Thu 8 Sep 2011 Perth

0930 (15161 km) Breakfast of raisin toast. Went shopping.
1000 (15167 km) The car got fixed, centre display now working and we can see the trip computer and radio controls.

1115 (15178 km) Left Jimmy's house for Fremantle.

1150 (15201 km) Fremantle Army Museum. Took some photos with the tanks.
1230 (15210 km) Fremantle Chocolate Factory. The workers were at lunch so there was no demonstration. We had some chocolate samples. We left and planned to return later.

1300 (15210 km) Took the free Blue CAT Bus to the marina. Had fish and chips from Cicerellos and Sweetlips Restaurants, so that we could compare them. There were several fish and chips joint at the marina, all purporting to be 'the best', 'the original', 'voted the best'. Cicerellos had a number of huge fish tanks with fascinating marine life - corals, marine fish, starfish, sea horse, rays, etc. Even in the toilets, there were fish tanks to watch while you did your business. HM's vote was for Sweetlips having a light crunchy batter and very tender squid rings.

1400 (15210 km) Shipwreck Galleries. Saw stories of shipwrecks including the Wreck, Mutiny and Murder of the Batavia.

Has CK been naughty??

1500 (15210 km) Round House. This was the old gaol. It still had a set of lock up stock and we had a turn at being locked up with our head and hands.

1530 (15210 km) Back at Fremantle Chocolate Factory. Tasted more chocolate, saw some chocolate making and bought some chocolate.

1600 (15210 km) Left Fremantle.
1715 (15236 km) Back at Jimmy's. Had sang choy pau for dinner.
2030 (15240 km) Filled up.
2045 (15244 km) Pack car.

Wed 7 Sep 2011 Perth

0930 (15161 km) Had croissant for breakfast.
1045 (15161 km) Caught the bus into the city. Went to check out the visitor centre.

Ringing the Swan Bells

1145 (15161 km) Went to the Bell Tower which houses the Swan Bells. There's 18 bells, 12 of them over 300 years old from St Martins-of-the-Fields church in London. We went to the demonstration and got to see how bells are rung and we got to ring some of the bells too! Even MH got to ring a bell that was 241 kg, it was much, much heavier than him. There is quite a bit of skill involved in ringing bells. It was quite impressive to see how a bell was rung in a full circle. The volunteers who ring the bell have to spend at least 6 months in training before they are 'safe'. There were groups of people who had rung the bells continuously for 3 hours! From the top of the tower, we had a good view of the Swan River and the city. There were lots of interesting history of bells and clocks in the tower. There were also electronic carillon bells that were computer controlled to play popular tunes.

1300 (15161 km) Went to the food court to have lunch. Had sushi and rice and noodle dishes.



Outside the Perth Mint, no photos were allowed inside because of the high security



1500 (15161 km) Went on the free Red CAT Bus to the Perth Mint. There was a tour that explained about the gold rush that became the reason for the building of the Perth Mint. There was also a demonstration on pouring a gold bar. The furnace was set at 1300 degrees Celsius to maintain liquidity of the gold. Then it was poured into the mold and left to cool. When it was cooler, probably 800 degrees Celsius, it is removed from the mold (still glowing) and placed into water. At the end, there was a pretty heavy block of gold, costing around $300,000. That would explain why a security guard had to be present during the demonstration. We also got to hold a gold bar, it was heavy and expensive, probably around $600,000. There was also a special scale that provided the weight of the person in dollars of equivalent weight in gold.

1615 (15161 km) Caught the free bus back to the bus station in the city and found our bus bay to get back 'home'.
1830 (15161 km) Dinner - rice and pork with potatoes.

Tue 6 Sep 2011 Perth

0915 (15151 km) Left the house for Mitsubishi dealer/service centre.
0945 (15161 km) Mitsubishi. Left car with them to check out the blank centre display. Went shopping.
1230 (15161 km) Had roast chicken for lunch. Catch up on washing and blogs. Having a quiet day - no rushing around doing sightseeing. The kids played Wii games with Jimmy's kids.
1830 (15161 km) Had lasagne (kids had been missing this for the last 2 months, because there isn't an oven to cook it) for dinner.

Mon 5 Sep 2011 Cliff Head North Rest Area to Perth

Cliffhead campsite - Indian Ocean frontage and free!

0940 (14806 km) Left Cliff Head North. Tried to find Pebble Beach at Greenhead but couldn't find it so we drove on.

1115 (14908 km) Jurien Bay. Beautiful beaches. Unfortunately too cold for swimming. Had lunch at Jurien Jetty Cafe of nuggets, fisherman's basket and souvlaki. The kids played in the playground in front of the jetty, naturally.

1250 (14914 km) Checked out the marina for fishing. Didn't look as if we could get onto the marina's jetty.

Jurien Bay Jetty

1310 (14916 km) Went back to the jetty near the cafe and fished. MJ and MH caught a fish each. They were quite small so we let them back into the water. MK caught a cormorant (bird) that went for his bait. Fortunately, the bird released the bait and flew off. Not sure what we would have done with the bird.

1415 (14917 km) Filled up. Left Jurien Bay.

The Pinnacles

1500 (14959 km) Nambung National Park. We went to see the Pinnacles. They were extraordinary ancient rock formations that protruded from the ground. It felt as if we had just landed into some strange moonscape. There was a walk that wound around the Pinnacles. In fact, there was a drive path around the park where people could actually drive around them.

1610 (14959 km) Left Nambung National Park. There were lots of white sand dunes along the coast. Scattered amongst the vegetation were some black boys plant. Didn't expect to see those.

1815 (15151 km) Perth. Arrived at Jimmy's. Had nasi lemak for dinner. Yummy.

Sun 4 Sep 2011 Kalbarri to Cliff Head North Rest Area

0845 (14506 km) Happy Father's Day! We had pancakes for breakfast.There was supposed to be a daily pelican feeding session in Kalbarri. However, there was a pinned notice that said pelicans were on holiday at Lake Eyre. We waited for a while and sure enough, there were no pelicans. Oh well.
0930 (14506 km) Left Murchison Caravan Park.
0945 (14507 km) Kalbarri marina. Fishing again and some crabbing too. However, there were no bites so we packed up and left.
1050 (14507 km) Visited the National Park Headquarters but the Ranger was out and there was no one there.
1110 (14511) Filled up. Drove to Kalbarri National Park. First stop was Red Bluff. From the vantage point, we saw a whale not far from the beach! It was just frolicking in the water. Next stop (200m away)was mushroom rock. Yes, it was no mistaking that it was mushroom rock. It looked just like a mushroom. A short drive further and we came to Rainbow Valley. The rocks had amazing colours and there were vertical pipe rocks which were supposedly fossils of a type of worm from a long time ago. We could not take the camper trailer to Pot Alley so we skipped it and went to Eagle Gorge instead. This area reminds us so much of the Great Ocean Rd except all the sites are so close together.


Natural Bridge



1330 (14533 km) Natural Bridge. Had ham and pastrami for lunch. Then walked to Castle Cove to look at Island Rock. From Natural Bridge lookout, we could see a bridge formed from the cliffs. In time, bridges like that will erode and will be left with islands of rock. Drove to the next area to look at Shellhouse and Grandstand. Grandstand really looked like a grandstand. It is incredible how mother nature creates these features in the cliffs.

1430 (14533 km) Left Kalbarri National Park.

Pink lady at Pink Lakes

1545 (14606 km) Pink Lakes. For best photos, we had to drive to Port Gregory. We got very close to the water and the lake was definitely pink.

1645 (14698 km) Geraldton. Filled up. Shops were closed, so no shopping. In Greenough, we saw the sideways trees. The prevailing constant southerly wind has blown many of the trees so that they are all leaning. There is an actual photo point with a landmark tree as seen in all the brochures and an explanation on why the trees around the area were leaning.

1815 (14806 km) Cliff Head North. A nice freestay camping spot. Had mens and ladies long drop toilets. We were about 20 metres from the Indian Ocean. Could have been closer but someone else had already taken that spot. Had meatballs on spaghetti for dinner.

Sat 3 Sep 2011 Denham to Kalbarri

0930 (14099 km) Had breakfast of toast. Left Denham.

1000 (14100 km) Filled up.


Shell Beach made up of tiny cockle shells < 1cm



1045 (14146 km) Shell Beach. The entire beach was made of tiny white shells. It was blindingly white. We had to go back to the car to get sunnies for everyone. The shells are from the 'coquina bivalve' who can survive the hypersalinity of the water in the area. Over time, rainwater and pressure glue and compact the shells below into hard rock-like blocks that are quarried.



At the very white Shell Beach





At the boardwalk above the stromatolites



1200 (14209) Hamelin Pool. We had a walk around the Telegraph Station. We went on the walk and saw the quarry where they used to cut blocks out of the rock hard shells and the blocks are used as building blocks for the buildings in the area. They used a cross cut saw to cut blocks to shape.

Further along we saw the stromatolites. They weren't particularly exciting to look at - just blobs of rock that look a bit slimy. They are from an ancient cyanobacteria that have been credited to be the first organisms which released life-giving oxygen into the air and thus life as we know it today exists. They are thought to have been in existence for 3.5 billion years, way before dinosaurs. These actual Stromatolites are probably about 3,000 years old. The stromatolites have a mascot, Stumpy, who looks like a stump. He explains the evolution of stromatolites and why they are found around Hamelin Pool on all the signs. The hypersalinity does not affect the bacteria but it deters the predators so the bacteria is safe. Had lunch of Ritz, tuna, creamed corn and chicken.

1345 (14209 km) Left Hamelin Pool.
1630 (14460 km) Hawk's Head, Kalbarri National Park. There was an interesting rock in the middle of the river. Assume that was Hawk's Head.
1700 (14464 km) Ross Graham. Saw some beautiful ring necked parrots. There were also kangaroos across the river. As boys do, the kids started building dams across the river.
1800 (14504 km) Kalbarri. Murchison Caravan Park. Site 33.
1940 (14506 km) Fishing at the marina. MJ caught an undersized Tarwhine. MH caught an undersized Mulloway, so had to throw them back.

Fri 2 Sep 2011 Denham

Very windy at Eagle Bluff

1045 (14046 km) Had toast for breakfast. Left Denham for a drive.
1115 (14071 km) Eagle Bluff. It was very windy. And I mean windy. The kids were at risk of being blown off. At some parts of the boardwalk, it was actually difficult to walk against the wind. We could see sharks in the water. Wonder if they were affected by the wind. Drove to Denham Lookout. Nothing much. Went to Blue Lagoon Pearls and bought the Water Cleanser. We will see how well it works when we get home.
1145 (14097 km) Caravan park. Had toasted sandwiches and pasta for lunch. It was very windy. The washing got dried quite quickly. Had a quiet afternoon. Returned the hermit crabs to the beach.
1800 (14097 km) Had salmon mornay and MH's Tarwhine for dinner. Yummy fresh fish.
2000 (14098 km) It was still very windy but we went to the jetty to see if we could fish again. Unfortunately, it was very windy at the jetty and water was very choppy. Other people that were fishing there were packing up and leaving, so we didn't fish.
2015 (14099 km) Caravan park.

Thu 1 Sep 2011 Denham

0740 (13988 km) Breakfast of toast. Left to go to Monkey Mia again - about 2o minutes drive away.

0800 (14015 km) Monkey Mia. Saw dolphins come in again, but only 1 got fed today. . We watched a movie - Dolphins, The Wild Side. It showed how dolphins were not always the friendly, playful mammal in the general view. They are really intelligent predators that will do whatever it takes to get a feed.

1030 (14015 km) Went on Aristocat 2 boat cruise. Went to Blue Lagoon Pearl Farm on a floating pontoon. They demonstrated how a pearl was seeded. We were also shown the other interesting shapes, like a heart shape, dolphins, jewelry, etc. and how they were made. We were also introduced to a water cleanser product that was used on the farm. Looks interesting and it could be used in the turtle pond back home.



A shy docile dugong coming up for a breath



1200 (14015 km) Left the pearl farm. Saw dolphins and they were swimming with the catamaran boat, one on each side. Quite impressive how they just keep in front of the boat. Saw a turtle floating on the surface and when it saw us, it dived under. Then we got to the dugong area where all the sea grass grew. There were a few dugongs in the area including a mother and her calf. The Shark Bay area houses about a tenth of the world's populaiton of all dugongs. Had sandwiches for lunch.



1245 (14015 km) On the way back, we went boom netting. We sat in a net on the back on the boat and the boat sped along, washing us in the net. Woo hoo!

1340 (14015 km) Left Monkey Mia.



Anyone seen curly fettucine before?



1400 (14038 km) Little Lagoon. More shells to collect. Had a quick look at the four power windmills. It generated 40% of Denham's power. Went to Visitor Centre and the kids played in the playground.

1515 (14044 km) Caravan park. Had early dinner of Curly Fettucine Bolognaise.

Ming Han's fishy

1900 (14045 km) Fishing at the jetty. We could see lots of fish and squid and even a sea star in the clear water. We saw a multitude of marine life that were caught by the various people on the jetty - fish, squid, shovel nosed ray, sea snake, stingray. MH caught a Tarwhine (silver bream) and it was legal size so we kept it for dinner the next night. Went to one of the many fish cleaning stations on the beach to clean the fish.

2100 (14046 km) Caravan park.

Wed 31 Aug 2011 Denham

0830 (13932 km) Had toast and Nutri Grain for breakfast. Left Denham to go to Monkey Mia.
0900 (13960 km) Monkey Mia. Saw the dolphins come in and the rangers gave a spiel on the dolphins. Only five specific female dolphins are fed, and only fed a snack - 4 local fish, about a quarter of daily diet. There were three main families that came to the beach. The Puck family, Nicki family and Surprise family. Puck and Nicki got fed but Surprise didn't come in for a feed.

Dolphins arriving at the beach

Coming up close

1130 (13960 km) Kids had fn playing in the sand. Had lunch of Ritz, Cruskits, creamed corn and tuna.
1245 (13960 km) Left Monkey Mia.
1315 (13988 km) Caravan park. Walked on the beach. Lots of shells and hermit crabs. The kids collected lots of hermit crabs and were allowed to keep them for the next 2 days while we were in Denham. The crabs had to be returned to the water when we left.
1800 (13988 km) Had rice and chicken for dinner.

Tue 30 Aug 2011 Coral Bay to Denham

0900 (13342 km) Had toast, nutri grain and muesli for breakfast. Went to buy photos of Manta Ray Tour.
0945 (13342 km) Left Coral Bay.
1230 (13585 km) Carnarvon. Went shopping.
1330 (13585 km) Bought lunch at Chicken Treat. Used the chicken carcass to go crabbing. However, instead of catching crabs, we caught fish in the net instead! Caught four fish and threw them all back since they were fairly small.
1500 (13593 km) Checked out the Seafood Factory. Small coral prawns were $7 a kilo.
1515 (13593 km) Left Carnarvon.
1530 (13600 km) Filled up.
1845 (13932 km) Denham. Site 145. Had chicken burger for dinner.

Mon 29 Aug 2011 Coral Bay

0830 (13342 km) Had toast and muesli for breakfast. Then got ready and packed to go for the Manta Ray Cruise. We brought some boxes with all our swimming gear, snorkels, fins, wet suits, dry clothes, etc. There was a lot to take. Got on the bus with 13 others (some divers, some snorkellers) and went to the jetty to get onto the boat. As we were going out to the reef, we saw two turtles mating. When they saw us, they quickly ceased their amorous session and promptly disappeared beneath the waves.

1000 (13342 km) The first stop was Asho's Gap. It was 11 metres deep at 23 degrees Celsius. Good thing we had wet suits. We swam to the reef and there was a gap. We swam through the gap single file. On the other side, on a large cabbage coral were sharks! It was a Reef Shark Cleaning Station. Reef sharks would sit on the coral and wrasse fish would clean them. Fortunately, the reef shark did not have humans on their menu. They are generally harmless to humans unless provoked. A bit further along the reef was a cave and in that cave lived a grey nurse shark. We were told we might have to dive down to look into the cave. Luckily for us, the shark decided to come out of the cave and had a swim outside so we could all have a good look. The following were in the area on that dive:

• Grey nurse shark
• Goat fish
• Lizard fish
• White tip reef shark
• Flutemouth
• Scorpion fish
• Clarke's anemone fish
• Gold spot trevally
• Spangled emperor
• Blue green chromis
• Cabbage coral
• Staghorn coral

At the end of the reef snorkel, we all warmed up with hot cordial.
1130 (13342 km) The spotter plane found a dugong, we saw it come up for air a few times. Then the plane found a manta ray for us to swim with. Since there were so many of us, we went in groups. It was magnificent to see the manta ray swimming around. The water was quite deep, about 7 metres and there was some murkiness so it wasn't totally clear but we definitely saw the manta ray and swam along with it.
1230 (13342 km) The spotter plane also found a whale. We went up to it and saw it was a mother humpback whale with its calf. Amazing! As we were watching, a large white shadow emerged from the depths and when it broke the surface, we saw that it was another humpback whale. We speculated that it was probably the father. It is marvellous to see these large mammals swimming, spouting, spy hopping (poking the head above the water to spy on surrounding area) and diving.
1330 (13342 km) Had lunch of "make your own" sandwiches.


Ming Kim and Chi Keen during the snorkel to Lottie's Lagoon



1430 (13342 km) As we boated to the second reef dive, we saw some turtles in the turtle sanctuary. In the second reef dive at Lottie's Lagoon, we actually saw a few turtles swimming around the reef. It was about 10 metres at 23 degrees Celsius. The reef wall was quite fascinating, it had lots of different corals and lots of marine life. There was even a four legged sea star. The area had the following:


• Christmas tree worms
• Giant clam
• Clarke's anemone fish
• Sail fish
• Cat fish
• Green moray
• Flutemouth
• Nudibranch
• Lagoon ray
• Fantail ray
• White eyed moray eel
• Stripey catfish
• Gold spot trevally
• Sea star
• Green turtle

1615 (13342 km) Returned to caravan park.

1730 (13342 km) Went to find the photographer from the cruise to have a look at  the photos she took on the dive. On the way there, we saw a very tame bungarra (sand goanna) that lived behind the fridge of her place. We were very impressed with the huge reptile calmly walking in front of us as it crossed the backyard, totally ignoring us.
1800 (13342 km) Had dinner of Indomie, cous cous and meat balls.

Sun 28 Aug 2011 Coral Bay

Collected from the beach off the sanctuary,
so unfortunately couldn't add these to our shell collection,
so instead adding them to the photo collection

0930 (13329 km) Breakfast of toast. Went for a walk noth along the beach of Bill Bay to were the Reef Shark Nursery was. We climbed up the sand dunes to have a better look. Definitely saw a stingray. Possibly saw some young reef shark but we couldn't really be sure since the water was quite choppy.
1200 (13329 km) Bought some pies for lunch - yummy!
1300 (13329 km) Left caravan park to go check out some turtles that some people we past had mentioned seeing and fishing.
1330 (13336 km) Drove to Maud's Landing and drove along a very soft, sandy beach to Point Maud to see turtles. We had to walk for a bit and still couldn't see any turtles. So we went back to the car and guess what. The car was stuck in the sand! Oh! Oh! We got everyone to dig out some sand and try again. Still stuck, so took all excess gear out of the boot. Still no luck. Then, HM suggested we push the car. So, HM drove and MK and CK pushed. Moved a bit. Then we got MJ and MH to also push the car. With the four of us pushing, we finally got the car out of the sandy patch and away we went. Whew!
1530 (13342 km) Too late to go fishing so we were back to caravan park for fish feeding. MJ and MH got given some fish food to feed the fish. The fish really go crazy with the food. Amongst the Spangled Emperor, there were also Parrot Fish and Zebra Fish. HM & MJ snorkelled in the fish feeding area while it was on. Went for a snorkel after feeding the fish. MJ & MH getting more confident - not needing the noodle anymore.
1800 (13342 km) Had dinner of sausage casserole with mashed potatoes and cous cous.

Sat 27 Aug 2011 Exmouth to Coral Bay

0945 (13169 km) Packed up and left caravan park. Went shopping.

1000 (13172 km) Filled up. Saw some birds nesting under the roof of the shopping centre with 3 little chicks - so cute!

1200 (13326 km) Coral Bay. Resort town, not much else besides accomodation and touristy shops. Bayview Caravan Park. Site 111. Had leftover pasta for lunch.

Fish feeding by the beach

1515 (13326 km) Packed snorkeling gear and drove to beach. Saw fish feeding. They were huge Spangled Emperor fish probably about 0.5 metres. We stood in the shallow water and they were just swimming around our legs. One fish could have fed a family a couple of meals. Also other smaller fish - parrot fish and stripey black and white ones. Went to Paradise Beach for a snorkel. Very nice reef and very close to the beach - don't even need to swim - just stand waist high in water in some parts. As it was low tide, some of the corals were a bit close when we snorkeled past - easy to see how they could be damaged - I'm sure I accidently kicked some. Saw cabbage coral, lots of fish, sea cucumber and a sting ray. MK getting the hang of the snorkel and gaining confidence. Other 2 don't seem too keen, just 1 snorkel, then off to the beach to create structures.

1700 (13228 km) Went back, checked out cruises to go snorkelling with mantarays.
1730 (13329 km) Caravan park. Water here is terrible - bore water which is very salty and hot, so there is special taps for drinking water (desalinated bore water). We can't even connect the water to the camper trailer as the water is too hot to use, and not very good for the pipes! Will put off doing the clothes washing till the next place.

Fri 26 Aug 2011 Exmouth

Night Fishing

1000 (13121 km) Breakfast of pancakes! Drove to Town Beach. Nothing much, hardly anyone around. Checked out the marina for our night time fishing.
1045 (13146 km) Pebble Beach. There were these amazing smooth pebbles all over the beach. It used to be part of the conglomerate rock in the area (still there) but as the conglomerate breaks down by the sea etc, the pebbles are released. People use to collect them by trailer loads for landscaping but it is protected now so we can all enjoy them. Collected some interesting shells and pebbles and the kids played in the sand. Saw some people fishing but they didn't seem to be catching anything.
1145 (13146 km) Left Pebble Beach. Went shopping. There is an IGA and an IGA Express in Exmouth. Why? Don't really know. Apparently the IGA Express used to be a Foodworks and it got bought over. Fuji apples $11 per kg!
1300 (13163 km) Caravan park. Toasted sandwiches for lunch. Went for a swim in the pool. The water was quite cold.
1730 (13163 km) Dinner of Meatballs on spiral pasta. We had been singing On Top of Spaghetti so we thought this was an appropriate meal, but we didn't have any spaghetti.
1915 (13163 km) Drove to marina for fishing. Drove around the marina, up and down.
1930 (13167 km) Finally decided to fish from the footbridge. Tried squidding, but there were no bites. As for fishing, MH caught the one and only fish. We took a photo and threw it back.
2045 (13167 km) Left the marina.
2100 (13169 km) Caravan park.

Thu 25 Aug 2011 Exmouth



See the water spout in the middle of the screen - that's the whale. Yes, really!



0845 (12995 km) Breakfast of toast. Drove to Vlaminngh Head Lighthouse. At the lookout, looking out to sea, we saw two whales! One was breaching and making huge splashes, the other was shooting water spouts into the air every few minutes. It was a very good spot for a lookout. Drove down to Jubari Turtle Centre. There was a display on the turtle's life and challenges to survive. Only one in a thousand eggs survive. The sex of the turtle when it hatches depending on the temperature of the eggs. If it is more than 29 degrees, it is female, otherwise it is male. The way to remember this is "hot chicks, cool dudes".

The beaches are amazing - so clear and fantastic coral reefs so close to shore

1015 (13052 km) Lakeside. It was a campsite as well as a snorkellling area. There were 7 campsites and it even had a camp host to make sure everything runs smoothly. Went to the snorkeling area. There was quite a strong current so the water wasn't as clear. Saw fish, sea cucumber and different types of corals, including ones that look like huge cabbages. We even saw a manta ray swimming past!

1245 (13052 km) Left Lakeside.
1345 (13101 km) Back at caravan park. Lunch of  bacon and baked beans and spaghetti. Check on bookings for tours. Kids went swimming in the pool.
1800 (13101 km) Dinner of chops and sausages.
1900 (13101 km) Left caravan park for a drive. Drove to marina. There were people fishing at the marina.
1930 (13121 km) Back at caravan park.

Wed 24 Aug 2011 Exmouth

0930 (12863 km) Breakfast of toast. Left caravan park.
1000 (12867 km) Exmouth Visitor Centre. Filled up.
1045 (12920 km) Cape Range National Park Visitor Centre. Saw information on whale sharks, manta rays, dugongs, etc. Lots of snakes preserved in jars.

Turquoise Bay - the dark patches in the sea are coral

1130 (12931 km) Turquoise Bay. We went snorkeling and drifted along the inner lagoon of Ningaloo Reef. There was quite a strong current. We went around to Turquoise Bay and it was calmer. We saw lots of marine life - sea cucumber, red starfish/seastar (had 6 legs), giant clam (40 cm), bright blue fish, zebra fish, schools and schools of fish. It was amazing that all these started just a few metres from shore and some were very shallow. It's clear how they would be damaged by careless people standing on them etc. Lunch of Ritz and Cruskits, dips, cabanossi.

1545 (12931 km) Left.

1640 (12995 km) Caravan park. Had dinner of the kids' favourite honey chicken and rice.

Tue 23 Aug 2011 Tom Price to Exmouth

0845 (12085 km) Breakfast of toast. Did some last minute shopping (no Coles nor Woolies for the next week or 2)
0900 (12089 km) Left Tom Price.
1245 (12451 km) After a long drive, we got to Nanutarra Roadhouse. Stopped for lunch.
1315 (12451 km) Left.
1600 (12710 km) Due to miscalculation of fuel consumption, we had to detour to Coral Bay to get some fuel and to check out the two caravan parks. We still had not decided on which one to book yet. Filled up.
1745 (12863 km) After a very long day of driving, arrived at Exmouth. Exmouth Cape Holiday Park. Site 47. Dinner of chilli con carne.

Mon 22 Aug 2011 Tom Price

0915 (12047 km) Breakfast of toast.
0930 (12051 km) Tom Price Visitor Centre. Went on Iron Ore Mine Tour. Took us around Tom Price. Started as a single men town and grown to a family town of 5000 as of last census. At the mine, we saw huge dump trucks with tyres the height of the tour bus and costing $60,000 each and 3.7 metres in diameter. We were shown the mine where the ore came from. The mine was a huge pit in the ground, 1 km wide and 3 km long. The ore is taken to the crushers where it is crushed to "lump" form or "fine" form. It is then filtered to improve the quality and then sent by train to the port. The trains have 3 locomotives and 230 wagons. That is a long train. The mine produces 25 million tonnes of ore a year.
1200 (12051 km) Shopping. Checked out the local library while HM got some fresh food from Coles. We were at the stage where we judge the size of the town by whether it's got a Coles or Woolies.
1300 (12056 km) Caravan park for lunch. Had roast chicken rolls.
1430 (12056 km) Went for a drive. Drove around Kings Lake. Nothing much. Went on a 4WD track up to Mt Nameless.


Mt Namesless - see the tiny posts on the right top of mountain - well, they are huge tall towers of 30 m

 1515 (12070 km) After a real low range 4WD drive across rocky steep terrain, we got to the top of Mt Nameless and had an amazing scenic view of Tom Price and the mine. It is also the highest vehicular access point in Western Australia. Slowly drove down the mountain again. Went to take some pictures in front of the big dump truck.
1615 (12080 km) Filled up.
1645 (12085 km) Caravan park. Had sausages, falafel and hash brown for dinner.

Sun 21 Aug 2011 Karijini National Park to Tom Price

0900 (11919 km) Breakfast of cereal. The kids worked on the Junior Ranger sheet.

Fern Pool



0940 (11934 km) Dales Day Use Car Park. We walked along the top of the Dales Gorge towards Fortescue Falls. We saw lizards along the walk. Then we walked down the steep steps to the falls and further to Fern Pool. There were bats hanging on the trees. Very nice large pool. Water and small waterfalls look very tempting. We could see fish from the platform. As we were walking back from Fern Pool, we came across a Brown Snake! Notice how many animals we have seen already?



At Fortescue Falls



We got back to have some photos of Fortescue Falls. The falls had lots of steps.

Then we snaked along the gorge to Circular Pool. Had to cross the creek several times. When we got to Circular Pool, we found that the pool water was really cold. We only stepped in up to our waist and then back out again. There were some people who were brave enough to jump in.

View of Circular Pool from top of the gorge.

1300 (11934 km) Lunch of biscuits, cheese, cream corn, cabonossi.

1400 (11934 km) Went to camp check in to show the Camp Hosts the kids Junior Ranger sheets. The kids got badges, stickers and a book on marine animals. Quite impressive.

1545 (12047 km) Tom Price. Tom Price Tourist Park. Site 96. The swimming pool was cold. Had dinner of pasta with tuna and champignon. Just learnt that potable water means drinking water.

Sat 20 Aug 2011 Eighty Mile Beach to Karijini National Park

0900 (11335 km) Had raisin toast for breakfast. HM bought some ice cream from the caravan park office - $2 a scoop. And there were really good. It is worth it to just go to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park to have ice cream, if nothing else. Had planned to have it for dessert night before but we were too late and they had closed. Quite good facilities at the office - they have fresh food, and even have some takeaway food at very reasonable prices (and this is in the middle of nowhere - no towns for over 250km). Apparently the park used to look even better, with lots of shady trees, etc. Cyclone Laurence in 2009 devastated the caravan park and it has taken a while to re-establish the park. Left the caravan park. On the drive to Port Hedland, we saw white industrial safety helmets on the termite mounds. Looked like people. Very cute.

Kids playing on this arty sculpture

1200 (11584 km) Port Hedland. The kids ran up and down of the circular modern art sculpture at Port Hedland. Lunch of sandwiches. Filled up. Long drive - interesting how it all changes from very flat plains to the mountains with steep orange, rusty red cliffs on the way. Should make a movie at some of these areas we've driven through.
1545 (11919 km) Karijini National Park. Went to Visitor Centre. Quite new. Went to Dales Camping Ground. Site 30 on Bungarra Loop. It was a nice big site and had a long drop toilet, no water, no power. But gas BBQs were provided as there were no fires to be lit. Dinner of rice and mince pork.

Fri 19 Aug 2011 Broome to Eighty Mile Beach



Eighty Mile Beach - truly beautiful



0720 (10948 km) MK had a skype session with his class.

0800 (10948 km) MH had a skype session with his class.

0900 (10948 km) Had toast for breakfast. Left Broome.

1300 (11279 km) Sandfire roadhouse. Filled up.

1400 (11335 km) After 10 km of gravel road, we got to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park. There were no more powered sites. Site 152. Went to try fishing. Looks like no one is getting any fish either. So, went for a dip in the sea. The tide was still going out so the kids kept going further and further out. The water edge became a long, long way from where we set up initially. There were lots of shells of different shapes and sizes. Apparently there were even more shells the week before. Must be washed up from somewhere else. The sunset of this never ending stretch of beach was beautiful. Could easily stay here for a few more days to relax, but unfortunately more things to see, leaving tomorrow. Had dinner of schnitzel with pasta salad.

Thu 18 Aug 2011 Broome

0900 (10907 km) Had raisin toast for breakfast.

1000 (10907 km) Left for a drive around. Went to the port. We saw huge chains, the links were the size of people. There was a rock with a hole on Riddell Beach so we went to take some photos. We came across a jelly fish stranded on the beach. Naturally the kids attacked it, as kids do. The tide was coming in and cut off our beach return, so we clambered over and under some rocks to get back to the car. Kept driving along and went to the beach to see the Pindan Cliffs. The burnt orange cliffs came down to white sands that led to the turquoise sea. That was quite a contrast and a great photo opportunity. The loop drive took us back to the town. Had a quick look at Town Beach and the water park. The water park was small in comparison to others we had been to before. So we went shopping instead and headed back to the caravan park.

1300 (10937 km) Filled up. Lunch of toasted sandwiches and caught up with some blogs and Chinese homework.

1630 (10944 km) Went for a drive on Cable Beach. There were over a hundred cars on the beach. Many people had quite a set up next to their cars - tables, umbrella, kids playing. Probably waiting for the sunset. Had a look at the camel rides. There were three groups - red, yellow and blue. The camels smelled bad and made funny noises. Wonder how they get all those camels onto the beach. Had dinner of rice and mince pork.

Wed 17 Aug 2011 Broome



Dinosaur's foot is bigger than Ming Kim's



0630 (10858 km) Woke and left at some ungodly hour to see the dinosaur footprints at Gantheaume Point. They can only be seen at certain times of the month when the tides are super low. We had to find them before the tide came in. There were already people there searching for footprints. They found them so we just milled around the 3 dinosaur print positions and took photos. We could see the tide coming in. Also looked at the cast dinosaur footprint at the top of the cliff.

 

0725 (10865 km) Left the dinosaur footprints.

0735 (10873 km) Cable Beach Surf Club. There was a talk on "Turtle Magic", mainly about the flat back sea turtle that nests on Cable Beach. There is a group of volunteers who work tirelessly every year during nesting season. They have to get up early every morning to spot the turtle nests and record GPS positions. They may also assist baby turtles back to sea if required. Apparently a few years ago, a turtle came out of the water at 4:30 pm in the afternoon and laid eggs! The volunteer had taken photos of that and show us the site on Cable Beach. It is a pity only 1 out of 1000 eggs survive. Apparently, there was a year there were only about 600 eggs, so statistically, there would have been no new turtles that year. How sad.

0900 (10873 km) Went to town.

0915 (10880 km) Chinatown. Had breakfast at McDonalds. Took photos with the Hard Hat Diver statue. Went down Johnny Chi Lane. Saw Sun Pictures which is an old open air cinema. It is amazing it is still standing and operational. Hope it doesn't rain much. Walked into several pearl shops and saw a 21mm diameter pearl, valued at about $84,000. Just a bit of spare chance. HM bought a pearl necklace. Went shopping for groceries as well.

1250 (10888 km) Back to caravan park for lunch of hotdogs. Went swimming and body boarding at Cable Beach. There were great waves for body boarding for the kids. Not too big, not too small.

1800 (10888 km) Dinner of sausages and lamb chops.

1950 (10888 km) Went to Golf Club to view Staircase to the moon. After touring through the town, we finally got to the Golf Club. The moon was starting to get smaller.

2050 (10907 km) Back at caravan park.

 



Tue 16 Aug 2011 Broome

0800 (10833 km) Deliver car for service at Shinju Motor Group. Got dropped back at the caravan park. Had pancakes for breakfast. Catch up with washing, blog, emails, tidy up the camper.

1200 (10833 km) Had lunch of noodles and dace. Went swimming. It was a nice pool, salt chlorinated.

1700 (10833 km) Went to pick up the car. They were very nice. And very busy.

1700 (10853 km) Went to Cable Beach to watch the sun set. Beautiful. It was low tide so the water was very, very far away. Had dinner of soft tacos.

Mon 15 Aug 2011 Nillibubbica Rest Area to Broome

0900 (10704 km) Breakfast of cereal. No toast since there was no electricity. Left the rest area.
1015 (10812 km) Broome. Went to Visitor Centre and went shopping for groceries.
1200 (10819 km) Palm Grove Caravan Park. Bowl 4. Nice park - had a lovely shady spot. Had toasted sandwiches for lunch. Went swimming in the park pool. The water was just nice. The facilities were clean. Great park.
1715 (10819 km) Left for Staircase to the Moon market at Town Beach.
1730 (10826 km) Town Beach. There was a market and so we bought dinner from the stalls. Brought our chairs so we got to eat our dinner in comfort. Sat by the beach and waited for the moon to rise. And then it rose. Staircase to the Moon. There! Done it. Lots of people taking photos. The flashes were going off in all directions. Someone shouted "The flash won't work. Turn it off." Quite nice. The moon rose as a red ball with some lines representing the staircase. Rises quicker than one expects. HM had to learn to use some more functions of the new camera so that she could take photos of the moon.

1930 (10826 km) Went home. The field car park was full and people parked in every position so some cars were actually blocked in.

1945 (10833 km) Caravan park.

Sun 14 Aug 2011 Fitzroy Crossing to Nillibubbica Rest Area

0715 (10359 km) Left for Geike Gorge National Park.

Geike Gorge

0735 (10383 km) Geike Gorge National Park. We got on the 8am boat cruise along the Fitzroy River. The limestone gorge had high cliffs that were white at the bottom (up to flood levels), blackish at the top and red in other places. There were bottle swallows (fairy martins) flying around and they had made nests on the underside of the ledges. Yes, the underside, which means they are glued upside down to the ledge. Every year the wet season washes away the nests and the birds have to rebuild them. We also saw fresh water crocodiles. The kids had fun counting the crocodiles. The trick was to not double count them on the way back.

0915 (10383 km) Left Geike Gorge.

0945 (10404 km) Fitzroy River Lodge. Filled up. Packed up.

1030 (10407 km) Left Fitzroy River Lodge.

1215 (10568 km) Boab Rest Area. It had a huge boab tree and was hollow in the middle. We could just imagine how someone could have lived in there. Lunch of Ritz, Cruskits, cheese and tuna.

1255 (10568 km) Continue on our journey to next rest stop.
1430 (10704 km) Nillibubbica Rest Area. This is a freestay 24 hour rest area. Quite a number of caravans around. It has a stinky drop toilet. Dinner of pasta bolognaise. The kids lit a fire and sang songs and played games.

Sat 13 Aug 2011 Fitzroy Crossing

At Windjana Gorge

0845 (10048 km) Breakfast of cereal and toast. Left. Got onto 100km of dirt road (not too bad) and some water crossings to Windjana Gorge National Park.

1130 (10203 km) Windjana Gorge National Park. Saw an Olive Python on the walking track. It was just minding its own business. There were crocodiles swimming around and basking in the sun. There were quite a number of them and people were taking photos of them, including HM with her new camera. They were fresh water crocodiles and so they are not as dangerous. Did not see any salt water crocodiles in the area. Also saw lots of fish, including the Archer Fish. Chatted with 2 couples we had met several times since Katherine - what a coincidence we keep bumping into each other. Had lunch of chicken sandwiches.
1400 (10203 km) Left.
1445 (10240 km) Tunnel Creek National Park. This is an amazing creek that has formed a tunnel under the limestone Napier Range. Armed with torches, we walked and waded through it to get to the other side of Napier Range. At certain sections, the water was waist deep (or armpit deep for MH). Everyone enjoyed the challenge of going into the darkness and water. We found lots of fish and crustaceans in the water. There were also bats hanging from the ceiling, and little waterfalls.
1630 (10240 km) Left, passed heaps of cattle.
1830 (10359 km) Back at caravan park. Dinner of fried rice.


Going through Tunnel Creek



Fri 12 Aug 2011 Bungle Bungle Caravan Park to Fitzroy Crossing

0815 (9635 km) Left Bungle Bungle Caravan Park.
0930 (9747 km) Halls Creek. Quite a rough place. Had to search for diesel - the main petrol station had run out. So we had to go to the other one, and there was a long queue of campers, motorhomes etc. Roaring trade at $2.00 per litre!
1245 (10039 km) Fitzroy Crossing River Lodge. Nice caravan park. Site 85.
1515 (10040 km) Went to check out the town and shopping. Expensive - cheapest bread was over $5.00. Rough looking town although the government stimulus program is working - new housing and shopping centre. Lots of Aboriginals hanging around.
1520 (10043 km) Information Centre.
1620 (10045 km) Filled up with cheaper diesel, after finding out the Shell station had run out of diesel. Obviously diesel is in demand.
1630 (10048 km) Back at caravan park. Had dinner of sausages and falafel.