20240601 -Exmouth - Cape Range National Park

 20240601 - Cape Range National Park.  Before we left Exmouth we picked up a parcel from the Post Office - a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System thingy.  Another little gadget for the Big Man, but no it's for me too (apparently). This all came about after we blew a tyre (I may have said something about the horse has already bolted - maybe not the right timing).  He did all he needed to do to set it up, so we were on our way.  Now it's my time to have fun, every 5 minutes or when the alarm went off (which was a lot), I had to read this thingy and provide him with each tyre's PSI and temperature - so much fun.  So now not only do I have knowledge of fuel economy, I can also tell you about tyres - Peter Gwynne if you need any advice, I can probably help you out, but I will need to know what the temperature outside is, where the sun is hitting each tyre, the camber of the road, the condition of the road and your speed - and that's just the start.

We arrived at our site in Cape Range National Park - we had a few things that we needed to do.  I was working on the Laptop and I looked at the time and it said 5:30pm, I thought geez that time has gone quick.  So, I get up and start organising dinner, which we have, we've cleaned up and then I picked up my phone it said 4:30pm - oops Laptop is still on Brisbane time - just another one of my moments (as Dave calls them). I seem to be having a lot of these - lucky he has a good sense of humour, I'm giving him plenty to laugh at.  

After we got ourselves settle we went for a hike - Yardie Creek Trail.

After our trek we ended up at Osprey beach for a nice little cool down.  We really enjoyed our day. 

20240603 - Yardie Homestead.  We packed some refreshments and off we went in our little car for the 2nd day.  We trekked along Mandu Mandu Gorge.  There was some good climbing up and down the cliff face on this trek, so we were glad we had our trekking boots on.  At one stage I did wish I had Dave's longer legs - I was crawling up the cliff face on all fours - something similar to Spiderman climbing up a building, but definitely not as fast or graceful. I did enjoy the climb and the view from the top was well worth it.  Kimmy Burke, I'm sorry love but some of these walks may not be for you.  At one stage Dave did comment that I don't know how the old folk could do this hike - not sure what the age bracket is for old.

This time, for our cool off, we headed to Sandy Bay for a bit of a snorkel and a swim.  I don't think either of us will get sick of the beautiful beaches.

20240604 - Yardie Creek Homestead to Coral Bay.  We left Yardie Creek and headed back to Exmouth to get some supplies, before driving down to Coral Bay.  Tomorrow we are hoping that we will be able to get out and see some Manta Rays.  The weather has been very Windy (now I know why they call WA - Windy Always) and they have called off a lot of the boat tours, the seas have been choppy, with large swells and the visibility has been terrible.  We really did feel bad for the people that had booked Whale Shark tours months and months in advance, only to find out the weather wasn't playing the game.  Their boat trips are just cancelled with their money refunded. I could only imagine how disappointed we would have been, this whole trip has really been planned around swimming with the Whales Sharks. That night we did receive confirmation that our tour for the Manta Rays was on - yay.

20240605 - 20240605 - Coral Bay.  I'm pretty excited and hopeful for the day to begin.  The seas didn't seem as rough or with the big swells as they had been for the last couple of days - yet.  So off we go, we get a snorkel in around the 'cleaning station' a place where larger fish go to get their teeth etc cleaned by smaller fish. When a shark or larger fish wants a clean, they usually open their mouth wide or position their body in such a way as to signal that they wish to be cleaned, for reef sharks they go vertical. The cleaners then remove and eat parasites, dead skin etc. from their skin, even swimming into the mouth of any fish being cleaned. This was actually very interesting to watch, we did see a lot of reef sharks getting cleaned, oh and they were large reef shark, bigger than what Dave and I have ever seen.  

The spotter plane has spotted a Manta Ray, so now it’s time to go, we all slide off the back of the boat.  I was so excited I was going to swim with a Manta Ray - which apparently, I was, I just couldn't see it, the visibility was terrible.  Our swimming guide came over to me and pointed it out, when it was directly beneath me - but I still couldn't see it - I wasn't the only one.  A few of the other snorkelers said they didn’t see it either.  The Big Fella thinks he saw a very shady outline.  The wind had picked up and it was getting pretty rough, people were having troubling even standing up, there were a couple of good falls.  Big surprise I wasn't one of them.  

We had found out that the State of Origin was going to be broadcasted over at Bill's Bar.  We didn't think there would be a lot of people there, considering we are in WA.  Wrong, the place was packed.  They have a restaurant, beer garden, sports bar and function area.  When we got there, we couldn't find a seat anywhere so we wandered into the sports bar, were people were already standing.  There was two little high bar tables in the corner, just off to the side of the pool tables, and right underneath the TV.  I had nothing to lose so I asked the bar staff if I could move the table, she said of course.  By the time I had moved the table 1 metre, someone had already grabbed the other table.  I was then lucky enough that two Western Australian people, who had absolutely no interest in the footy left.  I was stalking them and before both of their cheeks had left the seats I was in asking for the chairs. Score, by the time Dave got back from the bar, we were set and ready to go. The bonus of being in this bar was that they had one big projector screen and 5 smaller screens which by the time the game was ready to start were all on the Station of Origin.  An added bonus was that the majority of the people here, were going for QLD.  We had a great night, a bit dusty in the morning though, it was all worth it.

20240606 - Coral Bay.  It was a bit of a slow morning, it took us a little while to get motivated.  Early in the afternoon we wandered down to yet another beautiful beach - Bills Bay.

20240607 – Coral Bay to Quobba. We’ve only got a fairly short drive today; lucky we have this tyre pressure management thingy to keep having fun with.  Dave hasn’t got the tyre pressure to the pressure he wants, so we are trying everything, today Miss Daisy is going to try driving slower to see if that helps – if we go any slower the cyclists will start passing us.  We finally find a nice little camp site at Quobba Point in the National Park.  Now off to the blow holes – these were certainly worth watching, our coastline is truly spectacular.  There is a food truck there which is serving fresh donuts (of course Dave ordered 5 of these) and ice cream coffee – it was the largest affogato that I have ever had, it was served in a large takeaway coffee cup – so delicious. 

Blow hole video

20240608 - 20240610 – Quobba to Carnarvon.  Before we leave Quobba – we headed back to the food truck for another ice cream coffee – it was just as delicious. 

We drive into Carnarvon, get ourselves all sorted then head of to the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum.  The station was built to support NASA’s Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs. It was the last station to communicate with the space capsules leaving the earth orbit, and the last to make contact before splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.  That kept my interest for about 15 minutes, I had a brief overview of what happened, a simulated ride in a space module, with a little video.  Dave was in his element, he was stopping at every little attraction and reading everything.  I left him to it and just kept on going through the Museum.  I went into the 2^nd last exhibit and I found the old Galaga Game Machine – now this is more my style, bringing back some missed spent youth memories, that’s where I stayed until Dave caught up with me, close to an hour.  It was free, the only disappointment was the Space Invaders Game was out of order.

20240610 – 20240611 - Carnarvon - Kalbarri.  We arrived earlier enough into Kalbarri that we decided to park the motorhome and head straight for the National Park (there is also rain predicted for tomorrow).  We have come to see the Skywalks and Natures Window.  These did not disappoint.

 

The next morning, we wake to rain.  So instead of walking along the beach to see a few attractions we decided to drive.  In between a couple of attractions, driving along the main road, Dave and I both look at each other, to see if we both saw the Emu just wandering down the foot path without a care in the world.  Something you don’t see every day.

20240612 -20240615 – Kalbarri – Geraldton.  On the way from Kalbarri to Geraldton, we have decided to make a small detour and stop at Hutt Lagoon, known for the Pink Lake.  This was only about a 10km detour.  To be honest it really did not impress and we both said how underwhelming it was – especially after some of the stunning scenery we have already seen.  We both just looked at each other and laughed saying that’s 20mins we will never get back.

    

We are spending a few days in Geraldton to do some maintenance – yes Dave is still trying to get the Diesel Heater working – we may have celebrated a bit prematurely.  He has organised a few parts to get sent to Geraldton Post Office.  Not ready to celebrate yet but we do have hot air...

20240615 - 20240617 - Jurien Bay.  Our main reason for stopping at Jurien Bay was to go on the Lobster Tour.  If the boat catches enough Lobster you get to keep 8 per person, so for Dave and I that would be 16.  It cost us $120 (Senior) for Dave and $150 for me to go on this tour.  Dave thinks I'm being conned and doesn't believe that we will be given 8 lobsters each.  All I can say is he was WRONG and I was right, this doesn't happen very often.  The Big fella had to apologise, not that I had to remind him that he was Wrong. I was so relieved that I hadn't been scammed. What an amazing day, not only did we get to learn about lobsters and watch them pull up the lobster pots, we also got to see dolphins and whales, and we got to take home 16 Lobsters.    Now where to put all these lobsters, whatever I had in the freezer was being tossed out to make way for the lobsters.  Of course we put 4 on the BBQ for us to eat that afternoon - thinking one each would be plenty and we could have the other two for lunch tomorrow.  Lets just say we have one half a lobster for the two of us for lunch tomorrow.  The Big Fella cooked them perfectly on the BBQ and they were delicious.  The Big Fella said if he doesn't get gout by the time we get through 16 lobsters he never will.

20240528 - 20240531 - Exmouth Whale Shark Swim

 20240538 - Exmouth.  It's finally here the day we get to swim with the whale sharks.  We are both up early ready to go.  

I know I may have been a bit cocky about me being a little bit faster than Dave, telling Dave when we've been out in the wilderness in Canada and the States that I didn't need to be faster than the bear I just needed to beat him - which on land I thought I had him covered.  

Just before we hopped into the Indian Ocean 5k off shore Dave reminded me he is faster in the water and just needs to swim faster than me. OH!

Our meeting point for the tour bus is just outside our caravan park - next to a sculpture of a whale shark - hopefully we get to see more than this one.  

It was nice to be early for the bus.  I was just getting so excited I couldn't stand still.  Of course in usual Elford style we had forgotten Dave's sunglasses - so Dave needed to go back and get them. We arrive at the jetty and it's not long before our tender arrives and takes us out to our boat.  Now I'm getting really excited.  We are all given our briefing and divided into two groups - we are in group 1, thank goodness I needed to get in the water and pee.

Wow, wow, wow - I can not explain how amazing it was, it was even more exhilarating than I had thought. To swim along with this majestic animals is something I will never forget.  We were told that we could as close to 3 meters to the side and 4 meters from the back.  Of course, I did receive a tap on the shoulder to say I was getting too close.  I just got so carried away...  Dave nearly got swallowed by one big sucker as it made a left turn into him.  (Lucky he can move fast in the water.)

Exmouth is such an amazing little town - restaurants cafes, breweries, pubs - only thing missing for me is my family and friends - oh Poker Machines would not go astray either.  This sure is a happy place for Dave (it does have a golf course).  We spent a wonderful week here, Dave spent time fixing a few things on the RV.  The heater is not working. (Lesson: Don't celebrate too early...)  Dave has ordered some parts to be sent to Geraldton so we should be able to get it going by then.  (It is strange to be in a climate you need a heater from 4am to 7am.  Then you need air-conditioning from 1pm to 7pm.)  

When I opened the motorhome door this morning, I was greeted by  these two little visitors g - I certainly did jump, as I was not expecting this.  Once I saw that they were Emu's, of course I wanted to pat them, but Dave told me I would be a bloody idiot to try and reminded me of their feet.

20240521 - 20240527 - Broome - Exmouth

 

20240521 - 20240523 – Broome. The Griswold’s (or as Moose is calling us the Clampett’s) have arrived in Broome and what a nice surprise Broome was – lots of restaurants and cafes.  We stayed at an RV Park in Cable Beach.  Once settled in we went to a few shops.  This weather is really drying out my skin – I need more body moisturiser, badly.  I had bought some ‘moisturiser’ from Coles and was applying it very heavily onto my body.  Mmm – maybe my skin isn’t as dry as I thought, it wasn’t’ soaking in at all.  Then it clicked, this time I read the label, with my glasses on – yep, I had bought a very moisturising body WASH for dry skin and now I was lathered in it. 

The next day we went to Gantheaume Point which was a great little place to visit, the colour of the rocks against the beautiful blue water was amazing.

Then we headed onto Cable Beach ready to watch the sunset.  Unlike us, we were very early and we had 3 hours to wait until the sunset.  To kill a bit of time we went for a stroll along the beach.  We would have loved to go for a swim but apparently the Irukandji jellyfish could still be around, so we just had a little paddle.  We ran into a lot of characters along the way, one of whom I had a bit of chat with – he was a local.  I was talking about the supply of alcohol and having to provide ID which is scanned into the system along with how much alcohol you have purchased – there is a daily limit which didn’t seem too much to me and I’m sure to a lot of my friends (only two bottles of wine).  You can’t go from one BottleO to another as they are all using the same system.  I do believe that if you are a tourist travelling through you can buy a little bit more but you need to fill in a form. If you are having a party you need to fill in a form 72 hours prior and get approval.  I love hearing all the little trivia – he also told me that if there is a murder or suicide within the town that all the BottleO shops are immediately shut.  He does travel a bit for work and he was telling me that when he visits other little towns / communities that some of them only sell very light beer.  He said he takes his own beer up – but that it is an offence to have more than 2 cartons of beer on you. 

We head back to our little car and set up with our beer and champagne and some nibbles ready to watch this sunset.  There were hundreds of cars on the beach waiting, along with motorbikes, caravans, little 2WD cars like Kia Rio etc.  The sunset was spectacular, probably one of the best I have ever seen – the sun was an amazing colour that I couldn’t explain, it had touches of Red, Orange and Pink – the photos don’t do it justice.

 

20240523 – 20240525 – Broome to Exmouth.  Whilst driving to Exmouth I did get to witness mustering for a really large number of cattle with a helicopter and two Dune Buggy’s, it was interesting to watch.  We stayed overnight in another lovely free rest area.  After driving most of the day, Dave is going to try and fix the diesel heater, again.  He phoned Tony who had nothing for him, so he then phoned the ever-reliable Andy Jackson, they both worked out that it was probably a fuel problem.  Dave has also worked out that his first problem was letting Tony do some work on it.  He soon realises that Tony has put electrical tape around the tank fittings – mmm what was he thinking, I’m surprised he hadn’t used his normal tool – gaffer tape.  Dave is honing up on his Mr fix it skills – thank goodness for the help of Tony, friends and YouTube.  He is doing a great job.

On the drive down to Exmouth, we stop and fill up with fuel.  We were on highway 1.  We have some lunch and when we get back in the motorhome, I let Dave navigate his way out of the Service Station, I’ve got my head down looking for a place to stay the night – my mistake.  Dave is driving for about 5 minutes and I look up – I really feel as if I’m going the wrong way.  I look at the navigation system and it is still trying to work out our route, Dave did tell me it did say to turn right, mmm.  Yep, you guessed it, we exited from a different driveway that we came in on, and we are now on a different road – it certainly wasn’t highway 1.  I’m guessing the navigation system had us exiting from the same driveway we came in on and yes, a right turn would have taken us back to the highway.  This did bring back some memories for when we were travelling in Canada on highway 1 - I was so tired, I let Dave know that I was going to take a quick nap and all he needed to do was stay on highway 1.  After about 15 mins I wake up to hear the USA/Canadian border guard asking a series of questions.  Somehow, he had managed to get us off the Canadian highway 1 and trying to cross into the US.

We pull into another great rest area for another overnight stay – Dave decides that he is going to level the motorhome.  Now this was not his best work.  First of all, he went up the ramp and then reversed back a bit and the ramp got stuck.  Next attempt we had success – well sort of, the ramp was in place, but when I went inside all my apples and oranges had rolled off the table – we were nowhere near level, but that’s the way it stayed for the night.

Dave must be getting excited to get to Exmouth, where we will be doing the Whale Shark swim, he’s travelling at the speed limit – woohoo.

20240525 – 20240526 – Exmouth.  We made it.  It was so great to see the water, which is just amazing.  Australia really does have some of the best beaches in the world. The town is really quaint as well.  Its really busy and apparently peak season isn't until July.  Motorhomes first drive on the beach.

Our first morning we decide to go into Cape Range National Park to do a bit of snorkelling and swimming.  The advice was to go to the Oyster Stacks, so we packed our snorkelling gear and some little refreshments and off we went.  When we were driving Dave says to me ‘lets just get to the Oyster Stacks and we can have a look around on the way back’.  Ten minutes later we diverted to a track to try and check out the beaches, don’t know what happened to the plan.  Dave looked at me and asked if we should try getting up the hill - of course I said yes, so it was a team effort.  We could not of picked a worse track.  All the other tracks seem to be hard – not this one, there was a hill with soft sand.  Yep, you guessed it we got bogged – arghhh.  So, Dave starts shovelling.  Of course, it is only one lane and you can’t go around us.  Luckily a very fit young man (nice on the eyes) is trying to get out and ends up helping us out by giving us push. He really didn’t have much of an option. I would of loved to give them had - but with my shoulder and all, I just stood back and watched.

Bit late now to check the track...

Once we got out we decide to go back to the original plan and head straight for the Oyster Stacks.  It was absolutely stunning, and I did need to cool off.  Dave did say that it was some of the best snorkelling he has ever done.  There were so many fish and they were big.  After this we headed onto Turquoise Bay, what a beautiful bay.

On our second morning we took it easy and did a few things around the motorhome before packing up to go for another swim, we our taking it easy today because tomorrow is our big day, we are swimming with the whale sharks - 🤞.  Whilst I was inside cleaning, I was wondering why Dave was sitting outside not saying much.  He later told me he was just admiring the park.  There are a lot of young people in their combies and 4wd's here. Now the toilets are at least 100 metres away, so some of the young ladies decide its just as easy to strip off and get changed outside their vehicles - he was a happy man.

I’ve learnt:

That after two days of talking even I was sick of hearing my own voice, and Dave and I had run out of things to talk about.  Now whilst I could turn my taking out loud voice off – I had no chance of turning off my little inside voice – gosh even I annoy myself, to all my friends I apologise. 

I really don’t like the red dirt / dust it gets in every nook, cranny and orifice.

The largest road train we have seen had 100 wheels and we believe it was approx. 54meters in length.

The last 10km’s of driving for the day always feels like 100km.

It’s only 5 steps and an army role over the bed to get from my passenger’s seat to the toilet.

Some days my navigation is only required to get in and out of our rest area.  It’s a really hard job to navigate 500km on the same road – highway 1. (yes, I did write this before the little mishap at the Service Station)

Someone likes the bed all to himself, that little bit of space between his right arm and leg is where I sleep.

We get entertained by the smallest thing.  Since the flies have started coming around – we actually discussed flies and I looked up Wikipedia to read out aloud what they had on flies – riveting stuff.  We did find out that if there weren’t any flies there wouldn’t be any chocolate (so Simone Eames, think about that when you kill the fly).  This is because the only known pollinator of the cocoa plant that gives us chocolate is a tiny fly.  We do miss Wi-Fi and phone– some days we haven’t been able to access it at all.

I’ve actually started listening when he talks about fuel economy.

The only exercise I’ve gotten in the last couple of weeks, is when I need to squat to do a bush wee (I miss your car Peter Gwynne the step is just the right height).

You can never have enough Bushman’s insect repellent.  If it’s not the mosquitos and sandflies it’s just bloody flies.  I think it has become my new perfume.

For me Bras are optional, Dave thinks undies are optional and Dry Shampoo is a great invention.

How lucky we are.....

We are soooo excited for tomorrow - bring on those Whale Sharks...