Sat 17 Sep 2011 Albany to Esperance

0920 (16782 km) Breakfast of toast and cereal. Left Albany.
0930 (16785 km) Filled up. The drive to Esperance were filled with canola fields. It was bright sunny yellow as far as the eye could see.
1230 (17051 km) Rest area. Stopped for lunch of Ritz, Cruskit and kransky.
1330 (17078 km) Ravensthorpe. Filled up.
1530 (17270 km) Esperance. Esperance Bay Holiday Park. Site 39. Had spiral bolognaise for dinner.
1930 (17273 km) Went fishing and caught four fish but one jumped away while at the fish cleaning station. Oh well, Sammy the Sea Lion, who lives unde the jetty, will have something to eat.
2100 (17275 km) Back at caravan park.

Fri 16 Sep 2011 Albany

1000 (16597 km) Breakfast of toast and cereal. Left caravan park. Filled up.

Greens Pool

1100 (16650 km) Denmark. Went to see the Visitor Centre. We were expecting to see the large barometer. However, apparently the donor had a disagreement with the shire and took it back. Oh well.

1130 (16671 km) Toffee factory. There were lots of toffee samples. The Chocolate Toffee was quite good. Then we tasted some apple and pear cider. Not really impressed. Could have been the toffee that we ate first. Next time, taste the cider first and then the toffee. There were also over 20 sauces/relishes to taste.

1215 (16676 km) Honey Meadery. First, we tasted the mead. The Honey Liqueur was very smooth and nice. Then we tasted the honey. The Moort honey was quite good. We found out that the "honey cappings" was unfiltered honey straight from the bees wax.

Waves don't bother us as we have no shoes on!

1230 (16682 km) Had lunch of sandwiches. Greens Pool. It was an amazing sight. There was a pool of clear calmer water. Just about 50 metres away was the mighty Southern Ocean crashing against a defensive row of rocks that protected the pool. Would have been great swimming and snorkeling if it wasn't so cold and windy. Went over to the Elephant Rock. We had to go through a narrow gap between two huge boulders and the waves intermittently washed into the gap. So we had to time our passage through the gap. We took some photos and it started to rain. We had to get back to the car quickly. Everyone was through the gap except CK and the waves filled the gap. Suddenly the water flowed out of the gap and CK rushed through without getting wet. But the rain had started so everyone ran back to the car and got wet anyway. Next time, CK should just take his sneakers off!

1430 (16759 km) Back in Albany. Went up to Mt Melville. Couldn't see much due to the rain except the wind farm. Had a look at the marina - there was a fishing jetty. Drove out to Emu Point and saw road signs with turtles! We didn't see any turtles crossing though. Then we saw Dog Rock. And the rock was quite large and really looked like a dog's head - and this is right in the middle of the town, right next to a main Rd

1800 (16782 km) Dinner of rice and tau yew bak. Played table tennis.

Thu 15 Sep 2011 Albany

0930 (16543 km) Had toast for breakfast. Left Albany.



With a 11m sperm whale skeleton



0945 (16566 km) Whaleworld. Went on a tour where we were shown the grisly whaling industry. The whaling station was closed in 1978. After the tour, we went around taking photos of the huge whale skeletons and watching the short movies. The Giants Exists was a 3-D movie with 3-D glasses about whales. The Sharks movie used props in the back of translucent screens to illustrate the story. The Whaling Industry movie had us standing on a high platform looking down. A Day of a Whaler had little projected people amongst whaling items. The movies were quite innovative in the use of technology and were quite enjoyable. After lunch of Ritz and Cruskits, we went on a Walk on Wild Side. It is an animal enclosure with nocturnal fauna such as possum, quoll, flying foxes, etc. There was also a very friendly kangaroo named Angus that gave MH a big cuddle. So cute!

On the shipCheynes IV

1420 (16566 km) Left Whaleworld.

1430 (10571 km) Blowhole. Walked down the path and the steps to the blowhole. MK and MH nearly got blown away by the blowhole. It was intermittently making loud noises and spraying mist into the air.

See the fine mist upper left part (the fuzzy bit)

1530 (16576 km) Natural Bridge. It is amazing how the huge bridge was being held up by itself. It looked as if it could fall at any time. Apparently there has been quite a number of accidents in the area and people have been swept off. The Gap. It is a narrow gap where the wave rushes in and creates a huge splash. Don't want to be caught swimming in there.

1605 (16597 km) Back at caravan park. Played in the playground. Had dinner of steak. It rained.

Wed 14 Sep 2011 Busselton to Albany

0915 (16114 km) Had cereal for breakfast. Left Seventh Day Adventist camp. Went shopping.
0930 (16126 km) Filled up.
0945 (16126 km) Left Busselton.

Bicentennial Karri tree

1130 (16265 km) Pemberton. Bought some smoked produce from Holy Smoke. Looks and smells good.

1200 (16278 km) Bicentennial Tree. Had rolls for lunch. This tree was launched on the Bicentennial Year 1988. CK, MJ and MH climbed up to the middle platform.  It was already quite high. MK & HM chickened out after 7-8m. HM's lack of exercise meant that her thighs were already feeling the effort and didn't want to risk wobbly legs on the precarious steps! The steps were just pegs driven into the tree. The top platform is 75 metres from the ground and on windy days can sway 1.5 metres either side. It was supposed to be used as a lookout tower for fires. The view was very good but the climb was scary.

 

1500 (16431 km) Valley of the Giants. We went on the Tree Top Walk. This was much easier than the Bicentennial Tree. This walk was a gradual climb on metal spans amongst the giant Red Tingle trees. We almost had our heads in the clouds. It was quite interesting that we had recently listened to the Roald Dahl story Giraffe, Pelly and Me where the Giraffe only ate the flowers from the Tingle Tingle trees. When we came back down to Earth, literally, we went to the Ancient Empire walk. The walk took us through a forest of Tingle and other interesting trees. The old Tingle trees had their base hollowed out by insects, fungi and fire. Some trees were so big that we could go into the base of the tree. One tree just formed an arch and we could walk right through it. In the past, there was a tree so large that a Ford car could drive into it. There is now a life size picture of a car where the kids could jump into back and appear to drive it.

1630 (16431 km) Left Valley of the Giants.

 
 1745 (16543 km) Albany Gardens Holiday Resort. Site 39. Had dinner of crabs, lasagna and Indomie. Showed the kids how to eat crabs - messy but fun. The pliers came in handy.

Tue 13 Sep 2011 Busselton

0930 (16066 km) Breakfast of toast and cereal. Left camp.

Busselton Jetty

In the Underwater Observatory

0940 (16078 km) Busselton Jetty. Bought family tickets for Busselton Jetty Under Water Observatory. We went on a train to go along the 1.8 km jetty, the longest wooden pile jetty. Along the train ride, we got to see dolphins! There were also some people fishing and crabbing along the jetty. The train sure beats walking. At the end of the jetty was the Underwater Observatory. It had really good information about marine life. There was also explanation about how tides are formed and how the Leeuwin current influenced the marine life. We climbed the spiral staircase 8m down into the ocean. At each level, there was more information about the marine life at that depth level. There were barnacles and lots of corals on the piles that supported all types of fish and marine life. At the bottom, we also saw a sea star. Some of the marine life we saw included a school of Skippy Jack, Silver Trevally, Mosaic, Cuttlefish, Sea Combs and Puffer Fish. Apparently the corals become more colourful in summer when they 'bloom'. It is a fascinating place, could have spent hours there but because of the limited space, every group only gets about 45 mins. 

View from Underwater Observatory

1215 (16078 km) Left the jetty and went to the Busselton Visitor Centre.

1305 (16091 km) Went back to camp and made toasted sandwiches for lunch. Explored the beach since we were right on the beach.

1700 (16091 km) Early dinner of pasta carbonara, so that we can go crabbing.

1830 (16102 km) Busselton Jetty. Under the lights of the jetty, we caught 2 trumpet fish in the crab net. And 5 legal sized crabs. We threw back a few that were under sized. It was fun to see the crabs swimming in the water and trying to catch it with a drop net. It wasn't easy. The drop net was quite effective in catching the crabs on the ocean floor. Highly recommended to go crabbing when in Busselton.

2035 (16114 km) Saw a possum on the drive back to camp.

Mon 12 Sep 2011 Busselton

1000 (15814 km) Left camp.



See the seals sunbaking? There's one in the middle sitting up



1030 (15842 km) Cape Naturaliste. Went for a walk. There was a place known as the Other Side of the Moon but it wasn't very interesting. Saw Western Shingleback Lizards, Humpback Whales and seals. Had sandwiches for lunch.

The waves were huge and very turbulent, gushing into the canal - you can see how high it is in the back

1320 (15874 km) Canal Rocks. It is quite interesting how the gneiss rocks (metamorphic rocks) have been formed with cracks and joints and then weathering created the canals. Water was being forced through various canals and gaps in the rocks so there were huge waves. At one of the gaps, the water build up is so great it looks like a horizontal waterfall. We crossed a bridge to go over to the 'other side' of the canal. The waves were surging under us, we were getting worried that the waves would wash the bridge out and we would be stuck on the other side.

1405 (15896 km) Margaret River Chocolate Company. Very nice new building with lots of yummy looking chocolate. We had our fill of very nice smooth chocolate samples- white, milk and dark chocolate. Fonti Farm Cheese Factory. Tried a whole series of cheeses. According to HM, the Emmental Swiss Cheese would have been sublime on her potato dauphinois. There was even some yogurt to try.
1515 (15907 km) Candy Cow Lolly Shop. There were a number of fudge flavours to try. Kids were allowed two flavours and adults were allowed five flavours. Of course, the kids had to try the bubblegum fudge. We bought 45 cm of pucker sucker sherbet. Quite a novel way to sell the sherbet. First buy a length of tube. Then fill it with whatever flavours.
1615 (15971 km) Cape Leeuwin. Saw the lighthouse and took some photos of the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. Had a look at the old water wheel. It is now salt encrusted and so it is not spinning anymore but the structure is still there. The kids found some crabs hiding in the gaps.
1800 (16066 km) Back at camp. Had chicken fajitas for dinner.

Sun 11 Sep 2011 Perth to Busselton

1015 (15534 km) Had croissant and toast for breakfast. Left Perth.

A group of dolphins swam past

1130 (15627 km) Port Bouvard Marina. Went fishing. MH caught a herring but lost it. MK caught a large salmon. It was so large that it swam very quickly and broke the fishing line. There goes the hooks and new burley cage. If a salmon is found with hooks and a burley cage still stuck to it, it is MK's. Had to make up a new line for MK. Suddenly, we saw some dolphins right in front of us! They were jumping around and playing. We saw them leap out of the water and spun in the air. Just like in Seaworld. And all this right in front of us and for free. Had sausage rolls for lunch. In the morning, the tide was going to the left (into Peel Inlet) and by afternoon, the tide was going the right (to the sea).

1420 (15627 km) Left Port Bouvard.

1645 (15791 km) Busselton. Seventh Day Adventist Camp. Site V2. There was only one other couple staying there. We were right by the beach - fantastic location and so peaceful with the sound of waves lulling us to sleep. Dinner of spiral bolognaise.

One of the undersized crabs we caught

1945 (15802 km) Busselton Jetty. Went fishing, squidding and crabbing. MH's line somehow caught a flying sea gull. Tried to bring it to shore to free it but it broke free. Hope it is OK. We caught some crabs and threw them back since they were under legal size. There were lots of crabs swimming around - it's an amazing sight seeing crabs swimming, they don't seem to have the right shape for swimming around.

2145 (15802 km) Left the jetty.

2200 (15814 km) Back at camp.

Sat 10 Sep 2011 Perth

0930 (15508 km) Happy Birthday HM! Had toast and croissant for breakfast. Went to Miss Maud Shop Outlet to buy some pastries. There were some good sausage rolls and cakes. Bought pieces of Black Forrest and Chocolate Mud Cake and White Chocolate Cake for birthday cake.

1030 (15516 km) Had treasure hunt which the kids in particular, MK, organised for birthday. The hunt went all around the house, inside and out.



Kayaking on the Swan River

1315 (15524 km) Went out for picnic at Brown Street park. It is on the Swan River, so we brought fishing gear and kayaks. We cooked BBQ sausages and brought pastries that we bought earlier in the day. There was a playground and quite a large grassy area so the kids could run and play around the area. MH caught a Tarwhine. No one else caught anything but there were quite a few bites. The older kids went out kayaking. At one point MH's fishing hook got caught and CK went out on the kayak to free the line. It was a great location to have a picnic and we had wonderful friends to spend the day with and the weather was gorgeous.

1640 (15524 km) Left the park.





1650 (15532 km) Back at Jimmy's. Started repacking the car as it was our last night at Perth and we had made ourselves so at home at Jimmy's that we had stuff everywhere.

1850 (15533 km) Dinner at Royal Thai Restaurant. It's our family tradition that the b'day person gets to choose the restaurant, and HM has been missing good asian food. Had Toong Tong (money bags), Panang Curry, Grilled Pork Salad, Ka Prow Chicken and rice. The food was good, highly recommended. Even bought some takeaway for Jimmy.

Fri 9 Sep 2011 Perth

0900 (15244 km) Breakfast of toast. CK went to have a hair cut.

1045 (15346 km) Went to drive south.

Thrombolites (cyanobacteria concretions)

1215 (15373 km) Lake Clifton. There were so many mosquitoes! Had the insect repellent spray out. Saw some thrombolites but they weren't very impressive. They were mostly under murky water so it wasn't easy to see them. Thrombolites are similar to stromatolites, they differ by the way the 'lumps' are formed but they are the same cyanobacteria.

Beautiful spot for fishing

1230 (15398 km) Fishing at Port Bouvard Marina. There were some huge stingrays that were swimming past. People were catching herrings, lots of herrings. We didn't catch anything. It appears everyone had a burley cage on their fishing line. Had homemade pizzas for lunch.

1530 (15399 km) So we went to get some burley cages for our next fishing trip. Had a quick look at Mandurah.

1730 (15499 km) Back at Jimmy's.

1745 (15503 km) Filled up. Had noodles and beef casserole for dinner.

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.