Yardie Creek 2

It's Sunday and we started the morning with a relaxing walk along the tip of the gorge. We saw some Euros. 

The colours in the gorge were amazing at this early time. 

We came back and enjoyed some bacon and eggs for breakfast and chatted to our neighbours. 

Later we had a drive and did a slow beach crawl checking out Turquoise Bay, Mandu Beach and Osprey Bay. All were lovely but Turquoise Bay was just magnificent. Soooo frustrating not to be swimming as it is really hot. 

Turquoise bay

Osprey Bay

Very pebbly at Osprey Bay. Beautiful colours

Later in the day we did another raft trip down the creek to the limit of the water. As it was a sanctuary we couldn't walk in any further than the water limit. 

Someone had said they had seen a 3 metre shark go into the creek at high tide that morning! Saw a pair of eagles high up with one sitting on a nest. 

Daddy Eagle watching us

Mummy Eagle also watching

Another beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean. Probably the last we will ever see!

Yardie Creek

Today we said goodbye to Coral Bay and headed towards Exmouth. The whole of this peninsula is such different terrain yet again. It is sparse red arid desert like land with termite nests everywhere. Sections of it have been burnt and there are green shoots popping up through the burnt stubble. The horizon is vast as there are no trees anywhere just occasional shrubs. Temperature is high again. 

Landscape is littered with Termite mounds

The Ningaloo peninsula is quite unique with the Cape Range running its length and a dominating feature seen from both sides of the peninsula. 

We do some shopping and head off to Ningaloo coast for a few days of lovely snorkelling. We had barely got onto the coast when we started seeing warnings about the irukandji problem. 14 people had been hospitalised in the past couple of weeks with  irukandji jellyfish sting symptoms. Plus there were a lot of red jellyfish in the water and on the beaches. We were devastated as after a lot of deliberation we decided not to take the risk. 

So we set up camp at Yardie Creek which is a very small NPWS campsite. We cheered ourselves up by defrosting some chocolate cake. About 4 we pumped up Ashley's pack raft and went paddling to explore the gorge which has the only water in it. It was just beautiful. The reds and the oranges of the rock were quite spectacular. And we saw several of the endangered Black-Flanked Rock Wallaby. They were so cute and high up on the gorge wall. They would stop and watch us go past. And we saw eagles and Osprey as well. The sun set just as we arrived back and we walked along the beach enjoying the changing colours of the sky. 

Sunset from our campsite

Coral Bay 2

Today we did a snorkelling tour in a glass bottomed boat for the morning. It was fun snorkelling much further out once I stopped stressing about sharks. Geoff actually saw one about 2 metres long but he didn't bother  anyone. Just as well I didn't see him! The coral wasn't particularly colourful but beautifully structured. There was cabbage coral, brain coral and lots more. Beautiful fish everywhere. You could hear them chomping on the rocks to get the algae. The water was so warm. 

After the snorkel we went in search of turtles. Saw a couple of beauties. Then we had another snorkel closer back to the shore. The water was colder. Apparently there are 2 different currents that roll over the reef so the temperature is quite different in different areas.    

Photo borrowed from the net

 

After the tour we went back to the van and had lunch and a nap. Later in the afternoon we went exploring, trying to find a walking track to another snorkel area. But it was too far and too hot so we went back to the beach and did a drift snorkel along the edge of the reef. 

Coral Bay

Today we arrived in Coral Bay today and it is just heavenly. For the first time we have found that the reality lives up to the hype in the brochures. The water is really warm and clear. I am getting more confident snorkelling and not quite so scared I am going to be eaten by a shark.  I don't have any photos for today as have been too busy swimming. But just to share what it looks like here I have 'borrowed' some from the net. 

Carnarvon and Coral Bay

Yesterday was Anzac Day so we were stranded in Carnarvon until we could get new tyres. We made use of the day by getting done maintenance jobs done.  Today we got the new tyres and then went out to Quobba Point to see the blow holes. It wasn't too big but you could get quite close and could see the multiple holes on the rocks. 

Good to see the rock fishermen wearing vests

Then we did some snorkelling. Shame it was low tide because the water was very shallow and difficult to snorkel in without running into the coral. But heaps of different fish and some very nice coral. 

  Back home and a shopping trip and more jobs

Day of frustration

Today we were woken early with everyone packing up to go. Unable to relax and go back to sleep we decided to get up and get going.  We discovered a good back road to Gascoyne junction which was a lot shorter than going through Carnarvon even though it was dirt. We rang and checked the condition of the road and it sounded fine.  It was an iconic outback road and after 2 hours of driving we didn't see any vehicles at all. The earth is so red and there are lots of emus and goats and kangaroos.    We stopped for lunch in the middle of nowhere. The heat and the flies are not pleasant.  

After lunch we set off again. The road was getting rougher and suddenly the car and van were bouncing around. We had a flat. We had to pull everything out of the back of the car to get to the spare tyre. 

My rugged He Man changed the tyre easily thankfully as we had no reception. We then decided it was too risky to continue on this road without a spare tyre so we turned around and travelled back across the desert again. Very disappointing that we won't make it to the Kennedy Ranges. 

Very pleased to roll into Canarvon. It took a while to sweep the red dust out of the van!

 

 

I don't think the tyre is repairable!

 

 

Looking for a beach

 

Today we had a bit of a later start.  First stop was at the Denham Aquarium. It was a smallish set up but had an excellent guided tour about the different types of marine animals. 

Venomous Lion fish

Remarkable camouflage of the Stone fish

This turtle kept trying to get someone to feed it

Sharks

 

After our aquarium visit we went on a beach crawl, looking for somewhere to snorkel and swim. We saw some beautiful views but nowhere suitable. 

 

View from Eagles Bluff

Whalebone Beach

 

 Finally we found Shell Beach which appeared to have lots of nice sand and clear water and no weed. The sand however was millions of little shells, a little hard on the feet. The water was very shallow but nice and cool. The salinity was really high and it was very easy to float. 

 

For tea we went to the most western pub in Australia. We were so hoping for fresh local seafood for tea but it seems impossible to access it. We had a seafood basket and it was horribly expensive and not very nice. So we felt obligated to buy almond magnums to compensate.