Kalbarri to Coral Bay

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Last time we chatted we were leaving Kalbarri if I recall. Thanks for the comments guys. The comment headed ‘Talks under water’ was from my EX-stepson Michael Stubbs. I did in fact have a cuppa tea and a good lie down after that last effort and hopefully all future blogs will be a bit shorter. Also in answer to Annie Gibson’s comment about my hair and the lack of product maybe I should have borrowed some from those Gibson toy boys when we were in the Barosssa? I did have a haircut the day after that photo was taken so I do look a little more stylish at the moment. Keep those comments coming. It is nice to know that someone is reading my ramblings and it is not all a waste of time.
As I said we left Kalbarri on Tues 16th and headed north to Denham through fairly ordinary arid country. Saw a lovely big red kangaroo along the way, our first for this trip. Denham is a small seaside town that was 30’C as we arrived and booked into the Seaside Tourist Park. They gave us a beaut spot on top of the hill overlooking the bay. The park has no grass but uses crushed shells as a base. Very white and glarey but a lovely change from the dust of Kalbarri. Next day was a rest day - we are on holidays you know, and caught up with a number of other travelers that we had met along the way. Tracey, Wayne and Bailey (3?) are opposite and Chris, Brett and 2 boys Alex and Harry further along. The kids are gorgeous and play really well together which is great for the parents who are all young(er than us) and just taking time out to see this wonderful country. John was pretty keen to see the Mundine / Green fight so had to head out late to the pub to see a replay as noone had Fox in town. Thursday headed off to Monkey Mia for the day to see the dolphins. They feed in the mornings and of course it is all very strictly monitored. Only feed the mothers and very specific amounts. The dolphins are all named and recognised by their fins, most having scars of some sort. It is quite a treat to see them so close and of course you can’t touch them or feed them anything other than what the rangers give you. Spent the afternoon on a catamaran cruising Shark Bay looking for Dugongs, dolphins etc. Missed out on the dugongs but did have dolphins surfing along with the boat. What a treat! Brett and Christine spent a night at the Caravan Park at Monkey Mia and said it was a superb place to stay. It is in the National Park and only has the ranger station, dolphin interpretive centre, one resort and the CP, so it is quiet and secluded. Great sunsets and of course you get up in the morning to be greeted by the dolphins. It doesn’t get much better than that. We loved Denham but wanted to get to Carnarvon for the Saturday morning growers’ market and had the car booked in for a service on the Monday so headed off early on Friday morning. Stopped in at Shell Beach for coffee. Miles and miles of beach all made up of crushed shells. Really needed the ‘sunnies’, the glare was unbelievable. The water was superb but didn’t have time to change for a swim and there were too many people around for skinny-dipping. Continued on to Carnarvon - boring, arid country along the way so were glad to arrive early afternoon at the Wintersun Caravan Park. Set up and John headed into town to find a pub with foxtel so he could catch the Super 14 semi between the Waratahs and the Hurricanes. No such luck, we are in real Aussie Rules territory here. He arrived back about 2 hours later disappointed and not impressed by Carnarvon. The pubs were not at all salubrious and he hesitated before going into a couple of them. We got up early next morning for the growers markets and again were very disappointed. It was almost a waste of time. We ended up in Woolies finishing our shopping. Spent the rest of the day looking at the historic precinct and that was it. Very boring and uninteresting and we still had 2 more nights before we could leave. We wished we had stayed and extra couple of nights in Denham. The CP was interesting though. It was huge and was only about quarter full. They have a bowling green which is apparently a huge attraction because we were told that by the end of the month the park would be full with retirees from Perth who spend 3 months or so of the winter there. We couldn’t see the attraction at all. The park was OK but there were lots of insects and nothing to do outside of the park at all. There are so many other truly beautiful places between there and Perth - I guess we just didn’t get it. Bruno and Irene arrived on Sunday so we at least had company for sunset drinks and the car was dutifully serviced on Monday. Quite happily left Carnarvon on Tuesday morning setting a new record for us and getting away by 8.40 am and headed north to Coral Bay.
What an absolute gem this place is. We drove through really uninspiring country to get here but when you drive over the last hill and see the blue water of the bay the waves breaking on the reef and the beautiful white sand, you realise that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince!! There are two caravan parks, one resort/pub, one backpacker hostel and a small shopping centre where all the tour companies are based. There is no fresh water, just bore water that comes out of the ground hot and salty and is desalinated for drinking needs. We scored a beautiful grassed site big enough for 2 vans and decided to stay forever! Well almost! Spent the afternoon wandering along the beach and booking tours for the next couple of days. First up on Wednesday morning is a 4 hour quad bike/snorkelling adventure. I loved it!! Gotta get a quad bike. We went up and down sand dunes and twisting tracks and got to Oyster Bridge for a snorkel. Plenty of coral and multi coloured fish and water lovely and warm even if it is a bit overcast. More biking and deep into the sand dunes before our next snorkelling spot at The Lagoon. Just beautiful, and good practice for John, who is finally getting the hang of breathing through his mouth. He’s drunk quite a bit of seawater in the learning phase let me tell you. We then had a great drive back to town along beaches and sand dunes. A really exhilarating morning.
Decided to book the next day for a whole day cruise to swim with the whale sharks. This was just a special day. Onto the boat with 18 others all fitted out with wet suits and snorkelling gear. We head out for a quick snorkel to make sure everyone is comfortable with their gear and can actually swim. That accomplished and there are quite a few rules to go through back on the boat. Only 10 people at a time up close to the whale sharks and no closer than 4 metres. Maximum time for each boat to spend on any one day with any animal is 90 minutes. Each group has a professional swimmer with them giving instructions and guidance. They use a spotter plane to find the animal and then the boat hotfoots it to the area. In goes the swimmer to locate the shark and up goes the arm for the first 10 to slide in and swim over. It was so exciting. The one we swam with was only young, about 4 metres long and quite inquisitive. As I slid in to the water, I adjusted my goggles and there he was coming at me. I just said G’day and let him glide by. We bought a waterproof camera and I did manage some photos but it will be a while till we get them developed and find out if any came out. As we were swimming around I looked down and there was a real shark of the hungry variety just below us. I mentioned this to our swimmer Kurt, he checked and suggested we all high tail it back to the boat. As we were all in the water at the time I didn’t panic (John was very proud of me) because I figured I had a one in 22 chance of being attacked and I was motoring so fast that he would have to have been a VERY fast shark to catch me. Every girl for herself I say! The second sighting of our whale shark allowed us another swim and he led us all a bit of a merry chase. Nearly ran out of puff trying to keep up but did manage a good look before he took off with the rest of the group frantically swimming after him before he dived into deep water. Back on the boat for lunch and then another snorkel on the reef. This time no whale sharks as we had used up our time for the day but a great swim with lovely colourful fish everywhere. Took more photos but you will have to wait and see. As I said earlier, a really special day and we arrived back exhausted and ready for a beer and a long sleep.

Friday we spent on a 4 wheel drive tour taking us to the Southern end of the Ningaloo reef. Warroora Station takes in this fabulous stretch of coastline which is made up of sanctuary zones for pelicans, turtles etc and of course so many birds. The beach made famous by Elle MacPherson in her ads for WA is here and what a beach it is. We had lunch and a swim at another pure white beach and watched turtles, parrot fish, sting rays and reef sharks from the shore. There were a lot of camp sites here, no power or water but an absolute paradise for the fisher folk who we are told spend anything up to 3 months at a time here. Drove back to Coral Bay on the 4 wheel drive tracks getting lots of tips from Graham our driver as well as sightings of all sorts of birds as well as another beautiful red kangaroo. Another great day out and to top it off it was happy hour at the pub. Spent a couple of happy hours with two other couples from the CP and then went off for dinner and hoed into spare ribs and red wine. We had take away the night before, chilli calamari and seafood spagetti and can’t tell you how delicious it all was. All in all our stay at Coral Bay has been exceptional. Had a down day today doing washing etc and catching up with the kids by phone. Had planned a long walk and swim before we leave tomorrow but the weather has turned and we are sheltering from a few drops of rain as I write this. I don't suppose any of you will be surprised to hear John is over at the backpackers because they have the Super 14 Final on Fox. Did I mention the 5 star backpacker hostel? There is a swimming pool in the courtyard right next to the games room with billiard table and big screen TV with the aforementioned Fox. No slumming it for these backpackers let me tell you!! Leaving early tomorrow for Tom Price and will free camp tomorrow night as it is over 600 km away with nothing much in between. Will report in again next week.

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Photos

Monkey Mia
Bailey and Tracey feeding a dolphin.

Monkey Mia
You would swear this dolphin was checking you out.

Pelicans at Monkey Mia
The pelicans are kept busy whilst the dolphins are being fed. I didn't realise pelicans had such definite markings.

Shell Beach
Morning coffee stop on the way to Coral Bay. You really need your sunnies here.

Quad biking out of Coral Bay
I really did ride my own bike and just loved it.

Ningaloo Reef Coastline
I know, I know, we are looking more like tourists every day. Hows the coastline though!

4 Wheel Drive tour
We were in the front red vehicle. You can't take so much as a shell from these beaches unless you want to pay a huge fine.

Comments

[The Morgans]

What a coincidence
We have just finished a lovely holiday. The place we went also had miles of white sandy beaches, great fishing, a golf couse, and terrific facilities, wonderful accommodation. A little seaside town called Gerroa. Ever heard of it? Unfortunately spent less time away than we did reading the blogs!

[Jan and Gene]

Fun
Having fun with you, what is a dugong? A quad bike is a 4 wheeler, and you go bar hopping. Sounds beautiful, were there really the man-eating sharks? Love the stories, got next chemo pump today, not fun. Had a tornado 2 nights ago, daughter coming Saturday. Much luv, Jan

[Michael Stubbs]

Nice Blog Jo!!!
After my last comment, I feel I should make amends (if only for the sake of the inheritance!), so here goes: Good job on the blog Jo. I've made a mental note to get to Coral Bay at some point. Lots and lots of Love. Michael