Coral bay

How could anything named 'Coral Bay' be anything but pretty? This picture perfect seaside town is the perfect stopover for us. A chance to enjoy life's little luxuries, like running water, electricity, cafe's and of course the pristine beach. We had a lovely time here, snorkeling on the reef and swimming in the crystal clear waters.
We managed to watch St Kilda defeat the Western Bulldogs...are are thrilled to be in the grand final...even if this means rearranging our trip home so that we can watch it on tv!
The boys are loving the dunes:











We were booked on a whale watching trip which was cancelled due to wind...this was my own 'must see' so we had to extend our time here just so I can see the whales...see next post!

Cazz x

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ningaloo -cape range national park

13-18th September 2010



Imagine this..

The morning is warm and the sun is shining. I am softly swaying in the dappled sunlight in our hammock strung between the trees. The view takes in the soft sandy beach and turquoise waters of Ningaloo reef. I'm reading my book (Eat, Pray, Love) but I feel as though I could doze off (I have slept for 9 hours overnight, again) listening to the waves breaking over the reef way out at sea. It's all a bit nice...and I don't want to leave here tomorrow.


Our days here have been filled with snorkeling the various beaches and reefs, laying by the beach, fishing off the beach, jumping off the dunes and playing in the sand. The boys have especially enjoyed catching lots of crabs...sometimes by digging down the whole length of their arms...and risking some sharp nips from angry crabs!










The boys are very happy that a family have moved in beside us, with a seven year old son who has a box of Lego!

Cape Range national park extends along the stunning Ningaloo reef. It's so close we can simply swim out with our masks and snorkels to view the amazing coral, rocks, oyster stacks and brilliantly colored fish of every shape and size. Yesterday we snorkeled at a place called 'oyster stacks', and I don't think I have ever seen Harry so excited. He was constantly crying out in amazement and pointing excitedly at a huge blue starfish, a long thin yellow fish, huge multiple colored fish that looked like something out of a childrens picture book...and a large clam shell. We swam through hundreds of tiny fish which glittered and shone, silver and electric blue. It has been a brilliant experience for the boys...to see what is normally only available when scuba diving..and all so easily accessible. A couple of days ago we snorkeled at 'Turquoise Bay' where Grant and I encountered a shark - it was about 2m long and gracefully swimming along in front of us.
Thomas has especially loved snorkeling. He happily swims out on his own to circle the rocks and smaller reefs nearby and yesterday swam out with Grant and I to much deeper water, a good 200m there and back. We didn't buy flippers but might try to get some today!
The campgrounds here are currently completely full. Each campground is at a different section of beach..most with water views, and we are lucky to have some shade as well. We are camped at 'mesa' which is the largest campground with 13 sites. Some of the others have only 4 or 5. Sites here are allocated on a first come first served basis, which means arriving at the entrance to the park before the ranger arrives at 8am. Grant arrived at 5am and was 4th in line! You then have to hope that enough campers are leaving so you can secure a site!

Traveling families.
The longer we travel, the more we are feeling a part of a traveling community of like-minded families, many of them traveling for much longer than we are. Each time we stop we run into at least one other family that we have met before. It might be at the petrol station, the supermarket, the beach or we find ourselves camped right beside a family that we camped with weeks before. The longer we travel, the more families we recognise. Just here at cape range there are at least 5 other families that we have met before...everyone is happy.
We were thrilled to meet up again with Jenny, Stefane, Cal and Charlie. We have enjoyed afternoons snorkeling with them, and relaxing on the beach.



We have once again decided to extend our stay for 'one more day'. We are reluctant to travel any further south where we know it will just get colder, and it is so beautiful here. Our next stop is Monkey Mia and Peron NP. From there we will basically be heading home. We are meeting the boys grandparents at Streaky Bay for a few nights, revisiting our friends Chris and Pamela in Adelaide (if they are home) then arriving back in Melbourne around Oct 5th. The boys will go back to school halfway through the first week, and grant return to work the following week. Ho hum.

Cazz xxx

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Tom Price, and another long day

11th September 2010

(I remember 9 years ago, sitting on my bedroom floor in front of the television, pregnant with our second child...watching the events in New York city in disbelief...and wondering if the world was about to end.)

We knew today would be a long one, and we were prepared. However sometimes things just don't go to plan...
We packed up early and left Karijini at 8am...just enough time to arrive at Tom Price for a tour of the mine. The rain continued throughout the tour, but we really enjoyed seeing all the massive machinery, and learning about the mining industry and how it all operates. This is the third town we have visited that exists purely for mining...which must make them very interesting to live in.















After the tour (still raining heavily) we head off towards Exmouth, another 650km. Because it is so wet we decide to take the longer route along a made road, not wanting to travel in the wet and in in the mud!
The trip is quite easy, and we stop at a basic roadhouse for petrol and a $10.50 bucket of chips. You don't have much to choose from around here, it's at least another 250km until you will see anything much at all.
We are traveling well, and it looks like we will arrive in Exmouth earlier than expected, when Grant pulls off the road to check the tyres...and we have a flat. We were about 100km from Exmouth, it's about 530pm and luckily it's still light.
Now this is our second flat tyre, and we feel much better prepared. The spare is on the roof rack and so much easier to get to...but where is the jack? It's been put back where it belongs...underneath the metal framing which holds our fridge, food tubs...and is packed completely full of stuff. Luckily we have borrowed a friends whiz bang jack, and can get to it easily. Well over an hour later we are still trying to get our massive car jacked up high enough to remove the wheel...but it just isn't happening.
We are also stopped beside a dead kangaroo...the smell is starting to make me feel sick, and eventually we have to move the car along the road just to get away from it. The boys were being fantastic. Playing by the side of the road and keeping out of the way.
Eventually we realized that we would have to get out the original jack...this took some unpacking and maneuvering but we got it out...by now it is pitch black, getting colder...and we are definitely feeling very isolated on a lonely road with absolutely no traffic....it's just us. We are thankful that's it's not a real emergency, manage to keep our sense of humour and finally change the tyre. We arrive in Exmouth at 9pm.
We are staying in a proper caravan park, which we desperately need...showers/washing machines ($5 per load!) and power. We do notice quite a difference in the type of people staying in the bigger caravan parks...lots of retired couples living up north for the winter months. We seem to have created a bit of interest by arriving so late, and in such a mess, so we get lots of visitors the next day, enquiring about our late arrival the night before!
We spent the next day basically getting ourselves sorted out. Tyre repaired, 3 loads of washing hanging in the sunshine, food shopping, car sorted out...and even managed a coffee in town. Dinner at the in-house Italian restaurant...and everything was good again!

Cazz xx



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Karijini photos

The boys had the most exciting time at Karijini...each gorge was a new adventure, slightly dangerous, just a bit challenging...and absolutely spectacular. It is hard to imagine in such an arid place, what spectacular sights are way down below ground level. I often had to leave my camera halfway as we waded through deep water, or balanced along a ledge with high risk of falling in!




















Cazz and boys xxx


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Karijini NP, boys paradise!

It has been great to be able to camp in the bush again...the landscape here is arid, dark red earth, green spinifex and brilliant white gums. I love it.
Our campsite view..



No wonder the Australian bush has inspired so many poets...i have the inspiration, but not the skill. Photographs will have to do...





We spent our next couple of days here exploring the gorges, which had the boys in heaven...climbing walls, descending into narrow gorges filled with icy water, clinging to handrails and generally having a great adventure!

Gorge photos next post....

Cazz x



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Birdwatching

Quite early in our trip Harry developed a keen interest in birds. He enjoys watching them and following them...and wondering what they are. We bought him the Simpson & Day Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. He can often be found wandering around with it...gazing up into the trees and referring to his book.



We discovered these funny pigeons at Karijini. They walk around in and out of the spinifex, looking for our crumbs on the ground.
It is lovely to see the boys so interested...



The Spinifex Pigeon..


Cazz xxx

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Karijini National Park, day 1

Wednesday, 8th Sept.

We arrive at Karijini at around lunchtime and make our first stop at the stunning visitor centre. We have enjoyed many of the visitor centre's on our trip, and this one was full of beautiful displays including lots of info on aboriginal history in the area. There are 2 campgrounds here, and we decide to camp at the Eco Retreat as it's closer to most of the gorges. We visit Dales gorge first and are blown away by our first view of the gorge system here. We thought we had seen it all, with so many gorges throughout the Kimberley, but the gorges here are spectacular and dramatic in their own way. Most other gorges we have entered have been from ground level...and we have walked into them, but here the ground simply opens up in front of you, and you find yourself standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down into a deep red chasm around 200m deep.
The steps down to circular pool are steep and rocky, and we really enjoy being back in the bush. It is cooler here, mid 20's, which is great for walking. There are pools for swimming although just a quick dip, as the water is pretty cold!





From there we visited Fortescue falls and Fern pool...both beautiful spots.








We set up camp just in time for dinner, and an early night...all of us exhausted!

Cazz and boys xxx
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