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Published: July 28th 2011
Our catch!
Kissie KissieHey guys, it is starting to get a little colder as we travel south. We left Exmouth for Waroora Station, via Coral Bay. As we left, the weather went sour, showers and over cast. Not the best reef snorkelling weather, however that was not to deter us.
Coral Bay was a bute little town, caravan park small little shops (including a Bakery!!!) It was busy with WA school holidays that had just started, but was not over run. After getting lunch from the Bakery, they have the best pies and lamingtons, we headed for the beach. They hire out glass bottom boats, canoes and boogie boards with glass windows. We had bought some snorkelling gear so we head 2 at a time out on the reef. It was very different coral. The coral was flower shaped and was not very colourful probably due to the lack of bright blue sky!!! The fish life was excellent. Giant Pink Snapper’s cruising up and down the water’s edge in knee deep water looking for the bait fish. They were close enough to touch, even allowing us to touch them as we swam under water, amazing. There were many varieties of fish swimming in the
reef, although we didn’t venture out too far, due to the coldish water, we managed to get a good look at the bay. Next trip we will have to go via Turquoise Bay which is closer to Exmouth which is supposed to be beautiful.
On the road again … we entered Waroora Station and made our way down the corrugated roads. After 5 kms we stopped and let down the tyres, 25psi on the car (28 on the rear due towing) and Van as we entered the 4WD sections. There had been fresh rain so it was soft and boggy. We tried the northern beaches and the camp sites were all full. Most of these are 2WD access, however there were a few 4WD ones. After finding them all full we spoke to a couple who were staying on Stevens Beach (4WD access only) and they said there were spots available … great! We might even have the van up before dark. We had been in there looking for a spot for 2 hours and Jac and the kids were starting to worry!! Me too!! We eventually found a great little sheltered spot just behind the dunes and set up.
BBQ for dinner and we checked out the beach before dark. The beach was awesome. A break about 300m out with a reef lagoon and a long beautiful white Sandy beach to share with half a dozen campers.
In the morning we headed out early to try our luck at the incoming tide for a fish or two. We tried lures for half an hour but I eventually sent Jane back for the pilchards and what a hit. We instantly had bites. Within half an hour Jane landed 4 Dart fish and I managed one in between baiting up Jane and Matt.
Meanwhile back at camp Jac and Ben were sitting out Ben’s tummy issues; he couldn’t leave the toilet vicinity. This had to happen while we were free camping with the porta-loo!!! Crap! Mind you I would use the porta-loo again, they are very easy and comfortable to use, even at night. We just pegged down one of those portable tents and Bobs your uncle. I’m not sure how it was decided it was my job to empty it though???
With our catch proudly brought home, we filleted them up and had some brekky, bacon and eggs. You can’t
Whales
Two humpbacks frolicked around our Catamaran. do it too rough I say. The rest of the day was spent swimming, snorkelling and laying on the beach soaking in the warm 24deg day on our own piece of beach. There were a few people surfing further down and there were some good waves at high tide. Low tide was excellent for swimming, snorkelling or walking out on the reef. I could stay here for weeks … just would need a few extra supplies.
The stars at night were amazing. No lights anywhere … just the stars. There was a full moon later that night and it was amazing how bright the beach was. Tomorrow we are off to Monkey Mia , can’t wait. Matt wanted to know if there were any Monkeys there … ?
Troubles. Today the mighty Pajero gave us some trouble. We have been using water slowly over our trip, however the water consumption was getting worse. After towing the camper through the dunes with high revs, the car began to over heat. Hope there is nothing wrong, can see any leaks.
We spent quite some time refilling the car today with water every 150kms or so. Very frustrating. We eventually made it in
the dark. Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort is as close to the Dolphins as you are going to get. Our Site was right on the beach closest to the dolphins! We were in luck. It had been raining most of the day and it rained like cats and dogs while we set up. Poor old Jac was satched, she forgot to grab her jacket. As we finished setting up the rain magically stopped and the skys cleared. I think we were in for a good day tomorrow.
First thing in the morning we went down to the Dolphin feeding. They are only allowed to feed
(Jane) When we arrived it was pouring down with rain! Dad setup in the dark and rain all by himself. The rain was so hard the guy next door to us dug a trench around his caravan.
(Jane) The next day we went on a sailing cruise and saw some whales, dolphins and went on a floating pearl farm. We bought some pearl and we watch then being harvested. We went of the boom net at the back of the boat and it was freezing!
Yes it was freezing. No way was Dad going in there!
The cruise was on the Aristocat2. A catamaran, that was the only one with permission to enter the Protected Marine Zone. We saw a couple of humpbacks only 300m off the beach and a huge pod of dolphins that swam along in front of the cat. The kids had a great view looking down at the bow through the nets. The cruise was about $150 for all of us and totally worth it. Shark Bay and Denham Sound are protected waterways, even the fishing is restricted to 1 Snapper. That night we cooked up our Dart fish from Waroora and bought some chips from the Resort and sat at the beach eating out fish and chips. Next stop is Kalbarri tomorrow. Not sure where we are going to stay yet.
As we were heading for Kalbarri and the car getting worse stopping every 100kms) we made the quick decision to head for Geraldton and get her sorted out. With some quick googling and phone calls, we managed to get in at the Sunset Beach Caravan Park, 7kms nth of town. Great little spot right on the beach out of town. We headed straight for the mechanics. He had a quick
Monkey Mia Resort and Dolphin Feeding
We were right on the beach nexxt to the buildings! look at her and told us to come back in the morning.
Next morning I headed off to town early and Jac and the kids caught the bus to town later. Wayne Poletti Mechanical Repairs was the place we had been recommended to go and he was great. He let me do all the work and gave me some tips along the way. We tested radiator and cooling system and eventually the compression (looking for a dud head gasket) but nothing came up. So out came the radiator and I drove Wayne’s ute up to the radiator shop to get it checked for flow. It was decided it was bad so we ordered a newie from Perth overnight. Great, 2 more nights here. Geraldton is a nice little town, had pretty much everything you need. People are friendly. It’s right on the water, there is the HMAS Sydney memorial which is pretty moving. Apart from fishing and shopping, there isn’t much to do. I did notice an outbreak of girls wearing tights around Geraldton, which I can say was easy on the eyes. Shorts and tights, skirts and tights, just tights and also just stockings …. interesting??? I figured if
we stayed any longer we have to all get ourselves some tights! Ha!
So after replacing fan belts, thermostat and radiator and believing we were good, we headed off to Perth, 420 kms. Cross fingers on the Pajero.
Perth is a lovely city. However as we came into Perth the heavens opened up again. Perth was having some serious rain! We were blessed this time, it cleared as we began to setup. Hopefully blue skys tomorrow. After setting up we headed out to Hillaries Boat Harbour, north of Perth. After buying out most of the Surf shop that was in the shops at the harbour, our destination was Little Caesar’s Pizzeria. They make great gourmet pizzas, definitely worth sampling when you are in Perth. Matt “doesn’t like pizzas” so he had some curry from the curry shop. The boat harbour has a great beach that is safe for the kids along with a nice playground. I’m sure it would be nice in Summer. Over dinner we hatched a plan to catch the train into the city and do some shopping (the girls had missed the shops!) and a bit of site seeing.
The Family pass for all 5 of us was $9.50 and that included all the buses, train and ferries over the Swan river. After a quick brekkie, we were at the bus stop by 8.40 to catch our connecting train. Turned out to be fantastic weather today, 21deg. We stopped for a coffee/hot chocolate then hit the Surf shops. We found sooo many bargains. Ben finally found his last birthday present (that we had been looking for in every town since Adelaide) a “Unit” flat cap! He does look handsome in it. We wandered the city malls for many hours, eating some lunch and we headed down the Swan river which is very close to the city. We jumped on the ferry and headed across the river. The kids were glad to sit down and it gave us a great view of the city. We stayed on the ferry as the kids were not keen on walking any more, but we still had to make it back to the train station! After a long day we stumbled home to make dinner. Burgers again! I don’t think we will be making burgers very often when we get home.
Tomorrow Secret Harbour (sth of Rockingham)
RJJMB xoxo
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wally
non-member comment
Hope the car goes ok now!!
Great to hear the next installment of the RJJMB adventure! Enjoy your time in Perth! Hoep it starts to dry out soon!