an additional lot of bites to add to the previous ones we are still dealing with… a billion mosquitos too…

Day 117, 118, 119 – 13, 14, 15th September – Karratha

We’re back in Karratha again.  It’s a chance for me to catch up with my board gaming friends again, for Dave to get the car serviced and a general restock of the fridge before we head to Exmouth and Coral Bay.

Day 116 – 12th September – Cape Keraudren

We only had time for one night at Cape Keraudren so it was pack up day again.  It would have been nice to stay longer but I think the sand flies would have driven us nuts.  We hadn’t quite managed to explore the whole Cape so we jumped in the car and headed up the coast a little.  Check out the colour of the water… magic! 

On the way back we found a whole lot of nests people have made for the finches.  There were an assortment of nests including coffee tins and wine casks.  The kids checked them all out looking for eggs.  Like all other siblings they have their moments when they seem to be constantly arguing… but every now and then they work together nicely… here’s Aiden carrying Megan to the nest because she left her shoes in the car… 

Day 115 – 11th September – Cape Keraudren

Today we discovered a little paradise on the west coast.  Half way between Port Hedland and Eighty Mile Beach is Cape Keraudren.  Anywhere we can set up camp overlooking the beach is our idea of heaven… 

The first thing we noticed (after the outstanding view) is the birdlife here.  The beach was chock full of shore birds and the dunes were full of finches and fairy-wrens and white-eyes and spinifex birds…   

Unfortunately, after the view, then the bird life, we then noticed the sand flies… there were swarms of them.  If it wasn’t for those pesky sand flies Cape Keraudren could easily have become one of our favourite places… It still rates pretty highly, it’s just a shame…

After setting up camp we headed straight down to the beach for an explore.  We didn’t manage to get far, there were so many birds to check out.  The binoculars got a work out…

Back at camp we had some lunch then donned the long sleeves and half a bottle of insect repellent before we took off up the beach in the opposite direction.  By this time the tide had gone out leaving a magical stretch of rock pools for us to explore.  Two and half hours we spent combing the pools, chasing octopus and marvelling at all the weird and wonderful creatures… 

There were loads of clam shells exposed on the rock shelves.  Megan discovered the hard way that when you approach one they spit water at you…

This poor octopus got prodded several times to make him squirt some ink and swim away.  We love everything about octopus… they are the coolest masters of disguise.  Check out the difference between this one when it swims compared to when it parks up on the sandy bottom. 

We followed the rock pools for quite a way up the beach before we stumbled across this wall.  Apparently it’s part of a rabbit proof fence… 

Once again back at camp we found a tin can someone had tied to the fence.  There is a massive population of zebra finches that live around the camp.  Their nests are everywhere… apparently this tin can is good enough.  There was no toilet paper in the toilets because a finch had made its nest in the paper holder…