Day 35 Coral Bay - 3/4/11

I got up early today (5:30am) and went for a walk along the beach to the end of the point.  It took me over two hours!  I went past the shark nursery, saw a crab, lots of shells and corals and the biggest surprise of all - a naked man!  As I was getting near the point, I saw someone come out from the opposite direction.  As they got closer, I thought to myself, I don't think he has any clothes on - and he didn't!  I didn't know what to do but decided to  keep going and when I got nearer I just said "good morning" and tried not to let my eyes wander.  He apologised and said he normally had the beach to himself at that time of the morning but didn't try to cover himself.  He walked on the way I had come and I continued to the point.  I turned around to come back and noticed that he was coming back as well so we had to meet again.  I said what a beautiful place and he offered me a lift back.  I thanked him but said I needed the exercise and got away as quickly as I could.  Peter thought it was very funny.

Looking back to Coral Bay on my walk before the sun came up 

Looking forward to the point that I was walking to 

I met this crab on the way 

A piece of coral washed up on the beach 

Some shells - you can't take anything away as it is a marine sanctuary

After breakfast we went for a drive around Coral Bay which isn't very big.  There is a wind farm with 3 windmills, an airstrip for small planes, the Ningaloo Resort, two caravan parks, a backpacker hostel and some shops.  There is a residential area as well but seems to be mainly for those that work there.  We did some off road driving and got to a beach where the turtles nest.  You can only see the hatchlings at night so we just enjoyed the glorious beach. 

The lovely clear waters 

A view of the lagoon at Coral Bay - the darker area is the reef 

You can see the waves breaking on the outer reef

I had another snorkel and got to see more of the coral, some of which is brilliant blue.  We also went to the fish feeding again and got to feed the fish as well.  It really draws the crowds and everyone is amazed at how big the fish are.

The black dot on the start of the darker water is me snorkelling

We had intially booked for two nights but have decided to stay another night and do a coral viewing and snorkelling trip tomorrow.

cheers
Pete and Roz

Day 34 Coral Bay - 2/4/11

We  headed off from Carnarvon and took a detour 24kms north and then 49kms west to go to the Quobba Blowholes. 

Quobba Blowholes 

Sadly, the holes weren't blowing today however the scenery was amazing.  Firstly when you get there there is a big sign warning you to beware of the killer waves.  Down from the cliffs are some rock ledges where several people have been killed while fishing when a king wave has swept them off.  We were able to walk to the edge of the cliffs and you could clearly see the huge waves crashing onto the rock ledges.  There is no way I would even venture onto one of the ledges.  Normally, when conditions are right, a powerful jet of water is forced with terrific pressure through a hole in the rock, sometimes to a height of 20 metres.

You can see the rock ledge where fisherman have been swept off 

Another view

One kilometre south of the blowholes is a great beach protected by a coral reef with tropical fish and shells.  You can camp there but there is no fresh water so you have to carry your own.  There were a lot of caravans and campers there.

We continued on and refuelled at Minilya Roadhouse where diesel was 179.9 cents per litre.  Here we turned off the North West Coastal Highway on to the Shark Bay Heritage Drive to Coral Bay.  As you drive to Coral Bay you pass the Tropic of Capricorn.  The scenery is pretty ordinary and then you come to Coral Bay, go over a hill and there it is - paradise! 

Coral Bay

Coral Bay is the southern gateway to Ningaloo Marine Park.  The reef forms a natural lagoon at Coral Bay and runs for 80kms and is only 300 meters off the beach.  The water is crystal clear and full of a variety of fish and lots of coral. 

We stayed at the People's Place Caravan Park which is right opposite the beach and is the only one with fresh water in the showers.  We were lucky enough to get a site in the second row from the beach and we had a great view.  We couldn't get over the number of grasshoppers.  As you drove along it disturbed them and hundreds flew up out of the grass.  They are eating the leaves of the palm trees and the grass as well.  You can see them all over people's vans and they are always flying into you when they swarm.  We had to make sure we kept the door closed on the van so they didn't join us.

The view from our site

You can see some of the grasshoppers on the annex

We went for a walk along the beach and then we saw people looking at something in the water and we went over to have a look.  It was the daily fish feeding which happens at 3:30pm every day.  Large Spangled Emporer Fish come into the shallows and are fed with fish pellets.  They are amazing.  You stand there and they swim between your legs and go crazy when you throw the fish pellets in.  Once the food is all gone they hang around for a little bit and then they swim away.

After that I went for a snorkel.  It is just amazing, you wade out past the shallows and then you are on top of the reef.  The coral and fish are just amazing.  Peter sat on the beach and made sure I didn't disappear.

That night I walked over to the beach to watch the sun set.  Lots of people were there taking photos.

Sunset at Coral Bay

Coral Bay is one of the highlights of the trip for me and should be a must see on anyone's list. 

cheers
Pete and Roz

Day 33 Carnarvon - 1/4/11

Today we had a look around Carnarvon.  First stop was the Heritage Precinct which included the restored lighthouse keeper's cottage, the Precinct Railway Station and the One Mile Jetty.  There was one of the lifeboats from the Kormoran which was in the battle and demise of the HMAS Sydney. Unfortunately it seems that the tourist season doesn't start till May in Carvarvon so a lot of the touristy things weren't operating.

Information on the Lighthouse 

The top of the old lighthouse

The story of the Kormoron

The Kormoron Lifeboat

One mile jetty

Carvarvon isn't right on the beach but it is only a short drive to get there.  There is a new housing area which has canals and there are some nice picnic areas nearby.  There is the Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre - Gwoonwardu Mia which is worth a visit.  You can meet local Aboriginal people, purchase artworks and taste some bush tucker in the cafe.  Over the road from Gwoonwardu Mia is a line of trees that have been seriously affected by the wind!

One of the beaches at Carnarvon 

Do you think it is a bit windy here?

We also took a drive around the plantations that grow fruit and vegetables.  It was interesting to see all of them had really high shadecloth screens to cut the wind, dust and hail.  The table grapevines were totally enclosed in these screens.  You could see the damage from the floods as a lot of the screens had been damaged and there was still lots of water in the low lying areas.  We bought some bananas from one of the plantations.  The grasshoppers are really causing having by eating the leaves of the banana plants.  They look like they have been stripped in a cyclone but it is the grasshopper damage.  They are also eating some of the fruits.  We also called in to the Bumbak plantation as they have a shop where they sell jams, preserves, ice creams etc all made from what they grow.  We bought a bottle of extra hot sweet chilli sauce (for a gift), some frozen mango (unfortunately they are out of season now) which was just sliced mango with no additives.  It was yum!  We also bought an icecream each - I went for the sugar free mango and Peter had a strawberry ice-cream which was delicious. 

We then went to see the "dish" which is the former Satellite Earth Station, no longer used, but you can climb it.  Unfortunately it was closed for repairs so we could only look at it through the gate.

We refuelled here and diesel was 164 cents per litre.
Tomorrow we are heading off to Coral Bay.

cheers
Pete and Roz

Day 32 Denham to Carnarvon - 31/3/11

Today we headed off to Carnarvon.  Unfortunately we had to go back over the 120kms of boring road as there is only one way in and one way out from Denham.  There were, however, occasional glimpses of the magnificent coastline.  We refuelled at the Overlander Roadhouse with diesel at 167.9c a litre.

We pulled off to a rest area and had lunch just before the Wooramel Roadhouse and then continued on to Carnarvon.  As we drove into Carnarvon we could see the damage done to the roads from the January floods.  We also noticed that there were lots of grasshoppers.  We set up the van in the Plantation Caravan Park and then went for a drive and then got some groceries.  As it has been everywhere, it was very hot in Canarvon with a top of 38 degrees.

Carnarvon has a population of 9,046 and is famous for it's climate and bananas.  It is the commercial centre for the rich Gascoyne district.  A feature of the town is the luxurious plantations of bananas and other tropical fruits including mangoes and pawpaws which are grown with the aid of water pumped out of the sand of the Gascoyne River.  Other industries important to the district are wool production, prawn and sacllop processing and solar salt extraction.

The heat really takes it out of you so we had a rest before having tea and turning in for the night.

cheers
Pete and Roz

Day 31 Monkey Mia - 30/3/11

Up early today to get to Monkey Mia to see the dolphins.  We left at 7am to make sure we were there in plenty of time.  Even then there was quite a crowd waiting at the assembly point.  There is no exact time, it is whenever the dolphins turn up but we started to see them coming in around 7:45am.  The ranger takes everyone down to the beach and  you are allowed to stand in a straight line in the water.  It is very regimented now (for the sake of the dolphins) as you are not allowed to touch the dolphins.

The ranger gives a talk about the dolphins explaining how it started, the different families, how they can identify individual dolphins by their fins (each one is different just like fingerprints) and much more.  As she is talking she walks up and down the line of people and some of the dolphins follow her up and down so you get a really close look.  She explained how they only do three interactions a day between 7:30am and 12noon and only if the dolphins decide to come in.  The are only fed 500gms of fish at each feed as they don't want them to stop feeding naturally. 

The dolphins coming in

A bit closer 

Real close

Next they bring out the buckets of fish, one ranger to one bucket and each bucket has the dolphins name on it so they know how much they have had.  Somehow they end up in a row with the right dolphin beside them.  Before they do this they are in communication with the other rangers to tell them which dolphins have turned up.  Then each ranger calls someone out of the crowd to come out and feed a fish to the dolphin.  Unfortunately neither Peter nor I were selected but it was still fun just watching.  When the rangers are down to the last fish they put their hand up.  Then they all feed the last fish at the same time and then rinse the buckets out so the dolphins know there is no more fish.  It is amazing to see that as soon as they do this, the dolphins swim away.  

A ranger with the dolphins 

Lined up waiting for someone to give the first fish

After that we went on the jetty and then went to the cafe for a coffee.  After checking out the shop I went for a snorkel and a swim, it was so lovely and the water was so clear.  Then we noticed that the dolphins were back again so as there was less people, I hoped I might be lucky enough to get to feed one this time.  Sadly no, but we did see one of the dolphins do 5 consecutive jumps out of the water, it was amazing.  They were in a playful mood this time and were splashing around and having fun.

Looking back from the jetty

While we were relaxing on the lawns, four emus came up and the man came out of the booking shop with a rake and knocked off the little black things (seeds?) off a couple of palm trees.  The emus quickly started eating them one by one.  There was also a bucket of water there and a couple of the emus got down on their knees to drink from  the bucket.  After they had their fill, they quietly walked off.  There were a lot of overseas tourists their so they were madly taking photos.

The emus (that's my head at the back)

We had a look at the displays and information and then headed back to Denham.  It only takes 20 minutes to get to Monkey Mia.  On the way back there was a car in front of us with a trailer with two camels sitting in the trailer.  It looked so funny.  The camels do rides at Monkey Mia and they must have finished for the day.  We also had to stop for some emus that were standing in the middle of the road.

The camels going for a drive 

The emus in the middle of the road

After lunch, Peter and I had another walk around town, an ice cream at the cafe and then watched a man cleaning a boat on the dry dock. 

Tomorrow we are heading for Carnarvon.

cheers
Pete and Roz

Day 30 Denham - 29/3/11

We decided to go to Monkey Mia tomorrow so today we did a bit of shopping - only necessities because everything was so expensive.  Then we did the drive to Monkey Mia (only 28kms) so that we knew where to go. 

On the way back we called into Francois Peron National Park to have a look.  In the park is the Peron Homestead Precinct which offers  a taste of life from the 1950's when the park was a working sheep station.  There is a self guided walk around the precinct which explores the history of the area and you can see the shearing shed, shearers quarters and stock yards.  It was really interesting to learn how they were able to make a living from the very harsh landscape.  There is also a small interpretive centre which has stories of the aborigines, European colonisation and current conservation programs along with a display of stuffed animals including a bilby.  There is also a natural hot tub fed from an artesian bore near the homestead.  A couple had just got out of the tub when we arrived and when I felt the water it was extremely hot.  They said they just got in for the experience but were glad to get out and have a cold shower. 

The Bilbly (sorry for the reflection of the glass)

Peter ringing the gong for smoko in the shearing shed 

Peron Homestead 

Part of the interpretive centre

We also stopped at Little Lagoon which is about 5kms from Denham on the Monkey Mia Road.  It is a pristine waterway and a natural nursery for whiting.  There are shelters and bbq facilities and you can drive around the edge of the lagoon.  It was really beautiful.

Little Lagoon 

Another view of Little Lagoon

We went back to the caravan park for lunch and then set off again to do some more exploring.

First stop was Eagle Bluff about 20kms out of Denham.  This is a cliff face with  a 100 metre walkway along the top of the cliff.  You get fantastic views and overlook the shallow waters below where you see sharks, dugongs, rays and large fish.  There are vast seagrass meadows (the black areas are seagrass) which are home to the dugongs. We didn't see any dugongs but saw sharks and lots of rays.  Peter then did a bit of 4x4 driving around the dirt tracks to get to some of the other beaches in the area.  They are spectacular. 

View from Eagle Bluff 

Another view of the shallow waters at Eagle Bluff 

The walkway at Eagle Bluff

Next we went to Shell Beach another 30kms.  The beach is not sand but is made up of countless tiny cockle shells layered up to 10 metres deep and stretching for over 120kms.  The shells were once quarried and used to build the walls of buildings in the area including the Church at Denham.  There were also some blocks in our caravan park that were in retaining walls.  The ocean waters are the most amazing colours and the photos doesn't really do them justice.

Shell Beach 

All shells, no sand 

Another view of Shell Beach

When we got back to the caravan park I went for a swim and Peter had a paddle (he doesn't do swimming or anything much to do with water).  The water is lovely and warm.

Tomorrow we go to Monkey Mia and I am really looking forward to it.

cheers
Pete and Roz

Day 29 Geraldton to Denham - 28/3/11

Today we headed off to Denham along the North West Coastal Highway and through Northhampton, Binnu, Wannoo Billabong Roadhouse and Overlander Roadhouse where we turned off to go to Denham.  The trip from where we turned off at the Overlander Road House to Denham was a long (130kms) boring and hot drive with occasional glimpes of the spectacular coastline.  The landscape is just short shrubs and it goes on forever.

Denham has a population of 1200 and is the main service centre for the Shark Bay World Heritage Area and the gateway for exploring this region.  Denham is named after Captain H.H. Denham who charted the whole of Shark Bay in 1858.  The first pastoralists came to the area in the 1860's and pearling took off in the 1870's.  The pearling declined in the depression but has been re-established at Monkey Mia.  Today the main industries are tourism and fishing. 

The view from outside the Tourist Information Centre

Lots of butterflies 

The beach outside the caravan park

Our caravan park, Denham Seaside Tourist Village, claims to be the most western caravan park in Australia.  Our site overlooked the beach and the Indian Ocean. After setting up, we went for a walk around town and went to the Tourist Information Centre to get some information.  At one of the cafes there was a planter box with some creeper in it and there were so many butterflies.  You can see them in the picture above.  Apparantly the butterflies, flies and grasshoppers are in huge numbers after the last lot of rain.

cheers
Pete and Roz