We were very surprised when we got to Exmouth as to how much there is to see and do. We thought we would just visit for a few days and do some snorkelling and then continue on, but we ended up staying for 8 days! We loved the snorkelling at Turquoise Bay in what they call the Drift Loop. This is where you get in the water at one end of the beach and the current helps you drift along the coral reef to the other end of the beach. At this point you get out and do it all again. We also enjoyed some snorkelling at the Oyster Stacks. We were all amazed at how beautiful the reef was and how many fish we got to see. It was like we were swimming in an aquarium. We saw a turtle on the bottom of the ocean, a bait ball with hundreds of fish, coral in many shapes and forms and fish in every colour of the rainbow! It is also turtle breeding season and we were able to go to the beach where they lay their eggs and see the turtle tracks and nests. We were also lucky enough to see the turtles resting in the water. We also went to the turtle discovery park and learnt more about the breeding and life cycles of turtles.
Something that
surprised us was that there was more to Exmouth than just snorkelling and the
reef. We went and saw the lighthouse and
learnt about the history and the story of the early lighthouse keepers. We also went to look at the shipwreck of the
SS Mildura that sank just offshore. This
boat also boasts being the most shot at boat by submarines as every sub that
went past it during the war shot at it for target practice. Despite this you can still see a fair bit of
the wreck. We were also surprised to
learn that Exmouth was first built and established so the Americans could set
up a naval communications base for their military. It was a joint agreement by the US and
Australian governments and the 2 nations lived and worked side by side for many
years with the American base being a little patch of USA on Australian soil. They had their own little ‘town’ complete
with cinema and shopping centre that imported all their goods from America and operated
in US dollars! However, the Australian
government stipulated that they had to build their residential living in the
town of Exmouth and not at the Base to help establish the town of Exmouth. The communications base has now been handed
back to Australia and it is now called Naval Communication Station Harold E
Holt. The only evidence of the American
community having lived here are the signs to remind you to drive on the left-hand
side of the road! We also spent a morning
at the Discovery Centre and Aquarium.
This was a very informative display that covered everything from
cyclones Vance to the local flora and fauna and the sea life as well as stories
about locals that helped to either colonise the area or went to war to help protect
our country.
The highlight of our
time at Exmouth was the day we all became ‘Top Gun Pilots’…. or at least we felt
like it. We all went on a TIF (Training
Instructional Flight) on a micro light plane, basically a bike with wings and a
motor! Haydan and Laura were very
nervous about this adventure but were very pleased they did it. We all loved seeing Exmouth from the air and
were very lucky to see a large number of turtles resting in the water or on the
beach. We were able to fly over the
canyons and we all got a turn a flying the microlight! Well sort of…. Glen and Haydan took to it and
loved it, Laura got scared and handed to controls back pretty quickly but was
assured by the instructor that he never once feared for his life and poor
Emmalisa was keen as mustard to have a go but was too short to reach the
controls! We really enjoyed our time in
Exmouth except for the wind that never stopped!
Once we left Exmouth
we head to Coral Bay, on arriving here we were once again greeted by the
wind. We had a look around the little town
and decided to keep heading along the coast because with the wind it was not
much good for snorkelling or beach days. We
then headed to the Quobba Blowholes.
When we got here it was even windier!
We couldn’t even see the blowholes because the waves were crashing into
the rocks so hard that it was just a wash with huge white waves crashing. We didn’t feel it was safe enough to get out
of the car. We then went to find a place
that was protected by the dunes to camp.
We set up the camper tailer and then continued to feel the wind howl and
the camper was swaying and bending in the pressure of the wind. So, we decided to pack up and headed to
Canarvon. We set up camp here and again
endured another night of howling winds.
However, at Canarvon we spent the hours at the Canarvon Space and
Technology Museum. We were fascinated to
see all the memorabilia of Australia’s involvement in the Apollo Space Missions
and all the famous astronauts that have visited the museum. We learnt so much about how Australia helped
in the moon landing mission and the other space missions that followed. We spent a lot of time in the science
and technology part of the museum where we tried our hands and minds at
different scientific challenges. We all
had a go at landing a space shuttle in the simulator with mixed success but its
fair to say we could all do with a little to a lot more training! Glen and Haydan
were pleased to dominate the leader board on the old school Space Invaders
arcade game while Laura and Emmalisa did the challenge quiz “Are you a
Scientist?” Unfortunately the highest we
got to was Lab Assistant so we may have to study a little more to become a
scientist.
After another windy
night at Canarvon we went to Wooramel Station.
Here we camped by the upside-down river.
This is because the river bed is dry and is remains dry for most of the
year but the water is actually running 2-3 meters below the surface. There is a tree in the river bed that is
called The Wonderful Tree and if you put your ear up to it you can hear the
water running below the surface. (the
tree is a hollow tree which is why you can hear the water) The main reason we stopped here though was
because of the artesian pools. We all
enjoyed a hot soak in the pools that are filled by the artesian bore with a
temperature of 33°! This was
quite a contrast to the cold water we have been swimming.
From Wooramel Station
we made our way the Denham. It was here we
went to the Fire on the Water Exhibition. This was one of the most powerful
exhibitions we have seen on our trip. This
is a short 3D film that tells the story of the battle between the HMAS Sydney
II and the HSK Kormoran when they met in 1945.
We all left the exhibition and were moved by what took place on that
fateful night where all the Australians on board the HMAS Sydney II lost their lives. We then went through the discovery centre and
once again we were lost for hours in the history of the Western Australian coast
line. The stories of survival, colonisation,
war and shipwrecks never disappoint and there is always something new we
learn. Emmalisa and Laura spent some
time also learning about how they are rehabilitating Dirk Hartog Island and how
they are reintroducing the native species back to the island. From Denham we went to Monkey Mia which is
famous for the dolphins that come close to shore. We were lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins
playing in the water and we also got to get close to the pelicans. We then did
the Ocean Park Aquarium tour that taught us all about the marine life in the
Shark Bay area. The highlight of this
tour was Max the Mulloway that spat water all over Emmalisa who went home
soaking wet!
We then made our way
to Kalbarri and enjoyed some more walks in the National Park. The part we all enjoyed was the Sky Walk,
they are 2 platforms that are cantilevered 100m in the air over the gorge. It made quite a spectacular view. Of course a visit to The Kalbarri National
park is also not complete without getting a photo at Nature’s Window! We then
continued our way down the coast and stopped at Port Gregory to see the Pink Lake and the Lynton Convict Hiring Depot
historic site to look at the ruins. We
then went to Sandy Bay where the kids just enjoyed playing on the beach and of
course Emmalisa went for a swim. It was
here that we also got to see our first Sea Lion swimming in the water not far
from where the kids were playing. There
was also a big sand dune that Glen and the kids enjoyed racing down on the
boggie board. This was just the warmup
for our next stop, Lancelin.
On our way to Lancelin we stopped at Nambung National Park to look at the Pinnacles Desert. This is a desert made up of thousands of huge limestone pillars that rise up from the yellow sand. It was an incredible site to see and as we walked through the discovery centre we learnt that scientist are not sure how they formed but have 2 theories that they continue to research. I was then on to Lancelin. Lancelin is famous for
its sand dunes and sandboarding is one of the activities you can do on the
dunes. So, we hired some sandboards and away
we went. It proved to be a little harder
than we thought and it took us a bit to get going but by the end we were all
covered in sand and had made some good runs down the dunes. Unfortunately for Haydan things didn’t end well
when he came off his board on the last run and landed quite heavily, headfirst
into the sand! We all went back to camp
covered in sand, legs burning (from climbing back up the sand dunes) and some
of us with a headache!
The last few weeks
have been very busy and we have been constantly battling the wind. We head to Perth now to see what the city has
to offer…..and hopefully get out of the wind.
