22 October - Quobba Blowholes and Point Quobba Snorkelling

22 October 2016 – 192 339

Quobba Blowholes and Point Quobba Snorkelling

This morning we drove north to the Quobba Blowholes. https://www.westernaustralia.com/en/Attraction/Blowholes_and_Point_Quobba/56b2669dd5f1565045da9a6c#/
https://www.carnarvon.org.au/point-quobba-blowholes
https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/carnarvon-blowholes
These were quite different to what I expected as instead of one large hole it was multiple smaller holes.  Depending on how big each wave was, which holes “blew” and how high.  I was also surprised at the roaring noise they made, particularly when they were spewing mist rather than water. 

After watching these for a while we went slightly south to Point Quobba.  This is a very sheltered lagoon with an extensive coral reef inside.  When we arrived, the tide was on the way in, walking around we could see some of the corals, sea urchins, sea snails and oysters above the water line.  We relaxed in the shade and read our books for an hour or so while we waited for the tide to come in – we had to retreat to the car as the flies were terrible.  When we had our snorkel, we found the water was not as cold as Coral Bay thankfully.  The coral was quite colourful – blue, pink, purple, green and yellow – with the corals lighting up quite well in the shallow water.  Once again we saw many, many fish and again varieties we had not previously seen as well as many we had.  The fish ranged in size from a few centimetres to half a metre.  Next, we went back to the blow holes to see how they looked on the high tide.  There was much less roaring and “steam”, and some really big jets of water.  Amazing to watch!  While we were watching the blowholes we also saw two turtles swimming in close, as well as a school of large fish being pursued by a group of sharks further out. The cliffs above the blowholes had salt in all its stages of crystallization from saline to piles of salt crystals.  Hayden spent ages looking at this and collected salt crystals in a bag.  When we got back to the van, we went back to school work again for a few hours – getting close to done now.  We finished the day with a swim.  Today was warm as the wind has finally eased, so we all enjoyed the cool off.

21 October - One Mile Jetty, Fascine and School Day

21 October 2016 – 192 322

One Mile Jetty, Fascine and School Day

This morning we had a school morning, and Hayden had a PM benchmark reading test via Facetime.  After lunch we went to One Mile Jetty with the plan of exploring the lighthouse keeper’s museum, railway museum and fishing from the jetty.
https://www.carnarvon.org.au/carnarvon/one-mile-jetty 
The lighthouse keeper’s museum was closed and looked quite disappointing from what we could see, the railway museum was not impressive and the jetty was very run down.  Overall, disappointing; although the coastline is very pretty.  Next we headed to the aboriginal cultural centre, but it appears to have closed.  We drove along the Fascine to see where the trawlers come in, and then took Hayden to the playground again.  He now has blisters on his hands from using the flying fox so much.
 https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/carnarvon/fascine
https://www.waholidayguide.com.au/the-fascine

Week 18 from Hayden

Week 18 from Hayden (11 y.o. boy)

15/10/16

Today we went to the Oyster Stacks and had a look.  Then we did some walks.  Then we went to Turquoise Bay and snorkelled.  Then we went to the info centre.  When we went back to the van and the awning was down from the wind. We had to put down the caravan to fix it.

16/10/16
Today we went and packed up in the wind, it was HARD!  Then we drove up Shothole Canyon (it reminded me of Camp Half-Blood by Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series, which I recommend to Jack, Elijah, Jayden and Jarvis.). (Greek mythology) Then we went to Coral Bay and went snorkelling (cold).

17/10/16
Today Mum and Dad went snorkelling and I played in the sand.  Mum and Dad lasted 12 minutes before getting too cold.  Then we packed up.  Then we went for a walk, then we came back to the beach and I dug out a 10cm deep, 0.25m wide moat around a sand hill which I made bigger with the sand from the moat.  Then we drove to Carnarvon and set up.

18/10/16
Today we did a mystery FaceTime with the class (5k tell Dec I said hi and Jack, Elijah, Jayden and Jarvis I miss you ssoo muchhhhh and I look forward to seeing you in 3 months!).
Then we went into the Space and Tech Museum and had a look around - awesome.  In section 3 there were heaps of interactive games to play.  I would like 5k to watch a video on size in our universe, Mr King, it starts with the moon and then the planets, then the different stars.  I do not know the videos link and I guess it's called size of objects in space or similar.  Then I did some school work.

19/10/16
Today was a schoolwork day.  Then we went to an awesome park with a super long flying fox.  Then we went over an old jetty.

20/10/16
Today was a school work day.

21/10/16
Today was a school work day.  Then we went and looked at One Mile Jetty.  It had a $5 entry fee and it was the most dangerous thing we have done on the holiday and the most run down .   Then we went and tried to look at a closed aboriginal culture centre.  Then we went back to the playground.

20 October - School Day

20 October 2016 – 192 319

School Day

I started the day with a run. Today was a school day.  We spent some of the day at the library, however we won’t do this again as they have no area with tables and chairs for working at, no free internet and apparently wishing to use an atlas was a strange request. After school, we all relaxed in the van as it was very, very windy outside – none of us felt like being out in it.

19 October - School Day

19 October 2016 – 192 316

School Day

Today was a school work day – not many to go now, he is making great progress.  After school we went to the Fascine (waterfront in Carnarvon) where Hayden enjoyed a great play in the playground.  It was a terrific playground with things for all age groups, as well as a long flying fox.
https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/carnarvon/fascine

We also took a walk to Whitlock Island along the old tramway.
https://www.carnarvon.org.au/see-do/see-do-carnarvon-separator/walking-cycling
https://www.railtrails.org.au/trail-descriptions/western-australia?view=trail&id=148

18 October - OTC Dish, Space and Technology Museum, Gascoyne Food Trail; Carnarvon

18 October 2016 - 192 279

OTC Dish, Space and Technology Museum, Gascoyne Food Trail; Carnarvon

We had a lazy start to the morning.  Drew readjusted the camper and tent to allow better for the wind, as this is expected to pick up even more over the next few days. Hayden had a mystery Skype session with his class and had to give them a few clues – we were at the OTC dish and they thought it was a lighthouse wall behind Hayden – they worked it out though! 
https://www.carnarvon.org.au/carnarvon/otc-dish 
We then spent several hours in the Space and Technology Museum – this was very interesting and excellent value.  I particularly liked the interactive displays where I got to try and dock on to the Hubble Telescope, to launch a satellite to orbit the moon.  Drew and I also went in an Apollo XI launch simulator – this lasted 7 minutes and was quite interesting.
 https://www.carnarvonmuseum.org.au/ 

In the afternoon we drove the Gascoyne Food Trail and were amazed at the amount of plantations so close to town – we got beautiful fresh bananas! 
https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/carnarvon/fruit-vegetables-seafood

After dinner, we all enjoyed a swim.

17 October - Coral Bay and on to Carnarvon

17 October 2016 – 192 041

Coral Bay and on to Carnarvon

This morning we went for a snorkel in Coral Bay again.  Once again we saw amazing fish including varieties we have not seen before.  The water was freezing – we only lasted 12 minutes before we both got out, teeth chattering and shivering – but it was still worth it.  After hot showers and packing up the van, we went for a walk along the beach.  We enjoyed sitting and watching the ocean, while Hayden played in the sand and built a moat. 
https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/coral-bay
https://www.westernaustralia.com/en/Destination/Coral_Bay/56b266b92cbcbe7073ae0693#/
https://www.coralbay.org/

After a picnic lunch, we drove to Carnarvon and went to the Visitor Information Centre – we have booked into Coral Coast Caravan Park.
https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/carnarvon
https://www.carnarvon.org.au/
https://www.coralcoasttouristpark.com.au/

16 October - Shothole Canyon, Cape Range National Park and Coral Bay

16 October 2016 – 191 814

Shothole Canyon, Cape Range National Park and Coral Bay

This morning we packed up in high winds – packing down a camper trailer in 20+ knot winds is interesting.  We then headed into Exmouth to refuel and buy groceries before continuing south.  We stopped at Shothole Canyon Road and dropped off the van before continuing.  This is an amazing gorge that you drive the 12km down the floor of.  It is created by erosion of an old coral reef and has interesting formations and a mix of colours from white, through creams and pinks to red.  Quite spectacular.  At the end we climbed to a lookout, then we climbed down and had a picnic in the base of the gorge. 
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/cape-range 
https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/exmouth/cape-range-national-park/shothole-canyon 
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/shothole-canyon

After collecting the van, we continued south to Coral Bay.  We are staying at People’s Park Caravan Park for the night.  After setting up the van, we put our togs on and headed to the beach for a snorkel.
 https://peoplesparkcoralbay.com.au/
The water here was much, much colder; even though we are only about 120km south of where we were yesterday. The coral here starts within two to three metres of the water line, and are much more diverse and colourful than further north.  While we did not see as many large fish as previously, we still saw quite a variety of fish, and even saw a small manta ray!
https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/coral-bay
https://www.westernaustralia.com/en/Destination/Coral_Bay/56b266b92cbcbe7073ae0693#/
https://www.coralbay.org/

15 October - Hiking and Snorkelling in Cape Range National Park, Ningaloo Marine Park

15 October 2016 – 190 723

Hiking and Snorkelling in Cape Range National Park, Ningaloo Marine Park

This morning I had a sleep in.
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/cape-range
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/ningaloo https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/ningaloo-reef/marine-park
We went south to the Oyster Stacks to consider snorkelling, however the oyster stacks were quite high in the water and it was very unprotected from the winds, so we decided against it.
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/oyster-stacks
Instead, we went to Mandu Mandu Gorge for a hike (2.8km, just over an hour); this was a different gorge system to others we have been in.
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/mandu-mandu-gorge https://trailswa.com.au/trails/mandu-mandu-gorge-cape-range-national-park-exmouth/print
The rock walls were red and brown and white, but the base of the gorge was a dry river bed made of white and pale pink rocks.  The views from the top of the gorge walls over Ningaloo Reef were lovely.

After this we drove to the far southern end of the park and walked at Yardie Creek Gorge (2.5km, just under an hour).
 https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/yardie-creek https://trailswa.com.au/trails/yardie-creek/print
This gorge had water in the creek that appeared to be quite deep, it has a shallow connection to the sea due to a sandbar. 

We were going to have lunch here but the flies were too bad, so we headed to Sandy Bay.
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/sandy-bay  https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/exmouth/cape-range-national-park/sandy-bay
It was beautiful, white sand and perfectly clear sheltered turquoise waters.  Hayden fell over again and smashed the same knee – this time he has removed the skin.  After lunch we had a snorkel in the Bay Loop at Turquoise Bay – this was relatively protected from the wind.
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/turquoise-bay
 https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/exmouth/turquoise-bay
Again we saw plenty of fish, extras that we saw today were batfish, long finned bannerfish, yellowtail angelfish, Clarks anemonefish, scribbled angelfish, lined butterflyfish and seastars.  It is not hard to believe they have more than five hundred species of fish in the marine park.  The Milyering Discover Centre was our last destination for the day, where we watched various videos and computer clips regarding the marine park – beautiful viewing!
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/milyering-discovery-centre
https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/exmouth/cape-range-national-park/milyering-discovery-centre
I have really enjoyed the snorkelling here, I imagine it would be even more beautiful in still conditions when the visibility was higher.  When we got back to the van, our kind neighbours had secured our annexe which had blown loose in the high winds.  We put the van partway down and packed the annexe up.  The winds this evening are pretty high!

Week 17 from Hayden

Week 17 from Hayden (11y.o. boy)

08/10/16
Today we got up and packed down.  We drove to Pythons Pool and walked to Mount Herbert and back.  Then we drove to Karratha and set up in the Big4 caravan park.  Then we had a swim.

09/10/16

Today was a school work day.  We had a massive breakfast.  We had a swim.

10/10/16

Today we went and did some lookouts (boring). Then we went to the information centre.  Then we drove to Dampier, and went to the gas refinery and I won 2 prawn lures, a wide brimmed hat, a water bottle and 2 balloons.  Then we went and saw the aboriginal art.  Then we went to a lookout and 2 jumbo jets flew overhead.

11/10/16

Today was a school work day.

12/10/16

Today we packed up and drove to Roebourne and looked at old buildings.  Then we went to Cossack (a ghost town).  Then we went to Point Samson and had lunch.  At Cossack we saw 3 baby birds (big!).  Then we drove to a free rest stop.

13/10/16

Today we packed up and drove to Exmouth.  We went shopping for flippers and a pool noddle.  Then we drove to Cape Range National Park.  We went snorkelling.

14/10/16

Today we went to the bird hide and saw 2 pelicans and 2 small birds. Then we went on a glass bottom boat and saw a black tipped reef shark, and billions of fish.  Then we saw 20-40 different turtles.  It was amazing.  Then we drove to the Turtle Centre and saw a humpback whale jump out of the water, and a calf jump all the way out of the water.  Then we went to the lighthouse lookout and saw heaps and heaps of whales swimming around.  One of the mothers kept slapping the water to tell a calf to come back (the calf was in the reef where the mother couldn’t get to it and the mother was not happy about it at all).  Then we had a sleep.  Then we snorkelled on the Drift Loop at Turquoise Bay.  IT WAS AWESOME!! The fish were amazing.  Then we went back to the lighthouse.  Then we went to look for nesting turtles (no luck).

14 October - Wild Wildlife Day; Ningaloo Marine Park

14 October 2016 – 191 563

Wild Wildlife Day; Ningaloo Marine Park

We had a beautifully cool, if a little windy, night – the most comfortable overnight temperature we have had in a long time.  This morning we went to Mangrove Bay Birdhide and watched the birds come and go.
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/mangrove-bay

Next up, was a Ningaloo Reef glass bottom boat tour – we saw a variety of coral types, as well as many different types of fish.
http://www.glassbottomboat.com.au/

When we finished this we were able to watch many, many turtles swimming near the boat ramp – I have never seen this many before.  Our next stop was the Jurabi Sanctuary Zone and turtle information centre; the turtles are mating at this time of year.
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/jurabi-turtle-centre
http://www.ningalooturtles.org.au/jurabi.html

We also saw whales breaching off the shore.  Vlamingh Head gave us a great view over the Ningaloo Reef and we saw lots of whales playing – fantastic! https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/exmouth/vlamingh-head-lighthouse

After lunch, we snorkelled in the drift zone at Turquoise Bay. https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/turquoise-bay https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/exmouth/turquoise-bay I thought I saw a lot of fish yesterday, today I saw even more, particularly of the larger fish.  We saw convict surgeon fish, threadfin butterflyfish, blue-barred parrotfish, racoon butterflyfish, green-finned parrotfish, saddled butterflyfish, ring tailed surgeonfish, bluespot butterflyfish, humbug, green chromis, neon damsels, humbug dascyllis, brown lined puffer, white-barred triggerfish, green moon wrasse, scissorial sergent; as well as sea cucumbers, giant clam and lots of different types of coral. Yesterday we saw a turtle under a rock, today one swam within a metre of us – awesome!
https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/ningaloo-reef/marine-park https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/ningaloo

Next we went back to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse and had a picnic dinner while watching the sunset and the whales play.  Wow, what a day!
https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/cape-range