Happy to be leaving the red dirt behind we arrived at Exmouth. Exmouth was a nice coastal town and is home to Cape Range national park, which incorperates Ningaloo Marinel Park one of the best snorkelling spots in Australia.
The caravan park was nice as there was no dirt. Thank god for that. It took us the whole first day to wash everthing and remove any red dirt we could find. Then we were able to relax and enjoy the pool and restaurant. We visited Cape Range National Park the following day and went swimming at Turquoise Bay. Unfortunately we were a bit late in the season to be able to swim with the whale sharks, with it being one of the few places in the world where they come close to the shore
Exmouth
Turquoise Bay
While we were in Exmouth we were also lucky enough to see the staircase to the moon. This is where the moon rises over the rippled water creating what looks to be a staircase leading to the moon. This is apparently much nicer in Broome however We were still pretty impressed. It was a very windy night however and were not able to get any good photos.
Staircase to the moon
From Exmouth we moved south and decided to stop over in Coral Bay which we had been told by a few people not to bother doing. Lucky we did as we thought it was one of the most beautiful places we had seen. It was crystal clear water with snorkelling with all types of fish stingrays etc swimming straight past, and the coral reef being just there.
Coral Bay
Coral Bay
Carnarvon was a small place and we were only stopped here overnight to break up the drive. This town was hit very hard in December 2010 by floods and was still recovering. We took a ride on the smal l"coffee pot" train out on the jetty. Part of the jetty was closed as it needed some restoration and the ride was a bit of a worry but we made it back safely
Carnarvon Jetty Train
Train ride at Carnarvon Jetty
Driving along from Carnarvon on our way to Monkey Mia Ben decides to slam on his brakes. I thought what on earth is hapenning. He had just driven over a Thorny Devil crossing the road. This was pretty exciting to see so we turned the car around and all jumped out to see. Ben picked him up with his thong and moved him to the side of the road.
Thorny Devil on Bens Thong
Thorny Devil on Bens Thong
Next we arrived in Denham which is the town just before Monkey Mia and part of the world heritage listed Shark Bay area. We headed out first thing in the morning to Monkey Mia as the dolphins first arrive at about 7am. We watched the dolphins slowly arrive to the shore. They were just beautiful to watch. There were rangers feeding the dolphins however no one is allowed to touch them as they are trying to keep in their natural wild state.
Dolphin at Monkey Mia
Dolphin at Monkey Mia
Monkey Mia
Shell Beach was on our way out of Denham and is a beach made up of all Shells and no sand. From a distance it looks like sand but when you walk on it and have a look it is just a naturally formed shell beach.
Shell Beach
All of us at Shell Beach
Ben thinking about work - Shell Beach
Up the road we stopped to see the Stalidamites at Hamlim. These are colonies of microorganisms the oldest and simplest forms of life on earth - they just look like rocks to us in beautiful clear water. At about 3000 years old, these were quite young for these things remarkebly.
Stalidamites at Hamlin
Geraldton was our next stop for a few days rest which nice again, We visited the World War II Memorial in honour of the HMAS Sydney which was sunk off the west coast. Unfortunately we had some windy weather in Geraldton which apparently is not uncommon and so we left after just a few days to see the Pinnacles on our way to Perth. The Pinnalces are thousands of limestone pillars standing in a desert of sand. We had fun with the kids playing hide and seek and then Ben found the funniest Pinnacle.
Ben at the Pinnacles
Bens favourite Pinnacle
After a slight disagreement at a caravan park in Lancelin, we pushed on to a free camp about 90kms out of perth to sleep until we arrived in Perth the following day.
24 °C
20 °C
