Exmouth and Beyond
Exmouth to Geraldton - 2000km
We arrived in Exmouth on Friday 18th June at the RAC caravan park originally for two nights. We haven't been booking anything ahead as we're not sure where we are going from one day to the next, so the risk is we won't get a spot at a caravan park, but we are not fussed. We checked the next morning if there had been any cancellations, lucky us, we now have another two nights here.
Saturday we went out on a tour in a glass bottomed boat and went snorkelling at Ningaloo Reef, which was declared a world heritage area 10 years ago. There is copious information on the WWW so I won’t go into detail here, but needless to say, it is a beautiful area, constantly under threat from a change climate and man.
We love the Exmouth ‘village’ feel, but the signs are here of future development. Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest has purchased a large area to develop an eco resort parallel to the Ningaloo Reef, and no doubt this will bring mixed blessings. He also owns/leases vast swathes of pastoral land to the east. There is also a large marina complex which the locals tell me was developed about 10 years ago, but is now really taking off, with new homes being built at an alarming rate. It has a lovely restaurant at which we enjoyed a lovely dinner - an excuse to pop some lippy on.
Visitor in the caravan park |
This area had much to offer apart from the Reef. Originally the town was created by the Americans - they built a joint US/AU base in 1942, establishing Operation Potshot, a strategic airfield and submarine base. Exmouth was bombed by the Japanese in 1943. A communications base also filled a 'gap' in the US world surveillance network during the 'Cold War ' in 1963. The base was claimed as American soil, drove on the left hand side of the road and you had to exchange your Aussie dollars to US dollars in the Mess.
In 1967 the Harold E Holt Communications Station was opened with 13 transmitter towers in excess of 300 metres each, Tower Zero is 389 metres tall. The Americans left in 1992 and since then this little village has cruised along and now is on the cusp of development. The Australian Airforce Base Learmonth is located here with the airstrip doubling as a domestic airport, another sign of 'opportunity'. So, a major line of defence/communications within Australia.
(L-R) Eiffel Tower, Empire State, Sydney Tower, Tower Zero |
If snorkelling and diving are your go, this is the place for you. Whale sharks, whales, beautiful coral reef fish, lovely beaches, and a great climate (aside from the occasional cyclone!)
Our last day in Exmouth was an indoor day as the weather turned very windy, which is probably the worst weather condition you can have whilst caravanning - for me anyway, makes me very grumpy!
We left Exmouth and headed the short distance (160km) to Coral Bay. We hadn't booked anything and new it would be very busy, but luck was on our side and we snagged a camp spot for the night at the caravan park. Went for a long walk along the beach and Noel did quality control on the pub's beer. There is a great pub restaurant, Bill's, which we dined at also. Bit of a treat to have meals out as they often blow the budget (What budget, you ask?). Would definitely come back here for a longer stay, but that will have to be another trip.
Coral Bay - beautiful! |
Next stop - Carnarvon (Keep up!
Hope you have your map out?). We
booked four nights here - for those that have been here, you may be asking
why? Well, we certainly don’t need to
come back as we have done it all in that space of time. We have also left the warm weather behind. Perth is experiencing very unseasonal storms
and rain, and these cold fronts are extending northwards to Carnarvon and south
to Albany/Esperance. We are seriously
reviewing our timetable. Noel visited
the space tracking station, and I enjoyed a bit of quiet time with a book.
One needs personal space |
My man on the moon. |
On Friday 25th we drove north to the Quobba Blowholes, where unfortunately, I lost Harry (my drone) to a rugged cliff face. So cross at myself and Noel has said I need to get a job to pay for a new one, to which I pointed out that I already have a cleaning/cooking job!! The Blowholes were quite spectacular with the full force of the ocean and giant rogue waves evidenced by memorials to some who were standing a bit close to the edge. We experienced a full moon whilst in Carnarvon, so the combination of strong winds and the lunar phase made for spectacular seas.
Quobba Blowholes |
Carnarvan full moon |
We drove further along to the small memorial for HMAS Sydney II, which
was bombed by a Japanese submarine in 1941, with the loss of 645 men. More about this in the Geraldton section.
Mother and child |
There are various features of the town that have potential, but they don’t seem to be able to attract funding for projects compared to nearly every other town we have been too. Maybe the mining companies don’t have a vested interest here? I don’t know the answer…..they are trying to restore the old wooden jetty, which would be wonderful if you like walking through mangroves and sandflies. There is a lovely sculpture nearby recognising earlier dreadful treatment of the regional aboriginal people.
The sculpture is located at the termination of the "Path of Pain" and was the departure point for hundreds of aboriginal men and women, in chains, forced into 'medical' incarceration on the Dorre and Bernier Islands in Shark Bay between 1908 and 1919. Although mostly men, also women were taken, leaving children orphaned on the mainland. If you google Lock Hospitals, you will find more background. These acts are commonplace in WA history (and elsewhere) and appear to be trademark behaviour of early European/British authorities as they colonise all corners of the globe. I was listening to a Canadian woman on The Drum last week and she said there was similar treatment of the native Canadian Indians.
Saturday 26th we drove out to Rocky Pool with a picnic and sat by the water for lunch. What a beautiful spot - peaceful, lots of flora and birds, lovely swimming hole. A local fellow told us that much of the surrounding land was owned by Twiggy Forrest - he follows the water courses - one day it will be more precious than his mines.
Rocky Pool |
Next day, Sunday, we really didn’t have a plan so just headed south for some 200km. We stopped at the Overlander Roadhouse at the turn off to Shark Bay/Monkey Mia national parks peninsular. We phoned a couple of caravan parks in Denham, but all were fully booked, although we managed a spot at Hamlin Pools. Rustic, but if you scratch deep enough there’s always something on offer. We were some 70km from Denham, so involved a bit of driving for our touring around, but all worth it. Would definitely stay in Denham next time which is a great village.
Drove to the top of Cape Peron, quite a trip with the tyres down to navigate the sand track, and we should have left earlier in the day as it was almost nightfall by the time we arrived back at the caravan.
Cape Peron |
Shell Beach surface |
Shell Beach was another new discovery. From a distance the beach looks like magnificent white sand, but in fact is made up of tiny cockle shells, compacted to a depth of 10m deep. On the western side of the peninsular the beaches are beautiful, and we enjoyed some lovely walks, Unfortunately, we were unable to visit Dirk Hartog Island - next time.
Shell Beach sunset |
Denham |
The town of Denham is lovely, again with a great village feel, harbour and beaches. Our first day we had a counter lunch at the pub overlooking the harbour and the sea was like glass - stunning.
It was the start of WA school holidays; we were able to get a small spot at a Kalbarri caravan park for a few days. What a great little find this was! Great fish, lovely bay, good pub, good information centre and friendly people - a family holiday destination.
Last year a new skywalk was opened which is a must visit, and undamaged by the cyclone, which hit Kalbarri causing significant damage. A spectacular structure lunging out over the Murchison Gorge.
Although the weather was a bit dodgy, we booked a tour of the Gorge - hiking and canoeing. This was truly the highlight of the trip so far for me! I would do this again and again…….so proud that us oldies managed the hike in and out of the gorge.
Canoeing along the river was beautiful - peaceful, spectacular cliff faces, birds - a special experience that I will remember always. Think I will let the photos do the talking.
The local sandstone, known as Tumblagoods Sandstone, is a beautiful feature of the Gorge, and the history of its formation equally interesting.
Kalbarri Skywalk - awesome! |
Looking the part |
River views |
The climb up and out |
On leaving Kalbarri, we needed a bit of quiet time again free camping so we headed a short distance down the road to an spot called Lucky Bay. We were careful with our water, so were able to camp for 5 days and enjoy this beautiful location. You pay a small fee to the Ranger, terrific picnic facilities, spotless long drop toilets, can use a generator and drive along the beach to some great spots to read or fish. Stephen, the young ranger, dropped off a fire dish for us and a bag of wood ($), which lasted our stay. The nights were quite cold, but we enjoyed sitting out by the fire early evenings.
In behind the dunes |
Thousands of crabs at Lucky Bay |
Lucky Bay sunset |
Perth experienced a snap covid lock down on June 29th, leading up to the school holidays so we are following this with interest.
Leaving Lucky Bay, we drove to Port Gregory to have a look at the 'pink lake', Hutt Lagoon, and then called into a convict ruin being restored just off the highway. As we wandered, a fellow asked us what the black thing was on the van roof (could have paid for the trip with this question) - it's the dust pressuriser. It turns out the couple, Brett and Lou Kay, are from Jamieson!! so we joined them for a coffee at Northampton, as we were both heading for Geraldton.
Convict barrack Port Gregory |
Hutt Lagoon |
Geraldton was a bit different. We arrived on Sunday July 11 and stayed in a motel for 4 nights, which I thought would be a change after 3 months on the road. The weather was miserable - drizzling rain and very windy - can't do this bloody wind. You will all be pleased to know that some weeks earlier, Noel gave up on fixing the TV (there is a god!) and he was down to the post office in Geraldton Monday morning like a shot to pick up the new one he had ordered. Happy, happy! Now it just took a few more days to sort out the cables.
The Information Centre was a bit of a disappointment, especially as we have experienced wonderful Centres with marvellous information and wonderfully helpful people. We were curious what mining was being conducted regionally.....magnatite, which explains why we questioned the BASF factory as we drove into town.
We have been hooked on the Peaky Blinders series, so finally watched them all on Netflix - VIOLENT......to say the least. Anyway, we did it.
We went to the Geraldton Art Gallery and thoroughly enjoyed a fantastic exhibition (free) of portrait works from all over Australia. It is known as the Lester Prize exhibition, and was of a very high standard.
My Peoples Pick at the Gallery |
We enjoyed some great cafes and restaurents and were extremely excited when we found the fish seller down at the wharf. I crammed the freezer full of crayfish, scallops, red emperor and octopus, and we have been treating ourselves for dinner now that we are back on the road.
Geraldton has a very large memorial to HMAS Sydney II, which we visited at night to enjoy the hilltop views and the poignancy of the memorial. There is also a magnificent St Francis Xavier catholic cathedral, works on which commenced in 1916 and took some 20 years to complete by the architect John Hawes, who has designed many significant WA buildings.
Cathedral |
HMAS Sydney Memorial |
Yummo |
If you are feeling a little worn out, you have good reason. It's now 2,000km since we left Broome.
From Geraldton, we decided we couldn't cope with the windy seaside conditions any longer, so decided to change our plans and head east.
Just before heading inland at Dongara, we stopped at Greenough (Gren-of) Historical Village, a national trust restored village that is on the old highway only 20-odd kilometres south of Geraldton. Also a nice spot for a Devonshire tea.
Old school at Greenough |
Guess the wind direction |
This region is known as the Mid-West. It is a huge wheat/cropping district and I find it quite similar to the Mallee sandbelt where I was born. Wheat, canola and lupins are the main crops on a very large scale. Our first night we camped next to an old bard out of Mingenew (Min-g-new). From late August it is also blessed with wildflowers, but we are just a little early for the extravaganza....we may come back next month.
Enanty Barn, Mingenew |
The next two nights we stayed at Carnamah. The caravan park was spotless and we pretty much had it to ourselves. The townspeople were so friendly and incredibly community minded. We came here as there is the Hal Walton Tractor Museum - all John Deere and Chamberlains - so Noel headed off to meet up with Lindsay. It is a privately owned collection, Noel said worth millions, all in perfect condition and working order, some 120 machines.
Tractor Museum |
Tractor Museum |
In the afternoon we met up with George and Pam at the Town Museum. They are 92 and 90 years of age respectively, and were the most gorgeous couple. I think George must be 'on something'! The museum is his passion and I have never seen such an amazing, interesting, perfectly documented collection before in a country town. We were certainly entertained, then he took us in his car (a new Mercedes S400 - he said he's never smoked or drank) to an old homestead that he was instrumental in restoring. George and Noel were soul mates from the first handshake.
Wheat, fantastic season according to George |
Macpherson Homestead |
Who remembers one of these? My mum always used one. |
Travelling south, inland, we have passed through hundreds of kilometres of wheat and canola. It struck me that the aboriginal flag so aptly represents the Pilbara region and its people and now this country represented by the Green & Gold (with kangaroo) is the time of European settlement. The one constant is the Southern Cross in our beautiful night sky.
Last night and tonight we are at Moora. I have had a washing catchup and a day to type up all our news for you, happy to be indoors as the weather is cold and wet. We are only 170km north east of Perth, and tomorrow will drive down to New Norcia and stay a night before our arrival in Perth, where we will stay for a week before we decide where to next.
Andrew, just to let you know your gift of a compass has been very useful when we park up the van, as we like to face north wherever we are. OOXX
Scallops in mirin & ginger |
Crayfish in butter and capers |
Cockles and pasta |
Just thought I would show you that I have managed to maintain a reasonable standard in the culinary field....LOL...I'm in heaven. Needless to say we have added a couple of extra kilos.
As I type Victoria and NSW continue to be in lockdown and our thoughts and concerns are with you all, but especially those who are vulnerable. Please keep safe, who knows when this will end.
We miss each of you, but we are not missing a Mansfield winter - I don't think that will ever be on our agenda again.
Love Nana & Poppy, Mum & Dad, Noel & Maz
OMG what an adventure certainly one you will never forget. Take care
ReplyDeleteGreat read Mazza,
ReplyDeleteGood to see your adventures going well
We are heading back to Perth early August for 2 weeks
Cheers Murray and Hazel