First up - a massive thank you to John & Tigeann, Nicci Hartley, Harry Hopkins, Sarah Downs and Dad/Micheal Shirley for sending us more music!! We have been loving the different styles....
On our exit from the Shark Bay region ( Monkey Mia and Denham) we stopped to explore Shell Beach, a very unique and special beach, composed entirely of the shells of the Hamelin Cockle. This is a mollusc enclosed in tiny shell that survives well in the very salty waters of Shark Bay. Over the years, the shells have continuously been washed ashore to form this spectacular white beach which stretches for 60km up the coast. These shells are in such abundance, that in some places, they have been compacted and cemented together naturally, to form coquina rocks that were used to build some of the area’s oldest churches. It was a beautiful foot massage walking to the water’s edge!
We also called in to Hamelin Pool at the historic Telegraph Station, famous for its Stromatolites. These are layers of rock created by single celled microbes called cyanobacteria (blue green algae). They represent a major stage in the earth's evolutionary history, as they released increased amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere allowing for evolution of oxygen breathing life forms. They are one of the reasons that Shark Bay has been given a World Heritage listing. After all the exploring, the girls enjoyed an old fashioned milk shake at the old Telegraph Station.
We stayed 2 nights in Carnarvon, which is by no means a pretty town, but is well known for its plantations, particularly bananas. It is on the Gascoyne river which looks like mud flats, but has a rich underground water supply. We drove the 'fruit loop' picking up fresh fruit and veges and found a little boutique plantation supplying amazing fresh herbs.
More pictures from Carnarvon
The dirt roads to our planned free camping at Rocky Pool were closed due to the recent rains, so we drove out to the coast to the blow holes to explore some alternatives. The first one we pulled into was like a shanty town, somewhat resembling a refugee camp. 'Shackers' tried to convince everyone it was not too bad, but Dan insisted on a complete U-Turn!! We headed down a very bumpy dirt road, now in the dark, to Quobba Station, a remote South African sheep farm, also known for its beautiful beach and great fishing. Our side mirror was shaken off in the process! It had very basic facilities, with only generated power at certain times of the day, but was quiet and peaceful. This station was owned by a lovely young family, with three kids. The mum, as it turns out, was originally from Sydney, not far from us and had gone to the same school as some of Dan's close friends. .....very small world. One of her girls had rescued a baby joey and was bottle feeding her, our girls loved it! The beach here was wild and beautiful with great shells and cool water for soothing Shackers' midgy bites. It was also the beach where we first sighted some migrating humpbacks. We stayed 3 nights then headed to Coral Bay.
More pictures from Quobba Station
We couldn't resist the temptation to stop and mark our passing through the landmark of the Tropic of Capricorn.
Coral Bay was our first taste of Ningaloo Reef. It is on the southern edge of the reef and it was a beautiful little bay with flat turquoise waters, brimming with huge tame Spangled Emperor that would swim so close to the shore. Again, we met up with our friends, the Campbells and stayed right on the beach and had gorgeous weather. It was divine to be able to swim in warmer waters and enjoy some time on the sand with all the kids playing. They had a master chef competition, making sand delights. We did a little snorkelling and were able to feed the fish at 3pm each day with fish food provided by a local ranger. We all went to the local pub for the Wallabies game and there was a lot of local "Aussie Aussie Aussie..Oi! Oi! Oi!"
Everywhere we drove between Coral Bay and Exmouth on both sides of the road were these massive termite mounds.
More photos from Coral Bay
We arrived in Exmouth, on the very far west of WA, with the plan to swim with the whale sharks. This was one of the activities we were most looking forward to on this journey. To say it lived up to our expectations is an understatement. We took a day trip out on the boat 'Ningaloo Dreaming', leaving at 7am on a perfect sunny day, with clam flat waters....luck was on our side as this coast can be wild, windy and exposed to the elements. This boat had its own spotter plane that flew over the reef identifying whale sharks from the air. We were given a brief on the procedure and had a practice snorkel out on the reef , then the real action began. We were divided into two groups and once the whale shark was spotted and we were close enough, we were directed to "GO! GO! GO!" and jump off the back of the boat in our snorkelling gear to swim with the shark. We had to be quick as sometimes they don't stay on the surface levels for too long, diving too deep to be seen. We all had several turns, in and out of the water, rotating with the other group. They were the most beautiful, gentle giants. They are the largest fish in the ocean and are protected in Australia, but sadly are killed in parts of Asia for their fins, for shark fin soup.
It was quite tiring swimming to keep up with it at times, but the girls were great swimmers and had no fear jumping into the open sea. We were amazed to also see giant manta rays and David swam a long way with them in a rough swell near the breakers. At that point, we were more than satisfied, but to top it off, we saw a beautiful pod of dolphins and huge humpbacks , just 100m from the boat.
We were joking with 'Westie' our main crew member, that all he needed to do now was to find us a dugong. As luck would have it, he did just that......it was a rare sighting and a great thrill.
The only sea creature missing was a true mermaid, but the beautiful Swedish Jo was a wonderful substitute! She was so lovely with the girls, snorkelling hand in hand with Bella pointing out the underwater world. We had a delicious lunch on board, then another snorkel and the kids were able to jump off the boat from the top deck. A picture book ending to a gem of a day!
More photos from Exmouth
Our next adventure was snagging a rare spot staying right on the Ningaloo reef, in Cape Range National Park at Lakeside campsite. (Thanks to Debs and Ken who gave us some tips in Monkey Mia and also to Jan and Mark Devine who stayed here on their lap of the paddock.) There were very limited sites inside the park and we were clashing with school holidays, so the race was on! David and John drove out to the Park entrance at 3.30am and lined up one morning and were lucky enough to secure two spots at Lakeside, next to one another!!
We spent two weeks here, swimming, snorkelling at Turquoise Bay and Oyster Stacks, fishing off the beach, enjoying sunsets over the water, and meeting new families. The kids were able to run freely and safely, playing with their new friends, Charlie, Jack, ML, LJ, Maya and Ella. They spent a lot of time in the sand dunes and enjoyed some body painting.
We had no power and only a small supply of bore water, so we relied on our fresh water tanks in the van that we had to top up every few days that required one of us driving back to Exmouth. We had battery power in the van, which lasted about a week, but the Campbells had a generator and we were able to plug into their supply to keep us going. Thanks JC!!
We had fabulous camp hosts, Judy and Graham who were great sports and lots of fun. We became quite attached to the morning routine of the radio, with headquarters radioing in at 8am every day to see if there were any sites available for new comers. "Cape Range to Lakeside, good morning Judy and Graham". "Good morning Tori, sorry, we have a full camp, over and out."....Pilgramana! Pilgramana! Yardie Creek, Osprey Bay, Neds, Mesa Camp......and so on until all 7 different campsites were covered. One evening we had a birthday party for Judy and she went to so much effort with lolly bags for each child and Graham set up some great lights. Dan made her a vanilla cake and Denis ( another camper) made party hats from newspapers.
Some of the other fun events included our girls being allowed a once in a lifetime opportunity to give 'Shackers' a haircut....
He looked like an escaped prisoner , so later he was given a number 1 with the clippers!
We also loved the visit from Jaan (who stayed for 2 nights).... a beautiful, spiritual woman, living the alternate life with her dreadlocks and her ankle bells. She sang for us on the beach while playing her guitar and harmonica. All the children played along with her bongo drums and shakers on a rug on the beach and we danced and had red wine. She was a breath of fresh air and coincidentally, one of the lines in her song was "Why wait for the storm to pass, when you can dance in the rain???" Dan indulged in her reflexology treatment one afternoon and we all bought her CD's before she left.
One night we lay under the stars on the beach in our sleeping bags. Dennis, who was a retired science teacher, had an interest in astronomy and gave us a great guided tour of the stars and planets with his super powered torch. It was a great night.
The wildlife was everywhere!! Crazy emus darting across the road and gathering at the bore water taps as we filled our solar showers.
Cute little echidnas waddling across the roads.
Spangled emperor caught off the beach at lakeside, later barbequed and enjoyed with the Campbells.
And an amazing array of spectacular marine life....
Sadly, this journey would not be complete without taking out a roo.....one night coming back at dusk from a water supply run, we hit and killed a small kangaroo. Ironically, we were having a BBQ that evening with kangaroo we had in our freezer.....
Kenny was somewhat relieved of his duties during this stay, as the only toilet available was the environmentally friendly 'long drop'. It was actually very clean and well maintained, but we will never again take for granted the beauty of a simple flush!
We were affectionately farewelled by all at Lakeside- it had been a fabulously fun and social two weeks and it was hard to leave, but we needed to get back on the road and continue our journey. We stopped in at Exmouth for some delicious food at the health food store - (great coffee and juices!) and did six huge loads of laundry and a massive food shop, including a stop at the Exmouth fisheries for some fish and prawns for our freezer. It was here that we found another one of our 'BIGS'- the BIG PRAWN.
More pictures from Cape Range National Park - Lakeside
We spent one night at a free camp at Yanarie River with many grey nomads in their huge viscount vans, then it was inland to Tom Price. We had a nail biting hour as we almost ran out of fuel, just making it to the next gas station with about 6 litres to spare from our 127 litre tank!
More pictures from Yannarie River (- ok, so there's only one)
The rich, red, dusty iron rich earth of the Pibarra region was such a stark contrast to the white sands and Turquoise waters of Cape Range. We were now in the thick of this rough and raw mining town, full of enormous 4WDs and weather beaten miners. We all went on the tour of the Rio Tinto Tom Price mine and had to wear protective glasses and hard hats. It was like a kid's red sand pit on steroids, with inconceivably ENORMOUS dump trucks but with real explosives. It was quite fascinating to see this thriving iron ore export industry at one of the sources and the girls were able to collect their own souvenir of the raw material.
We then did some very real and scary 4 wheel driving of our own, up the steep and rocky Mount Nameless, to get our own bird’s eye view of the pit. We met some hard working miners on the peak who had snuck off for a 'smoko' The Aussie 'bludge mentality' is alive and kicking......
More pictures from Tom Price
Our next stop was inland to the beautiful Karijini National Park. We stayed at an Aboriginal owned Eco retreat, called Savannah, which had camping facilities and also some '5 star luxury tents', although we braved it down a bumpy dirt road for 28km with our van ,'Tilly'. The days were sunny and glorious, perfect for exploring the gorges that this park is renowned for. Hancock Gorge with the Spider Walk to Kermits Pool and Weano Gorge to the handrail pool, were the highlights. We walked for hours, up and down rocks and cliff faces and at times felt very challenged. Dan would be the first to admit - a little scared! Sassy and Boo conquered it all with great agility and no fear, all fear being felt by Dan as she watched them scrambling on ledges like little monkeys, but in some precarious and dangerous spots. 'Shackers' was the leader of the pack, making sure all his girls were OK and at one point carried all three of them, one by one, over a freezing water hole!
We stopped in at the visitor's centre which has been constructed from iron and is red and rustic, just like the land. It has been designed in the shape of a goanna. The tail, representing Aboriginal past, the gut, the feeling of close connection between the Aboriginal people and their land and the head - the way forward. We spoke to an Aboriginal lady who explained the ancient legend of the serpent. It is believed the serpent slithered its way through the land, carving out all the waterways through this region, known as the 'Warlu Way'. It is easy to see how this legend was born as there are still huge Olive Pythons that live in these gorges and they have been photographed pulling whole dead kangaroos up from rock faces below them.
The nights were freezing and being so far from any city lights, the night sky was dark and clear, with the most spectacular view of the stars and the planets. One night, we went on a fabulous astronomy tour with a guide who delighted us with explanations of the cosmos and we were able to view Saturn and its rings, Centaurus, the Southern cross and the 'jewel box' through wide 12" telescopes. The milky way was so distinct from here with its milky haze and we also learnt about the emu- the dark space in the milky way that really does look like an emu!! The Aboriginals were one of the first peoples to identify this and used it as a guide to their hunting and the foods that were in season. David took some incredible shots with our camera.....
More pictures from Karijini National Park
We pulled into Port Hedland for one night to restock our provisions and to enjoy a night of luxuries.......a long hot shower with a hair wash followed by a blow dry, a powered van able to recharge computers and iPods, a washing machine to deal with clothes covered in red dust and a night out to dinner at the Yacht club with some locals. After several weeks of limited power and water we will never again, take for granted these resources!! It is amazing how beautiful you feel after experiencing the simple pleasures of hot showers, hairdryers and clean clothing!!
Port Hedland was by no means a pretty place, but it does impress as one of the most important ports in our country for export of our iron ore. We did the tour of the BHP Billiton processing and shipping port, again amazed with the grand scale of machinery and the immensity of the rail system in place. We saw huge ships being loaded with tonnes of iron ore, headed for China. It was a great way to complete our understanding of the iron ore process from mine to coastal export.
More photos from Port Hedland
The same afternoon, on our way to 80 mile beach, we stopped at Pardoo road house for an ice-cream and some waters. We stumbled upon an inspirational woman, Sarah, who is endeavouring to be 'The First woman to run around Australia!' We had a good chat to her and her support crew. She is from Picton, NSW and left from the Opera house in Sydney on April 4th. She runs about 35kms each morning and another 35kms in the evenings. She has an old bus and has her two kids, 18 months and 4 years old on board, employing young European travellers as nannies. We thought we were doing it tough DRIVING one lap of this big paddock, let alone running it!!! It is likely she will make it back to Sydney in September/October. Her website is www.onelapnoexcuses.com. We gave her lots of encouragement and were privileged to watch her run into the sunset as we drove off eating our Cornettos ........( it just didn't seem right!!)
80 Mile beach was exactly that. 80 miles of beautiful vast beach between Port Hedland and Broome. The caravan park was literally just behind the dunes and was full of grey nomads who stay for months, fishing, fishing, fishing and enjoying happy hour. Some of them have been coming here for the last 30 years and have their own sites. One night they put n a concert playing instruments and singing old classics to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. At low tide,t he water went out for up to 1.5kms off shore and the sand was scattered with thousands upon thousands of exotic shells. At high tide, there were hundreds of fisherman dragging in huge Thread Fin Salmon. We enjoyed three nights here, the girls just loving the shell collecting and playing in the dunes. One afternoon they spent hours setting up a 'honeymoon' cafe in the dunes, using shells and washed up coral and waited on us with drinks at sunset, then ordering a kiss for the photo!
More pictures from Eighty Mile Beach
We are so happy to report that the Fucawis seem to have shaken the curse of winds and rain.....we are loving the beautiful hot days and warm nights. Life in very close quarters is certainly easier when children can run free in the great outdoors and parents can have some time alone......!! It has been a lovely two weeks free of school work on the road.
From here, we are heading to Broome for at least ten days and will be there for the "staircase to the moon". In this time, we will head north for 3 days to stay at Kooljaman (an award winning Aboriginal wilderness camp) at Cape Leveque, where we have rented an open air beach shack. We will leave Tilli behind and take our camping gear and pitch our tent in the shelter right on the beach. Jasmine is also flying into Broome for a week and we are all very excited to see her and celebrate her birthday. We are feeling inspired about the next couple of months as we head to remote and exciting places that we have so looked forward to on this adventure- the Gibb River Rd, The Kimberley, Horizontal Falls, Darwin and of course the NT. It is no wonder that Australia has earned the reputation as "the lucky country"- such rich and diverse beauty and we feel so lucky to be soaking some of it up.
Love to everyone,
Over and Out from the Fucawis!!
