Ningaloo Reef to Karratha

Sun 2 June – We walked back to the small supermarket and bought a few things to get us thru the next 6 days before leaving the beautiful Coral Bay and the Ningaloo Reef. We are at the base of the Exmouth Peninsula and drove north for 150kms to the town of Exmouth where we filled with free water at the visitors centre. Drinking water is a problem in this area. Most water comes out of bores and is salty and undrinkable. Exmouth gets all its drinking water from a de-salination plant. We are now only using ‘Andy’s’ tank water for drinking and bore water for dishes etc. Very tricky!  We left Exmouth and drove to the top of the peninsula before heading south down the seaward side. At the Lighthouse camp we booked a couple of days on our way out of the Cape Range National Park. Into the park for a 55km drive to our first camp at Osprey Bay. Our bookings in the park are for 2 nights here and 2 nights back up at Neds Camp, all done 3 weeks ago. The whole park is booked out! Shelter from the easterly wind is priority when parking.

This park has the Ningaloo Reef protecting it from the surf so the water is calm. Off to the beach for a snorkel. Not much coral but plenty of fish, all colours shapes and sizes. At sunset we joined some campers at picnic tables and watched the sunset swapping stories. There was a dust cloud forming all around us.

Mon 3 June – It was much cooler in the night. A nice walk around to Sandy Bay with beautiful turquoise water. We walked back along the beach with a dingo following us in the sandhills. Some great snorkelling in the afternoon! Happy hour overlooking the ocean and the sunset. The stars at night are very bright.

Tues 4 June – We woke to a dust storm blowing grit everywhere and were happy to drive north to our next stop at Neds Camp, picking up more bore water on the way. The camp was very small and we are in a sheltered spot. After lunch we snorkelled but did not see much. Nice swimming beach however. Sunset drinks with a couple from Jakarta and Switzerland.

Wed 5 June – We walked along the beach to the next camp. Read in the shade before lunch then down to the beach for a swim. The water was a bit cooler. There is still a strong easterly wind so no happy hour at the beach tonight.

Thurs 6 June – Left Neds Camp and drove out of the National Park and on to the Ningaloo Lighthouse camp. Rain is forecast for the next few days. Val did some laundry and I did some cleaning before we climbed a steep goat track at the back of the camp to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse.  Great views in all directions including some huge radio towers used for defence during  the cold war.

Fri 7 June – A cloudy day with light showers in the afternoon. We walked to beach opposite the camp with the wind howling, rough seas and grey skies. Haircuts all round in the afternoon. Rain set in around 4:30pm.

Sat 8 June – (My 70^th Birthday) Eggs on toast for breakfast and phone calls and emails to wish me Happy Birthday. Back around the tip of the peninsula to the town of Exmouth for fuel and shopping. Exmouth was constructed in 1966 to service the American defence radar station and the military air base. It had the feel of Twizel with the shopping centre being pedestrian only. We checked into a camp and went for a walk around the town. There was an Italian restaurant at the entrance to the camp and we decided to celebrate my birthday there. Val rode her bike back into town for a bottle of wine as it is a BYO and cask wine did not seem appropriate! The restaurant was a great choice! We both had creamy pasta, mine seafood, Val’s chicken followed up by a large gelato.

Sun 9 June – After some “quikeeze”, seems I can not handle rich creamy sauces now I am 70!  We drove south back down the Exmouth peninsula and across the bottom of the gulf to Bullara Station where you can stay and experience this cattle station. There were quite a few caravans etc there.

 In the afternoon we went for a short following a track around the homestead and camp. In the evening we went to “happy hour” where John was cooking damper. Unfortunately, it was for the staff on a Sunday night. We had a great chat around the camp fire however.

Mon 10 June – We decided to spend another night here and went and sampled the famous scones and coffee in the homestead gardens. After lunch we followed another short trail passed several windmills.

“Happy Hour” was packed out as this time the damper was for the campers. We all got a small sample which was more like a bread baked in camp ovens. Another good chat to a NZ couple from Nelson.

Tues 11 June – Back on the road across the bottom of the Exmouth Gulf and eventually we joined the main road north that we had left 13 days ago to go to the Ningaloo Reef and the Cape Range National Park. We drove north and stopped at the Nanutarra Roadhouse for the night beside the Ashburton River. The weather has been cool with several rain showers but it now seems to have cleared. It is amazing how quickly the bush greens up with some much needed rain.

Wed 12 June – We have now turned north west on our drive towards Broome. We stopped at the Robe River rest area and thought it was so good we stayed for the night. There were cattle wandering around in the dry river bed. There were huge flocks on Corellas (white cockatoos) racing from tree to tree screeching as they flew. There were about 20 caravans and campers in for the night.

Thurs 13 June – Breakfast outside with most of the campers gone before we got up. Drove to the Fortesque Roadhouse where we paid $6 for a loaf of white bread! This is iron ore mining country. The rocks and ridges are dark rust red. It looks like you could get iron ore everywhere. On to the Miaree Pool. A slight navigational error took us down a rough track (probably 4WD) before we extricated ourselves and found the only flat site for the night. A beautiful pool but we decided not to swim in it as the entry was thru reeds and we thought of snakes. We sat in the shade and were joined by a mini bus load of miners returning from training at Karratha. They were all New Zealanders and interested in our trip. There were 2 huge mines in this area that they were working at.

Fri 14 June – Only a short drive to the port of Dampier. This is a huge port where Rio Tinto exports Iron Ore from 15 Mines and loads it onto ships at a rate of 10,000 tonnes/hour. The trains delivering the ore from the mines are now unmanned and controlled in Perth. Our camp overlooked the loading facility. After lunch we drove to the other huge installation here.

 The North West Shelf has 6 off shore LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) production platforms 135kms out in the Indian Ocean. The gas is piped to a processing plant where we went to the visitor’s centre. There was a great video explaining the operation processing the gas ready to be frozen before loading into huge LNG transporter ships for the Asian market. It is the second largest processing plant in the world. Back at camp we went for a bike ride along the waterfront and around this very small town. Most of the accommodation is for the miners who fly in for their shifts and fly out back home (FIFO workers).

Sat 15 June – Off to Hearson’s Cove for lunch. A lovely shallow shell beach. The tides are quite large here and we walked about 1km over the sand in the afternoon.

 Drove back to Deep Gorge and walked to an area of Aboriginal rock drawings that were 30,000 years old!! The aboriginals want to drop the word “young” out of “Advance Australia Fair”, cannot blame them really! Back in Dampier we watched the local AFL team give the visitors from Port Hedland a thrashing. We spent some time booking a camp in Darwin for about 6 weeks time.

Sun 16 June – We left Dampier and drove 20kms to the large town of Karratha (pop 25,000). This is another modern town built in 1963 for the mining and the gas. Well set out with very nice homes. We had a big shop as we will be away from civilization for the next 10 days. Val washed all the bedding ready for the next phase of the trip.

Geraldton to Coral Bay

Sun 19 May – We are at Geraldton, 430kms north of Perth. It was election day yesterday and in a surprise the ALP (Labour Party) lost to the Coalition (Liberal and National). We drove north to Seven Mile Beach where we camped right on the beach. We climbed up to a lookout and read in the shade of the awning and our new sunshade. A nice warm evening watching the sunset.

Mon 20 May – It was much hotter in the night and we drove north turning off the highway at Northhampton and on towards Port Gregory. This is the wheat belt and there were miles and miles of wheat stubble which must look great before the harvest. We stopped at Lynton Station, a farm stay.

This was the site of a Convict Hire Depot. Station Managers came here and hired the convicts to work the land. We explored the managers partially resorted home overlooking the farm, climbed a ridge to a monument to a landowner, (on a motorbike) and walked around the ruins of the depot. Just as we got back to “Andy” the promised southerly struck with winds and rain.

Tues 21 May – We took a side road down to the Pink Lake. Not very pink however! Back on the road and into the Kalbarri National Park where we stopped at one of the lookouts with red cliffs and walked down to a beautiful little cove. The town of Kalbarri is at the mouth of the Murchison River and is a holiday resort with many apartments and camping grounds. We stopped at a camp over the road from the beach and were given a great site looking out onto the river estuary. We walked around the town and the waterfront and ended the day having drinks with most of the camp watching the sunset.

Wed 22 May – Another beautiful day as we biked north passed the marina and then around the very small town. In the afternoon we biked south along a cycleway to the Blue Holes. This would be a great swimming area but the tide was too high. Back at the camp we changed into our togs and went down to the beach but the wind had got up and we chickened out! Walked to the IGA for a quick shop and after the evening sunset drinks with the campers, we went to the local pub for a pizza.

Thurs 23 May – Watched the pelicans being fed before heading off into the Kalbarri National Park to the Natural Window and took the popular photos. A drive to another part of the park where we packed our lunch and followed a 3km trail down a gorge to the Murchison River gorge. Beautiful scenery with the red cliffs, white sand and lush green gum trees. It was a long slog back up the gorge in 30+C. Back on the road out of the park and on to Highway 1 (95kms) with the aircon on!! We camped on the banks of the Murchison River, a nice free spot.

Fri 24 May – It is now quite hot in the night. A real tropical feel. We walked over the river on an old bridge and around the camping sites on the far bank. After lunch we headed on for 115kms to the Billabong Roadhouse. We had misjudged our diesel and had to top up with our emergency jerry can to get there. Topped up our tank and jerry can and spent the night in another free area beside the Roadhouse in the red dust.

Sat 25 May – We have been deciding whether to go into Denham and Monkey Mia. It is about 155km out to the west and forms the seaward side of Shark Bay. We decided that, as it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we would do the trip, so headed west to Denham and stayed in a camping ground. We will stay two nights here and drive out to Monkey Mia tomorrow. There was a strong southerly wind which kept the temperatures down. We walked the small town and went to an audio/visual presentation of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney by a German ship during the WW11. This all happened just off the coast here.  Both ships sank with huge casualties. We went for a short cycle to a lagoon but could not find how to get down to it.

Sun 26 May – A cloudy morning. We drove 28kms over the peninsula to Monkey Mia. This is basically a resort where they attract dolphins to the beach by feeding them. We arrived just in time for the last feeding of the day at 9:15am. It all seems a bit weird, as this is marine reserve and feeding dolphins, so tourist can photograph them just doesn’t seem right. They only feed out 8 fish to 4 dolphins. It cost us $15 each and was all over in about 5 minutes. We did a 2km short walk inland and then along the beach. The flies were very annoying. With the sun out and no flies the resort would have been ok. Back in “Andy” we decided to head back to the lagoon we tried to cycle to but again the flies were bad, so we drove back to our camp where the cool wind meant there were no flies and we could enjoy the view and read.

Mon 27 May – We headed back to the main highway with the odd shower of rain. On the way we stopped at Shell Beach. This beach consists of tiny shells. Years ago, they cut the hard-packed shells into building blocks. Another stop was at Hamelin Pool. This is at the inland end of Shark Bay where the extremely shallow, salty hot water is an environment for stromatolites to grow. A stromatolite is a living fossil, and these are reputed to be the oldest living things on earth. (They told us the same think about the bristle cone pine trees at Mt Wheeler – Utah!!!)  There was a board walk over the stromatolites, so you can get a good view. Not very spectacular however.  We stopped for the night at the Wooramel Roadhouse.

We followed a trail along the beach to where they had quarried the shell building blocks. Lunch inside (showers and flies) before heading back to the highway and our trip north. The diversion to Denham and Monkey Mia was 312kms. Some people say it is not worth it and we would probably agree! Still sometimes you just have to see for yourself.

Tues 28 May – We drove 125kms north to the largish town of Carnarvon. We had a big shop-up at Woolworths and the BWS (Beer Wine Spirits) and then camped at a tourist park near the centre of town. On our bikes to explore the town and the waterfront. Carnarvon is at the mouth of the Gascoigne River. The waterfront was very nice with palm trees and grass. We biked across an old railway bridge and to the “Mile Long Wharf” used to service this area in the past. Back at the camp we had a swim in the camp pool. First swim this trip! In the evening we were joined by the campers next door for good chat. They were from Kalbarri and were on their way home.

Wed 29 May – We checked out and drove to the waterfront and sat in the shade of the palm trees enjoying the view. Walked into the town and found a Jaycars and bought an Indoor/outdoor thermometer. This town’s claim to fame is that it had two huge radio receivers. One was used for the Apollo moon missions. It was the first and last receive point before the capsules left the earth’s atmosphere and after re-entry. It was also the first receive point for Australia’s Overseas TV pictures. We planned to visit the museum but there was a power cut in Carnarvon so no go! 

We drove north after lunch to a rest area beside the Minilya River (dry) with nice shade from the gum trees. There were about 20 caravans there. The flies were bad, and we sat outside with our head nets. The flies are worse this year because the winds are from the east blowing the flies out of the bush to the coast. It was also very hot around 33C and still hot when we went to bed.

Thurs 30 May – We were last to leave at 9:30 as we only had a short drive N/W to Coral Bay. We had booked a camp there a few weeks ago. We got a nice shady site and walked to the beach. The water was a great temperature 26C. Perfect!! as there is good snorkelling here. The town is basically two tourist camps, booking offices, a few shops, bars and restaurants. Another place a bit like Kaiteriteri. After lunch we sorted out our snorkelling gear bought over from home and walked to the beach. The snorkelling is just off the beach. Bad start, Val’s flippers split as she put them on. Old age! (the flippers, not Val) The snorkelling was great with huge coral formations and plenty of fish. There are no flies here thank goodness, so we sat in the shade of our awning and even cooked dinner outside. First time this trip.

Fri 31 May – A cooler cloudy day. We walked around this small resort in the morning and went down to the beach in the afternoon when the sun came out. Snorkelled off the main beach. Not as spectacular as yesterday’s, but still pretty good. I am having trouble with my beard letting water in and discovered I am better with just swimming goggles and my snorkel.

Sat 1 June – Mucked around in the morning and down to the beach in the afternoon. We walked along the beach to the better snorkelling area and spent the afternoon drifting over the great coral and fish. All snorkelling gear working perfectly. What a great beach resort! We bought a takeaway delicious pizza for dinner. We will publish this blog from Coral Bay tonight.