A couple more days in Carnarvon

Saturday night was a bloody awful, blustery night and very little sleep was had (for the third night in a row ... Windy Always!). Despite every tent peg and guy rope we had being pressed into service, the tent was busily employed all night, noisily snapping and whipping to the whim of the elements. Sunday dawned a cool, windy day and we decided to go for a day trip out to the Blowholes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have another trip highlight. Imagine, if you will, a rocky, remote and desolate coastline being pounded by an angry blue-green sea. Add a strong gale carrying the sea spray for metres inland, "King Waves Kill" warnings (always adds spice with Ella!) and holes in the rocky platforms spewing out columns of seawater 20-25 metres into the air. It was utterly exhilarating and none of us wanted to leave. (Except for Ella, who was convinced that the next wave would be the rogue wave that would kill us all!) Just as we were about to go, eagle-eyed Lachie spotted a pod of whales, so we watched them breaching and we're sure they were playing hide and seek! Marcus and Jackson decided to try some of the salt that had crystallised in the rock crevices ... it was obviously delicious!

Blowholes put on a spectacular display!

The bay was peppered with corrugated constructions

A little further south was Point Quobba campground with about 30 crazy beach shacks and a bay, protected by a reef. We had intended to snorkel, but it was freezing, so Marcus and Jackson dug holes in the sand for a couple of hours. Dave and Lachie, sheltered from the wind in the van, listened to the Rugby quarter final. Ella and I wandered along the beach and the rocky headland, taking photos and collecting shells until it was time to go.

We couldn't resist the lure of the Blowholes again. They were even better with the stronger afternoon swell and the seawater rushed through with a loud, gutteral sound that made us all cheer. All except Ella, who was on her Killer Wave Vigil and was co-ercing us to return to the van. The boys got a little too close and were soaked, at which point Ella disappeared into the Blunderbuss!

Drenched by a sudden wind change

Today we went down to One Mile Jetty to fulfil Lachlan's fishing wishes. We walked out to the end of the jetty and fished for most of the day. Lachie had an epic 10 minute battle with a large fish. He brought him close enough for all the fishermen to admire the big silver flash before the fish won his bid for freedom. He then caught a yellow fin bream which he returned to the water, and the rest of us happily fed 2 bags of prawns to the fish. Ella is casting well left-handed! The most exciting moment was seeing a dugong surface and swim alongside the jetty. Sadly, she was looking for her calf which was eaten 2 weeks ago by a 14 foot tiger shark. We did not find out about the shark until after Jackson and Marcus had spent most of their time balancing on the beams underneath the jetty!

We are halfway along the jetty,
 but Lachie's line is already wet!

We took the train back to shore from the end of the jetty. The lady driving was mystified as to why her train horn echoed behind her head, until she saw Marcus with his harmonica replying to the "toot" and she just about split her sides laughing! They then did a bit of duelling train horn and harmonica as we rumbled back to shore.

Jackson spent the late afternoon making wire sculptures of fishermen, and unlike us, they all caught something!

We are heading further south tomorrow to Denham and Monkey Mia, where we will hopefully add more dolphins to our sighting tally.

Stay tuned ...