Day 42: Edaggee Rest Area to Denham.

Sunday 05/08/2012 Day 42: Edaggee Rest Area to Denham.

Cooler overnight, It was just 10 degrees C at 06:00. There was lots of condensation on the car and inside the van. Crack has only moved 0.25cm overnight. Ryan’s bird woke us up at 05:00 with his calling (sounds like a rusty weather vane).We passed the 26^th parallel twice! once on the Hwy and once heading into Denham. The drive today was very pretty, we had yellow, pink and purple wildflowers on the side of the road. The caravan park at Denham has a great view of the ocean. Ryan and Les tried fishing for whiting but the onshore wind (SW) made it difficult. Amy and Amanda had a quick look around but most shops were shut. Got noisy drunken backpackers next to us but the grog won at 21:00 and they quietened down. Excited about seeing the dolphins tomorrow.

 Daily Stats: Distance: km, Duration:3hrs4min, Weather: Warm & Windy, Night Pleasant

Lives in the garden next to the water taps.

Day 41: Coral Bay to Edaggee Rest Area.

Saturday 04/08/2012 Day 41: Coral Bay to Edaggee Rest Area.

Cool overnight and windy. There was condensation on the windscreen.  Checked the windscreen and the crack has grown 0.5cm again. We packed up the van and were on our way at 08:19. We crossed the tropic of Capricorn. We got back on the North West Coastal Hwy. More Roadtrains and Amanda saw her first mob of Emus. We had to stop to let 2 cross the road. They changed their minds and ran the other way. We went into Carnarvon to get Woollies Caltex Vortex Premium diesel  and stocked up on food supplies at Woolies. We left Carnarvon and drove South to the rest area. A passing motorist waved that there was something wrong with the van. We pulled over and found the roof vent was open. Lifted the lid on the van and Amy crawled in and closed it. We then arrived at the rest area at 14:00. We got a park upwind of the longdrop. There were 2 vans here before us and the place is nearly full at 16:30. When we unpacked the van to Ryan’s dismay we had not packed the landing net. Someone has a brand new BCF extendable landing net.

 Daily Stats: Distance: 343km, Duration: 5hrs41min, Weather: Breezy, Night Cool

Day 40: Tourist Day Coral Bay.

Friday 03/08/2012 Day 40: Tourist Day Coral Bay.

Cool overnight and windy. Checked the windscreen and the crack has grown 1cm again. I hope to get to Geraldton before it makes it across to the other side! Beanies & Jackets this morning as we went down to the water to wait for our tour. There were 16 on our boat we were the only ones under a 100. The tour of the reef here at Coral Bay was indescribable. This sure beats snorkelling. It was worth every penny. We saw many different species of fish and coral. The Ayers Rock and Lavender patch were the best. The snapper follow the boat looking for a quick feed. We saw a turtle, giant clam, sea slug and sea cucumber. The hour went very quickly. Our skipper and deck hand were very informative. A quick lunch and then a brisk walk around past the 5 knot sign for Ryan to have a fish. The Coral Bay fish are smarter than the Exmouth fish. Ryan was unable to land any fish but fed them well. The garfish were teasing us and swimming around us. Amy wanted to snorkel. We went back to Bill’s Bay and the kids snorkled from 14:30 to 16:00. They were rounded up by the hungry snapper at 15:00 looking for food. The kids got more adventurous and swam a lot further out where they saw Parrot Fish, Trumpet Fish, Blue Damsel Fish, Snapper, Wrasse & a Flounder. They manage to communicate talking through their snorkels. They swam around the glass bottom boats and fed the snapper at 15:30. The water was pretty cold at 23 degrees C. With the wind it was freezing.

Daily Stats: Distance: 0km, Duration: 6hrs30min, Weather: Windy, Night Cool

Day 39: Exmouth to Coral Bay.

Thursday 02/08/2012 Day 39: Exmouth to Coral Bay.

It was a late start with such a short drive today. It was fun getting out of our site this morning. We had a couple spots of rain overnight at Exmouth where it never rains!!. Amanda drove south into a headwind 17ltr/100km. She managed to avoid the sheep, goats, cows and wallabies.  The crack has grown by 1cm. I have put package tape on the windscreen. We drove along Coral Bay Rd past the Airport thinking where is the bay?. Then you come ino Robinson St and it all happens in front of you. We are in the Bayview caravan Park. Across the road is the Coral Bay Arcade. There is a restaurant onsite. The water is undrinkable. Amanda backed the van into a corner site next to a pole!. We went to the information center and found there was no fishing in Bill’s Bay. We bought snorkels for the kids and some supplies. We had pies from the local bakery for lunch (highly recommended) At 15:00 we went and watched the fish (snapper) feeding. The kids then snorkled for 1hr30min. The bore water is interesting to shower in. We are looking forward to our coral viewing tour tomorrow.

 Daily Stats: Distance: 166km, Duration: 2hrs2min, Weather: Windy, Night Cool


Hitching up at Exmouth

 The crack gets bigger

 The first crack (passengers side)

 Bayview Caravan Park

 Fish Feeding

Day 38: Tourist Day Exmouth, Cape Range.

Wednesday 01/08/2012 Day 38: Tourist Day Exmouth, Cape Range.

Last night Ryan and Les fished at the Exmouth Marina. Ryan caught 6 Butter Bream, 1 Skat & 1 Yellow Fin Bream. It was very warm overnight and there was condensation on the Windscreen. The crack has moved 1 more inch towards the passenger’s side. We were able to book the car in for a service in Perth. Geraldton was all booked out so we couldn’t get all the jobs done at the same time. We drove to Tadabiddi Beach where we caught 2 yellow fin bream and were visited by the Fishery Inspectors. Ryan landed a fish as they were talking to us. We then drove to Yardie Creek and had lunch at the Gorge. It’s pretty where the Gorge meets the Beach. We completed the Nature Walk and then drove to Bloodwood Creek where we saw wallabies drinking at a water hole. We then went to Turqoise Bay where the kids had a swim. We had a look at the Lakeside Caravan Campsite (7 sites max). On the way back we went up to the lighthouse lookout. What an Impressive view. Topped up fuel ready for tomorrow. Ryan & Les fished the Marina again. They caught 20 Bream, 1 eel tailed catfish and several other unidentified species. Ryan caught a Bream well over 30cm.

 Daily Stats: Distance: 285km, Duration: 7hrs30min, Weather: Warm, Night Warm

 Tadabiddi Beach

 Full Car Park at the Boat Ramp

 Yardie Creek Gorge

 Turqoise Bay

 View from the Lighthouse

 The infamous "Crack"

 The West Australian Yellow Fin Bream - one of many!

Day 37: Burkett Rd Rest Area to Exmouth Cape Holiday Park.

Tuesday 31/07/2012 Day 37: Burkett Rd Rest Area to Exmouth Cape Holiday Park.

Les drove today. We enjoyed the changing scenery along Burkett Rd. As we turned north towards Exmouth we passed loads of sheep grazing by the side of the road, lots of lambs too. We passed the RAAF base at Learmouth. As we were 10km’s from Exmouth a truck passed us on a straight and flicked a rock up which put a 10inch crack on the driver’s side windscreen. Now there is nothing to fix just a new windscreen. Rang Insurance company, then the glass company and we have booked in for a replacement windscreen at Geraldton next week. I hope the windscreen lasts that long. There are no windscreen repairers between Exmouth and Geraldton. The local repairer has to ship the part from Perth and we will have already moved on. There are no powered sites in town and no sites available at the Cape Range National Park. We are on the 2^nd last unpowered site left and the last site was filled at 19:30 tonight. Amanda caught up with Washing but it’s a bit humid here and the washing has not dried completely. There is rain forecast tomorrow afternoon. We had a look around and found a good place to fish at the marina. Picked up supplies at IGA – still $4.50 a loaf of white bread. We are fishing tonight on the high tide and off to Cape range tomorrow. All the glass bottom tours are booked out. We have had to book ahead for the next 5 days to secure accommodation. Still on unpowered sites.

 Daily Stats: Distance: 172km, Duration: 2hrs10min, Weather: Warm, Night Warm

Aspen Exmouth Cape Holiday Park

Our level site (thanks Hyland Hitch)

 Exmouth Marina
A sailfish was caught here!!

Could be fish here?

 

Here looks good Dad!

 Town Beach