The Coral Coast - Ningaloo Reef - 17th October ~ 31st October

We based ourselves in Exmouth for 3 nights to spend time exploring places close to the town - Bundegi Beach, HMS Mildura shipwreck and the Lighthouse. These day trips saw us in and out during the day and cooling off in the refreshing clear waters around Exmouth - divine!

I also celebrated my birthday while in Exmouth and had one of my best birthdays yet...... home cooked pancakes for breakfast, a day of snorkelling in beautiful Turquoise Bay and then a dinner with my loving family at Whalers Seafood Restaurant (the food was so good, we later went back for a lunch!!). It was also lovely to be in a phone service area so that I could speak to my family and friends during the day. It also came with the realisation that 35 now rounds to 40 and this isn't so good!!!!

Our third night was an early one, as Pete had to get up at 5.45 the next morning to line up for a camp site in The Cape Range National Park. It is a matter of first in, first served and we didn't want to miss this opportunity to be camped by the Ningaloo Reef for a few nights and to have such close access to so many wonderful places.

Our plan worked and after his early morning set off, Pete arrived back with the news that we had been allocated a spot in Ned's Camp ground. A site that has 6 generated spots and the rest no modern technology at all. Many, including myself, are very surprised that I survived (and loved) our 6 nights without power or running water!! We also barely used our generator (except for boiling the kettle to wash up and warm the water for our 'bath') and loved the atmosphere of where we were. We were surrounded by amazing families and couples, who all gelled and loved each others' company.

Some of our highlights during this week were:

* Turquoise Bay - snorkelling with a huge array of fish (colours and sizes), swimming with turtles and reef sharks the same sizer as me.

* Oyster Stacks - difficult to get in and out of, but well worth it with the magnificent colour of the coral and marine life.

* Sandy Bay - the clearest and longest stretch of turquoise water you will ever see. An added bonus to be able to see the kite surfers set up and take off.

* The wildlife.....

~ Kangaroos abundant and drinking our grey water bucket each night (including a territorial battle one night between two kangaroos who wanted the lot for themselves. So noisy, that it woke us fro our sleep!!

~ Emus roaming everywhere and trying to drink the bore water when we were stocking up our 'bath' water supply.

~ An echidna walking along the beach with us as we explored the waters off Lakeside and the goanna on the way into Lakeside.

* Happy Hour - a gathering of all at the camp site each night for a drink and a chat. So many families doing what we are and lots of retired (but not old) couples just taking their time exploring this great country of ours. A highlight of one social gathering was meeting a Dutch family who were friends and colleagues of Stef and Anna - such a small world!!

From Exmouth it was onto Coral Bay. We had planned to stay here 3 nights, but with the relaxed small town atmosphere we extended our stay to 6 nights (with drama at the caravan park....). After our problem was sorted, and we had unhappily moved from our ocean front site (bed ends out, roof out and hooked up to the car for the 20m move), we settled down and got back into enjoying the beauty of the area. It truly is an untouched area and we were not prepared for the size (and the expense of the place). Had we known 1L of milk would cost $3.45 and a 2L bottle of soft drink would come in at $6.10 we would have made the effort to restock the fridge and cupboard in Exmouth on the way out. These matters became trivial as we met up and spent time with the great people we had seen on our previous travels. That said, we depart in the morning with milk, cheese and marg in the fridge and weetbix and the odd bit of canned food in the cupboard.

Some highlights around Coral Bay include:

* Zali finally being brave enough to take on a snorkel in the bay and the joy on her face seeing the colourful fish. Bribery of a t-shirt stating "I had the best snorkel in Coral Bay' was incentive enough for this to happen.

* Pete and Marty snorkelling at the wharf with a 2m groper. I would have loved to have joined them, but with blister on blister between my toes, from trying to be 'fit', has caused havoc with my walking. Was even advised to stay out of the water as the bacteria from the reef is not good for open skin wounds.

* Taking the 1 1/2 hour walk to the reef shark sanctuary/breeding ground to see the sharks hunting for their food.

* 3.30 fish feeding in the bay every afternoon. Zali was not at all a fan of 1m fish swimming between her legs and nipping at her ankles. The view from dad's shoulder was more enjoyable for all trying to take in the experience!!

* Having our caravan full of girls enjoying each others' company. The squeals and noise they made would not have been a hit with the 'grey nomads' around us.

So now its back to packing up again as we make our way south for more fun in the sun.

Missing everyone and hope you are all well,

Ange, Pete and Zali

xxx

The Pilbara Region ~ 3rd October - 16th October 2010

After leaving Broome we headed south to Eighty Mile beach for the night. The weather was hot and when we stopped for a fuel refill we were in the hottest temperature we have encountered so far - 46 degrees.... thank go we were moving on!!!

Eightly Mile Beach was very pretty. No swimming as there are too many sea snakes and reef sharks too close to the shoreline. Zali loved collecting shells as we walked along the beach and we had a great time back at the van polishing them up so they don't lose their shine. This was a tip from Colleen, a grandma from Tasmania, who took a sudden liking to Zali as she was the same age as her own grandchildren back at home.

From Eighty Mile Beach we headed further south to Port Hedland. After being turned away from our first choice of the Big 4, we ended up in a park in South Hedland for the first of our two night stay. Luckily for Zali, we were camped for the night next to Colleen, who shared with Zali many of the thousands of shells she has collected on her travels over the past 20 months and Zali came away with an even bigger stash of shells to store in our van.... great!! It was lovely to see the interaction Zali had with Colleen and the amazement and belief in her eyes in everything she was told about the types of shells she was looking at and where they came from. Who would have thought shells could be so interesting!!! While in Port Hedland, we took a tour of BHP's Iron Ore processing facility. The facility is in the town centre and is massive. After overcoming the shock we had to be completely covered up for the tour in the extreme heat (in case we got left at the plant during the tour, they didn't want us to get sunburnt, but don't worry about heat stroke!!). Everything is on such a grand scale...... trains that range from 3.66km to 7.353km (world record), they fill boats (mainly from Asia) with 200 tonnes of iron ore in less than 12 hours before they send them on their way and they export 178 million tonnes out of the port per year. We all found the tour fascinating!! We also found the cost of housing in the area extreme - $2500 per week for your average 3 bedroom house..... and we thought Sydney was expensive!!

Karratha was the next stop on our tour. After a look around Dampier and Point Samson, we settled for an afternoon of snorkelling and relaxing at Honeymoon Cove before a late lunch and some refreshments at the local tavern. We were disappointed not be to get close enough to the port, as it is a restricted access area.

The next day of our trip saw us head back towards Port Hedland as we joined the road to Newman. To break up the 600km trip we stayed half way at Auski Road House. This saw us arrive in Newman at lunchtime on the Sunday. This inland mining town is home to BHP's Mt Whaleback - the biggest iron ore mine in the world and provides BHP's Port Hedland facility with all the iron ore. We had planned to complete a tour of the mine, but we were told at the Visitor's Centre that Zali was too young to join the tour, so Pete did the tour on his own the next morning. The size of the trucks, the mine, the workforce and the cost of the whole operation really is astronomical. Amongst other amazing facts, the cost of each tyre on the huge trucks (like Pete is sitting in during the slideshow) is $30000 and they only last 9-12 months!!

From Newman we headed to Karijini National Park. We spent two nights in Dales Gorge campground and visited the magnificent and refreshing Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool. Peter also took the more difficult walk down to the spectacular Circular Pool and then the next day we drove the 'smooth' dirt road 100 kilometre round trip into Weano Gorge to view where the gorges converge at the amazing Oxer and Junction Pool lookouts.

After that it was on to Tom Price the 'top town in WA' due to the highest peak - Mount Newman. The mountain is only accessible by 4WD so instead we drove again on a very 'smooth' dirt road to visit the superb winding gorge and swimming area at Hamersley Gorge. We loved Karijini NP and will definitely be back in the future.

From Tom Price we drove 350 km to a roadhouse at Nanutarra for an overnight rest only and then it was off for the final 280 km into Exmouth. This will be home for the next eight to ten nights as we relax and swim in the majestic turquoise waters of the soon to be World Heritage Listed Ningaloo Reef in the Cape Range National Park. If the snorkelling and pristine waters at the close to Exmouth Bundegi Beach are anything to go by it should be very tough to take! We just have to make sure that we evade hitting the native and wild emus that roam the streets of Exmouth and keep our eyes peeled for Western Brown snakes (one of the world's most venomous) that prevail in the area and we should have a great time... a 'whale of a time' so to speak as we have already spotted humpbacks moving along the coast and turtles wading close to the shoreline in our first two days........

We have hit the half way mark of our trip. In this time, we have travelled over 15000km, have stayed under budget (though I am yet to hit the shops in Perth) and have only had one major disagreement. Not a bad effort!!!!

Love to all and hope everyone is well,

Ange, Pete and Zali

xxx