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Exmouth
Bundegi Beach - getting set for a day on the beachExmouth
15
th May
One of the newest towns in Australia, Exmouth was founded in 1967 as a support town for the Harold E Holt US Naval communications station, and a joint venture with Australia, which is the main source of local employment (spying?). As we drove into Exmouth for the first time, it was evident that it was new and growing and attracting ‘money’. The magnificent Novotel Ningaloo Resort based next to the marina and the new estate being built on a canal system is the first thing that greets you, and it is pretty impressive.
With no wet season, the region has a dry climate with hot summers and mild winters, Exmouth has around 320 days of sunshine each year. We were here at the start of winter and experienced weather temps down to 33 !!!! It is situated in the cyclone region however, so all is not perfect here, and in fact was hit hard by Cyclone Vance in March 1999. The town is well provided with shopping and essential services.
We spent a lot of our time whilst here at Bundegi Beach, one of the nicest and closest beaches to the town, but we
Exmouth
Bundegi Beach also visited Mangrove Bay and Turquoise Bay. This town is another stepping off point for tourists to visit the Ningaloo Reef with many tour operators providing snorkelling experiences with Whale Sharks and reef tours. Exmouth also has the “Big Prawn” where Kailis Fisheries operate 16 trawlers during prawning season, March to November catching an average of 1,000,000 tonnes of prawns annually for the export market. We managed to purchase a kilo which did not make export but made a great garlic prawn dinner for the two of us that night.
On the road into, or out of, Exmouth you pass the Learmonth Airport and RAAF Base which has a connection with John Baulch and his family, (schoolfriend) being named after his Uncle Charles Learmonth. On 6 January 1944, a Beaufort bomber of 14 Squadron RAAF, piloted by 26 year old Wing Commander Charles Learmonth, DFC and bar, plunged into the sea 20 miles west of Sorrento during a training flight between Pearce and Rottnest in Western Australia. Learmonth was leading a formation of 3 Beauforts at the time of the tragic accident. Learmonth and the other three crew members were all killed. Learmonth was the Commanding Officer of 14
Exmouth
Bundegi Beach - I waded out to waist deep with my camera to show how clear the water was Squadron RAAF. Prior to the crash Wing Commander Learmonth asked the No. 2 aircraft in the flight of 3 Beauforts to come in close to his aircraft to inspect his tail plane as he was having some handling problems with his aircraft. The crew of the other Beaufort noticed that the rod to the elevators was hanging down. All other Beauforts were immediately grounded after this accident until the fault in the elevator coupling was rectified. As many as 93 Beauforts based at Sale in Victoria had crashed during training, killing many crew members. Until this accident involving Wing Commander Learmonth the cause of all of the crashes had been unknown.
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MattyV
Matty V
Ningaloo has been inundated with whale sharks!
Apparently there has been a record number of whale sharks descend upon the Ningaloo around Exmouth - http://tiny.cc/zu26ew via the ABC. I have been sitting here trying to figure out how long it would take the four of us to eat 1mill tonnes of prawns...now Penny does love prawns but that is still a LOT of prawns! I bet they tasted magnificent - they certainly looked delicious in the photos you sent me. Amazing connection to Joe! I still don't know where you are getting all of your trivia from, but it is very interesting to read!