May 23-25 Cape Leveque

We approached our trip to Cape Leveque with some trepidation as we had been told that the 200km 4wd drive up to the Cape was very rough. You know what we are like with 4wd adventures! In fact all a non event as Wally and Tim handled it admirably. We had had worse roads at Kalbarri.

Arrived at the Cape in the early afternoon. We camped at the Aboriginal resort there which has a magic location right at the end of the peninsular with a rough cliff beach with crocodiles on one side and an idyllic swimming beach on the other. The colours are dramatic with lush tropical greens, white white sand and craggy orange sandstone cliffs leading down to the beach. Have had a lovely time swimming, relaxing and enjoying the sunsets. Even had a chance to get the camp oven going with an afternoon damper and a roast chicken dinner.

We went mudcrabbing with Vincent, a local aboriginal guide. Ended up with a bit of a large tour group aimlessly wandering in the mangroves nearby carrying long metal poles to probe the mud with in search of crabs. Came away no further enlightened as to how to catch a crab but had in our bag a couple of huge mudcrabs caught by Vincent that we will cook up and have with Judy in Broome tomorrow night.

Without thinking of the possible consequences, Sammy excitedly pointed out a shovelnosed ray which our guide immediately proceeded to spear. Had it on the end of his spear with the guts starting to burst out of its wound and waved it around to show the kids. Sammy was horrified and said if she saw anything else in the water she would be sure not to point it out.

We are heading to Broome and civilised accommodation tomorrow. The kids are very excited about seeing Judy and staying somewhere with flushing toilets. Not sure which they are more excited about.

May 21-22 Cape Keraudren on the road to Broome

Early morning fog at Cape Keraudren

Took 2 days to get to Broome from Karijini. We overnighted at Cape Keraudren just out of Port Headland. A beautiful beach location with a rather disconcerting Ranger running the show. We when we arrived with the Serisiers and Webbs (friends of Sam and Kate’s that we had met in Karijini) in tow the ranger was pointed out to me as the guy drinking the beer chatting to a couple of folk at a nearby caravan. I wandered over and before I could speak he asked me if I had brought my baby oil. I thought “righto here we go next thing he’ll be asking about is the bikini” He went onto explain in great detail that due to my feminine hormones I am very attractive to the local sandfly. The only thing to save me from extreme discomfort would be either baby oil or to cover up with long pants and sleeves. He said he couldn’t talk to me any further until I had covered up. The boys/ men apparently don’t have to worry about the sandflies because of their less attractive hormones. Still not sure whether he was pulling our legs with the sandfly thing, but needless to say everyone covered up.

With beer and fag in hand, he proceeded to regal the children with stories of the area’s importance to aboriginal women. Sacred caves that only women can ever find. An area of great importance to the Gnaraloo women who come to the cape to give birth. What to do in the event the kids come across a snake. How to escape a charging croc (apparently you run sideways to the croc). Kids loved it.

Woke to heavy fog in the morning. The evening dew and early morning mist had been so heavy that it seeped through the tent and dripped onto us all night. Drip drip drip

Left the Serisiers and the Webbs to take the slow road to Broome as we hightailed it out of there so that we could fit in a trip to Cape Leveque north of Broome before meeting up with Judy on Monday.

May 18 – May 20 Karijini National Park

Karijini has been one of the highlights of our trip so far. It is great to see trees and mountains, a welcome break from the miles and mles of scrub we have been driving through since Perth. The days are hot and the evenings freezing cold. Dingoes howl at night and roam the campsite. The red Pilbara dust pervades everything. Even the colour of the termite mounds have changed. The kids are all a lovely shade of reddish orange from top to toe. They look like a band of oompa loompahs.
We’ve explored some of the gorges which have all been breathtaking with refreshing swims and waterfalls to help clean off the dust. On our first morning we went for a walk with the Serisier gang down to the bottom of Dale Gorge. Clambering over the rocks and swimming in the pools gave the children a good work out and a wonderful sense of adventure. The 2 hour walk finished at Fortescue Falls where the kids clambered up the sides of the gorge to jump into the pool below. We had morning tea and sat in the sun next to the waterfall to watch all the crazy backpackers leaping off the sides of the gorge. Some I couldn’t bear to watch because they looked like a head injury waiting to happen.
The kids probably enjoyed the Weano and Hancock Gorges the most because there were some truly challenging bits that only the big kids could do. Tim lead the way down the waterfalls and ropes into the Handrail Pool in the Weano Gorge and then down the “spiderwalk” in the Hancock Gorge.
(Sammy here) My favourite gorge was the one with the spiderwalk where there was water rushing underneath you and there were two cliff faces on either side of you. You had to put your hands and feet on the wall and climb across the rock to the other side of the spider walk. There was a freezing cold pool at the end where there were really big rocks that we all jumped off.
On Tuesday we had a break from the gorges with visit to Tom Price to make phone calls, restock supplies and visit Rio Tinto’s iron ore mine. The mine is the reason why the town of Tom Price exists and is Australia’s largest high grade iron ore mine.
Heading out of Karijini on our way to Port Headland we drove through a valley of red Pilbara mountains (Mesa’s Kate tells me) which was a fitting farewell to a beautiful National Park.

Yes it's true! Sammy can do anything...even walk on water!

May 12–May 16 Cape Range National Park/ Ningaloo Reef

What can I say…you just can’t beat a swim with a 7 metre whale shark to give you that sense of natural wonder. Not only did we swim with whale sharks but we snorkelled on the Ningaloo reef which was just a short swim from the pristine white beaches of the Cape Range National Park where we had set up camp for 4 days.
Each day we spent snorkelling, sand castle building (Sophie and Sammy are now experts at drip castle building), playing games in the nearby sandunes and swimming. I am constantly amazed at how well the children find things to do, play and build with whatever they find around the campsite. Nick, Tom and Fred spend ages building a teepee with driftwood that they had gathered from the beach and sandunes.
Fred, Lara and Emily enjoyed playing camp chefs making pikelets for afternoon tea.
We have loved the Ningaloo with water so full of wild life and coral that with every snorkel there is something new to see. We are sorry to leave the beaches but are looking forward to heading inland to see the gorges of Karijini.

Monday 11 May - We are there!

After having closely perused the map of Australia, we have realised that our arrival in Exmouth means that we are there (as per the title of our blog)! We are as far as we can get from Sydney. I guess from here on in we will be heading back.

Today we booked in to go snorkelling with the whale sharks. Should be a great experience! Over the next few days we will spend our time bush camping at Cape Range National Park which runs along the Ningaloo reef. A short snorkel from the beach.

We will be out of range of phones and internet again for the rest of the week so you won't hear from us again for a few days.

Happy Birthday Jen for tomorrow!

Quobbagate - The truth about the Silver Bream

The wonders of photoshop. After all the ribbing from Punto about my lack of fishing prowess, I had to email him a slightly enhanced version of my silver bream. The truth is out!!

Thursday 7 May to Monday 11 May - Quobba

Everyone enjoying the spray from the Quobba blowholes

We got off to an early start for the drive to Quobba, plus we had all had our fill of dolphins so didn’t bother with the morning feedings. On the road to Carnarvon, we stopped at Shell Beach, which is a beach made from…shells. Seen enough after 2 minutes. Next stop was the Stromatolites (or Stromatoilets as we called them). The Slites are living rock, made from cynobacteria, a basic cell that existed 3.5 billion years ago. These ones weren’t quite that old (only 3.5 thousand years) but still quite interesting.
After a shop and lunch at Carnarvon (don’t know how you lived here Bec), we headed to Quobba. Turn left at the "King Waves Kill" sign. We were looking forward to Quobba based on Libby and David’s recommendations. However, we were somewhat overwhelmed by the number of flies that descended on us when we stepped out of the car. All the other campers had fly screen hats on, which wasn’t a good sign. We were tempted to get back into the car and head north, but as it was late we decided to set up camp for the night (plus it was free).
The next morning dawned and we were very glad that we stayed. We headed down to the beach for a spot of fishing. Punto had reckoned that I wouldn’t catch a thing, but within a minute of casting in I pulled in a good size Bream. That was all we caught, although somehow Tom S managed to catch a mullet with his hands! Mind you, it did look a bit sick swimming upside down in the bucket. We spent the afternoon lazing on the beach and snorkelling in the lagoon, then Nick, Tom S and I headed down for a late evening fish. The onshore breeze was so strong Nick’s line was landing 20m over his head in the campground, so we didn’t stay down for long. Sue cooked a roast lamb with baked vegetables on the camp oven that evening for dinner which was fantastic. Went very nicely with our cask of Shiraz (our standards are slipping).
Saturday started off with an early morning fish. Sammy caught a cod and black spotted goat fish. Needless to say there was no fish for breakfast. Apparently, due to the large schools of baitfish that have come in, the fishing isn’t nearly as good as it would normally be. Why eat meat stuck on the end of a sharp hook when you can gorge on swarms of baitfish?
Checked out the blow holes, which weren’t blowing, so went back to the lagoon for lunch and a lazy afternoon. Spent the afternoon snorkling. Nick and Tom saw a shovelnosed ray amongst many other wildlife. A cloud of baitfish came into shore and Tom dived in to chase them which was fun to watch and reminiscent of a scene in Finding Nemo where the clouds of baitfish change into shapes like a massive shark as they are being chased. More concerning was the shark that we saw in the shallows near where we had been snorkelling. Probably searching for the baitfish that Tom had just been chasing! The snorkelling is really fabulous here.
Tried out our camp shower for the first time (no-not our first shower!) which was a success. We also spent some time re-organising the car. The things you do when you have time on your hands.

(Sue here)Since we’ve been enjoying Quobba so much we have decided to stay another day (so glad we weren’t put off by the flys on the first day!). Tim has mixed emotions about staying because he thought there would be less pressure on him for Mother’s Day if we were on the road. Instead I got to hang out in bed reading a book with the kids and then breakfast in bed. Lying around on a roll mat having breakfast is not quite as luxurious as being in our queen size bed however not bad way to start the day. Spent the morning swimming and snorkling at the beach before heading back to camp for a Mother’s Day lunch of sausages and a beer.
Went to the blowholes nearby as they were going off. Great fun and the kids had enjoyed getting absolutely soaked in the spray of the water shooting out of the rocks.
On the way back to camp, the kids, Sam and Tim stopped to collect oysters from the rocks at the end of the beach. Kate is going to make oysters mornay for an evening snack!
Happy Mother’s Day to Granny and Grandma!

Tuesday 5 May and Wednesday 6 Monkey Mia

We ignored all Sam’s doom and gloom stories and were excited to arrive at Monkey Mia as we had heard wonderful things about it. It really is a lovely place. Great weather, crystal clear waters and dolphins gliding along the foreshore several times a day.
We all went down early for the dolphin feeding and were confronted with a mass of other tourists. The kids managed to push through to the front and enjoyed the dolphins less than one metre away. Well, I though they enjoyed it but when I said we were heading down to the next feeding half an hour later, Nick said “Why do we have to watch a bunch of dolphins eating fish”. They would rather have been in the pool and reluctantly joined Sue and I for the next feeding. Lara and Nick got selected to hand feed the dolphins, and even Nick had a smile on his face afterwards. Saw a heck more pelicans on the bech after the dolphin feeding than we had at Kalbarri. I guess they hadn't all headed to Lake Eyre
Mid morning, after some hard bargaining by Sam and me, we went for a Catamaran cruise around the bay. Kids had a ball riding in the boom net at the back of the boat. Pulled up at an oyster farm to learn a little about pearling, then cruised the bay looking at Dugongs (sadly all the photos Sue took of them looked like large floating turds!), Sea Turtles and a few dolphins.
Kids spent the remainder of the afternoon in the pool and spa. I don’t know about you, but a spa full of 7 small children doesn’t seem like the place I would want to spend anytime. Not surprisingly, they had the spa to themselves.
We had a late afternoon walk along the beach and saw more dolphins, turtles and a beautiful sunset. Not a bad life.

Sunday 3 and Monday 4 May Kalbarri

We enjoyed a few days staying at the “Anchorage Resort” caravan park at Kalbarri. “Anchorage” was a fair description of the caravan park as it was located over the road from the river with lovely views. “Resort” was a bit of a stretch, although it did have a nice pool we enjoyed cooling off in during the heat of the day.
The first day was spent relaxing around the camp site and swimming in the pool. I took the kids for a late afternoon fish. Punto (kid’s nickname for David) had warned us that there were no fish in Kalbarri, and I would agree (good excuse for not catching anything). I put all the teachings from Punto into use, and managed to lose only one line. I knew I should have done 7 turns, not 6 as Punto recommended.

During the evening of our second night the Serisier’s (Sam, Kate, Sophie, Tom, Emily and Fred)finally caught up with us. It was like watching a road train arrive - lights, roar of the engine, huge car/ caravan. Nick will be much relieved as he has been asking us hourly as to when they will catch up with us.

In the morning I took all the girls down to the pelican feeding in the morning which had been heavily promoted by the tourist office. There were over 100 people milling around expectantly for the frenzy. Unfortunately, all but one pelican had headed to Lake Eyre, so to call it a disappointment was an understatement. The one remaining pelican had to fight with a mass of seagulls and didn’t manage to catch many fish (might have been because of the chain around it’s leg). The hostess tried to entertain the crowd with ghoulish stories of local drownings and limbs washing ashore. The kids were put to good use as Sammy threw some fish, and Sophie was sent into the crowd to collect money for the hostess’s retirement fund pelican food.
We all headed out to the gorges around lunchtime to check them out. By this time the day had become extremely hot so we didn’t linger out there too long but we enjoyed the trip anyway. In the parking lot at the gorge, Sam somehow managed to whip up a refreshing banana smoothie for everyone out of the back of their car. I can see a new standard of camp catering is being set.

Saturday 2 May Geraldton and Kalbarri

Stopped for Morning tea at Greenough to celebrate Angel’s 2nd birthday (things we find to amuse ourselves on long car rides!). Nearby we stopped to take photographs of some of the horizontal gum trees, a testament to the strength of the winds in the area.

At Geraldton we went to the WA museum which was well worth a visit. We loved the story of the wreck of the Batavia and the blood thirsty goings on that happened thereafter. Kids were fascinated by the bad guy getting his hands cutoff and then having to be executed by hanging. There was also an excellent exhibit detailing the story of the HMAS Sydney that went down off the coast with 645 sailors and no survivors. We had lunch at the HMAS Sydney Memorial overlooking Geraldton.

Arrived in Kalbarri in the early evening. The feeling of warmth was noticeable and a nice change from the cold evenings we had been having since Sydney. Hot weather…look out here we come!

Friday 1 May Sandy Cape (North of Jurien Bay)

We spent the morning hanging out at Jo and Marks, and restocking all the provisions for the next week. Abby was doing very well saying all our names, and the kids enjoyed playing with their new cousin.
We headed off around lunchtime with plans to visit the Pinnacles in the late afternoon. However we were sidetracked for a few hours at the Gravity Discovery Centre at GinGin. The Gravity Centre is an interesting place to do some fun experiments about gravity. The highlight was climbing the leaning tower of GinGin and dropping water balloons. The Leaning Tower is about 45 meters high and leans with an angle of 15 degrees to replicate the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. Apparantly Galileo tested the effects of gravity on different objects by dropping them from the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa.
A climb up 220 steps takes you to an extended platform which allows water balloons to be dropped into an enclosed drop zone. The tower provides wonderful views of the Western Australian sand plains. Had the added benefit of making us feel we had done something beneficial for the kids education.

Time was getting away as we realised we would be pressed to reach the Pinnacles before dark. We made it with about 15 minutes of daylight left, and drove around the Pinnacles circuit in record time, overtaking a few stray vans.

A quick photo op with Tim and the kids star jumping at the Pinnacles while Lara pretended she was a Pinnacle

Then we raced off into the sunset, with one eye on the lookout for kangaroos and the other looking for directions to Sandy Cape camp ground (good recommendation by Bec). We set up a makeshift camp by Wally’s headlights and after a hasty meal we all crashed out early.

Thursday 30 April Perth

Left Yallingup for Perth. On the way we spoke to the Serisier’s and as they were still in Bunbury we stopped into the campsite for a quick hello. The kids were all excited to see each other, and it was great to discuss plans travelling north together (although as I write this 3 days later still no sign of the Serisiers – may have to wait until they return to Sydney next year before we catch up!).
After a feed of fish and chips at Fremantle, we arrived in Perth late afternoon to a warm welcome from Mark and Abby, and an even warmer welcome from Willoughby and Henry (Golden Retrievers). Jo arrived home soon after and we had a relaxing evening catching up over pizza.