Coral Bay

July 15, 2017

We passed this sign on the road this morning - Let's get tropical!

It's windy enough wherever we go - glad there are no cyclones on the way :)

Another world heritage area - Coral Bay













odometer reading 59,185
kms travelled today 234
kms travelled so far 9,354
campsite Bayview Coral Bay Holiday Park

July 16, 2017

Welcome to paradise!

Happy Hour on the beach @ sunset












odometer reading 59,185
kms travelled today 0
kms travelled so far 9,354
campsite Bayview Coral Bay Holiday Park

July 17, 2017

without the 2km walk to the boat ramp it would be hard to do our 10,000 steps here - everything is so close.

another view of the boat ramp
& the gloriously coloured water











odometer reading 59,185
kms travelled today 0
kms travelled so far 9,354
campsite Bayview Coral Bay Holiday Park

July 18, 2017

another day - another chance to go snorkelling
very accessible - but no Great Barrier Reef















odometer reading 59,190
kms travelled today 5 - we had to move from a powered to an unpowered site - 1 hour in-between checking out & checking back in
kms travelled so far 9,359
campsite Bayview Coral Bay Holiday Park

July 19, 2017

Les went out on a fishing charter but had to cut this 2 1/2 metre tiger shark loose

He brought home lots of fish though - Trevally and Rosie. The Rosie is all in the freezer (full) & we had a meal of Trevally tonight - YUM!

Meanwhile, I was on a glass bottomed boat.

The coral here is mainly green & brown due to the water temperature & the algae
some bright blue on tips of stag horns & some lavender in the left of the photo (not clear)

and I saw lots of turtles - they looked like ET with their heads out of the water for a breath - they move faster than expected so a bit hard to get a great photo
I also saw dolphins, stingrays, heaps of coloured fish & a humpback whale breeching.








odometer reading 59,190
kms travelled today 0
kms travelled so far 9,359
campsite Bayview Coral Bay Holiday Park

July 20, 2017

We walked around the shoreline to the Shark sanctuary - but wrong time of year to see anything other than a stingray

odometer reading 59,197
kms travelled today 7 - Les used his winch to help a young Vic couple who were bogged in sand near the boat ramp
kms travelled so far 9,366
campsite Bayview Coral Bay Holiday Park

July 21. 2017

fish feeding on the main beach Mon, Weds, Thurs to emphasise to everyone that Coral Bay is a Marine Sanctuary.

These fish were swimming between my legs :)

odometer reading 59,197
kms travelled today 0
kms travelled so far 9,366
campsite Bayview Coral Bay Holiday Park

Carnarvon

July 7, 2017

We slowed for a trip of goats to cross the highway and also a couple of stay emus.

Then we passed the 26th parallel - officially in the north west now - roll on warmer weather.

about 30 kms south of Carnarvon we caught up to two oversized monsters. On coming traffic had to pull off the road completely.

We were told when we were allowed to pass - but there wasn't much room left for us - oncoming cars that had pulled over, pulled further over
It was a bit hairy.









odometer reading 58,490
kms travelled today 247
kms travelled so far 8,659
campsite Outback Oasis Caravan Park

July 8, 2017

We went to the craft & fresh food market in town & then investigated the One Mile Jetty.

This jetty was built in 1897 (& it looks like it!)
It gives a good view of the Gascoyne River mouth, mangrove & marine life, migrating birds & jetty activity.

There is a nominal charge for walking out on the jetty - all monies going towards restoration - we didn't see much evidence of this happening since 1998

Jetty VERY unstable & full of holes & broken railings

an adventure in itself :)




odometer reading 58,527
kms travelled today 59
kms travelled so far 8,718
campsite Outback Oasis Caravan Park

July 9, 2017

Les went crabbing with Ken - someone we had met at Cliff Head South - & they came back with a great bounty - worthwhile getting that fishing licence Les!!









odometer reading 58,527
kms travelled today 0
kms travelled so far 8,718
campsite Outback Oasis Caravan Park

July 10, 2017

I went to exercises in the 'Big Shed' @ the caravan park - the youngest there by @ least 10 years, but it warmed me up!

Les went fishing again - but all the fish are safe.













odometer reading 58,550
kms travelled today 23
kms travelled so far 8,741
campsite Outback Oasis Caravan Park

July 11, 2017

We visited the Carnarvon Space & Technology Museum which Buzz Aldrin opened in 2012.

The museum focuses on 2 parts - the Tracking Station & the OTC Satellite Earth Station, each station played separate roles in the early space industry.

The tracking station was built to support NASA's Gemini, Apollo & Skylab programs. It was the last station to communicate with the space capsules leaving the earth orbit, and the last to make contact before splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

The OTC Satellite Earth Station was part of the global satellite communications system.

So, Carnarvon hosted Australia's first satellite TV broadcast in 1966 - long before they had TV reception in the town.

We got to ride in a flight simulator & Blast Off!!

There was a Planetarium within the museum. This photo of Earth was projected in the round during that presentation.

There were some hair raising objects to play with.

After tearing ourselves away from the Museum we drove 60 or so kms out towards Quobba.

It was a great day for whale watching - we followed a large pod for a few kms

The Blow Hole performed on cue!

HMAS Sydney II Memorial (just up from the blowhole) commemorates the battle between the HMAS Sydney II and the German raider the HSK 'Kormoran' on the 19th November 1941.












odometer reading 58,766
kms travelled today 216
kms travelled so far 8,957
campsite Outback Oasis Caravan Park

July 12, 2017

We cruised around town to find where the locals were eating ..... watched the first half of Origin @ the pub & then caught the finish back @ the van.










odometer reading 58,787
kms travelled today 21
kms travelled so far 8,978
campsite Outback Oasis Caravan Park

July 13, 2017

We travelled east to Rocky Pool - a deep fresh water pool - still not hot enough for swimming....


Sir Charles Kingsford Smith had a truck to run the Gascoyne Transport Company - he did a mail run from Carnarvon to the Bangemall goldfields near Mt Augustus - they say he'd boil a billy @ this billabong on his way




odometer reading 58,915
kms travelled today 128
kms travelled so far 9,106
campsite Outback Oasis Caravan Park

July 14, 2017

I walked into town to investigate the town pedestrian bridge.

lucky the siren didn't sound while I was on the bridge

Les tried his hand @ fishing again but the fish haven't read the tourist brochures - 'one can confidently fish in any of the waters around Carnarvon'



odometer reading 58,951
kms travelled today 36
kms travelled so far 9,142
campsite Outback Oasis Caravan Park

Shark Bay World Heritage Area

July 3, 2017

 We drove to Hamelin Pool via Kalbarri
did a little shopping & picked up $100+ tatslotto winnings

checked into our camp & went down the road to Hamelin Pool.  The living microbes that build Stromatolites in the highly saline waters are similar to the earliest forms of life dating back 3000 million years. Colonies of marine Stromatolites have helped science gain a better understanding of the evolution of life on earth over the millennia. These are the oldest, largest display anywhere in the world.


odometer reading 57,456
kms travelled today 356
kms travelled so far 7,625
campsite Hamelin Outback Station Stay

July 4, 2017

We drove along World Heritage Drive to Nanga Bay Resort and on to Shell Beach which is comprised of countless millions of tiny shells. Scientists now know that a lack of predators due to the high local salinity cause the animals to grow so rapidly & profusely in the area. The shell build up is 25-30 feet deep (8-9 metres).

We then visited Whalebone & Fowlers Camp (free campsites) & checked for wildlife from Eagle Bluff - no luck today.

Onto Denham (once a pearler's camp) for lunch.

We were a bit late to Monkey Mia :)

Here's what Monkey Mia looks like without the dolphins.

We drove in to Francois Peron National Park.  Les had to let the tyres down for us to continue driving. We ended up  at Big Lagoon.










odometer reading 57,783
kms travelled today 327
kms travelled so far 7,952
campsite Hamelin Outback Station Stay

July 5, 2017

Yesterday we had wanted to travel to Steep Point but Google told us it would take us 6 hours 1 way so that's why we went to Denham etc. We asked @ the Information Centre there & they assured us that only the last 30kms were sand. So, today we set out for Steep Point.  Francois Peron NP was just a little practice for today. Tyre pressure down again & off we set.  Sometimes we couldn't see the road for the bonnet we were climbing at such an angle & of course we met many vehicles on the crest of a hill or just around a corner - very sandy in many places. Very corrugated in others.

We registered that we were in the park and checked in with the ranger. She told us that there were many rocks on the western side that were ripping tyre walls so we knew what section of the road to avoid. We did drive to Nor 6 - this is the site of a shipwreck in the 60s where miraculously the captain survived to be rescued 2 weeks later - maybe Tom Hanks should make a movie about this?

& we made it to Steep Point! (in 3 - 4 hours - lots of sightseeing on the way) We drove over long white sandy beaches with fabulous blue waters apart from the 4WD adventure tracks.

We saw a pod of whales out to sea frolicking around & having a great time - perhaps they were on the Australia ByPass Route?

On October 1616, Dirk Hartog, Captain of a Dutch trading ship, landed at Cape Inscription on what is now known as Dirk Hartog Island and was the first recorded white man to set foot on Australian soil.

Dirk Hartog Island is just to the north of Steep Point.

We passed lots of sand hills - could have been in the Sahara!

A great Day! - we really prefer this side of Shark Bay to what we saw yesterday.








odometer reading 58,114
kms travelled today 331
kms travelled so far 8,283
campsite Hamelin Outback Station Stay

July 6, 2017

We drove to Hamelin Pool to check out the Telegraph Station, museum & the Shell Block Quarry.
Many of the old station homesteads were built from shell block as the shell block is a wonderful insulator. These days blocks are only taken to repair historic buildings.


Then Les drove on to Nanga Bay Resort for fuel & fishing & I walked the 4.5km back to camp.

Hamelin Station has provided great wood for our fires & we've had great company to share it with.

We've decided the giant marshmallows aren't as tasty as the regular ones.








odometer reading 58,243
kms travelled today 129
kms travelled so far 8,412
campsite Hamelin Outback Station Stay

Geraldton & Port Gregory

June 27, 2017

Buffeted by prevailing southerly winds, the leaning trees of Greenough  are Eucalyptus Camaldulensis or Red River gums. Though the tree is found throughout southern Australia along watercourses and on flood plains, it is only on the windswept Greenough Flats that the tree develops its distinctive leaning shape.

We parked in an RV friendly 24hr stop in Geraldton and walked to the HMAS Sydney II Memorial. HMAS Sydney II was lost with all 645 hands in November 1941, just off the coast of Shark Bay whilst engaging the German Raider Cormorant. This memorial is located at Mt Scott overlooking the same ocean where HMAS Sydney II fought its last battle.

Just a few steps away stands a bronze figure of a woman looking out to sea, grieving for her lost loved one. She is called The Waiting Woman.













odometer reading 56,661
kms travelled today 118
kms travelled so far 6,830
campsite Belair Gardens Caravan Park (by the time we got back to the 24hr stop we were so parked in we could hardly open the van door so off to a caravan park we went.

June 28, 2017
Julie checked out the old gaol/craft centre, art gallery & tried the museum (but it shut @ 3) also tried the cathedral (but it's closed for renovations) while Les pottered around @ Bunnings & the van.

Every Weds night the Park hosts a hot roll night in aid of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
A bush poet/storyteller had some yarns to spin
the caravan poems were pretty spot on!








odometer reading 56,698
kms travelled today 37
kms travelled so far 6,867
campsite Belair Gardens Caravan Park

June 29, 2017

We made a short stop in Northampton then rejected a farm stay @ Linga Longa and travelled on to Port Gregory.

We met up with an Irishman on the jetty & he taught Les how to prepare a squid.
He gave us one for dinner tonight.

The view of a rubber tree outside our door is a change from the ocean.












odometer reading 56,814
kms travelled today 116
kms travelled so far 6,983
campsite Port Gregory Caravan Park

June 30, 2017

I walked out of town to the pink lake. The colour of the lake is due to a bacteria (Dunaliella salina) trapped in the salt granules; this provides a rich source of Beta Carotene, which is harvested from small ponds.
3rd time lucky for me - we missed the first pink lake while still in Victoria & then again whilst doing the Great Ocean Drive near Esperance.

I thought I found Les @ his fishing spot but on closer inspection I was mistaken :)















odometer reading 56,826
kms travelled today 12
kms travelled so far 6,995
campsite Port Gregory Caravan Park

July 1, 2017

We drove to Kalbarri & explored the coastline of the National Park.

Natural Bridge.

We drove in & out to the coast - Island Rock, Eagle Gorge, Red Bluff & Pot Alley.

We saw a large school of dolphins (12 - 15 or so) swimming & surfing in the waves below.

Les braved the cold & the wind a little longer & saw a whale breaching a few times.

We also visited the Rainbow Jungle - a parrot breeding centre - seriously out of date - needs dragging into the 21st century.

We drove back to Port Gregory through the National Park. All seemed flat & stunted then we followed a road to the Murchison Gorge - stunning (no photo sorry)

This is the Murchison River further downstream from the Ross Graham Lookout - named after the first school teacher in Kalbarri who was a devoted conservationist.










odometer reading 57,087
kms travelled today 261
kms travelled so far 7,256
campsite Port Gregory Caravan Park

July 2, 2017

The real Les showing his 'squidding' style

Proof!!!


YUM!









odometer reading 57,100
kms travelled today 13
kms travelled so far 7,269
campsite Port Gregory Caravan Park