Week Commencing 20.09.10
Sunday 19.09.10 - We were going to try and get into the National Park but it is still full. We have decided to stay at Yardie Homestead Caravan Park which is 7klms from the National Park Gates. We arrived just before lunch , settled in then we headed off to explore the beaches outside the park. We drove to Bundegi Beach this beach marks the start of Ningaloo Marine Park and is a great place for swimming, snorkelling and fishing. We walked along the beach as the wind was blowing strongly and it was very cold. On the same road is the Naval Base where the world’s largest very low frequency transmitter. The central tower, known as Tower Zero, stands majestically overlooking the North West Cape. It stands at the centre of the base, surrounded by 12 others, all of which can be seen from a great distanced and is the 2nd tallest structure in the southern hemisphere, standing 387.6 metres high. It weighs 800 tonnes and can withstand winds up to 500km per hour. Special Note: Exmouth is known for it’s Emus they are everywhere, in town and we have also noticed them on Cape Range Road. We have also seen lots and lots of kangaroos, the little devils come out on dusk and as you drive along the road you need to be very careful.
Monday 20.09.10 – Today we finally go into the National Park, I am so excited. We have decided to go to Yardie Creek as it is at the far end of the park. Yardie Creek Gorge Walk – A realatively easy walk along the rim of the Gorge was spectacular. A multi-coloured gorge with permanent water fed from the ocean. Hidden within the safety of the sheer gorge walls is a colony of black-footed rock wallabies. With its mangrove areas, Yardie also provides roosting sites for many birds species, while the sheltered waters are a sanctuary for many marine animals. This Gorge was fantasic, very pretty. We then took a walk along the beach and over the sandbar at the entrance to the creek. We enjoyed our lunch in the shady trees. Our next stop was Osprey Bay – wow this place was beautiful. We swam here and John did some snorkelling. We will definitely be visiting here again tomorrow. Each of the beaches were beautiful and each had their own special beauty. When we got to the Oyster Stacks the wind was blowing and it was very cold. Hopefully we can snorkel there tomorrow. Turquoise Bay was unfortunately much the same, very windy and cold. Once again another beautiful beach. We dropped in to Mesa Camp and Neds Camp, these camps were hidden behind the sand dunes, we climbed the dunes , they were amazing and alot of fun. Our last stop for the day was Mangrove Bay and the Bird Hide. Once again just beautiful, really can’t find the words for the whole day – beautiful beautiful beautiful. To top the day off we came across an echidna crossing the road. There is certainly plenty of wildlife here at the Cape.

Tuesday 21.09.10 – Back into the National Park, as we had covered alot the previous day we drove straight to Osprey Bay as this was just so beautiful. We spent most of the morning here and enjoyed lunch looking out over the bay. We went for a long walk along the beach seeing lots of wildlife in the ocean. We both snorkelled and really enjoyed the whole day. On the way home we called into a couple of the bays but still decided Osprey was the best.

Wednesday 22.09.10 – Today we drove down to Coral Bay after doing some chores in Exmouth. The drive took about 2 hours mostly desert on the way. When you finally drive into Coral Bay you see this most beautiful bay. Wow it takes your breath away. Unfortunately we had only booked two nights here. With the school holidays upon us we were not able to stay longer. Once settled off to the beach for snorkelling and swimming. The reef is very close to the shore , the water crystal clear and fish everywhere. You can actually see fish as you walk along the beach. At 3.30pm each afternoon they have fish feeding, and these fish are huge and they come in very close to the shore and lift themselves out of the water and swim through your legs, it is fantastic.

Thursday 23.09.10 – Same as yesterday, just beautiful. I went on a glass boat cruise which was great.

Friday 24.09.10 – Sadly we had to leave Coral Bay behind us. We will return to this special place one day. Off to Carnarvon, settled into our camp and went for a drive in the late afternoon. We also passed the Tropic of Capricorn on the way to Carnarvon.
Did you Know?
• The Gascoyne River is 764km long.
• Charles Kingsford Smith started the Gascoyne Transport Company
• Carnarvon’s One Mile Jetty is one of the longest jetties in WA
• Carnarvon’s OTC dish (Earth Tracking Station) was built in conjunction with NASA in 1966 as a satellite communications and tracking station. The station was involved in the Apollo space missions. The dish is 29.6m in diameter and weighs 300 tonnes.
• NASA Tracking Station 1964-75 was involved with the Gemini, Apollo and Skylab space projects.
• Jack Bluzolic produced the first bunch of Carnarvon Bananas in 1928.
• Carnarvon is home to Australia’s rarest Thornbill – the singing Bushlark. It can be spotted in Bush Bay
• Carnarvon’s seafood industry produces over 56 million dollars per year
• Carnarvon supplies 70% of WA’s winter vegetables requirements.
• Carnarvon produces over 30,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables every year from it 176 plantations, worth approximately $73million
• Carnarvon’s egg farm is the most northern commercial egg farm in WA, producing over 4 million eggs per year.
• Many varieties of stone fruit are grown and produced in Carnarvon for commercial sale.
• Chinaman’s Pool used to be the main source of fresh water for the town
• Bibbawarra Bore is 914 metres deep and produced a continuous flow of hot water at a temp of 65degs
• Mt Augustus is twice the size of Uluru but clad in low shrub and 1650 to 1750 million years old.
• Lake MacLeod produces both salt and gypsum and occupies 2072 sq km, the lake is 110km long and 40km wide.
• The town is situated at the only point of the Australian coastline where the central desert reaches out to the sea.

Saturday 25.09.10 – Up for early morning walk. Today is Grand Final Day, so we set the tele up outside and settled in for afternoon of footy. We telephone the footy group at half time. What a great game, but unfortunately no winner so we do it all again next Saturday.
Sunday 26.09.10 – Our morning walk this morning turned into a 6km marathon. We then packed up to explore Carnarvon. Out to One Mile Jetty and yes we walked it so that adds another 3km to my walking today. This also included climbing steps to the water town lookout. From there we went to the OTC dish – more steps. Then we drove down the HMAS Memorial drive which they have all 665 men are remembered.

Week Commencing 13.09.10
Monday 13.09.10 – We left Brisbane in the evening arriving in Perth at 12.30 am, this turned out to be an interesting evening. We had to wait at the airport for our 6am flight to Exmouth. We were kicked out of the Skywest & Virgin terminal and told to move to the Qantas terminal which stayed open all night. So we joined the other thirty odd people trying to catch some sleep on the carpet area around the baggage collection area. (Never thought we would be doing this). Anyway we survived the night. (About an hour sleep in all).
Tuesday 14.09.10 – Booked our luggage in at 4am and then went to boarding area to await our flight. We both were intrigued with the going ons here. There were lots of flights going out to the mines, I mean about ten flights and all these mine workers heading off to work. Finally we were called for our flight and as we walked along the tarmac it was freezing. We arrived in Learmouth airport and then a 30min bus ride to our car and van. Finally home, all was in order and by 9.30am we were settled back in camp. We were both exhausted and spent most of the afternoon sleeping.
Wednesday 15.09.10 – After a restful night, up early and did some washing etc. We walked up town and checked out the Visitors Centre. After lunch we went for a drive along the beach and ended up at the local golf club. Sand greens, Johnny says he will pass playing this course. We drove up the coast towards Cape Range National Park. Checked out the Lighthouse, the radar was destroyed by a cyclone and some ships were bombed in 1943. We could see some whales playing in the ocean. We could also see in the far distance the oil and gas rigs. Amazing. We also found an amazing sand dune – similar to the one called the desert at Moreton Island. Back in camp we have just enjoyed a great meal , meat and mashed veges – yummy.
Thursday 16.09.10 – Today we drove East to Charles Knife Gorge – this was a self drive around the ridge of the Gorge this is an 11km drive taking you to lookouts for views of the Gorge and Exmouth Gulf. Shothole Canyou is a spectacular drive through the base of the Gorge, it is hard to take your eyes off the spectacular rock formations. On the way home we stopped at the Exmouth Fish Co to buy some Exmouth King Prawns. Yummy. We stopped to check out the Learmouth Jetty, some folks fishing and we enjoyed a nice lunch on the beach.
Friday 17.09.10 – Today was repair day, John worked on the car and the hot water system. I read a book.
Saturday 18.09.10 – Another rest day, I went for a walk and then read a book and had a lovely snooze. John spent the arvo at the TAB.

Week Commencing 29.08.10
Sunday 29.08.10 – Birthday, Happy birthday Wil 56years wow I feel great. We had a pleasant day around camp and some fishing. No fish so we went to the local fish restaurant for dinner, fish baskets for both of us. Yummy, it was a great day calls from home, I feel very blessed.
Monday 30.08.10 – On the road again not much except desert and more desert. We arrived at free camp Barradale which was huge. On the Robe river there were cows wondering around and we collected some wood for our fire. We put the hot water on and about 15 mins later a giant bang, the hot water pipe had burst, water everywhere. We spent the next two hours repairing the pipe (I mean John did, I watched and helped when I could). What a mess, anyway fixed we were able to shower and then sat down to dinner around 9pm. Off to bed , ready for our drive into Exmouth.
Tuesday 31.08.10 – Wedding Anniversary 36years, now that is wonderful and we still love each other. I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life. (I am sure Johnny thinks the same). Left camp around 9am and the drive to Exmouth was very nice. We stopped at the Seafood shop on the outskirts of Exmouth and bought some yummy prawns for lunch. Booked into the Big4 caravan park and camped next to a lovely couple Rod & Liz Hicks from Perth. We seemed to click immediately and enjoyed a couple of drinks with them that evening.
Wednesday 1.09.10 – Today we called Mum (Rita) to see how she was travelling as she had been in hospital for the past week. Unfortunately things not going well for her and she was very upset as the doctor had bad news. We decided it was time for us to fly home and spend some quality time with her. Decisions were running through our heads, when Rod & Liz (Campers next door) kindly arranged for our car and van to be stored at their nephew’s home here in Exmouth. We found ourselves at 2.30 this afternoon boarding a plane for Perth. We looked at each other and thought there are such wonderful people in this world. We arrived at Perth around 4.30pm, gave our Kiwi friends, Garry and Deb a call, who picked us up and we went to dinner. This was fantastic because we couldn’t board our plane for Brissie until 11pm.
Thursday 02.09.10 – We arrived at Brisbane Airport and went straight to the hospital to visit Mum.
Sadly Mum passed away on Monday 6 September peacefully in her sleep. We are both glad to had special time with Mum before her passing. We celebrated her life on Friday 10 September with family and special friends, thankyou to all who shared this celebration with us.
We stayed in Brisbane until 13 September. We had a nice catch up with family and friends at this sad time.