Day 72 Tuesday 23rd August

Day 72 Tuesday 23rd August

We left Geraldton heading for the national trust town ship of Greenough, about 50kms south. Lyn and I were quite keen to do the self-guided walk around the 11 restored buildings in the settlement. The boys weren't so keen so they stayed back at the general store which had a lovely cafe out the back and enjoyed a coffee.  Lyn and I were very impressed with all the restored buildings and displays. We spent over an hour exploring them.  From here we drove on to Port Denison where we stopped for lunch. It was a beautiful day and we sat outside eating, watching boats coming and going through the breakwater. After lunch we continued down the coast and arrived at a popular coastal town called Jurien Bay. We managed to book in here for the next 2 nights and hope to visit the famous Pinnacles tomorrow, from here. Rob was pretty happy because the caravan park has 2 small gates either side of the park. One leads to the buthcher and bakery and the other to the local tavern. 

Day 71 Monday 22nd August

Day 71 Monday 22nd August

We decided we would like to stay in Geraldton one more night so Rob went down to book us in for another night. Unfortunately by the time Lyn and Steve went to do this the caravan park did not have any powered sites left and so they moved down to a free park on the foreshore of Geraldton. We headed inland about 55 kms to Ellendale pool. On the way we stopped off at a huge Alinta windfarm. There were over 70 wind turbines spread over the hills. Alinta had also put up information boards about the windfarms and the turbines. A propeller was also on display and the boys were pretty impressed. We travelled on to the very picturesque Ellendale pool, a very inviting scene but it was far too cold to go for a dip. We continued back to Geraldton taking  a different route and called into a beautifully restored chapel. Back in Geraldton Rob and I went a nice cafe for lunch located on the foreshore. Following this Lyn and I visited the old Geraldton jail and craft store. It was facinating, as not only was there alot of information about the history of the jail but many of the cells housed craft shops, with knitted goods, candles, jams and pickles, woodworks, lace works etc.etc. Lyn and I were really impressed with a display of felt animals, creatures and mythical beings that one of the talented artisits had made.  After the boys returned to join us (as they had been at Bunnings) Rob and I went for a lovely drive out to the port area and saw the fisheries area and many large commercial fishing boats. From there we visited the Point Moote Lighthouse, the tallest steel lighthouse in Australia. We also watched a fantastic kite surfer jumping into air as he sped across the waves. 

Day 70 Sunday 21st August

Day 70 Sunday 21st August

We had an uneventful journey to Geraldton again enjoying the many varieties of wild flowers lining the road. After settling into a lovely caravan park and having lunch we decided to visit the Western Australian Museum of Geraldton. It was located down near the new marina area in a  very flash building. It was free but a donation was encouraged and we thought quite deserved. We wished we had arrived earlier as the museum was closing at 3pm. It had so many interesting displays about the history of the local area but the things we really enjoyed were the displays about the ship wrecks located off the coast of this area, mainly Dutch ships from the 1600s and the infamous Batavia mutiny shipwreck artifacts. I remembered these from our last visit 16 years ago. A new stunning display was that of HMAS Sydney that had disappeared of this coast during WW2 in Nov 1941 with 645 souls lost. It told the story and then the search which went on for decades with the Sydney being located of the coast of Shark Bay in 2008. With the museum closing we visited a moving memorial to the HMAS Sydney located on a hill over looking Geraldton. It has a huge marble wall with the names of all the men who had been on the ship and a beautiful metal dome covered with the shapes of birds. Also there was a bronze statue of a grieving woman looking out to sea. It is interesting to note that this fabulous memorial was built in 2001 and it is said that the direction the woman is looking is where the Sydney was located 150kms out to sea in 2008.

Day 69 Saturday 20th August

Day 69 Saturday 20th August

The wind was up this morning and things were a little cool but the wind dropped out pretty quickly and it started to warm up. Heather, Paul, Hanna and Ray were leaving today and heading south as Heather and Paul's caravan is booked in for a service  in Perth in a few days and Hanna and Ray needed to get back to Albany. We were staying here with Lyn and Steve, at Wagoe Beach for another night so we could check out Kalbarri National park. We packed lunch and headed first to the Loop Lookout and the famous Nature's Window. The Murchison River has carved its way through this area creating breathtaking views everywhere. Although I am struggling to walk too far with my hip I was pleased to say I managed all the short walks to the lookouts with Rob only having to do one steep walk on his own. Lyn and Steve thoroughly enjoyed the day too and we probably took far too many photos. We returned to the vans late in the afternoon and had a delicious tea, cooking up some of our fish from Coral Bay. Lyn made a beautiful pineapple pudding for dessert. 

Day 68 Friday 19th August

Day 68 Friday 19th August

We left our beautiful freecamp on the banks of the Murchison River heading for Kalbarri. It didn't take us very long to get there but when we arrived there was some bad news. All the caravan parks in Kalbarri were totally full and as we were all hoping to have water and power. We weren't sure what we were going to do. Kalbarri has some magnificent coastal views along with beautiful gorge views inland, on the Murchison River. We looked at an option of staying further south at Pt Gregory as we could get into a park there but then realised it was 65 kms from Kalbarri and this would be quite long drive back to Kalbarri to see the sights. 20 kms out from Kalbarri we found a farm at a place called Wagoe Beach. It advertised water and powered sites so we drove into it. Well, we really fell on our feet. There was a group of people staying in the chalets and one site had a camper trailer on it but the rest of the area was available. We were to find out later that these people were here for a beach wedding. 4 wheel drive vehicles were decorated with ribbons for the drive on the beach and we saw the bride and bridesmaids  having their photos taken before the cermony. The sites over looked the ocean and we couldn't believe what a wonderful place we had come to. It was also very inexpensive. In front of our sites we could see large sandhills and beyond that the huge swell of the ocean, at times crashing into some  cliffs and sending water high into the air. We also spotted several whales. After we had settled in and had lunch we drove along the coast back to Kalbarri stopping in at vaious coastal cliffs including, Natural Bridge, Island Rock, Eagle Gorge and Pot Alley. We also went to a very famous surfing area called Jakes Point and was amazed at the 20 or so surfers who were riding the huge waves. Close to the town of Kalbarri, the Murchison River empties into the ocean and it is quite spectacular. We called in here too. Back to our caravans at Wagoe Beach we settled in around a fire again with another SA couple who had arrived.  

Day 67 Thursday 18th August

Day 67 Thursday 18th August

Today we were all visiting Monkey Mia to see the dolphin feeding and so we were up very early as we needed to  be there by 7.30am. We had pre-purchased our tickets hoping to avoid a delay at the entrance but it didn't make any difference. The dolphin feeding is extremely well controlled to ensure the dolphins are still able to catch there own fish out in the wild. Only 5 female dolphins are fed but the others still come in to play. Lyn was very lucky and was chosen to feed one of the dolphins. After the first feeding, Paul, Heather, Hanna and Ray headed back to Denham to collect their vans and visit the Shark Bay Aquarium. We stayed on to watch a second feeding of the dolphins from the jetty. We were standing next to 2 young women who were taking observations of the dolphins who had come into the bay. Following this we had a coffee at the cafe overlooking the bay and resort. We headed back and collected our vans. From here we travelled to a beautiful freecamp located on the banks of the Murchison River. This spot had many clean, chemical toilets and several dump points. We arrived around 3pm and about an hour later, Paul, Heather, Hanna and Ray arrived. They had had a fantastic time at the Aquarium having a young marine biologist giving them excellent commentary regarding the different marine life in the tanks. It was starting to cool down so we decided to have a fire. Fire pits were provided everwhere and we had surrounded one of these with the vans. We went searching for firewood and by dinner time had a beautiful warm fire. We cooked, spuds and corn in the coals of the fire and enjoyed a delicious dinner around the fire.

Day 66 Wednesday 17th August

Day 66 Wednesday 17th August

Today we travelled from Wooramel Station to Denham(Shark Bay) as we will be visiting Monkey Mia tomorrow.  We are lucky to be travelling when the famous Western Australian wildflowers are starting to flower. We have been treated to a huge aray of different flowers, various shapes, sizes and colours all the way down to Denham. We stopped off at Hamelin Pool to see the world famous &Stomatolites&,  similar to the earliest forms of lifeand dating back 3,000 million years. An excellent walkway out over the water, with interpretive signs helped give us a better understanding as to the significance of these microbes that build stromatolites. We also walked over Shell Beach, a beach completely made of tiny shells, no sand. After arriving in Denham and having lunch we went for a drive out to several lookout areas. Unfortunately our luck with the fantastic weather we have had, ran out today. It has been very windy and we've had squalls with rain go through during the afternoon. 

Day 65 Tuesday 16th August

Day 65 Tuesday 16th August

We left Carnarvon without any issues as we only needed to get to Wooramel Riverside Retreat which was only 120km down the road. We arrived before lunch and settled in. The retreat is located at Wooramel stataion, a 356,000 acre working cattle, sheep and goat station. The property borders the Indian Ocean and backs onto Shark Bay. Our camping site was located on the banks of the Wooramel River  which is an upside down river, like quite a few of the rivers up this way. The water soaks through the sand and runs underground for most of the time. It only runs on the surface 2-3 times a year for a couple of weeks after good rains. The sites were beautiful with large shady gum trees all around. We had toilets and showers (set inside huge rainwater tanks) but no power or water. The station had designed it's own 4 wheel drive self drive so after lunch we went off on it. We did manage to get lost on part of it but did see alot of the Shark Bay mud flaps and also more of the station area. Lyn and Steve did the 6km walk close to the station homestead, which took them past many old pieces of station machinery and was very interesting. When we returned from our  drive we ventured down to the Artesian natural hot baths for a very relaxing and therapeutic soak. The  temperature of the water is a beautiful 33°C and it has a very high mineral content. After dinner we sat around our firepit (made from the rim of a truck) and enjoyed a very peaceful, clear evening under the stars.

Day 64 Monday 15th August

Day 64 Monday 15th August

It was time to leave Coral Bay so we woke to a beautiful calm morning with no wind! It could have come up later though... We traveled south to Carnarvon without any problems, arriving at the  Wintersun Caravan Park before lunch. After delicious pizzas for lunch made by Hanna we took a scenic drive around the town  and surrounds. We saw the mile long jetty, tram line and tram museum but decided against walking the jetty or taking the tram as it was $5 to do the walk and  $10 for the tram. After our tour, Ray and Hanna then took us to a banana and vegetable plantation that belonged to a friend of their's. We had a walk around the crops of tomatoes and bananas and then made some purchases at the little stall. We headed back to town to do some shopping and following this Rob and I called into another shop on a plantation and I had a frozen, pure mango icecream and Rob a frozen strawberry icecream. Yum. Back at the caravan park, Paul, Heather, Ray, Hanna, Rob and I and booked into the special &Monday Spud Night dinner& that the park runs. For $10 you got a huge spud with a huge choice of fillings as well as coleslaw etc. An icecream dessert was also included. We walked down to the huge recreation shed snd couldn’t believe our eyes. Inside there were 4 long, long tables full of grey nomads wating for dinner, drinking and chatting. There were several more tables outside too. The whole thing was extremely well organised and very efficient. They cooked well over 200 potatoes in a huge oven that was close to where we were sitting.  Looking at all these people, it was quite scary. We decided we couldn’t possibly be as old as they were  and I think we tried to tell ourselves that we're really not in the grey nomad demographic.....

Day 63 Sunday 14th August

Day 63 Sunday 14th August

We were hoping for a calm windless day but unfortunately we didn't get that. Still, Steve, Lyn and I were determined to go kayaking and try to get close to the outer reef. Hanna and Heather had another morning snorkel too. We set out close to lunchtime and it was quite difficult going. The further out we went in the kayaks the stronger the wind was and the higher the waves. We were heading into the waves and by the time we made it to a channel marker buoy Lyn and Steve’s kayak had quite a bit of water in it. Steve tried to bail some of it out using his goggles which was quite comical. We were about 2/3's of the way out to the reef and the waves were getting bigger. We sensibly decided we had travelled far enough and then kayaked back into the main bay. I then took my kayak out to the biggest single piece of coral in Coral Bay called Ayres Rock. It is enormous, the top sitting just below the surface of the water and the rest of it going down several metres to the seabed. We headed back in and Lyn and Steve went back to the caravan park. I had a lazy time reading on the beach and later catching up with Hanna and Heather who had gone for a long beach walk. I decided that I couldn't leave Coral Bay without one last snorkel so headed into the water late in the afternoon. So glad I did as I was rewarded with beautiful views of the coral and fish. Rob came down to collect me in a break in the footy. We finished our stay in Coral Bay with a magnificent dinner at a cafe called Finns. We sat outside and all enjoyed our delicious meals and a few drinks.

Day 62 Saturday 13th August

Day 62 Saturday 13th August

Another windy start to the day although it did start to abate later in the morning. Ray was hoping to watch his footy team's match in the afternoon and Heather and Hanna were once again going for a snorkel in Coral Bay. Steve, Lyn, Rob and I decided to once again take the 4 wheel drive track north of Coral Bay. We drove along the rough track as far as our map showed to a place called 9 Mile Bruboodjoo Point Camp. It was on Aboriginal land and there was a charge of $10 per vehicle to stop there, $15 if you were camping overnight. There were about 20 or so campsites  mainly caravans, spread around the sparse area. There were bush toilets but water and power had to be  brought in. The conditions looked pretty rough but maybe it's a great fishing spot. We didn’t stay long and headed back to a another stop at a large sandbar. We went for a lovely walk and collected some beautiful shells. From here we drove back to the Lagoon, that we had visited a few days earlier. We snorkled here and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with plenty of brightly coloured fish and coral. Later in the afternoon we headed back to Coral Bay and watched the footy.

Day 61 Friday 12th August

Day 61 Friday 12th August

The wind was once again up today. Paul and Ray had thought they might go out again on a fishing  charter but it was canceled due to the wind. Most of us did jobs around the van. Rob cleaned out the car after our little bogging incident, yesterday and I did some cooking. Lyn did cooking, cleaning and washing too. Steve worked on his car too. Heather and Hanna were brave and went snorkeling down at the beach. They also went for a swim in the pool with Paul later in the afternoon. A few of us went over to the shops and bought the boys nice Coral Bay polo shirts that were on special. In the late afternoon a husband and wife singing duo set up on the grassed area near the playground and camp kitchen. They put on a nice show singing country and western music. Heather, Hanna and Paul went over with their seats and set up to listen but the rest of us sat in the protected area of  Steve's canopy and listened to the music there. Dinner and watching the footy followed.

Day 60 Thursday 11th August

Day 60 Thursday 11th August

We all had a quiet start to the morning. Heather and Hanna went snorkeling in the morning, Lyn did some housework and went for a run and Steve, Ray and Paul headed north not far out of Coral Bay to do some beach fishing. Rob and I followed them a little later just as they were coming up from  the beach and they didn't have much luck. In the afternoon Steve, Lyn, Paul, Ray, Rob and I headed south along the beach to do some more beach fishing.  By the time we reached the perfect spot, the wind was really up. Lyn and I sat in the vehicles and read while the boys fished. They all caught one fish but only one of them was worth keeping. When it was time to leave we had a bit of fun. Rob decided to turn the car around and drove through some soft sand and became bogged. Luckily with all the boys pushing and the special tracks that Steve and Rob had they managed to get out of the sand. It was quite entertaining for all of us....at Rob's expense. 

Day 59 Wednesday 10th August

Day 59 Wednesday 10th August

We were all up early today ready for the drive to Exmouth and beyond. From Coral Bay to Exmouth is 155km and after exploring Exmouth we intended to travel into the Cape Range National Park to Turquoise Bay a further 65 kms. We arrived in Exmouth around 10am and checked out the enormous marina that is being built here. There were many new houses being built on the marina each having their own mooring for a boat. We also saw many large commercial fishing boats too. The town had certainly grown since our last visit here. After a quick stop at Mrs Mac's (a secondhand shop that raises money for the Flying Doctors) we stopped for cofees at the shopping centre. We then drove up to the cape and down past the Valmingh Head lighthouse towards the our first stop at the Oyster Stacks. Friends of Hannah's and Ray's had told us that this was a great place to snorkel and they were not wrong. It was a bit rocky to get in but once in we were rewarded with crystal clear water full of beautiful coral and varieties of fish a few metres off shore. It was just stunning. From here we drove back to the now famous Turquoise Bay. There were quite a few people here enjoying the  white coral sands and the turquoise water. We sat on the beach, ate our lunch and later did more snorkeling here. After this we headed back to the Lighthouse lookout where we had magnificent views of the coastline. Back to Exmouth we headed to do a little shopping, mainly restocking the groceries. We arrived back at Coral Bay around 5.30pm after a fantastic day.  

Day 58 Tuesday 9th August

Day 58 Tuesday 9th August

We all had a quiet morning as the boys were recovering from their big day of fishing. It was a little cooler and still quite windy today so most of us didn't venture down to the beach but Heather and Paul braved the water and went for a swim. They said the water temperature was warm and enjoyed it. Heather also went for a swim in the caravan park's pool. This pool is fed by the warm artesian water and can get quite hot. Ray and Hannah took Rob and I in their 4 wheel drive for a little drive down south through the sandhills so Ray could gain some experience with his vehicle. He did a great job tackling the steep sandhills etc . Lyn and Steve headed north and did some fishing with Steve catching a very large, ugly fish which was poisonous and so threw it back. He did take a photo of it though. For dinner, Hannah and Heather had prepared some of the fish ribs and wings from the fish the boys caught yesterday. We had the ribs first and Hannah had coated and cooked them beautifully. Heather had made a delicious fish curry using the fish wings. This was followed by Hannah's apple crumble and custard. We all enjoyed this meal in our annex. The managers of the caravan park also joined us as they were friends of Hannah's and Rays. Following dinner we had fun trying to complete the census forms.......sensibly.

Day 57 Monday 8th August

Day 57 Monday 8th August.

Rob, Paul and Ray were up early this morning as they were going off on a chartered fishing trip. They were picked up at 7am and taken to the large boat down at the marina. I did some washing and had a quiet morning watching some of the Olympics and reading. Lyn, Steve and I met up with Heather and Hanna at the famous Coral Bay bakery for lunch. We had promised ourselves one of their specialities for lunch. We also checked out the shops......without the boys around. Later in the day we went down to the other small shopping centre where the resident jeweler had his shop. He has been here for many years and makes some stunning pieces of jewelry using shell and stirling silver. Of course we had to purchase a few of them. The fishermen returned around 3.30pm. They had beeen out beyond the outer reef, about 20 km off shore. Unfortunately it had been a bit rough so Rob struggled a bit but the boys were all happy as the boat had &bagged out& with a variety of huge fish including, snapper, red emperor,  robinson etc. The crew spent about an hour cleaning and filletting everyone's fish. Paul, Rob and Ray wanted the wings of the fish which are normally thrown out so they spent their time cutting them off and gathering them up. Once the fillets were back at the caravans, Hanna and Heather spent some time cleaning the fillets up and ensuring there were no bones left. The bags of fillets were shared out and we ended up with about 15 packs of fish fillets for our freezer.

Day 56 Sunday 7th August The drought has broken

Day 56 Sunday 7th August The drought has broken

We had a quiet Sunday morning around the caravans, enjoying coffees, cake  and good conversation. Hanna and Ray's friends  (Chester and Sharon) left today heading south and we all said goodbye to them. Lyn and Steve went for a short walk and we did a little bit of grocery shopping. Coral Bay boasts 2 caravan parks, 2 shopping centres including a bakery at one, 2 pubs, several cafes and tour booking offices and a large and apparently expensive back-packer accommodation. After lunch, Steve, Lyn, Rob and I took the 4 wheel drive track down south along the coastline to do some beach fishing. We were all thrilled for Rob who after 14 hours of fishing (so he tells us) caught his first fish, a good sized golden trevally. Soon after, I caught a small flathead. Steve caught a small golden trevally and let it go. I then caught a good sized salmon. We were all pretty happy when we headed back to the caravan park. Paul and Ray had spent the afternoon watching the footy and Hanna an Heather had been snorkeling. Rob cooked the fish up on the barbecue  and we all had them as an entrée. Being so fresh they were quite delicious. 

Day 55 Saturday 6th August

Day 55 Saturday 6th August

Paul and Ray were up early today as they were heading out on a chartered fishing expedition. The rest of us had a slow start to the morning enjoying the beautiful weather. We(Rob, Heather, Steve, Lyn, Heather, Hanna and myself) decided to take 2 vehicles and head south down another 4 wheel drive track that followed the large sandhills and coastline. Rob and Steve enjoyed the challenges of the large sandhills and the scenery. For part of the trip we drove along the beach and stopped to enjoy the magnificent surf. This could be a good spot for fishing.  We drove on to the end of the track which ended at a rocky outcrop overlooking the ocean. Here we stopped for morning tea and watched two sea turtles hunt for food in the ocean. One was most unusual as it had a very light shell and we called it the albino turtle. The other turtle had normal colouring. We were  thrilled to see these animals in the wild. We headed back to the caravan park for a late lunch. The fishermen (Paul and Ray) returned late in the afternoon with an outstanding catch. Everyone on the boat, catches their bag limit. It is quite amazing. The boys caught Red emperor, Gold band snapper, Rosey perch, and  Robbinson sea bream. The fish were brought in in huge tubs on ice and then the crew filetted the fish for everyone. Very happy fishermen. 

Day 54 Friday 5th August

Day 54 Friday 5th August

We all decided that we needed to some washing in the morning. The water at Coral Bay is artesian water and quite hard and salty. I really don't mind showering in the water because it's always lovely and warm....even out of the cold taps. We have not hooked the vans up to this water as it wouldn't do the pipes etc any good. Instead we've been using the water in our tank sparingly. Coral Bay now has a desalination plant so scattered around the park are drinking water taps which is the desalinated water. Rob refilled the van tanks with this water several times so I could use the van's washing machine. He ceratinly did his weight lifting carting the water from the taps to the van. Julie left around 1.30pm, catching the bus to Broome. She should arrive in Broome tomorrow around 10am and will start her 9 day walk later in the afternoon. It's been fun having her stay with us, sleeping on the air-matress in our annex.  After lunch we all went down to the beach and spent the afternoon snorkeling and kayaking. The weather today was perfect for this with very little wind and calm conditions. Again the beautiful coral and fish were everywhere. The boys were  very interested when the charter fishing group came down to clean and fillet their catch. Huge fish everywhere, sitting in large crates of ice. This has been the pattern every afternoon. Even the family groups that go out to fish here, return with wonderful catches. In fact yesterday, Heather was watching a guy fillet a big tuna and he offered her a chunk because he couldn't use it all. 

Day 53 Thursday 4th August

Day 53 Thursday 4th August

The group decided we would all head north of Coral Bay in our vehicles along a 4 wheel drive track. There were 4 vehicles in our convoy. The track followed the coastline a few hundred metres back from the shoreline, through large sandhills. (We had all taken air out of the tyres to deal with the sand and road conditions.) Our first stop was a beautiful natural pool, created by  rocks called the Lagoon. The water was a crystal clear blue and very inviting so we all had a dip. I put on my flippers, goggles and snorkel to look around. I saw a few decent sized fish but because this was a rock based reef not coral there were not the interesting corals and coloured fish. After this enjoyable stop we travelled to Oyster Bridge, another attractive spot on the beach. We had a delicious morning tea here and then headed further north to a beach where we were going to fish. Heather, Hannah and Julie went for a short walk along the beach, while I decided to snorkel  and Lyn and the boys fished. Paul quickly caught a good sized golden trevally but unfortunately after this things were very quiet and the fishers weren't even loosing their bait. After an hour or so the fishing was finished and we sat on the beautiful beach and had our lunch. Later, we headed back to Coral Bay and Lyn, Jules and myself headed back to the beach to snorkel, once again marveling at the incredible varieties of coral and brightly colored fish. As it was to be Julie’s last night in Coral Bay, we had booked into the pub for a meal. We had a group of 12, including new friends from the Caravan Park. An enjoyable experience was had by all. 

Day 52 Wednesday 3rd August

Day 52 Wednesday 3rd August

We had a quiet morning doing jobs around the caravan. Rob and Jules had booked in to do a quad bike adventure that started at 12.30pm. Julie was feeling a little apprehensive about the trip but the guide was very good giving her special attention before and during the tour. Luckily there was only one other couple on the tour so they had a great time. They took the bikes along the beautiful coastline and through sandhills stopping for a swim and snorkel at Oyster bridge. Both Jules and Rob really enjoyed the experience, returning two and a half hours later.  We all went to down to the beach at Coral Bay later in the afternoon and snorkled just off the beach amongst the coral and an a ray of stunning fish of various shapes, sizes and gorgeous colours. 

Day 51 Tuesday 2nd August

Day 51 Tuesday 2nd August

We woke to a lovely day apart from the wind which continued to blow. Rob, Julie and I booked in for a glass-bottom boat tour that was due to start around 12.15pm. Although the wind was still blowing it wasn't really causing any concern as the sea wasn't too rough. The tour went for about an hour and was worth every cent. Not only did we have excellent views of the  coral and beautifully colured fish but we learnt much from the very informative commentary provided by our skipper. We learnt that the coral here is mainly, brown, greens, dark purple and blue because of the more temperate  climate than that of the tropical areas. We saw huge corals of many different shapes, all close in to the shore. Many varieties of fish lived in amongst the coral and we learnt that this is one of the most healthiest coral reefs in he world. When we returned we had  lunch and Heather, Hannah, Julie and I had our first try at snorkeling off the beach. It was so exciting to see the  beautiful coral and reef close up, this way. Although it was about 27 degrees, the water was quite warm and we weren't cold at all.  Lyn and Steve went for a long walk along the beach while we were snorkeling. We had a delicious dinner with Heather, Paul, Hannah, Ray, Lyn, Steve and Jules. Paul and Heather and Ray and Hannah had cooked up some fish that they had caught and shared it with us all. 

Day 50 Monday 1st August

Day 50 Monday 1st August

We left our beautiful freecamp at 8.30am and headed for Coral Bay. We didn't get very far down the road before we were in a very long line of traffic that had stopped for roadworks. Rob and Paul got out of the vehicles and lined up ahead of us were at least 12 other vans and behind us the same. There were also, campervans and mobile homes, camper trailers etc. It again made us realise how many people are travelling on the roads, even in this more remote area of Western Australia. After a couple more roadwork stops we turned west towards Coral Bay. The boys were very pleased because we now had a strong tail wind and our fuel economy improved greatly. We arrived at Coral Bay just before lunch and the town was busy. The Caravan Park was full and there were people everywhere. Lyn and Steve were already in the park and had set up and Rob’s sister, Julie had also arrived earlier. She had taken the long trip in a bus from Broome to Coral Bay. Julie will be doing a special walk along the coast out from Broome, with a group of people and learning all about the Aboriginal ways and traditions. The walk is done over a week or so and they cover about 90kms, setting up tents to sleep in etc. We set up our vans, had some lunch and then met Hannah and Ray from Albany, friends of Heather and Paul. They had met them last year when they were travelling and had arranged to meet up again at Coral Bay, this year. Hannah and Ray had driven up from the south. We went for a walk down to the beach and the water looked gorgeous. People were swimming and snorkeling and we watched the fish feeding which occurs  3 times a week. Happy hour was lots of fun with the 6 of us plus Julie, Hannah and Ray and friends of Hannah and Ray's, Sharon and Chester. 

Day 49 Sunday 31st July

Day 49 Sunday 31st July

This morning we had a call from Rob’s sister, Julie. She was making her way down from Broome to Coral Bay in a bus and had stopped in Karratha for breakast. She was due to arrive at Coral Bay in the afternoon. We had a quiet day, travelling and arrived at a  beautiful free camp, with toilets and a dump site. It was situated next to  a large river called Yannarie and although very busy, had  many lovely spots for vans. The boys set up the satellite dish so they could watch some of the footy but they had to watch the Crows match on the phone. (Yes we had telstra reception here too.) We went for a short walk to the river and enjoyed the scenery. The wind had gradually picked up during the day and ended up being quite strong. 

Day 48 Saturday 30th July

Day 48 Saturday 30th July

This morning we were all busy with jobs. The boys worked on the vehicles giving them an oil change. Once this had been completed Rob headed off to do some stocking up of food and drinks as on Monday we will be arriving in Coral Bay and the shopping there is a bit limited. I did some washing which caused a bit of a flood in the van and meant Rob and Paul  had another little job to do, fixing the drainage of the van. I also did some cooking of slices and a cake. Later in the afternoon we all went to the FeNACLNG festival that was held at a large sports ground. It was very much like our Royal Adelaide Show with showbags, rides, amusements, car, camping, caravan displays, food vans, entertainment on a stage etc . etc.  Unlike most agricultural shows the entrance was completely free because it was sponsored by the big mining companies including Rio Tinto, Woodside etc. The word FeNaCLNG are the chemical symbols for iron (Fe), NaCL is salt and NG is natural gas which are the 3 main exports out of Karratha and it's surrounding areas. This was the 44 year of the festival. I think most of the population of Karratha was there. We had a good look around and listened to the WA police pipe band. They were pretty good. We stayed for dinner and then headed back to our caravans. 

Day 47 Friday 29th July

Day 47  Friday 29th July

Lyn and Steve decided to take their time and wander to Coral Bay, stopping along the way several times and relax so they left around 10am this morning. Heather, Paul, Rob and I decided to stay in Karratha a  couple more nights so we could go to the FeNaCLNG festival which is on this weekend. After Lyn and Steve had left we headed out towards Point Sampson which was about 50 kms from Karratha. We called into Wickham first and took some photos at the mining display, which included a huge mining truck and a train engine. We drove along the beach at Pt Walcott and the boys tried their luck at fishing but the tides weren't right. We saw the Rio Tinto trains lined up  with carriges full of iron ore ready for the Cape Lambert loading facility. From here we drove on down to Point Sampson and checked out the beaches, the marina and stopped for lunch. The boys had another try at fishing on a causeway but had no luck. On the return trip we visited the restored heritage town of Cossack. It was once a bustling, pearling town in the 1870s and later a port but was deserted in the early 1900s. The buildings have all  been restored and we were lucky enough to be in the town when the Annual Pilbara Art Exhibition was being held in one of the old buildings. We enjoyed looking at the old buildings and the art before returning to Karratha.

Day 46 Thursday 28th July

Day 46 Thursday 28th July

We all decided to drive into the centre of Karratha and check out the main shopping mall, this morning. Karratha has grown so much over the past 16 years. It has a few high rise buildings and a very large modern, shopping mall. There are many new housing developments all around us and this seems the trend here despite the downturn in the mining industry. After lunch we all drove out to the Woodside North West Shelf project(natural gas) area's visitors centre. Rob and I had been here many years ago and really enjoyed it. We were the only people in the centre to start with and were well and truly looked after by the lovely young woman looking after the centre. It was free and we were treated to a 15 minute video explaining the development of the natural gas industry here and also about how the gas is mined off shored, treated and sent either overseas in ships or down to Perth via a pipeline. We were given i-pads which we could hold up to the windows and point in different directions over the huge plant and the ipad would tell you all about that particular part of the plant. There were many other displays that we enjoyed too but the best part was when we were offered food..... There had been a seminar in the complex and there was a whole lot of food left over. The young woman offered it to us rather than throw it out. Despite having lunch we all managed to put away wraps, cheeses and biscuits, fruit, cheesecakes etc. We were really happy when some other people arrived at the visitor centre to eat some of the food! After this we drove down to the end of the Burrup Peninsula and Paul tried a bit of fishing but lost his lures in the rocks. We all drove to Deep Gorge where we went for a short walk to see some Aboriginal paintings on the rocks. We also drove to Dampier to see the famous statue of Red Dog and also the Port and Rio-Tinto port operations. 

Day 45 Wednesday 27th July

Day 45 Wednesday 27th July

We had another wondeful day again today, experiencing the magnificent natural wonders of our country. We left Karratha early for a day trip in the Millstream-Chichester National Park. The road in was pretty good and bituminised for the first 90 kms  before it turned to dirt. The road also followed a couple of the iron-ore railway lines and we saw numerous, long trains heading in both directions. The full ones heading to the ports and the empty ones heading back to the Hammersley Range.  Our first stop was the picturesque Python Pool, a beautiful,  clear pool surrounded by enormous, straight red and black rockwalls. We were tempted to have a swim but the water was a little on the cool side. We continued on another 30 or so kilometres to Deep Reach Pool, situated on the Fortescue River. Rob and I remembered camping here with Jasmine, next to the river 16 years ago. I was very impressed with all the improvements that have been made in the park, with many more amenities and designated camping areas. (You can’t camp next to the river anymore, though.) We again were tempted to swim but none of us did although we met another SA couple who were going to have a swim. Special steps with a rail, down to the river had been built to make it safe and easy. From here we drove to Millstream Homestead. We stopped here and had lunch and then explored the Homestead and surrounds. The first settlers came in the 1860s and the homestead was built in the 1920s. It was a cattle station but the homestead had the luxury of having a water supply all year round from the Millstream spring which is  huge aquifer and now supplies watèr to many areas and is constantly monitored. The homestead also had palms, a vegie garden, a tennis court and also a stunning pool all year round. We went for a short walk through the beautiful wetlands surrounding the homestead. The water in the pools and streams was crystal clear and we could see the bottom of all the pools. Water-lillies and small fish were everwhere.  From here we drove to a lookout and then took a senic route out of the park before heading back to Karratha.  

Day 44 Tuesday 26th July

Day 44 Tuesday 26th July

We left Pt Hedland reasonably early and made our way to Roebourne. We travelled through some very flat country, still mainly cattle stations in this area. We crossed  quite a few creeks and rivers and the landscape was quite green but the red dirt also was still with us. We visited the Tourist information centre at Roebourne which was located in the old jail and had a museum in the old cells. The staff at the Information Centre told us about the roads into Millstream National Park so we could make some decisions about what we would do. Heather, Lyn and myself visited the museum while the boys chatted. We decided to continue onto Karratha and stay there for the next 3 nights and do a day trip into Millstream rather than take the caravans over the dirt roads again. We settled into a lovely park at Karratha and did some washing and shopping. Lyn went for a run and the boys helped a lovely lady change and fix her tyre. Unfortunately, Steve broke a filling chewing on a Mintie and had to visit a dentist to get it fixed so his afternoon was not so pleasant. 

Day 43 Monday 25th July (Steve's Birthday)

Day 43 Monday 25th July (Steve's Birthday)

We left Pardoo station and headed for Pt Hedland to do some stocking up of groceries. We arrived around 11am and decided to stay the night here in an over-flow caravan park next to the local race course. We didn't have power,amenities or hook up water but it was a nice spot and the local council was only charging $10. We were happy because we have our own showers and toilets in the vans. We had a special  morning tea with a beautiful orange poppy seed cake made by Lyn, for Steve’s birthday. We then all headed out to do our shopping. After lunch we did a little drive around Pt Hedland and noticed more than 24 ships waiting to come into port. We also saw several very long trains with carriges filled with iron ore. Pt Hedland has really grown since our last trip here in 2000. There are some very fancy, modern homes built over-looking the ocean in a new housing development and new shops etc. The older parts of the town still have the &red stained& buildings from the iron ore dust. Back at the vans in the early evening, we got together to work out where we were heading tomorrow.