Carnarvon - Shark Bay World Heritage Area

Salt pans from a lookout along the highway

We left Carnarvon on Tuesday, driving back out into the red plains occasionally spotting dazzling white salt and terracotta coloured clay pans.  We crossed the 126th parallel just before lunch, leaving the North West behind us. We were vigilant in looking for the Shark Bay turnoff, after the attendant at Wooramel Roadhouse told us that many people miss it and end up there.

A snapshot from 3.5 billion years ago (minus the birds!)

The Hamelin Pool stromatolites were our first port of call. Hamelin Pool is home to the most diverse and abundant examples of living stromatolites in the world. These creatures are a timecapsule of what life on Earth was like over 3500 million years ago; a time when no other complex creatures were present on the planet. Stromatolites dominated the earth for 2 billion years, producing enough oxygen through photosynthesis to allow the development of us, amongst other things! Although they weren't exactly gorgeous, it was awe-inspiring to contemplate them and the job they did!

Coquina was cut using cross-cut saws -
will cross children work?

The hyper-saline bay is also home to a tiny cockle which obviously thrives there, given the piles of shells which form dunes along the beach. Over time the shells were compacted to form Coquina, which was cut into blocks and used as a building material. The quarry is a heritage listed site now, but blocks are occasionally cut to repair historical buildings here.

As we drove up towards Denham, we zig-zagged back over the 126th parallel again, which was no-where near as exciting as the scenery. Bright green shrubs, red sand dunes, dazzling white shell beaches, green and azure water ... incredibly beautiful. We were a bit worried about getting a site as WA families are still on school holidays, but we found a home at Denham in Australia's most Westerly Caravan Park. The kids disappeared into the shell dunes behind the park as soon as we were set up and only reappeared to walk down along the waterfront to get fish and chips!

For Tender - huon pine boat with chequered history including
a number of sinkings!

Sunset on the waterfront in Denham

Another "You wouldn't want to
drop your favourite teddy down
there!" moment

Our first port of call the next day was the excellent Shark Bay Information Centre. We spent a very interesting couple of hours there and the kids were so reluctant to leave the attendant said we could come back over the next few days. Eagle Bluff was a short drive out of town and, as the name suggests, was perched high up over the bay. Feeling slightly voyeuristic, we spied on the sharks, stingrays, schools of fish and birds far below!  Ocean Park was another incredibly interesting place, where we spent 2 hours with a marine biologist guide sharing his knowledge and passion for all things marine with us. He had some timely comments to make on fishing for food vs. sport, legal limits and breeding stock, which Lachie listened to intently.

"Road Signs" on the way to Ocean Park

Ella fell in love with a turtle she promptly named Ted, so we have another soft toy adding to the menagerie in the Blunderbuss.

Tired Ted!

We were up early this morning to drive the 25kms to Monkey Mia for our dolphin experience. It was cool and cloudy, which coupled with the low tide meant that the dolphins were none too keen to come to shore on time. The Rangers said it was only occasionally that none came in ... we were thinking our luck was out for quite some time. Eventually Puck came in with her 2 year old calf and swam along the crowded shore a few times before eating her fish reward.

OK, where's my fish?

The kids had spied paddle boats, so after a squizz at the information centre to learn more about the bottle-nosed dolphins, we hired a paddle boat for an hour. It was still pretty cool, so the kids went out first before Dave braved the water to join them. They made him work hard to board, paddling away as he tried to swim to them! While they were out in the water, 5 dolphins started cavorting around in the water. I watched them chasing fish and playing from the shore when they suddenly turned towards the paddle boat and swam around Dave and the kids for about 10 minutes. It was the quietest 10 minutes that paddle boat has ever witnessed, I'll warrant!

We had a picnic lunch at Little Lagoon which was by consensus the most picturesque lunch spot. It is an almost circular lagoon which is linked to the bay. The shallow waters mean hypersalinity and not much lives there, but it was stunningly beautiful. An emu came and stood in the water while we watched, wondering what on earth it was doing!

Gun shearing team ready for action

Another short drive saw us at Francois Peron National Park, which used to be Peron Sheep Station until the WA government took over the lease and declared the Park in 1993. Being without 4WD we could only reach the Peron Homestead Historical Precinct, but we happily occupied ourselves in the 1950s style sheep station buildings. We were all amazed at the unusual procedures at shearing time. The low, shrubby country here prevented the sheep being mustered - or even seen, for that matter. The station hands had to trap the sheep as they came in to drink at the troughs and then run them for up to 2 days through a laneway to the shearing shed! It took a couple of months to trap and shear them all! Although cooking in the caravan drives me nuts at times, I am certainly glad I am not required to feed shearing teams from a corrugated iron shed and a coal range.

Lachie and Jackson went out fishing when we got back to camp. Jackson was delighted to have caught his second ever fish (his first a trout in NZ a few years ago) and Lachie was pleased to add another to his tally.

Tomorrow we hire ocean kayaks for the day and we plan to paddle to Red Bluff from Monkey Mia, hopefully surrounded by dolphins! I'd better join the others and catch some zeds as it will be a big day!

Stay tuned ...

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 ...

Busking in Carnarvon

 One Mile Jetty at Carnarvon

Apart from crossing the Tropic of Capricorn for the fourth time, the trip from Cape Range National Park to Carnarvon was without event. This is a HUGE state with not much in the top half except hidden coastline and deserts of the Great and Little varieties. The kids got really excited just outside Carnarvon where the water from the Gascoyne River allows agriculture. "BANANAS!" they shouted. And indeed there were. Bananas, tomatoes, fruit, corn, market gardens ... Truly exciting after all the nothing! The Gascoyne River is interesting in itself. It is WA's longest river (760kms!) and an "upside down" river, in that it flows normally for 120 or so days, and the rest of the time flows under the dry river bed.

We happily set up camp in a fairly empty campground and went for a drive along the Fascine Waterfront. The first thing you notice about Carnarvon is the wide streets. They were up to 40m wide to allow the camel trains to turn. Lachlan was very keen to have a look at One Mile Jetty. He was even more excited than about the bananas! "Can we go fishing here?" we all chorused as it came into sight.

I made several phone calls to organise busking at the Growers Markets on Saturday. We have permission, but the Council didn't seem to quite be able to remember what to do about licences. We will just turn up and hope the officious Ranger from Alice Springs is not here! We tried to busk in Broome, but after about 8 phone calls and several emails were not returned, we gave up. We got a very pleasant email as we arrived in Carnarvon welcoming us to busk in Broome ... just 1000 kms and 2 weeks too late!

Next morning, we caught up on Marcus's belated birthday breakfast of sausages, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and grilled tomatoes. As you can see, he was pretty pleased!

After a music practice under the shady trees at camp, we drove to the Dish - a huge communication satellite dish which helped put man on the moon in 1969. We also drove along the HMAS Sydney II Memorial Drive, an avenue of 645 plaques and palms honouring the greatest single Australian maritime loss of lives during the Second World War. "Small Boat Harbour" was full of not-so-small fishing vessels, with one up in dry dock as well, which made it easier to understand how much of the ship was actually under water.

Church fleet at Small Boat Harbour

Lachie and Jackson rode the skateboard and ripstik for a while as we wandered along the waterfront and across the footbridge to a tram station in the middle of the red sand dunes! The tram used to run from the jetty back in to town, but has only historical interest now.

Tram station in the middle of the dunes

Marcus has been encouraging us all to follow his lead and speak in "Bigglesworth". Dave has been hitting his head with monotonous regularity when exiting the caravan, and usually lets loose a string of profanities which sends Ella, our self-appointed Language Police, into indignant apoplexy. However, this morning he outdid himself with a heartfelt "By Gad! That hurt!" which had us all in fits of laughter.

A grubby bunny

Ella lost another tooth this morning, so we can now add Bunny Faces to our busking repertoire! Although the markets were only small, busking went very well ... the acoustics were excellent and most of the crowd stayed for the set. We were given free coffees from vendors and an old fellow in his wheelchair bought sausages for all the kids! The lady in charge invited us back next season. A tempting offer, but it's a bloody long drive!

The kids wanted to have a "blob day" after returning from busking after lunch, so we decided to prolong our stay here in Carnarvon and happily obliged. Lachlan was not so happy to find that our definition of "blobbing" did not include fishing, but tomorrow is another day!

Stay tuned ...

Half way Day

Catch of the day at 1 Mile Jetty

Thursday 6th October, the day we reached Carnarvon, was the half way point of our trip.

We have been travelling in the Blunderbuss, towing the faithful old Jayco for 102 days. All of the kids are still alive, although it is touch and go some days. Dave and I are still talking to each other most of the time.

Some (more) travelling trivia for you:
Kilometres travelled ... 17180 (to Carnarvon)
Litres of petrol used ... 2163.5
Cost of said petrol ... $4386.50
Dearest petrol so far ... $2.14 per litre
Cheapest petrol so far ... $1.43 per litre
Number of loads of washing ... 28
Cost of all the washing ... $92
Number of teeth lost on trip ... 2 (Ella)
Tooth Fairy visits ... 2
Number of times the kids have done the dishes without whinging ... 1. Maybe 2
Near misses with Road Trains ... 1 - although every one scares the hell out of us
Music Rehearsals ... on-going
Average number of phone calls to organise a busking outing ... 5 and several emails as well
Busks so far ... 3 (Mindil x2, Carnavon)
Donations from busking ... $543
Unsuccessful attempts to busk ... 4
Number of times I have reversed the rig ... 0
Number of times I intend to reverse the rig ... 0

Highlights of the trip thus far:
Canoeing Katherine Gorge
Busking and ABC Radio in Darwin
Snorkelling at Ningaloo and Coral Bay
Ormiston Gorge
Uluru
Fishing
Charters Towers truckstop (kids)
Lowlights of the trip thus far:
Sandflies, mossies and flies
Hitting the roadkill roo and the live wallaby
The broken chassis
Charters Towers truckstop (Dave)
Long days in the vehicle with grumpy occupants
UHT milk (Lachlan!)
38 degrees
The sticky accordion key which meant Jackson was photographed with a pink ukulele for Australian Geographic!

Stay tuned ...

Snorkelling at Coral Bay

The remains of the jetty where MV Krait and Z Special Forces
departed on their mission to Singapore

Leaving Exmouth, we stopped to visit the cairn marking the departure point of Operation Jaywick, where MV Krait and the Z Special Force left for Singapore in 1943. There was not much left of the jetty but we enjoyed seeing where the Zed's slathered on their Helena Rubinstein makeup (Mid-brown, I believe!), popped on their sarongs and left to wreak havoc on the Japanese fleet in their small fishing boat!

Back out onto the "red road". I just don't know what those early settlers were thinking, taking a direct route through the vast plains and not following the coast! Coral Bay wasn't far and we were soon catching another glimpse of the Indian Ocean.

First glimpse of Coral Bay - WA School holidays!

The campground was full. It was packed. There were KIDS everywhere. Quite a shock to our systems as we have been enjoying our first ever holidays not aligned to school holidays! Grey nomads don't make nearly as much noise as families! It was really tight getting into our site - guys came running at the sound of our reversing beeper. At first I thought they were being friendly, but then I realised they wanted to make sure we didn't reverse into their fancy boats! Dave worked his usual reversing magic into the site and we set up quickly. The kids all know their set-up jobs now and if everyone is on the ball it doesn't take long.

We did a much-needed cleanup to get Ned's Camp out of the Blunderbuss and caravan before a walk along the windy beach.

The kids had a great time in the camp playground the next morning, along with all the other inmates. Dave took the kids snorkelling for a couple of hours as I had succumbed to a virus and was feeling horrible. They loved the snorkelling and said the coral was like a vegetable garden, but came back very cold due to the howling gale. Someone told us that WA stands for Windy Always and so far we would have to agree!

Porker-faced pair!

Things soon warmed up with a few games of Texas Hold'em Poker ... even Ella is in on the act now and is working on her "porker face"! Sometimes she forgets the names of the cards, but we all know what she means when she has "a pair of As".

Lachie woke us the next morning to tell us he was off to the playground. It was very early! After playground time, we wrote some postcards and got our gear ready to go snorkelling again. I wasn't feeling great, but didn't want to miss out on our last chance to snorkel at Coral Bay. The wind was a little less ferocious, thankfully, and we enjoyed a couple of hours at the bay. The fish were prolific and the coral was different again from Ningaloo. One patch was exactly like cabbages - I could see why the kids called it a veggie garden! More card games and poker rounded off the day.

Goodbye to Coral Bay

Lachlan was again up very early to get to the playground. He was begging us to stay another day to play some more there! However, there was still a lot more of WA to experience, so we packed up and after having morning tea overlooking the bay, left to travel to Carnarvon.
Stay tuned ...

Snorkelling at Ningaloo Reef

For Sale - Architecturally designed nest
with magnificent water views. Seamless
transition between inside and outside.
 Great reception.

After an interesting hour or so at the Information Centre we were threatened with mutiny if snorkelling was not immediately forthcoming, despite Dave relishing the reading aloud of the Dangerous Marine Creatures and Warnings list!

A short drive up to the aptly named Turquoise Bay and we were decked out in snorkels, goggles and flippers very quickly.

The stunning Turquoise Bay

Dave shows his true colours, with his
usual nod to high fashion!

Due to growth spurts, we found ourselves with snorkelling gear to fit Ella, Lachlan and Dave, but Marcus, Jackson and I all had to take turns with one set. The others all went first and came back buzzing. The water was clear, the fish amazingly abundant and varied and the coral was colourful. I couldn't wait to get in since I had missed out on seeing anything at Great Barrier. Lachie and I walked up the beach and out into the bay, where we drifted back over all the coral. WOW! Truly an experience worth waiting for! Lachie was like an excited Labrador puppy, and I was quite dizzy by the time we got back from all the "Mum! Look at this!" shouts. We saw parrot fish, beautifully coloured wrasse, moorfish, reef sharks, stingrays, turtles, crocodillie long toms, boxfish, cowfish, blue "antler" coral, "brain" coral ... and so much more. It was fantastic. It was windy and cold on the beach so we went back to camp, where the kids went straight into the sandhills to play while I made dinner. The boys were thrilled that we were in a showerless camp, and the fact that they were covered in sand bothered them not a jot.

Marcus counted 10 emu chicks

"I slept in the Great Sandy Desert last night" Lachie announced as he stepped out of the caravan the next morning. We all felt his pain! We took a drive into Exmouth to remedy the snorkel gear situation and get some groceries. On the way in we took a detour up to Vlaming Point Lighthouse, where we saw a pod of whales swim past the coast. We also saw an emu with lots of chicks from our vantage point and Marcus spotted them again as we joined the main road in time for a photo.

Talk about monsters from the deep!

We got snorkelled up again and did 2 more drift dives at Turquoise Bay, although this time all six of us could snorkel at the same time, which was great. It was really windy and cold, so we called it quits after the second dive and returned to the sandcastle and hole digging back at Ned's camp.

Marcus, never happier than when digging a hole, outdid himself here

Jackson is pretty pleased with his castle

Jackson and Marcus were up, breakfasted and on the beach before the rest of us were properly awake the next morning, Kings in Sand Castles. We went swimming before lunch at "our" beach while we waited for the high tide to snorkel again. The current was really strong, so after one speedy drift dive we called it a day. There is a gap in the reef and the current does its best to suck foolish snorkellers through it. Although we do have a satellite phone for emergencies, I don't think it is waterproof! The kids occupied themselves on the beach again until dark, which was great after being cooped up in the Blunderbuss for 15 000 kms!

"Mum! I saw a shark!"

On our last day at Cape Range, the kids were again up just after dawn to work on their creations on the beach. After a quiet, peaceful morning we got organised to go for our last snorkel. Jackson burnt his hand on a pot at lunchtime, so decided to stay back in camp with Dave and the packet of frozen peas. I took the others for our last experience of the amazing Ningaloo reef. It was just lovely, floating along, holding Ella's hand and marvelling at all the marine life. We did two dives before returning to camp where the kids disappeared - guess where! - and we tightened up the guy ropes as it was blowing a gale. The wind got worse overnight and no-one got much sleep with the tent threatening to take off - even though it was weighed down by Dave, me and the double bass! Lachie thought someone was punching the caravan and anxiously awaited dawn. Next morning Dave and I were completely covered in sand which had blown in through the fine netting on the tent.

Stay tuned ...

 

Port Hedland to Cape Range National Park

Salt piles awaiting export at Port Hedland

So to sum up my findings, I order you
to travel with more lollies

We made a quick getaway from Port Hedland and started the cheerless drive south. It was again frustrating to be covering vast tracts of land alongside spectacular coastline hidden from view by the endless plains of the Pilbara. Passing Whim Creek, we took its advice and drove off the highway to have morning tea by the ocean at Samson Point. It was a totally gorgeous little town on the beach and a lovely break from dry, red scenery. Nearby Cossack, the first port of the North West and a major pearling centre until the late 1800s was another worthwhile detour. The stone buildings still standing were lovely and we explored the social history museum in the courthouse. The place was empty, so we also had a couple of trials. The case of Jackson v. Ella came up under Judge Marcus, but the case was thrown out of court for lack of evidence. Judge Lachlan likewise threw the Marcus v. Dad case out with a stern warning against wasting travelling time.

This beautiful Cossack Courthouse was seldom used as
Cossack was deserted for the larger pearl shells of Broome
just after it was completed 

Dave, Jackson and I have been enjoying reading some local interest and historical books, while Lachlan and Ella read Harry Potter and Marcus seems determined to finish Captain W.E. Johns (or Wee Johns, as he calls him) entire ouvre. He became very excited driving along out of Roeburne, as Biggles was suddenly flying in Western Australia and mentioned Derby, Broome, Roeburne, Onslow and Cossack, all places we have just travelled through.

We have been looking forward to the famed wildflower displays and just south of Karratha we started seeing Kangaroo Paw and several other species, hopefully a foretaste of what is to come.

At the Robe River, we stopped for a Taste of the Pilbara picnic. It was very windy and everything we ate was coated in a fine layer of red Pilbara dust. At least our iron levels should be OK for a while. Pressing on, we relied on some iPod entertainment to quell the petulance as we raced towards Ningaloo before the WA school holidays started.

We had our scariest experience yet with a road train. With the sun getting low and the road very narrow, a truck suddenly started to overtake us. With no room to move Dave struggled to hold our line as the truck and trailers passed within arm's reach. It nearly added our rear vision mirror to its bullbars! We were very pleased to pull into a free camp shortly afterwards.



Marcus took this great sunset photo

We were determined to try to get to the National Park gates to try to get a camp spot on the beach, so 6:11 a.m. saw our best departure record yet! Any of you who know how long it takes to get us moving will be well impressed! All were on high alert for roos – we saw 9 - and then as we came through Exmouth Lachie spotted an Emu and chick. We made it to Cape Range National Park by 8:30 a.m. and were very dejected when we spotted the "CAMP GROUND FULL" sign. The Ranger cheered us up by announcing there was a spot for us and that she just hadn't turned the sign around yet. So it was six happy campers who were eating breakfast at Ned's Camp on the waterfront along the stunning Ningaloo Marine Park shortly thereafter.

Stay tuned ...