Coral Bay

Drive off bound for Coral Bay today, stop at the lighthouse on the way and spot about four whales out to sea. Mark is keen for a surf so we pull up at “the Dunes” not far away, and he spends a happy hour surfing with a few turtles and sees a humpback whale whacking its fin on the surface of the water 100m away from him.

 Arrive at Coral Bay and it’s a beautiful place, our park is right opposite the beach.  We have bought the kids fins now and they can’t believe the difference, much more confident in the water. With the tide in there is a huge shallow, crystal clear area that is perfect for Charlie to swim in. We see mini sting-rays, a clam, and many other things. There is a “fish feeding” time at 3.30pm and a school of large spangled emporers swim around everyone’s legs to get their feed. Samuel especially, thinks it’s hilarious and opens his legs so they can swim through and brush past. Charlie however, spends the duration in Ella’s arms...

We go on a glass bottom boat tour and are all facinated with the marine life we see. Samuel spots a black tipped reef shark (tour guide said he hadn't seen one in months), also a few trumpetfish, more clams, sea cucumbers and lots of parrotfish. No turtles and still hoping to see a dugong, but we can't be too fussy..

Cape Range NP - Turquoise Bay

Have heard nearby Turquoise Bay is a great place for kids to snorkel so we head in to spend the day there. Just beautiful, the water really is turquoise and the wind has dropped today, so great conditions.

The reef is about 30m offshore and we venture out. Not many others in wetsuits (spot the Victorians!). Around the corner we find a “drift” area. You have to swim out to get to the reef, then the strong current drifts you along while you check out the scenery underwater. The only catch is swimming back to shore at the right spot to avoid getting swept out to sea...Ella and Samuel thought it was the best fun and Ella was much more impressed with today’s viewing; blue-barred parrotfish, neon damsal, keyhole angelfish, red firefish, moorish idol, orange spotted surgeonfish (yes, a fellow camper lent the kids a fish identification chart!)

Another "happy hour" at sunset (I know life's tough!) and it's our last night here. A red kangaroo is hopping around in the dark looking for water around the campsites, they get pretty desperate we hear, one even drank a bucket of napisan someone had left out, can't imagine that would've ended well.

Exmouth – Cape Range National Park

Travelling the road to Exmouth an emu and her 3 chicks dart across the road right in front of us, a very cute sight (and lucky we missed ‘em...). Got into our Caravan Park, after a few hours drive with a pretty sparse landscape, as far as the eye can see.

We treat ourselves to a great meal at the Italian restaurant on site. Homemade ravioli stuffed with prawn and crabmeat in a cherry tomato sauce with a hint of chilli (I am salivating writing this...) with ferrer rocher/white chocolate gelati for dessert. (we figure we deserve it, not quite sure why..)

Next morning Mark is up at 5.15am to drive the 45mins to Cape Range National Park. The gates are manned at 8am and we have heard to camp at this special spot (without booking online earlier, which of course we haven’t done) it is first in, best dressed, with only a few sites available per day. He mentally pats himself on the back for his diligence as he’s 4^th in line, but his smile fades when he discovers his wallet is back in the van with us at Exmouth (doh!). Luck is on his side, and at about 9am we get 2 nights at a camp called “Kurrajong” and can pay the camp host on arrival (as long as we can get there by 11am or we lose the site, quickest pack-up on record!!)

The camps are dotted all the way down the Coast to Yardie Creek and include the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park, they have drop toilets and our camp spot is just behind the dune. Our camp hosts are a great couple called “Greame and June” and Greame reminds us both of Billy Connelly (complete with the wild hair!)

Grabbing our snorkelling gear, we wander down to have a look. We pass a couple just back from their fishing trip filleting a huge fish on the edge of their tinnie. They tell us it’s a wahu fish and in true Mark fashion he asks if they plan to feed the whole camp, at which point they offer us some of it. We jump at the chance and a couple of hours later they drive it up to our camp, filleted, sliced, wrapped and enough for tonight’s tea! Mark reckons that’s the only way to fish....

It is very blowy on the beach, water a bit too choppy for good viz. The kids all got out there and had a go though, Charlie was a demon snorkeller. Ella came up and said “I only saw one fish...and it was brown!!”

Nearly forgot to mention the “happy hour” on the beach our camp hosts have every night, so we can meet fellow campers and watch the sunset with a drink in hand. We saw a few, very large “splashes” way out to sea which were humpback whales frolicking about.

Tom Price

Tom Price is an interesting place. We took a tour of the Mount Tom Price Iron Ore Mine and were amazed by the scale of it all. The town was built and run by the mining company in the early 60s, and was only taken over by local government in the 80s. It was named after Thomas Price (no kidding..) who was an American working for Kaiser Steel that came over and saw the potential for mining there. The town has just over 5000 people in it, with 900 of them working in the mine full time. The bus tour drove through the whole processing plant and Charlie was v happy with his funny glasses...

Karijini NP - Fortesque Falls/Fern Pool

Dales Gorge has re-opened today but we are on the way out, so we see Circular Pool from the lookout. We wander down into the gorge at the other end to Fortesque Falls, lovely spot, you can walk right down the rocks alongside the waterfall. Bit further along is Fern Pool, the water is a bluey/green colour and a good place for a swim, even has a handrail entry. Mark & Samuel take the plunge as they're the only two with bathers on and there are lots of people around!

Have a quick look at the Visitor's Centre and the lady behind the counter happens to be a family friend I haven't seen for a very long time (random)....we have a quick catch up and then she tells me the couple rescued out of the gorge were in fact friends of theirs that had come to visit them!

Drive off to Tom Price for an overnight stay, have booked to do a tour of the iron ore mine in the morning. Next stop Exmouth!

Karijini National Park

Left Indee Station, after a pat of the homestead donkey. The road to Karijini is littered with dead cows, after all the roadtrains we've seen I can see why. Got to Karijini mid afternoon (Dales campground) and after a quick squiz at Fortesque Falls from the lookout we set up camp. How funny to bump into a family we met at Pine Creek (overnight stay 4 wks ago) just as they were heading out. We are warned about dingoes in the area by the Camp Host and realise the firewood fossick on the side of the road earlier was a waste of time - no fires allowed. Shame, as have heard it is really cold here at night (and we are about due for more damper...)

Head in to do our walk today, only to be stopped by the Ranger who informs us the whole gorge is closed today as there is a search and rescue mission going on. A 76 year old man and 74 year old woman have been missing somewhere in the gorge since yesterday afternoon. We feel terrrible for them...we were cold in our van overnight with sleeping bags and blankets, can't imagine the conditions they would've had to endure down the gorge overnight! We saw planes flying overhead which were doing thermal imaging as part of the rescue mission.

We drive 43km to Weano Gorge at the far end of the park which is the other recreation area. The sheer red cliffs are just incredible.We take the steps into the gorge and before long there is a cold pool to cross and a rocky ledge above the water's edge to negotiate. Apparently the view on the other side is great but do we give it a go with the kids? An older man said "I wouldn't attempt that with the kids.." whereas a younger couple said it wasn't that bad and was really worth it...We decided to give it a crack..we wade a short bit through knee deep cold water with Charlie on Mark's shoulders, all well, but when Mark tries to grab hold of the rock ledge to shimmy along Charlie makes him overbalance, he slips on a rock, cuts his foot (he tells me later) and ends up in the water! (Charlie however, is sitting pretty with hardly a drop on him). Luckily the camera was well tucked away in the backpack, but his sunnies took a dive (a kind man retrieved them for him later!).

You'd think that would be it, but no....leaving Charlie and I to wait and have lunch on the rocks, Mark and the older two set off for attempt No 2. This time things were different, apparently there were about 4 times they had to do a "spider walk" between the gorge walls and shimmy along in other places. They ended up at a beautiful circular pool which only had access via a handrail and was a very steep descent which they didn't attempt. Ella and Samuel both agreed it was their most exciting walk yet and were buzzing when they returned. Charlie in the meantime had just about thrown every rock within a 2metre radius into the pool and had had his own fun.

We checked out Joffre Falls and Knox Gorge lookouts on the way back and can't believe how many great walks, waterfalls, swimming holes or just lookouts there are in here - a great place. Back at camp we are relieved to hear both people had been rescued out of the Gorge, it had taken 36hours.

Indee Station

Heading into Karijini National Park now and leaving the coast for a bit. We have been told by many that we shouldn't miss it, so are looking forward to it. We stop for fuel at Pardoo roadhouse and there are 6 old tractors towing caravans. They are a crowd called the "9G Tractor Club" which are Chamberlain "Champion" tractors from the 50s travelling across Australia raising money for the RFDS. Pretty funny sight, but at a top speed of 55kms on the open road we were pretty keen to take off first!

Next stop Port Hedland for lunch.Very much an industrial town, all the infastructure was pretty interesting, not what you'd call "scenic" though.

"Indee Station" is our overnight stay, just a spot on our map convenient to getting to Karijini the next day. Turned out to be a real experience! The homestead was getting ready for dinner when we turned up, walked right into their kitchen to book a site (too late to book seats for dinner, $20 for a 3 course homecooked meal!). We did however join the table for "happy hour" which they do everynight (BYO drinks). The owner has been on the land for 50 years and the place was pretty much flattened in Cyclone George in 2007. The kids' fell in love with the camp dog "Izzy".