the Pilbara and beyond............

So what will top the adrenalin rush of the whale shark extragavanza?? Craig’s plans for a fishing charter may now be on hold after 6 hours spent over the side of the boat providing the burley for all fish in range! Actually that reminds me of the whale sharks.  Waiting for the boat on our last swim to swing around and pick us up, staring down into the inky blue depths and the water alive with krill/plankton and tiny organisms just floating en masse waiting for the nearest passing shark to open its mouth and swallow them. Truly fascinating if somewhat freaky at the same time.

Anyway….. from Coral Bay it was a long day driving highway number one to Dampier. Buying the kids a can of soft drink for a treat at a roadhouse near lunchtime made me laugh with disbelief as I paid $25.00 for 5 cans of softdrink! I still can’t believe that I actually parted with my money and laughed as I did so!! A quick whip into Coles (only 600km away) and I could have bought 2 cartons for less!

As we drove towards the Pilbara the highway and landscape became alive with mining and exploration vehicles, fly in/fly out donga camps and huge earth works everywhere. The further into the Pilbara you go, the more beautiful the scenery and the more potential ravaging by mining conglomerates you see. I wonder if all this short term financial gain for WA will turn to regret when its all gone? And the natural earth is no longer there either? National Parks cut in two in order to mine in the middle of them. The rewards not shared equitably…….mmm…. might stop now.

So Dampier, red dog country. The Burrup Penninsula, breath taking scenery not so slowly being consumed by industry…on shore gas plants on fire 24/7, looking like mini cities; railway lines that are 24/7 and a non stop port. But despite all the organised chaos of industry there was something really appealing about Dampier that couldn’t be said for its close neighbour Karratha. We stayed in the cheapest caravan park this trip at $28.00 and probably they would be hard put to make you pay more as the iron ore train worked all night unloading just behind the park! We were recommended dinner out just up the road so gave it a go. It turned out to be a fly in/fly (FIFO) out mess hall for the workers that was set price, all you can eat. Lochie’s eyes lit up in wonder at the food and he made a really good go of his $12.50! For Craig and I it really bought home the strange lifestyle of FIFO, the loneliness and detachment from the community, not something that I would volunteer for. But it’s a job and obviously pays extremely well listening to what people had to say.

After the necessary photos with red dog in the morning we headed further into the Burrup peninsula to find some aboriginal rock engravings. Walking down a narrow creek bed between hills that were piles of red boulders that looked like God had just dumped them there was great fun spotting an engraved kangaroo or a turtle or mythical man. That’s when we weren’t looking at our feet trying to find treasure of the aboriginal kind, a flint, a spear head or anything!

Karratha wasn’t noteworthy for anything, even the op shops were shut so a great disappointment and just for stocking up on food. We camped at Point Sampson that night, after Craig walked out of the first caravan park who wanted to charge him $70 for a 1950’s piece of concrete in the middle of nowhere! We headed into Cosssack early the next morning. Cossack is a ghost town that is perched above the water and is famous for being Australia’s first pearling town. Now empty, we spent a fascinating few hours searching up and down the dunes, finding cameleer waterholes with date palms growing beside them and looking for treasure.

After filling up at Roebourne we pointed our nose at the nearest dirt road and headed into the Hammersley Range for a few days exploring in Karijini National Park. Getting off the highway was great! We took the non mine permit road to Millstream Chichester national park and drove through huge cattle properties with towering mesas and blood red mountain ranges running through them. Joining the mine road after python pool was a red dust experience as mine vehicles scurried around us in both directions and 3 to 4 doggie road trains were on the road too. Getting back off the mine road and going the long way round to Karijini might of taken longer but the road was less eaten up and made for easier driving! Seeing this country is amazing and just so stunningly beautiful. We are so lucky to have this right up the end of our backyard!

Karijini itself is gorgeous and wild. We woke every morning to the sound of dingos howling, we were camped in amongst the spinifex, and the stars were beautiful. Spotting the satellites reminded us all that we live in the 21^st century! Walking down into the gorges and swimming in the ice cold water made up for the hike back up at the end! I nearly walked on a goanna while I was lecturing the kids about watching out for snakes, then on our last walk we had to quietly walk around a dozy tiger snake in order to get out of the gorge! For all those who know of my horrifying snake phobia, I was very calm and didn’t even break into a sweat! The trailer looks very broken in and completely coated in red dust, so are we. The red dirt sticks and we all look like we’ve had fake tan go horribly wrong we’re so glowingly red!

Mothers Day we went out for tea at the Eco retreat, a short walk down the road. The kids made me some beautiful cards that I’d like to frame. Amazing what they do when they put their minds to it. No phones meant we weren’t able to ring Mum or Maureen but our thoughts were with them. So Karijini, so far to go but so spectacular!

Driving out of Karijini  and onto a bitumen road briefly was nice. Then we decided to go the back way and go via a goat track to Marble Bar! Adventurous we were feeling but going to Marble Bar twice in one lifetime may be one time too many! The hottest town in Australia has the loveliest water/swimming hole with a huge bar of jasper (not marble pioneers) running through it. There were a couple of aboriginal people fishing and I could of camped there if it was allowed. But the pull of Broome was calling so onto Marble Bar and northwards. Taking another alternate route through the dirt we went past a few aboriginal communities then did our first river crossing. Getting out to check the depth of the water I got fronted by the most enormous Brahmin bull. It was a quick run back to the car while he turned and casually walked the other way! My wildlife experiences are growing daily, probably lucky I didn’t get swallowed by a whale shark!

We camped that night at the beginning of 80 mile beach. The name says it all. The huge shells we collected and the drive up the beach were a highlight. We had so many shells we had to park up and cull and make some decisions about what to bring home! Close to the coast as the highway runs, the scenery is pretty boring and you don’t get to see the huge mountain ranges just inland. Finally at the end of a long day we made it to Broome…….here to stay, maybe for a week to recharge and get ready for the next adventure. We pulled in looking like filthy hobos, covered in dirt and dust with stiff hair and smelly feet. The only people who will talk to us are the aboriginal ladies on the beach, the travelling trailer and its crew not quite up to scratch for the rest of the caravan park! A shower, a shower so we can rejoin society (do we have to?)!

Coral Bay / Whale Shark Adventures

It’s always an adventure. We started at 7.45am with wetsuit and fins fitting. At 9am we left the boat harbour and by 9.30 we all in the water at the outer edge of the Ningaloo lagoon for a snorkel. This I can say was a highlight for me. The coral was much more substantial and really pretty. We swam with two turtles, a white tipped reef shark and Will saw a huge starfish. Back in the boat and outside the lagoon in the open water. At 10am we have been notified by the spotter plane of some whale sharks in the region and we are off in pursuit. It gets very exciting. The boat takes off and everyone gets onto the floor to put on their fins and masks and snorkels. We are divided into two groups so that one gets dropped in front of the shark for a swim and the other gets dropped down the way as the shark swims along, the boat doing loops as it picks everyone up. So were all ready. The kids are all set and really excited (nervous). Then the boat stopped in a cloud of black smoke and there we wallowed for the next two hours while we waited for a recovery (rescue) boat to come out from Coral Bay.

And it did………but In the meantime the wind had come up and the swells were 1 – 1.5m (which I reckon was underestimated) and people (me) were starting to feel a little worse for wear.

The plan was to continue on as the sharks were still in the area which was fantastic – we would still get to see a whale shark, but we still had to get on the other boat. This was a charter fishing boat and was considerably bigger than our whale/shark chasing number so a side by side transfer wasn’t possible. We had to swim from our boat to the other, which on your average day in the middle of the ocean would be ok, I guess? Then I factored in three kids and two parents…hmmmmm. OK, melodrama. We did the swim, dragging the kids. The hardest bit was getting onto the other boat in the swell. This was a fishing boat, not custom made for swimmers/divers to get in and out of the water.

We’re off again and in search of the whale sharks with our new boat and new skipper. After a little while of ‘cruising’ through the swells to the vicinity of the sharks, we were ‘on’ again. On the floor, all kitted up and in pursuit, but sitting on the floor didn’t work for me and burley over the side was the only option. I’m really not good at these sea based things!

After the boat transfer, Will was feeling a little cold and worse for wear. He decided not to swim with the sharks. He said “I’m not afraid of swimming with the sharks; I just don’t like getting back into the boat”. Wise man our Will.

We were in the second group to swim. We finally got in the water – Lochie with Kim and Sophie with me. Once in the water it is actually OK. Our group leader popped her head up and yelled “turn around” and as we did there was a whale shark, side on and so gracefully swimming away from us you could hardly see it move. Sophie is pointing and furiously shouting at me through her snorkel in excitement. This one was maybe 5-6 metres and was awesome. 

Then we had to get back in the boat!

I was always told (by people who dive) that nausea goes away when you’re in the water. Perhaps they mean when you’re ‘under’ the water, cos it didn’t happen for me. I sat out the next swim with Sophie and Will, but Kim and Lochlan went in and had a much better experience with the shark, getting a much longer swim and better view as it appeared beneath them and swam towards them.

Now the day was getting long. Everyone had seen a whale shark both from the boat and while in the water, so given that exiting the water was difficult it was decided to head back to Coral Bay. I continued to feed the fish all the way home.

Well. Things don’t always go as you worked through them in your mind’s eye. If the first boat had not have broken down we would have been swimming with sharks by 10.30am, all happy. As it happened, we had an awesome experience but one with a little more family adventure than what we had bargained for. I would much prefer to remember an experience with such as awesome creature as a whale shark but will remember the day for all that it was. Our children are amazing, courageous, adventurous, trusting and faithful, and we love them dearly.

To see any photos you willl all have to come over and watch the DVD.

Ningaloo / Cape Range National Park

Ningaloo / Cape Range National Park

The drop toilets (as William will forever remember this place) are remarkable. Although not quite as Kim can remember Ningaloo from 20 years ago, this place is stark, hot, windy, exposed and beautiful. National Park camping at its best ($20 / night now) although the roads are all sealed from Exmouth to Yardie Creek.  Oh Yeah….Exmouth. We went shopping there and bought fuel.

We camped at Osprey Bay camp grounds. There are only a maximum of 17 camp sites here and some places had less, but with the road sealed it is easy to day trip from Exmouth. There was one small dune between us and the ocean with the Cape Range behind us. Not a tree to be seen. The reef here was not so accessible as the coast was rock ledges, but we fished and caught a feed of flathead – William and Lochie and Swallow Tail Dart – Dada.

Chinese Laundry

We went snorkelling each day at Turquoise Bay and the Oyster Stacks. There was some blue and green coloured coral and some purple, and some huge bombie’s and the most amazing fish. So many different ones it was difficult to look them up afterwards as I couldn’t remember them all. Eagle eye Lochie knows them all though, by species and genus! Kim and I decided that the coral had been damaged - at least the in-shore coral in recent years as there was a lot of broken or half dead corals and not many colours to see. I guess if you ventured further out in the lagoon towards the fringing reefs you might see more as the water is consistently deeper, but as Kim saw a black tipped reef shark lurking behind Lochlan while swimming with him, that wasn’t really on the cards.

All three kids loved snorkelling and kept dragging us back in – especially at Turquoise Bay because you get in at one end and the current takes you the 300 meters to the other end over all of the corals – no swimming required. Noodles were a good investment for all the kids although Lochie swam without his most of the time.

Amazing sunsets over the water and the biggest full moon made the end of the day quite entertaining. In between the sun set and the moon rising was the largest sky I could ever imagine seeing, full to the brim with sparkling stars. The kids are learning eagerly about the stars and the Milky Way and the Southern Cross as we work our way through the star chart we bought along.

After packing up on Tuesday we went to Yardie Creek to do a river cruise up the creek into the gorge. This is National Parks run and was really good. The creek is land locked by a large sand bar for extended periods and opens up every few months or years after storms or high tides. This means that many species of ocean critters live in the creek, adapting to the brackish environment, sometimes for years before they are flushed out to sea. Sharks, turtles, rays, and all manner of fish.

The kids were the official wild life spotters with the rangers binoculars. The highlight of the cruise were the black footed rock wallaby’s that lived in the gorge walls. We saw several on each side and got up close enough to watch how they hop around the ledges and up and down the gorge walls. Another amazing creature.

Well back to Coral Bay, via Exmouth to shop coz we have got Whale Sharks to see!

Little Surprises

Coral Bay



On the way - Shell Beach

We didn’t have far to go but we weren’t sure if would get a camp site so we went early in case we had to keep driving. We came over the hill into this one street little haven right on the south end of the Ningaloo Marine Park. There are only two caravan parks and a hotel (!); the second had a spot for us which was awesome. Quick set up, lunch - then to the beach. This place is truly beautiful. Turquoise waters, huge snapper and emperor fish swimming in the shallows and coral reefs just metres off shore with excellent snorkelling.

We got the kids some pool noodles so that they could float along better while snorkelling. They saw much more that way. Huge numbers of tropical reef fish.

At 3.30pm each day they feed the snapper in the shallows off the beach. As you stand there to watch, the fish swim all around you and between your legs. Now I’m talking fish nearly a metre long. The kids fed the fish from their hands all the while Lochie was day dreaming of one on the end of his hook!
The caravan park was full of people either travelling around Aus or who come to Coal Bay each year on their holidays. A lot of WA people. More exciting however was all of the kids – and kids of all ages. It was the first time really that our three had others to play with, younger, older and same age. They played spotlight each night running crazy around the park in the dirt and sand surrounds. They will remember that.

Earlier we had booked into Cape Range National Park, to camp on the beach in the middle of the Ningaloo Marine Reserve so we had to be there on the Saturday. We also had decided to go and swim with the whale sharks – but from Coral Bay. They were much more accommodating of the family and the kids arrangement and cheaper over all while everyone had the opportunity to swim if they wanted. So off we went to Ningaloo / Cape Range, but we would be back in Coral Bay for another two nights on Tuesday.

Road to nowhere.....

Carnarvon

On the way to Coral Bay and Exmouth / Ningaloo we were feeling a bit like we were going fairly hard and a slowdown would be good. The kids had school work to catch up on and their journals needed work and we needed to do some shopping.

We stopped in Carnarvon. Should have known better really as the road signs on the highway direct you to the main route into Carnarvon – which is a closed road with a big detour sign up…..that points to nowhere. Everyone was pulling in and looking at each other as we tried to negotiate the U-turn.  Should have kept driving once we were back out on the highway, but we didn’t.  What a dreary place. The main street and the foreshore were being upgraded – major works, but why would you do this during your peak tourist season? Everything was unkempt and plain ugly.

It’s a pity really, because with such a big fishing industry, an amazing river that flows underground for most of the year and the state’s largest fruit and veg growing regions it could be really nice.

Anyway, all the jobs got done and the kids had a swim in the pool. Movin’ on.

Denham.....

Bare, isolated, barren Denham……………..loved it! Just getting out of the car there was a warm welcoming feeling to this tiny little fishing place on the way to Monkey Mia. Even the kids noticed it and loved it. Our first night we went down the beach in front of the caravan park to feed some bait to the local fish and Craig hooked a green turtle, through the flipper thankfully. Craig managed to pull him into shore and I picked him up and we pulled out the hook, knew I should have been a marine biologist Dad!!!!! It wasn’t any dinner plate sized turtle either, it was a proper one! Our relief was great as we watched the turtle swim straight out to sea. Any further fishing was put on hold as we got a bit put off by the potential turtle soup we’d caught!

Monkey Mia the next day was exciting for the kids. We caught the last wild dolphin (not monkey feed Granpa!) of the morning. The kids loved the dolphins swimming up and down behind the ranger only a metre off shore and got to all hold a fish together to feed to one of the dolphins. Though the emus walking around the resort were nearly as exciting for them as the dolphins I think. It always amazes me that what you think would be the most exciting things for the kids often aren’t. We bought a bird identification book at the beginning of the trip as we couldn’t find our own (have lent it to someone if anyone’s reading this who has it!) and couldn’t remember who we lent it to. The book is pored over most days by the kids as we see birds we don’t know and try to identify them. We have started to write a note of date and place beside the most exciting ones we see.

We spent the rest of the day at Little Lagoon just out of town, fishing for tiddlers in a shallow lagoon that has a small inlet to the ocean. The kids enjoyed fishing, Will actually caught his first ever fish by himself! Craig and I are starting to wonder if we will ever eat a fish that we haven’t bought though. Maybe one day we will catch enough to feed the family more than a mouthful! Mmmm, now I’ve written that I realize that the next thing to report on is , for the kids one of the most exciting things of the trip so far……………………squid fishing!

Talk about excitement plus! Down to the Denham jetty after sunset  where an old fellow showed us how to catch a squid, clean it and prepare it for the pan! You throw out the jig and slowly wind it into the jetty light from the dark inkiness of the sea, you can often see the squid chasing the jig in, you jiggle it, just a little bit, then, when the squid has wrapped its tenticles around the jig you drag it up onto the jetty avoiding the hissing, spurting squid as it squirts out its black ink all over the jetty. Over the next two night we caught enough squid for a couple of meals and bait enough to continue fishing feeding for quite some time! It really is a very exciting past time and happily everyone in the family caught some squid.

The next day we left the trailer behind in Denham and set off for Francois Peron national park, which occupies the northern peninsula above Monkey Mia. It’s a 4wd only park and is much like driving around Moreton Island track wise. The scenery couldn’t be more different though. Rugged red cliffs crumbling into a turquoise blue ocean, pied cormorant colonies stinking up the cape and sharks and dugongs in the bays of sea grass meadows. Craig and I loved it, the kids were a little focussed on the next squid catching event! Late in the afternoon we went into Herald’s Bay where I had a swim with some shovel nosed rays (not sharks thankfully!) and Craig tried for a whiting or 2 with no success. Just as well the squidding that night was extremely successful!

So its northwards we go…….

The pinnacles, Kalbarri and beyond........

My turn to write again, what to say about what happened an eventful week ago? We left Perth behind us and took the coast road out. Not quite the lushness of a Queensland coastline. The water, a deep sand dune and then……………..scrub, not too much really! Going into the little coastal fishing villages were interesting to see out the car window but we didn’t get inspired enough to stop and inspect more closely. I think the north west was calling us in our keenness to put some distance between Perth and anywhere we might be!

Arriving at the Pinnacles in the late afternoon made for a beautiful light with a big stormy sky behind the yellow of these strange things that poke out of the ground. We walked through them as couldn’t take the trailer through (couldn’t be bothered unhitching!) but the walk gives you  quite a different perspective than a car. The kids didn’t seem quite as enamoured of them as we did and were more excited by trying to identify a dead bug that Lochie found than admiring these bizarre formations.

Cervantes was a nice little camp right off the beach where we finally managed to watch the sun set over the Indian ocean for the first time. A huge storm had washed heaps of kelp and sea grass up on the beach so the sand was completely hidden, the smell a bit strong, but the dolphin swimming just off shore made up for it!

The drive north to Kalbarri was much more inspiring, huge sand blows, stark colours and plenty of coastal glimpses early in the day. Kalbarri we loved! Seaside fishing town with a protected river mouth and wild gorges not far out of town. The cliff top drive was great, the bird book got a work out as the kids tried to identify what we were seeing, even if the scenery wasn’t inspiring them. We swam (warily looking over our shoulders for sharks!) and spent heaps of time fishing just inside the river mouth. Lochie caught a giant herring and Sophie caught a moses perch, much to their delight. Will is still waiting for his first catch!

The next day we went out to Kalbarri National Park to explore the gorges. The kids really enjoyed the walk down scrambling down rocks and ladders. The reward of water in the gorge at the end didn’t inspire them to swim at first….too cold……..was the catch cry! After spending an hour climbing up and down stream Lochie and Craig got in …… briefly!

That night back in Kalbarri we had a huge storm that flooded the camp site and nearly washed us away. Taking Will to the toilet in the middle of it people’s thongs were floating by on their own little WA adventure! The further north we go the more excited I get by what’s to come…………my new catch cry to Craig is “Are we there yet?” but whispered so the kids don’t hear it and start repeating it to!

Fremantle

Freemantle – Perth

22-24^th April 2012

We didn’t really feel there was much to see in Perth that we couldn’t see from Freo so that’s where we stayed, which was a good choice.

Fremantle has a good feel, fantastic old buildings, heaps of heritage and some good museums. The sun was out again which greatly improves the mood of the campers…. well this one anyway. The Shipwreck Galleries chronicles the earliest nautical exploration of Australia by the French and Dutch, mostly in pursuit of the spices from the eastern countries and Batavia - the Dutch East Indies or the VMC or now days – Indonesia. The salvaged remains of the wreck of the Batavia are housed in this museum along with heaps of artefacts from this and other wrecks and heaps of treasure! I learned a lot more from this museum than I was taught about at school.

The west coast of our great land was first pewter plated or chartered by ships in the early 1600’s by ships veering north off the great Southern Ocean current. Early style navigation relied on a sailor calculating the ships speed by feel, wind and experience from time of departure to current time to determine the distance travelled and therefore the longitude. It’s no wonder they miss timed their turn north to the East Indies and found the great south land.

We went to the Fremantle markets, much to Kim’s disappointment as they were not good. The E Shed markets on the water front were even worse.

The WA Maritime museum now houses Australia II, the Americas Cup winner in 1982 which was good to see as I remember those days, watching on TV being really exciting. Alan Bond was nowhere in the display and was mentioned only once. Seems a little odd – perhaps WA have scratched him from the record now he has a criminal record. The rest of the museum was expensively forgettable.

Across the river in Perth we went to the Leon Pericles gallery and exhibition which was excellent, and funny. Very amusing and intriguing work. It feels like this guy’s brain is exploding onto paper with detail and a very quirky view of the world he lives in. We all really enjoyed this. Even the kids were well entertained. www.leonpericles.com.au

We also went to Kings Park, Subiaco and Cottesloe beach to watch the sun set over the water.

When you’re in Fremantle, you go to Rottnest Island. We spent close on a million dollars and took the boat across, hired bikes and had a great day riding, swimming, snorkelling and drinking beer in the beach side beer garden while the kids played with the quokkas. Actually, it was only the second ride Will had done after graduating to two wheels. We went about 12kms up and down hills. “I like it the best going down the hills….cos that when you go really fast” Will always tries his best at everything.

We saw the US Guided Missile frigate and the nuclear aircraft carrier on the way over, and back. Pre ANZAC Day. The fighter planes did a low level fly around the bay where we were swimming in practice for the ANZAC ceremonies the next day. Those ships are enormous. For all of you Top Gun fans....... this is the ship where that famous 'fly by' sent Tom Cruise and Goose into movie land history. The fly scenes were filmed on this ship.

 Little Creatures bar and brewery for…..er...dinner. Time to leave the city now.