Blue Skies and Seas at Coral Bay

Today started out as a fairly calm day with the wind only being a slight breeze. I checked the wind app on Shane's phone and noticed it was going to pick up again in the afternoon/evening so thought it best if I go for my venture to Bill's Bay and Paradise Beach early. Hows that for a name of a beach Paradise Beach!! Even though there were quite a lot of people playing on the beach and doing some snorkeling I was still able to find some locations where I was the only one on my little piece of beach. I am still amazed at  the beautiful colour of the water in this part of Australia. It is the brightest, clearest turquoise I have ever seen. It's now 4.00pm and yes the wind has once again picked up so I am sheltering inside Myrtle.

Aptly named Paradise Beach!!

 

Due to it's location, Coral Bay relied on diesel generators for it's electricity, which meant high costs and a reliance on importing fuel into the region. In 2007 these three wind turbines were constructed. They now produce 45% of Coral Bay's electricity requirements which save 440,000 litres of diesel fuel each year. If a cyclone threatens the town, the turbines can be lowered to prevent damage. The power lines to distribute the electricity in town are underground.

 

Three huge wind turbines overlook the ocean



Other than that my day has been fairly quiet but was made much better as I spoke to both my kids Shane and Rachel. Even though I am having the trip of a lifetime and enjoying my lifestyle, I still really miss my kids and beautiful grandchildren Clare, O'Shea and Mikayla. I'm sure I mentioned it but my son Shane and his partner Stacey are due to have my fourth grand baby mid December. I can't quite believe in 2 1/2 years I will have gone from no grandchildren to four. How lucky am I?

 I'll say it again I LOVE my LIFE.

 

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Exmouth to Coral Bay

Another short drive again today, about 180kms. The road between Exmouth and Coral Bay wasn't a major road and a bit narrower than some, but still a good road. We got about 30kms out of Exmouth and saw some vehicles up ahead. At first we thought it may have been a Police Booze Bus. But as we got closer we realized it was a car accident. Not sure how it had happened as there appeared to be only one vehicle towing some sort of trailer. The trailer could have been some sort of camper but it was so smashed up it was hard to tell what it was. The car was on it's roof. Some helpers had set up a shade cover on the side of the road and I saw one woman lying down. I am amazed anyone survived the crash as the roof of the car was totally flattened. Being a fellow traveller it really put us on edge and really took our time for the rest of our journey. it just shows how quickly someones life can change.

The Beach opposite our camp

Coral Bay is a small settlement that lies protected from the Indian Ocean, by the Ningaloo reef. It is Australia's only fringing reef. In contrast to other locations the coral starts right at the waters edge.
The main industries are tourism and fishing.  This small village has a permanent population of only around 200, but during the holiday season it swells to much more. It sort of has the feeling of a surfer town without the surf.

Cape Range National Park

We arrived in Kurrajong Camp Ground in Cape Range National Park early on Tuesday and set up for our four nights there. Our first night we walked to the beach, which was about 80 metres from our camp and watched yet another beautiful sunset.

Sunset at Kurrajong, Cape Range NP

Wednesday morning we woke to gale force winds, clouds and a couple of drops of rain. I haven't felt rain or seen clouds since way back in Alice Springs, which was about 4 months ago. Seeing we couldn't really doing any fishing or snorkeling that we had planned we decided to go for a drive and check out the sights of the national park. I think the only person that was getting good value out of the winds was this wind surfer. He was really great to watch, flying high in the air as the winds lifted him off the water.

 

At least some-one is getting value out of the gale force winds.

At times he actually got very high out of the water

The fury of the ocean!

Wednesday night was not a pleasant night to spend in Myrtle at all. The wind was really wild and noisy and kept us both awake most of the night. On waking on Thursday morning we decided to head back to Exmouth where it was a bit more sheltered. We figured the two things we wanted to do in Cape Range NP was fish and snorkel, and the weather was preventing that, so we may as well leave. Exmouth was a lot better weather and after having an afternoon sleep (from none the previous night) it looked like the wind was mild enough to venture out fishing. So this morning we checked when the tides would be right and headed off to Pebble Beach to do some fishing. There weren't to many fish about although Shane did catch a Garfish. But it was still a beautiful place to spend the afternoon.

Pebble Beach - my question is where did all these pebbles come from?

Tonight we took ourselves out for dinner,

which was extra yummy and tomorrow we head south for Coral Bay.  

Exmouth

Here's a bit more information about Exmouth. 

 

We originally didn't intend to stay here for 7 nights but as it is Western Australia school holidays we have been limited where we can go and where we can get in for the next 2 weeks. So we decided to have a week here in Exmouth and just relax with no driving, setting up, packing up and checking out touristy stuff every day. I had no preconceived ideas about Exmouth and I have been pleasantly surprised. The caravan park we are staying at is Exmouth Cape Holiday Park and is very nice - pretty busy with families - but nice. Exmouth is situated on the Exmouth Gulf and is renowned for being one of the world's most treacherous coastlines as it is surrounded by a coral reef. One of the casualty's was the SS.Mildura, when on  March 8th, 1907, the 2,217 ton ship  left Port of Wyndham loaded with 498 cattle, bound for Freemantle. Four days later confronting a looming cyclone  she struck the reef. All members on the ship survived. The cattle were turned loose to swim ashore, less than one kilometre, but most died in the attempt.

 

Wreck of SS Mildura

All the way along the Western Australian coast we have been trying to get a nice feed of fresh prawns, but to our dismay we couldn't get them anywhere. But as soon as we arrived here we saw a sign Fresh Prawns Now In !!!!! WooHooo it was fresh prawns straight of the boat for dinner.

 

Yummo Fresh Prawns!!

In 1963 and agreement between Australia and U.S.A led to a Naval Communication Station being built in Exmouth in 1967. It was later renamed US Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt, in honour of the late Australian Prime Minister, who disappeared while going for a swim at Cheviot Beach near Melbourne on December 17th, 1967.  Today, as an Australian Naval Communications Station it continues to play a vital role in the secure operation of the Australian submarine fleet. The worlds largest Very Low Frequency transmitter, and the 2nd tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Tower Zero at 387.6 metres is surrounded by 12 other towers. It is quite an amazing sight driving up to them and even more amazing standing near the base of one. Weighing 800 tonnes, Tower Zero can withstand winds of up to 500kms per hour. Which is pretty handy up here as this is a fairly popular place for cyclones to visit.

13 Towers

Quiet Time in Exmouth

I've had a pretty quiet week in Exmouth as I have had an allergic reaction to something and my throat and glands in my neck have been swelling up. This is a reoccurring problem although I have been OK for about the past 8 months. Just have to take it easy when it happens as I don't know what I'm actually allergic to.

Here's our journey so far!!

So I thought I would just share some photos I've taken while we have been here.Tomorrow morning we are heading off on a big drive (only about 60kms) to Cape Range National Park, where I hope I will get in a bit of snorkeling. I don't think I will have Internet coverage there,

so if not I will be back in about 5 days.



Out of all the towns we have visited, Exmouth definitely
wins with the most colourful Welcome sign

Every day we have had a visitor to the caravan park.
Keeps the kids (and me) amused.

Hello Ol' Man Emu

This cross was placed at the Lighthouse Lookout.
 Don't know why it was there as there was no plaque telling me why.
But it was pretty impressive.

Onslow to Barradale Roadside Stop

Yesterday while walking along the pretty ordinary beach in Onslow, I found these pretty amazing shells.

I love shell collecting

The drive from Onslow was fairly uneventful, although there were a lot of wild flowers along the edges of the highway. One thing that did get my attention was something I had seen once on the highway back in our early days of our adventure. The RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) is an amazing and essential service in Australia. They travel to many many isolated locations to help with emergencies and also to provide medical, dental etc services to those isolated areas. Any time there is a donation tin for the RFDS I donate as they do a wonderful job. Some locations that don't have an airfield and are unable to turn a field into one have to use the highway as their runway. This is one such location. It is really weird seeing the runway lines painted on the road.

 

RFDS Runway on Highway

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