Eighty Mile Beach

We spent four nights camped at Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park, situated on a station. The afternoon we arrived the temperature was around 40 degrees C - it's such a shock to the system coming out of a lovely air conditioned car. After setting up camp we eagerly walked down to the beach for a swim to cool off.... but the water temperature was like a hot bath :(

Although the water was a lovely colour, you couldn't see your feet when you were in up to your knees... because of the water temperature and our fear of what else was in the water (fishermen were catching small reef sharks) - swimming didn't become our favourite activity here.



The kids spent most of the day under the sprinklers with other kids, which were watering the grassed areas - until they found the water truck...



All we can say is "thank goodness for powered sites and air conditioners!"

We collected some of the most amazing shells I've ever seen before - sea dollars, cake urchins, murex, balers, and trumpets. A lady we met named Janet, saw how keen the kids were and she collected them some big shells too.

On ANZAC day they had a market at the caravan park with stalls held by the visitors. Daniel was so keen for a quick buck he got out his guitar and began busking in the hope of getting $1.80 for an icy pole from the store... he was chuffed when he got $2.80 and a hat for just over half an hours work - $1 more than he'd been hoping for. The funny thing is he walked up to the store then came back saying he'd changed his mind. It's alot harder to spend hard earned cash than money your parents have given you to spend!

Again we were looking to the skies.... and saw the most amazing sun rise.

Karratha and Port Hedland

We drove from Cape Range National Park to Karratha, which is the home to many miners. The community is male orientated to the point where they have an auto shop inside their shopping centre and they only sell men's reef shoes at the camping store. Due to it's location near the mines and the availability of housing - it is extremely expensive to buy or rent in Karratha, approx $1m for a average 3 bedroom house or $6000/month rent!?!?!?!

We slept at a free camp before heading to Port Hedland - an iron ore and salt mining town. We drove around, had breakfast and went grocery shopping before heading to Eighty Mile Beach.

Exmouth and Ningaloo Reef

3 nights in Exmouth which is situated on the west side of the peninsula on the coral coast. We stayed in a caravan park which was pretty pricey... as this area is very popular with tourists including WA residents. We spent at least one day cleaning the caravan, clothes, sheets and towels in an attempt to remove the red dust from Karigini - it was everywhere!!! We went grocery shopping and gathered information from the visitor's centre. We also took a drive to Cape Range National Park, visiting beaches along the Ningaloo Reef, which became home for the next four nights.

The Ningaloo Reef is one of the few reef systems worldwide that have formed on the western side of a continent. The Ningaloo Marine Park encompasses 260km coastline and the reefs proximity makes it easily accessible.

We camped at Mesa Campground for 4 nights, beautifully positioned just over the sand dunes from the reef. We met some lovely people at the campground - and it was great to sit around and chat each evening.

We went to Turquoise Bay which was a short drive from where we were camping. Aptly named this bay had a white sandy beach, calm blue water and the reef starts metres from the shoreline. We eagerly put on our snorkels and flippers and off we went...



We saw many big and colourful fish very close to the shore. And although everyone assures us that the water clarity is superb on the reef, as we approached the coral the visibility was poor. Much to our disappointment the snorkeling wasn't as great as we were expecting and we assume it is because it was coral spawning season, which only lasts for a few weeks a year. We did enjoy the beautiful beaches, swimming and the weather.

We took a day trip to Yardie Creek. We went for a walk there, but our main reason for the day trip was to judge the possibility of crossing the creek with the caravan when we left, instead of driving back through Exmouth. Although Rod was really keen, after examining the creek, looking at the tide chart and speaking with people... we thought against the idea as the low tide was sitting pretty high at over 1m. So back around the peninsula we drove - which apparently is a quicker route but not as scenic.

The kids met other children who are also travelling around Australia - this makes them happier than anything! Kids just love other kids company.

We went for walks along our beach and swam there too. On one ocassion we spotted two turtles swimming nearby.



We spent some time at the visitor's centre which had extremely informative displays.

We also took some time to watch the sun rise...

Karigini National Park

After being woken at sunrise by hundreds of squawking birds, we hit the road at 7am. We travelled NE 430km to Tom Price before heading into Karigini National Park. Travelling at an average speed of 50km/hr on the rocky unsealed road, the trip took approx. 8hrs.

We travelled for 4 1/2 hours before we saw another car jacked up on the side of the road - three families had camped on the side of the road overnight as they had 7 flat tyres between them and one wheel ripped off a camper trailer after hitting a washout. They assured us they had help on their way,so we continued on our trip very cautiously!

We settled into our camp that evening at 7.30pm at Karigini Eco Retreat (Savannah Campground) which is 100% owned by the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation and located in the Pilbara Region on W.A. It was a long day travelling!!!

Finally the fun begins..... Karinigi National Park is MAGIC!
We ventured off into Hancock Gorge on our first full day trip, hiking down a steep gorge before lowering ourselves down a ladder to the floor of the gorge. We then had to climb over rocks, wade and swim through narrow canyon pools, tread carefully through a 'spider walk' before arriving at the tranquil Kermit Pool at the end,where we hung out for hours swimming in the deep pool.



This is where we met the Gallagher and Clarke families, with whom we spent most of the next week visiting gorges and picnicing beside many beautiful swimming pools with.

Daniel and Chantelle made friends with the Emma (13), Margaret (11), Rachel (10), Jeremy (6), Ben (11)and Luke (8), with whom they spent time exploring the gorges with, rock climbing, swimming and competing to jump from the highest ledges with.





The Karigini Gorges are the best playgrounds for adults and kids - we had so much fun on each daily adventure!





On one particular day Lindon and Rod had their own extreme adventure down in Joffre Gorge disappearing beyond sunset and returning in the dark to very relieved families - but you couldn't wipe the smile off Rod's face for days :)

Stephen and Sharyn Gallagher along with their sons Ben and Luke (from Perth) have also begun their trip around Australia and it was great to chat to them about their future destinations and plans - leaving us no doubt we will cross paths several times on our trip.

Ann Clarke - you will be pleased to know that we have added a nut and m&ms mix to our diet and aptly named it the "Clarke Mix".

Karigini National Park is one of our favourite destinations so far - spectacular views and tranquil gorges are amazing to experience.







Three local aboriginal tribes work in unison with National Parks to encourage conservation and tourism, providing a historical insight and future direction - with Aboriginal people running the informative visitors centre.

Mt Augustus

Travelling virtually east 260km from Kennedy Ranges we arrived at Mt Augustus, which is the largest monolith (single rock) in the world. Although not highly advertised Mt Augustus is twice the size of Uluru.



The kids were excited about camping at Mt Augustus Outback Tourist "Resort", but weren't impressed when we arrived at a deserted rundown outback station (with no in-ground pool). But it was cheap at $15/night with shower and toilet facilities.
Upon arrival we were greeted with our first flat tyre - which Rod was able to plug.



After settling into our camp we headed off to explore Mt Augustus. You can drive the 49km circuit around the base and stop at hiking spots along the way, which is what we did. We walked to a lookout, a spring and aboriginal artwork sites before retiring back at camp.



The following morning at sunrise we were greeted by hundreds of squawking cockatoos and galahs, which was a magnificent sight and sound, before heading off the Karigini National Park.

Kennedy Ranges

From Carnarvon we travelled east into the desert, through Gascoyne Junction, then north to the Kennedy Ranges. We camped there for two nights for free with only pit toilet facilities. The Kennedy Ranges are 75km long and up to 25km wide, running north to south with spectacular red cliffs that rise up 100m above the flat plains below.
Below is a photo from on top of the ranges looking over our camp site...



We completed some lovely hikes through the gorges and up to magnificent lookouts.
At Honeycomb Gorge the kids threw rocks into the holes in the wall...


Daniel climbed everything, including the Temple Gorge, which after the wet season has a waterfall...

Carnarvon

3 nights at Carnarvon... not what we expected!!!

Carnarvon supplies 70% of WA's winter vegetable requirements and produces over 30,000tonnes of fruit and vegetables every year from its 176 plantations!

It is also a town situated at the only point of the Australian coastline where the central desert reaches out to the sea.

In my mind - these two facts couldn't go together... But it's true.

The Gascoyne River travels 764km from the Indian Ocean inland and is referred to as the life blood of Carnarvon...



The river is unusual in that the water sits unseen below the riverbed in underground reserves that supplies water for the town supply and the plantations via bores. Periodically the river flows visibly after heavy rains inland!

We drove around to plantations where you can buy produce direct from the growers. Apparently in a couple of months time the diversity and quantity of produce is much greater... but we are enjoying fresh watermelon, bananas, cucumbers and zucchinis.

We went for a day trip to Quobba Blowholes and Quobba Point.
We head out to Kennedy Ranges tomorrow!

Monkey Mia

2 nights at Monkey Mia.... Ahhhh!
Second rate accommodation (I don't think so)...



We saw dolphins, dolphins and more dolphins...

Not to mention sharks and sharks - they don't call it "Shark Bay" for nothing!!!
This photo was taken from 'Eagle Bluff' where we saw 15 sharks below in the shallow water (just shows we don't even know what lurks in the shallows):