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Published: July 23rd 2014
It's been a long time since our last travel blog entry but unfortunately real life and work have interfered with our adventures .....
In July 2014 and almost 12 months to the day since arriving to start our new life in Perth we decided to take a two week break. It was the middle of winter so we needed to head North to the sun. The basic plan was to fly to Exmouth, hire a campervan and spend time in the Cape Range National Park
On Monday 7th July we left a cold, wet and windy Perth and took a 2 hour flight North to Exmouth, Western Australia.
It is amazing that it is possible to fly for that period of time, travel over 1200km and yet we are still in the same state! The same journey from Heathrow would take you to The Spanish Islands or Germany yet we made it to a provincial town!
We arrived mid afternoon and the weather was sunny, a pleasant 25 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, totally different to Perth.
Exmouth is a small, remote town situated on the North West coast of Australia on a
small, thin peninsular with the Exmouth gulf sea to the East and the Indian Ocean to the west. It is a world heritage zone and home to the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park.
We took the shuttle bus into town and collected a campervan from a hire company..... All ready for the next leg of our 'Adventure before Dementia' tour!
It was the school half term holidays so we'd had to pre- book camping pitches and after a brief stop in town to buy provisions (ice, beer, wine and something to throw on the BBQ - real Aussies now!) we set off the short distance to Ningaloo lighthouse caravan park.
The camp site is right opposite the beach with a large hill in the middle of it overlooking the whole area. It struck us that evening that we’d spent more buying alcohol for the week than food.
The Aussie camp site during school holidays is a sight to behold in itself ...... large family groups with so much kit - bikes, boats, canoes, surfboards etc - all crammed into their large ‘utes’ and camping trailers .... and they all have numerous kids with mullet hairstyles wearing obligatory board
shorts and singlet vests ...... and nobody wears shoes .... EVER! It's a bit like people from Bedworth never wear a coat, no matter how cold it is …… over here, no matter how rough the surface is nobody wears shoes, even in shops.
(Incidentally flip flops are called thongs and it always makes me laugh to read a sign outside a bar saying 'no thongs'!
We tended to avoid these bogans and instead sought out the company of the grey nomads - older, retired Aussies travelling around the country for periods of 12 months or more. They put up signs outside their caravans with their names on them and are lovely people. Their kit was totally different from the bogans ..vans equipped with washing machines, comfy sofa's etc.
The scenery and view from the lighthouse is spectacular and the view took in both the gulf and the Indian Ocean. It is a popular spot to watch the sun set and spot whales with a glass of wine.
The first couple of days we explored the local deserted but beautiful beaches and the small town. I'd brought a small fishing kit with me, it had
cost $30 from a supermarket and after seeking some tips from locals I set off to have a crack at fishing from the shore. The bloke next to me caught a small shark - about 1 metre long - on a beach where we also swimming! Then the pinnacle of my fishing experience happened .... A big spangled emperor snapper, a local delicacy.
This thing was 3 times the size of anything I'd ever caught before and given the poor kit I was using it was a miracle I managed to land it. A local bloke watching said he'd never seen such a big fish caught on such shit equipment!
They were not so impressed when they saw me have a photo taken with it and then return this beautiful fish to the sea! Everyone wanted it on the evening BBQ!
The area is famous for its marine life and most notably whale sharks - the largest creatures in the world. They grow to 12m long and swim on the surface with mouths wide open (which are 1m wide) swallowing plankton and small fish.
The males also have two penises which madam found impressive!
(My joke about how long
they go down for was edited out)
Annie had always wanted to watch whales. We'd had the opportunity in New Zealand but it didn't live up to her expectations...so she wanted to take a trip to see them again.
I wanted to do a game fishing charter so on Thursday we left for our separate trips.
Later that evening we met at the campsite - Annie had tears in her eyes as she recounted tales of swimming with whale sharks, watching humpbacks playing with their calves and killer Orca whales circling the area .... She was so emotional.
And I had tears in my eyes after wasting $280 on a days game fishing without catching anything of note!
The tale of her day was amazing ...... She is not a confident swimmer but I was impressed to hear that she had actually jumped into the middle of the ocean .... with no regard for her hair or make up .... and had swam alongside these amazing creatures! Look at the pics - she is wearing a red swim suit next to the whale shark. She had had a magical day fulfilling her dreams.
The beaches
are amazing. We used the lighthouse camp site as a base to explore most of them and found turquoise bay to be the best for snorkelling. You enter the clear, pristine water at the southern end of the beach and the current takes you over the reef which is like an aquarium with turtles, exotic fish and game fish.
Every evening we headed up the hill for 'sundowners' - an Aussie tradition of having a beer and watching the sunset.
The view is incredible and we watched the sky turn amazing colours whilst whales splashed about in the ocean below. One memorable evening we watched the amazing sunset to the West and at the same time a bright, full moon rose in the East. Simply awesome!!
On day 6 we moved further down the coast to Yardie homestead caravan park. Much of a muchness - bogan kids enjoying the great Australian outback.
This site operated on electrical generators so certain electrical items that had an element were banned. Disaster loomed as madam realised that the list included hair dryers! To quell her fears and obtain some therapeutic relief .... and without any exaggeration whatsoever ... she spent
2 hours the next day cleaning her hair brush. She used tweezers to meticulously remove each individual hair clogging up her brush. I doubt I spend 2 hours cleaning my car let alone a hairbrush!!!
Whilst here we spent sundowners at the local jetty watching the boats return from a days fishing. The highlight was a bloke who tried to bypass the queue for the boat ramp and drove his land cruiser type 4x4 onto the sand and mud flats to collect his boat and trailer. He hooked it up and immediately sunk into the mud! This was the Best entertainment in WA as the tide looked like coming in! The boat skippers still queuing for the ramp loved it ..... Not much sympathy was offered..... 'Worse things happen at sea' shouted one!
The source of this mirth was a tough looking dude - shaven head with white marks on the side of his head where his 'sunnies' normally sat and obviously no footwear but I managed to take a few pics of his predicament without him noticing.
In addition to the beaches we discovered some pleasant walks along creeks and gorges at Mandu Mandu and Yardie Creek
where we walked along the canyon above the creek, so quiet and peaceful and really beautiful.
We headed further South to a National Park camp site called Tulki and this was to take comfort levels to a new low......... No electricity, no running water and just a single, long drop toilet which they call a 'Dunnie' ...we had a solar shower (which is basically a sack of water heated by the sun)
Madam managed remarkably well .. We were right on the beach with a nice group of people to share the Dunnie with.
We spent two nights at Tulki and then headed back to Exmouth, dropped off the campervan and got the shuttle bus to the airport and the flight back to Perth.
Back to reality & work to top up the bank account until we can do it again.
This is an amazing area - the marine life, sunsets, whales, lovely walks..... and the trip was a gentle reminder of our desire to complete our travels around Australia.
We collected tips and ideas from experienced grey nomads. One day we WILL do it again .... join the grey nomads & continue our "Adventure before
Dementia" tour.
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Juliaaaaa
non-member comment
Wow
Glad you had a fab time, looks like it was tremendous but I'm sure not as good as benidorm xxx love you lst xx