Coral Bay

Tuesday morning and two more days in this delightful spot.  Yet another beautiful turquoise bay, with golden sands, lovely walks along the beach, and as a bonus a magnificent bakery with real coffee. Woohoo !!

We are really enjoying our time here.  The weather is gorgeous, the temperatures perfect, warm days and cool nights allowing our wardrobe to consist only of shorts & singlet tops, and so far we have avoided all the wet & stormy weather happening further south in the Perth area.

On Saturday night, just for a change, we were in the middle of a highly charged crowd at the one and only pub in town, to watch the AFL semi final & subsequently the Fremantle Dockers take the match with a resounding win over Sydney Swans.  To say the pub erupted is a bit of an understatement,  with purple balloons, streamers & jumpers everywhere.  I think I spotted one Sydney supporter skulking in the corner :-)

We resorted to the pub because we were told that there was no TV coverage in the caravan park.  Uncharacteristically, Trevor (who usually has a go anyway) took them at their word this time, and didn't wind our TV aerial up or even try and tune us in.  However since then, on seeing a couple of other aerials standing proud, he did decide to give it a go, only to find that we are able to get ABC1 & Channel 7.  Only analogue channels, but hey, at least we get to watch the news or X factor, yay! Don't want to miss either of those programmes (she says with tongue in cheek).  But the news is at least useful to remind us what day it is.

Now back to the bay - in this amazing clear water each afternoon on cue at 3.00pm a large number of big fat snapper come into the shallows to be fed.  Similar to the Monkey Mia experience with dolphins I should imagine, but with less numbers of tourists, the fish swim amongst the legs of the the people standing ankle deep in the water and vie for the pellets of food that one of the tour operators distributes to willing participants.  It's lovely to hear the delighted squeals of the kids as the fish jostle for position & even poke their heads out of the water to grab a morsel.

Another interesting phenomena is, once again as regular as clockwork and every day, a large number of reef sharks accumulate in another bay just a short walk away, to feed each afternoon around 4.30pm.
That bay is a shark nursery & sanctuary, and although they swim tantalisingly close to shore, it is just far enough out that taking good clear photos of them is nigh on impossible.  We just had to be satisfied with seeing them & enjoying the moment.  There's nothing quite as fascinating as any sort of wild life going about their business in their natural environment, don't you think?

Thursday we are moving down to Carnarvon, where we will stay for a few days.  Hopefully finally get our fridge fixed, which in spite of the efforts of Steve in Port Hedland, is still not operating properly on gas.  We will also catch up with the Hays, from Upper Hutt, New Zealand who are at the tail end of their Aussie trip.  So that will be nice.

More later then.  Ciao xx

Exmouth-Ningaloo Reef-Coral Bay

We decided to skip Onslow & travel straight down to Exmouth, where we checked in to a great park for a couple of days, which we subsequently extended for a further 3 days so were there for just short of a week.  Although we'd had some negative reports about Exmouth, we found it to be a great little town, with great facilities for tourists, and a huge number of wonderful tours & expeditions on offer.  Plus, we found the coffee shop wasn't too foul either, serving normal looking & tasting coffees, much to my delight.

Our 2nd day was Sunday, and we found the Exmouth Christian Fellowship to be a great little church, where we thoroughly enjoyed the message, the worship & the fellowship.  Even bumping in to a couple we had met at church in Kununurra, so it was great to catch up with where they had been since we met them all those weeks ago.

Monday Trevor left before 7am to go on a day trip out on the reef to do snorkelling, and hopefully to swim with the whale sharks.  The season was meant to have finished in mid August, but amazingly for some reason the whale sharks are still around (obviously still plankton about for them to eat) and therefore an opportunity of a lifetime had to be taken up.  I, being a relative non-swimmer, opted not to attempt this challenge - I was convinced that if I saw a whale shark (all 6+metres long of it) I would die of fright, let alone trying to cope with swimming & breathing through a snorkel etc, so I was happy to wave TR off for the day.

My visitor at the van while Trevor was off diving  :-(  - (Not my favourite beast)

He returned at 6.30pm exhausted but elated with the whole experience being beyond anything he had imagined doing this trip.  The reef snorkelling to begin the day, seeing a miriad of brilliantly coloured fish and coral was great in itself, but when the spotter plane sighted a whale shark feeding & the boat soon caught up with it, and dropped the swimmers (including Trevor) to swim alongside it, the experience soon exceeded all expectations.  To witness the enormous, gentle creature with its huge mouth open, cruising the waters, feeding on the minute plankton was a spectacle beyond belief, especially when it is so unperturbed by the numbers of be-flippered swimmers clustered above and around it.  The operation is very well organized, and although there are 3 companies offering the same dive, when a whale is sighted they all converge and take it in turns to drop swimmers, allowing no more than 10 at a time in the water.  Trevor was very impressed with the way it was conducted.

They took it in turns over a period of time & each group had 4 seperate opportunities to dive in. All operators are only allowed to swim with a whale shark for no more than 1 hour.  Obviously the whale shark was very placid & accommodating in remaining accessible for them all to get a really good look at him, and enjoy the moment, as they all absolutely did.  Trevor took some brilliant underwater stills & video and nearly got swiped by the tail at one stage he was so close.

They also spotted a pod of over 200 spinner dophins, (very rare sighting apparently), a venomous sea snake (who is apparently more venomous than most snakes on land, but entirely docile and not aggressive unless provoked), as well as many hammerhead sharks, other fish, and even a Morton Bay bug, who would seem to have been way off course but swimming happily on the surface.

So it was an amazing day and we are so pleased that Trevor had the opportunity to do it.  It wasn't on his bucket list, but one could say it was a bonus prize !!  The next day was a total rest day, as he realised how exhausting it had been keeping up with the whale shark, let alone the intensity of the day itself, with 4 mtr swells and all that he experienced.  I was exhausted just hearing about it.

Raring to go !!

Yesterday we decided to drive around the cape to Turquoise Bay, which is the favourite, and a simply magnificent bay and place for tourists to have a go at snorkelling.  Not to be outdone, I decided that at my tender young age, perhaps I should bite the bullet, put my fears aside and don mask & flippers and see what all the fuss was about.  Not being a water baby by any stretch of the imagination, this was no mean task, but I was determined to give it a go so we hired me some gear and off we went.

The bay is aptly named, as the water is a brilliant turquoise colour and crystal clear.  Quite the most beautiful sight with pristine golden sand bordering the amazing blue water.  Donning wetsuit (a remnant of our past water skiing days, which impressively now fits me again) and the goggles, mask & flippers I took to the water.  After some simple and very encouraging tuition from my lovely husband, I ventured into the blue & took the plunge.  To my utter amazement I soon mastered the breathing through the snorkel, and in fact thoroughly enjoyed floating around amidst the coral & its brightly coloured fishy inhabitants.  We didn't have to go far (only 20 mtrs off the beach) to see such an amazing variety of shapes, sizes & colours of fish and I was able to enjoy, in the flesh, some of the sea life I have only seen on film before.  Exquisite and amazing is the only way to describe the experience.

See, you can teach old dogs new trick !!

Today we have moved on to Coral Bay, not too far down the coast and still a part of the Ningaloo Reef system.  We will be here a week, and no doubt we will venture into the water yet again, as this bay offers the same brilliant blue water, soft golden sand, and easy and close access to the coral & its fish.

Whereas some beaches nurture a strong surfing culture, the Reef in contrast has a diving culture all of its own, and its great to see the passion the local tour operators have for the region and all it has to offer those who feel inclined to explore and take advantage of it all.  We feel blessed & privileged to be able to experience such an awesome part of God's creation !!

Beach Blob!!

Hey there

Just a quickie this time as not much to report.  We are still enjoying Gnoorea Point, sitting here looking out to sea, listening to the waves lapping, the sea breeze whistling through the awning & generally blobbing. Leisurely walks among the rocks & sand, to make sure we get that necessary dose of exercise.  My legs are appreciative of relative flat terrain to scramble over, instead of the rock climbing done on most gorge walks.

Just a note : I know I wouldn't have been able to cope with some of the ground we've covered prior to my change of lifestyle & loss of weight.  Apart from a lack of incentive to push myself,  I wouldn't have had the energy or stamina to even try.  So that in itself is making this trip so much more enjoyable not only for me, but for Trevor too.  He's not having to go climbing by himself :-)

Have already finished reading one book & another on the go. Trevor is loving having his laptop outside on the table, checking the market & taking a trade or two, all whilst enjoying the view & getting a healthy suntan at the same time.  It is a real bonus to be able to get wifi coverage, even if it does drop out occasionally.  But to top it all off, I am eating fresh oysters collected from the rocks just below the van - & boy, do they taste good.

As I write this we have a leg of lamb roasting in the BabyQ, so you can see we are really doing it tough!!

Must say it is nice to be cool, the highs of about 27-29 & the lows around 16 at night.  Very conducive to sleeping well.  Sunrise isn't too early here in WA either, so we aren't being woken in the "middle of the night" by the sun pouring in the windows.

I guess we'll stay here for a bit, perhaps until our water supply gets low - but we do have a couple of big tanks and so far we are being very frugal, so our water is lasting well.  I did enjoy the camping, but it is really nice to have some home comforts too - like a shower (albeit a real quick one) and a kitchen to cook in.

We plan to go from here to Onslow then Exmouth before heading down the coast, and with a few recommended spots to visit & maybe stay at, before landing in Carnarvon where we will probably stay for a bit.

So more later. Ciao for now.

The Pilbara camping trip

Hey there - been about 6 days since my last post & lots has happened.  All good !!

We left the van at the South Hedland Golf Club, where we knew it would be safe and sound, and after having the fridge gas issue taken care of, we were confident enough to take off on our camping trip via hundreds of kms of dirt road.

The first night we made Marble Bar - the hottest place in Australia, and it yes it was rather warm, 39 on the way, but only 37 when we lobbed in there about 4pm.  The town was a bit of a surprise, 'cos we were expecting dry & dusty, but in fact it was a neat little town, and offered a very pleasant little caravan park with grass even !!!
We put up our tent, talked to some locals and then headed out of town a wee bit to the Marble Bar pool,  a lovely natural swimming hole in amongst the fascinating marble looking rock (from whence the town got it's name) which is actually jasper.  The water was divine, after a hot dusty drive, but the mozzie's were not so pleasant.

Once again, as on quite a few occasions so far on this trip, we have retired to bed smelling like the old fashioned "flit gun" or for the younger readers, smelling like pure insect repellant !!  The insects here were quite ingenious, and somehow managed to bite us between the smears of Deet !! But we survived with the help of Telfast & Phenergen, and in the morning continued our journey to Newman.

A fairly underwhelming town, which we did a quick rekky of, bought a few supplies & Trevor having missed out on a mine tour (wrong timing) we headed off again for Karijini National Park, where we found a great camp spot at The Dales camp at Fortescue Falls.  In the morning we left our tent setup & drove to the other side of the National Park, where we visited all the gorges on the map. Most of them were way too steep for us to be bothered actually getting to the water, but all had excellent lookouts, so we admired them from above, and saved our legs for the Fortescue Falls back at base camp.

Fortescue Falls

Fern Pool

Fortescue Falls

Circular Pool, The Dales Camp

These falls were well worth the steep & many steps, but I have to say much easier to access than the Emma Gorge pool at El Questro, which will forever remain indelibly imprinted in my brain.  Fortescue was easy peasy by comparison !!  Rewarded for our efforts by a swim in the delicious cool & clear water, it was well worth the exertion & scenically magnificent, with more towering cliffs & tumbling waterfalls.

As with many of the gorges & water holes we have experienced, the surrounding landscape is very deceptive in its concealing of these amazing water features.  One would never imagine, travelling through the flat, and sometimes boring & dry terrain, that just beyond that hill, or amongst that group of trees, one can find an oasis of pure beauty that defies the imagination, and water that refreshes & revitalises the weary & hot traveller.

From Karijini we drove to Tom Price, which was a surprisingly neat and tidy little town, obviously servicing the Rio Tinto mine & miners.  Unfortunately Trevor missed out again on a mine tour here as  an APT tour bus had commandeered the daily tour, and called the shots for timing, so insisting the tour was at 8am instead of the advertised 10am.  We lobbed into town at 9.20 well in time (we thought) but alas it wasn't to be.  The tour was already well under way. However, we were able to take the 4WD road to the top of Mount Nameless (the tallest mountain in WA) which overlooks the town and the mine, and had to be satisfied with that view.

Tom Price Rio Tinto Mine

In both Newman which is the BHP mine, and Tom Price, the Rio Tinto mine,  the movement of iron ore by road train, and railway out to Port Hedland, and Dampier respectively to be loaded on to waiting ships, is an awesome spectacle, and one can wait a very long time at a railway crossing while a train with countless heavy ore-laden carriages passes by.  The length of the trains is quite astonishing!!

So after leaving Tom Price, we continued our dirt road excursion to Millstream National Park, where we camped at Crossing Pool beside the Fortescue River.  A delightful spot right on the river, and offering a wonderful refreshing, and I have to say "cleansing" swim, after a long, hot & dusty drive.

We have driven through some magnificent scenery, some like an Albert Namatjira painting, with a foreground of pure white ghost gums, and golds & greys of the foliage and grasses beyond.  The Western Australian wildflowers are beginning to show their colours, and we've been delighted with spotting the Sturt peas, and other flowers in whites & mauves, oranges & yellows.  So pretty & unexpected in the harsh, dry countryside.  We've seen ranges of seemingly green rounded hills, which on getting closer, appear more like large piles of broken terra cotta bricks held together by unusually green spinifex.  Some ranges really do look as though someone has dumped huge piles of red rocks in the middle of completely flat plains.  Fascinating !!

After leaving the river, we continued on our way back to Port Hedland, stopping off at Python Pool (still in the Millstream & Chichester National Park) for a refreshing dip in yet another stunning & unexpected gorge.  Port Hedland was hot & still dusty, and we couldn't wait to hook up the van and take off.  Last night we stopped off at Roebourne (a kind of mid-way town) & I managed to do the washing before setting off again this morning for a quick drive through Point Samson, a pleasant beachside town.

Karratha was our next brief stop for lunch and shopping for supplies.  That town sports a very modern and swish shopping centre, complete with Jamaica Blue & Muffin Break!!  I was gutted that the Jamaica Blue coffee machine had broken down, so had to be satisfied with a coffee at Muffin Break, which was almost as good.  We enjoyed a quiet respite of virtual normality (sitting down for a quick bite & a coffee), then on to Dampier which surprised us, because of its neat, tidy buildings & streets, and delightful waterfront.  We would have stayed had we not had our sights set on 40 Mile Beach/Gnoorea Point, which is where we sit tonight.

Our van is overlooking the beach, we have a ready-made fireplace should we wish to light a fire, and we are ready to sit a while, relax & regroup.  Our car is now in serious need of at least a good dusting, and certainly re-packing which we will do over the next day or two.

The bonus is we have Telstra coverage (albeit a little limited) and therefore wifi.......so we will enjoy taking a break here for a few days.  So enough for now - more to come.

Trev's new office

A Stitch in Time

Well, never a dull moment in the Stock household !!!  Our inconvenient fridge problem bringing us to Port Hedland, and causing us to stay last night in the industrial area & out front of the refrigeration mechanics workshop has turned out to be a blessing from God.

On taking the fridge out this morning to check the flue, it was discovered that the flue itself was twisted and up against the framework of the van.  Not sure how long it had been like that, but a bumpy road may have been the culprit.  The wood itself was burned black, and it would only have been a matter of time before the van caught fire !!! Who knows what the outcome could have been. We can only praise our God !! We are fortunate indeed.

The fridge is yet to be tested, but was going perfectly well on 240v & 12v, just the gas was a problem. Hopefully the flue issue fixed will rectify the problem and we can be on our way.  They are putting things back together as we speak.

We did watch the sun go down over the ships being loaded with ore at the Port last night, not far from here, and even though our van surroundings were less than scenic, we did have power and water, for which we were very grateful.  And it was a very quiet neighbourhood.  However life began here at 6am this morning so we were up with the birds.  It all adds to the adventure and life is never boring.

May not get to blog for a few days as will be in the bush, but hope to have some interesting bits & pieces to report next time.

Just an aside - am experiencing the annoyance of flies for the first time on this trip.  Guess they'll get worse from now on, so better get used to them & keep my mouth shut - when not in use  :-)

Ciao

Photos from Broome

Just a few photos, especially of the crocs.  We are quite pleased to now be out of croc country, although we were told there are salties spotted in areas south of here.  Hmmmmm -

Great white hunter ??? Maybe not :-) Cute little fella, & the croc was cute too

You will see what I mean about the duck weed, but did cause the crocs to look like the blow-up ones you can buy for kids for the swimming pool.

Our friend Zooey with the misshapen jaw - handsome brute NOT!!

And a couple of the Cape we had to leave behind in favour of getting the fridge fixed. Bummer !!
Would have been nice for a day or so.

Ah well - off on more adventures, this time with tent to explore the Pilbara region, Newman, Tom Price, Marble Bar & Karijini National Park.  Should be hot & dusty, but who knows.  More later -

Ciao

Broome - Port Hedland

Hi again

We had a lovely time in Broome - watched the sunset on the beach each evening with the obligatory glass of wine, and even our evening meal on a couple of occasions.  The only description of the sunsets over the water is like molten gold pouring onto the horizon. Beautiful!!

We walked on the beach a bit, something we have missed since leaving Mooloolaba behind, and we visited Malcolm Douglas's Wilderness Wildlife Park to see the crocodiles being fed.  We have often enjoyed his TV documentaries about the Kimberley & the Top End and were interested to see his park which he often referred to in his programmes.  To say it was different from Australia Zoo would be a huge understatement.  Unlike the manicured grounds & well turned out khaki adorned staff this really was "wilderness" in every sense of the word.

Having said that, the animals all looked well fed and cared for, but whether it has gone down hill since Malcolm's accidental & untimely death in 2010, or whether it has always been "feral" remains to be seen.  However, the claim to have some of the biggest crocs in captivity was born out by the impressive sizes of most of the animals we saw.

All the ponds are completely covered in what we subsequently learnt is duck weed, which the ducks are supposed to eat and keep under control, but obviously no self respecting duck would be stupid enough to land on the pond, let alone stay long enough to eat the weed.  We have never seen so many crocs in one pond, and as soon as the food was offered (from a fenced area, of course) they all lunged out of the water snapping at one another & climbing over each other in their hurry to get to the food.
Quite an awesome & terrifying sight!!

One "handsome" fellow was in a pond of his own because of his mean disposition.  Known as the ugliest croc in the park, he certainly lived up to his reputation as he had a mass of missing teeth, and a very misshapen jaw - one could almost feel sorry for him, if it wasn't for the knowledge that he got that way by attacking boats and outboard motors.   We did learn that if a croc attacks you he will back off if you ram something into the back of his throat, but seriously, even if you had time to think of that, where & what would you find to poke him there? One hopes one never has to answer that question !!!!

Left Broome & headed down the coast & spent Saturday night at Eighty Mile Beach caravan park. Lovely temperature but just that - 80 miles of flat beach.  Another nice sunset, but we left next morning & headed for Cape Keraudren Coastal Reserve.  The caravan book told us that there was a limit of 3 months stay there, so we were intrigued to find out what would inspire people to want to stay more than 3 months?

After a 14kms dirt track in we found it to be quite an exposed headland, offering 3 different camping areas.  We selected a great spot on top of the cliff, overlooking an inlet & the Indian Ocean beyond.
To Trev's delight there was a ready-made fire place that some creative traveller had constructed of rocks   and we had on board enough firewood to take full advantage of it.  Yay !!

The rocky coastline was fascinating, reasonably easy to walk on, but looked much like terra cotta honeycomb.  It looks as though someone has bored holes all over the surface.  To add to our delight we could see a number of whales breaching just out beyond the headland, and witnessed another magnificent sunset.

To further add to our delight we had full wifi/Telstra coverage and were able to talk on FaceTime to our kids and grandchildren for Fathers Day. Joy of joys !!  We determined to spend at least a few days, if not a week, there.  But alas next morning we discovered our fridge was not working properly, and as the temperature was beginning to sore, we decided we better head for Port Hedland to see if we could get it fixed.

So here we sit awaiting the outcome - fortunately it is working on 240v, just not on gas, so it is a process of elimination to find the problem.  Our van park here is not exactly scenic, as the scenic Big4 four star park near the water was full.  We have heavy earthworks to look at, and red dust out our door & it's 32 degrees in the van at 10am. Nay worries - we will survive!!  We did have the aircon on yesterday when we arrived!!  Just rescued my washing from blowing over in that red dust, but fortunately all practically dry, so no harm done.   Ah the joys of outback life aye?  Reminds me of our first home on the farm in WA - dust, dust & more dust !!

We intend to head inland to the mining area of the Pilbara leaving the van and taking off with out tent.  Is getting a bit hot out there, but Trev keen to see the BHP & Rio Tinto mines of Newman and Tom Price.  Got to get the fridge fixed first though.

Keep you posted - ciao for now x

PS:  Photo's to come