Half-lap Day 88: Cape Range National Park -> Coral Bay

The wind did not pick up much overnight, it was a fairly still, quiet night and we all slept really well, such a relief! I was up before sunrise and was going to sit outside the tent and do some blogging, the sight of the sun about to rise over the ranges though convinced me to head up to the beach. It was a little windy and the tables would have been a bit uncomfortable, so I found a sheltered spot down on the sand and sat and typed and watched the waves and the sunlight and the whales. Tony and Millie came and sat at the tables and watched the ocean for a while too, and I joined them. A pod of dolphins swam past again, very exciting to see.

It was a bright, sunny morning and the water was a light blue and almost completely clear, we could see all the rocks and where the coral was, and there was no swell at all. It looked so inviting and it felt rather sad that it was time to leave. Millie couldn’t understand why we couldn’t just stay another day – bookings here need to be made online and the whole National Park was booked out for days in advance, so there was no chance of us being able to extend our stay even by a day.

We wandered back to the tent and had our breakfast, and started packing up a little. I had charged the other homeschooling family’s camera in our car overnight, as they didn’t have a USB charger they could use, and the mum came to collect it so we had a bit more of a chat. Once she left it was 8.30 and we still had most of the packing to do. The single guy next to us (who had a magnificent long grey beard) looked at all our stuff and wondered how we could possibly get it all into our car and trailer.

The kids went to play on the beach and found a hut made from driftwood, up above the beach to the south of our main beach. They played happily there for the rest of our pack up time, which went really smoothly and we were done by just after 10, one of our quickest pack ups ever, especially since we’d taken a lot of stuff out of the car. I went up to tell the kids it was time to go and they showed me the hut, there were stones for tables and chairs, and a log to use as a couch. Millie was decorating it with shells. It was a fantastic place to play, and very very difficult to leave.

The National Park in general was hard to leave – the beaches were so beautiful and the setting just amazing with the low ranges to west. Our campsite at North Kurrajong was Tony’s favourite campsite yet, being large and flat and with a great view across the bushes to the sand dunes. The toilets here were the best drop toilets we’ve used – clean and fresh and in quiet nice buildings – better even than some of the flush toilets at places we’ve stayed.

We tore ourselves away and drove out of the park and up to the Turtle Centre near the point of the cape. This had a display explaining the life cycle of a turtle and outlining all the dangers turtles face. It was quite interesting and well laid out. While we were there the family we’d met on our first night at Karajini arrived – the 4yo girl who Millie had played with her toys with. We chatted about what we’d done since then – they’d driven up the Rio Tinto road alongside the railway from Tom Price to Karratha – I only found out about it when they told me they were doing it, and we didn’t really have time for that detour, but I’d love to do it one day. They said it was great, driving alongside the trains!

We wandered down to the beach, very different here close to the point of the cape, much rougher even though it was still inside the reef. The rocks looked more worn and it didn’t look like a good place to snorkel. We think though that this is where the turtles tend to nest. The kids found some fishing line stuck in some molluscs on the rock, so they pulled the line free and we put it in the bin.

We drove around to Exmouth – the VLF aerials didn’t look quite so freaky on a clear sunny day. Tony dropped the kids and I off at the water play park in town, and he went off to get new tyres for the car. We were all excited that the weather was good enough for the water play (it had been too cold and wet to consider it earlier in the week when we were in Exmouth) – there was a sign on the gate saying that it was closed for maintenance. We were surprised, because all the water was running – then a council employee told us that there had been a problem with the pump, it was fixed but now the chlorine levels were too high, they’d be testing it throughout the afternoon and it might be open again in a few hours. We weren’t planning on sticking around that long so everyone was very disappointed.

We thought we might go for a swim at the public pool instead – we got there and it was closed for winter. We walked over to the shops, and found a newsagent/souvenir shop and browsed in there, finding a few more gifts for people and a pack of Ningaloo Reef playing cards that I had planned to buy at the Visitors Centre in the Park, and forgotten to go back and get. Millie bought herself some Shopkins, the first she’s had, so she was quite excited. We also found a book called ‘A snorkelers guide to common fish of the Ningaloo Reef’, which was the kind of book we had been looking for at Cape Range – it was $35 though, so we didn’t buy it on top of the book we already had.

We went to the bakery and bought some day old cheese and bacon rolls for lunch, and day old finger buns for an afternoon snack. Then to the IGA and got a packet of Magnums to share, as compensation for not being able to play in the water park. We went and ate them in the park, and chatted to a couple from Perth who had a French Bulldog with them. The guy worked in the mining industry, running a company that services the villages, so it was great to find out more about how the employment situation works out there and the challenges the industry is facing now as the boom is ending. When Tony came back we went over to the IGA to stock up on supplies, and ran into the family from Karajini again. Tony filled the car up with petrol and topped up our gas tank (we’d run out during breakfast this morning), and then we were ready to go.

Our Kings Canyon friends were staying the night in Coral Bay, and we were leaving Exmouth with plenty of time to get there (it’s only 150km). I rang the caravan park they were staying at, but they were full, so I rang the other one – they said that there’d be room in overflow, they never turn anyone away. So we drove down to Coral Bay – the terrain was pretty uninteresting for the most part, red dirt and low plants, fairly sparsely scattered. There were hills in the distance to the west, not much to the east. We had to slow a few times for sheep who were wandering around on the side of the road.

We reached Coral Bay around 4.30 and checked in – we were in overflow, which was a grassed area across the road from the caravan park. We were only allowed to stay one night there, and check out was 8am!!!! The only alternative was to go back out to the highway and drive further south to find a free camp, so we took the early checkout. We were allocated a tiny site next to the corner, and our tent was going to block the corner site’s car in. Next to us a group of young people had 2 sites for their 2 cars and a boat, they said they didn’t need all that room so for us to set up first and they’d just use the space that was left, so that worked much better. We put the tent up and the kids went to explore the caravan park. I found our friends and took Millie’s friend to find the others – they were all playing on the jumping pillow so she joined them there, and her mum came over after she’d got some groceries. We sat and chatted and Tony set up the beds then chilled out at the tent for a while. We discovered that Millie’s friend had bought the exact same packet of Shopkins when she was in the Exmouth newsagent earlier today as well!!!

We had planned to go to the beach to watch the sunset, and talked and played for so long that we missed it. The half an hour or so after sunset is even better here on the West Coast, so we all headed to the beach to see that bit at least. The bay was beautiful, white sand and reddish headlands, clear blue water and a few orange clouds. We walked out towards the point, the kids played in the sand, Caitlin practised her gymnastics, and we all enjoyed the early evening peacefulness and the beautiful view.

It was nearly dark when we walked back towards the caravan park. We’d bought a hot chicken in Exmouth, so went and got that and some breadrolls, cheese and mayonnaise, and our drinks, and rejoined our friends on tables out the front of our park, and they ordered pizza and wedges for their dinner. They shared a bit with us and we sat and chatted and ate and played for another couple of hours, great company as always. Caitlin had bought a selfie stick at the IGA that afternoon and was happily taking photos of herself and the other kids, they played hide-and-seek for a while, and we adults got out our maps and started talking about our respective plans for our last few weeks on the road.

By about 9pm everyone was very tired so we went back to our sites. The girls really wanted to have a hot shower so I took them over to the caravan park and had one as well. The water was from the artesian bore and was quite salty, not quite as refreshing as we’d hoped (and no good for our hair which is all knotted and feeling caked over from swimming in salt water for so many days without a freshwater rinse). It was good to get sand and dirt off though – and we didn’t have to scrub our feet for the first time in ages. We’ve all had incredibly dirty feet for the past few months, the red dirt gets in to every crack and crease and it doesn’t come out with a very hard scrub – the salt water cleaned everything up nicely though and now our feet are smooth and white and clean, they don’t even look like the same feet.

Back to the tent for a very quick reading of Inheritance before going to sleep and hoping we’ll wake up early enough for our 8am check out tomorrow.

Half-lap Day 87: Cape Range National Park

The wind became very strong through the night, the strongest night time wind we’ve had on the trip. Tony and I were awake several times, and for a long time each occasion. Tony got up 3 times and went out to tie down things that were flapping or knocking, and to make sure that everything that might blow away was put away. The wind was slamming into the tent behind our head and slapping the canvas against the pole, I felt like it was a constant punching right behind me and it really wore me out. The kids each woke up, worried, once or twice, but we reassured them and they went back to sleep, and the tent and all our stuff survived the night without any damage or loss.

We eventually fell back to sleep at some point in the early morning, then I woke up around 6.30, as it was getting light. We had to be up and out early today to go on a glass-bottomed boat tour, so I decided not to go back to sleep despite feeling exhausted, and went up to the beach instead. I sat at the tables and drank my cup of tea and watched the waves and the whales, and the sun coming over the ranges and slowly lighting up the ocean. It was windy up there too and my travel mug got blown off the table, so I lost half of my cuppa.

Back to the tent and I woke the others up around 7.30 – we wanted to leave at 8 so we could call in and see our friends at Neds, they were packing up today and I wanted to see them before they left. The kids got out of bed fairly quickly, and had some breakfast. I made sure we had swimmers and snorkels and food for the day, so that we didn’t have to come back to camp until we were ready, and we were in the car by about 8.10, one of our quickest getaways on the trip.

It was a beautiful sunny morning, although still quite windy. The swell didn’t look very big though, so we hoped the wind wouldn’t impact on our boat tour. We got to Neds and walked up to see our friends, who were happy to see us. The girls played in the car and we caught up on our news of the past few days. They’d gone to Oyster Stacks on the day we did Turquoise Bay, so we’d missed them there. It was great to see them again and to share our plans for the next few days to see if we could catch up again somewhere soon. I mentioned that we couldn’t find Millie’s thongs (missing since Karajini – they could be in the car somewhere, or they could be with Tony’s missing hat and sunglasses…) and my friend said someone had given her a pair that they thought were her daughters (same pattern) but were a size too small – they just fit Millie, so she has thongs again, that look exactly the same as her friend’s thongs. Perfect.

We had about 15 minutes there, and then headed back to the car and drove to the Tantabiddi Boat Ramp. We got there just as the boat driver was reading off the names to make sure everyone had arrived. He introduced himself, Alec, the owner of the company, then we headed out along the jetty to the boat. He suggested that kids go in last as there is more room at that end of the boat, so we let everyone else get on and then we climbed in and sat on the bench seat to the left. The boat had a bench seat along either side, then 4 glass panels covering the entire middle section of the boat – so everyone was sitting facing the glass and could look down and see whatever was underneath. There was another family across from us – a young couple with a 2yo boy.

Sitting at the jetty, LiAM and the girls spotted a sting ray on the sand under the boat – a very exciting start to our tour. We motored out to the Tantabiddi Sanctuary Zone, a rectangular area of the reef where this tour operates. Alec told us about himself and his company and the boat, and made lots of jokes, he was fun to listen to. He then asked where each of us was from, and I was surprised that everyone on the boat was Australian. There was another couple from Melbourne, and he said ‘ooh, you’re not Collingwood supporters are you?’ – they said no, but when he got to us, Tony’s Collingwood hat gave him away. Alec offered to throw him overboard for a free snorkel…

On the way out to the reef some people saw a turtle – it was under our side of the boat and we missed it. Once we got to the reef, we saw amazing amounts of coral and fish, and it was great having a commentary about what each thing was, and interesting facts about behavior, diet, fragility and so on. We saw staghorn coral with blue tips – they looked like fairy lights (so we call it fairy light coral now) and large rock like coral formations which are called bommies. All the fish that we’d been seeing over the last few days were here, and we learnt more names. A very long, thin yellow fish that Millie and I had seen was a Spanish flutemouth, then LiAM spotted a silver one that looked the same – he pointed it out to Alec who said it was also a flutemouth. The most exciting thing was seeing a green turtle, feeding on the bottom. Alec turned the boat around 5 times so we could all see it properly. Very exciting and what I’d been hoping to see on this tour. We also saw a crayfish, and a large reef shark. I managed to get a fair few decent photos, as long as I remembered to hold the camera very close to the glass, and not on an angle. The 2 yo boy was so excited about seeing all the fish, it was very cool to listen to him talk about them.

Staghorn, or Fairy Light, coral

More coral

Green turtle

As we headed back to shore Alec handed out a DVD to each couple or family, filled with underwater photos of the reef that he has taken when diving or snorkeling here himself. I love going on tours when the operator is so passionate and knowledgeable about the area we are seeing, we always learn so much.

Once we were back at the car we looked at the map for a while to figure out what we wanted to do with the rest of our day (it was only 10.30 at this stage). We decided to drive all the way down to the southern end to check out Yardie Creek and the gorge there. We drove down then had a bit of a snack, then set out for the short walk along the creek. It was quite pretty, and we could see the gorge walls up ahead, the permanent water of the creek next to us, low scrubby land in either direction, and the ocean and reef behind us. The walk to the lookout at the start of the gorge was very quick and easy, so we continued up along the gorge walk, which was slightly more difficult but not hard. We saw some tenacious little yellow flowers growing out of holes in the rock, there was much less vegetation up here. We walked to the first lookout, where we could see down into the gorge. We watched some people float past on what I said were kayaks, but were actually stand up paddle boards. One guy was doing yoga on his, head stands and chimneys and so on – fairly impressive. The view was great in all directions from here, seeing the gorge, the ranges, the creek, the ocean and the land between the shore and the range. We could see whales way out in the distance. We walked back down, looking at the tough trees that live here – all bent over quite significantly, with very hardy looking branches and leaves.

Yardie Gorge

Yardie Creek

I wanted to snorkel at North Mandu (our original campsite) at high tide, which was just after 3pm today. We drove back up there, arriving a little after 1.30. Everyone was exhausted after our disruptive night’s sleep, and we considered just going back to the tent for a nap. The wind was still quite strong and was also wearing us out. We decided to stay though and just have a quick try at a snorkel once the water was high enough, then go back and rest. The kids and I wandered down to the beach, and walked towards the creek bed. We sat on the side of the creek bed and watched the ospreys – one was sitting on a dead branch on the other side of the creek bed, the other was in the nest. When seagulls started swooping the nest again, the osprey returned to the nest to help its mate scare them off. We didn’t ever go close to the nest so don’t know if they had eggs or chicks in there, but both adult birds kept looking down into the nest, so we’re sure that the nest was occupied by something. LiAM and Millie made rock cairns out of some of the flatter rocks, and we looked at shells and all the other things on the beach. There were huge white clam shells here, and more of the pink and brown shells, bits of coral, lots of driftwood, and rocks of a whole range of colours. Mainly white, pink and brown, and some were stripey. More whales were going past and I finally got some photos of one breaching – and all the kids saw it too, they have mainly only been breaching a long way out so it’s hard to show people, but these whales were just beyond the reef and one whale went up 4 times in a row, incredible to watch. We wandered back to Tony and sat at the table in the middle of the campground and had some lunch. By the time we’d finished eating it was after 2.30 and a good enough time to go in the water.

Humpback Whale

I went in first with LiAM and Millie. We went in pretty much from the end of the path to the beach, over the rocks and then into the deeper water (it’s not very deep here anyway). I wore my reef shoes so that it was easier to walk on the rocky shore and then over the rocks into the water. The swell was higher than we’d snorkeled in before, and the current seemed to be running strongly to the south, so I tried to go straight out then swim a bit north then head back in. We saw lots of fish again, and it was quite beautiful once we got out past the rocks. Millie coped well with the swell, and both kids could swim easily out there as long as they were holding my hand. Heading back in to shore I was really missing my flippers as I had to do all the work with my legs.

Tony decided to walk further north along the beach and go in at a less rocky part, then drift back down towards us. We walked along the beach near the shore, and saw a little reef shark darting in and out. He kept swimming quite close to us, then shooting back into the water. We followed him along the shore for ages, and later found out that juvenile reef sharks are very inquisitive and often come up to check people out and will swim near them along the shoreline. Tony swam way out and back towards the point, he saw a fair bit of coral and fish and said it was a good way to do it. At one point he was out pretty far and directly in the sunlight and I couldn’t see him – I was starting to wonder what I should do if he’d disappeared when I saw his orange snorkel come out of the shiny sun reflections – a big relief. I went and got my flippers and headed back in with LiAM. We were debating how far out we should walk before submerging, when Caitlin (still on the shore getting ready) shouted ‘Oh my God!’ and pointed in front of us – there was a turtle, right in front of us, only about 10m away. We both dived into the water and shot straight out there, Caitlin was not far behind us – but it had disappeared by the time we got there. We swam out beyond the rocks, and LiAM and I saw a blue-spotted ray hiding in under a ledge (my first ray of the trip, I was very excited). Back along the coral towards where Tony was on the shore, and saw lots more – every time we go out it’s as good as the last time, there’s so much going on under the water, fish eating and chasing each other and swimming around, interacting at times or going about their own business as if no one else was there. It was much easier swimming with my flippers, even though the blisters hurt a fair bit when I put them on. Once I was in the water though I didn’t notice them at all.

Millie came in for one more quick snorkel, then I took the others out again for a lap, and then we’d all had enough. Feeling very happy that we’d seen lots of cool things again, we headed back to the car. We stopped off at Bloodwood Creek on the way back to camp and walked up to the small lookout there. There was a bit of water in the creek although it wasn’t flowing, and there were a few birds around. We walked over to the beach and the kids and I decided to walk back, our beach was really not far. So Tony drove the car and the rest of us wandered back along the beach and rocks. The shoreline here was a series of low rocky outcrops, with small crescents of white sandy beaches in between. There were lotts more of the moss covered rocks on the edge of the larger rocks, interesting rockpools and holes in the rocks that we walked over, beautiful white sand with shells and fascinating driftwood in between each rocky part. The dunes to our left were covered in low bushes – great for LiAM to hide behind when he ran ahead, then jump out of as we came past.

Back at camp Tony was using up some leftovers for dinner – bread and eggs and bacon and maple syrup for some delicious French Toast. Caitlin and Millie went and talked to the guy with the guitar again, and they offered the girls a Harry Potter book that they didn’t want (The Deathly Hallows). Millie eagerly accepted it and then sat looking at the words while we ate our tea, she was very excited to have her own copy of a Harry Potter book. We finished eating then grabbed our drinks again and headed up to the tables for sunset. The sunset itself wasn’t as spectacular tonight, but the company was great once again. Caitlin took my camera up and asked the camp hosts about our nocturnal visitor from the night before – it was a Western Antichenus – I’ve always wanted to see one in the wild so was very pleased that it had chosen to visit us. We chatted with the camp hosts and some of the other couples, then with the other homeschooling family again. All the kids played on the beach again, having races and exploring the rocks until it was dark. The wind had died down by now and it was quite pleasant. We weren’t the only ones who had had a disturbed night, everyone was commenting on the wind and the lack of sleep that had resulted.

We gradually drifted back down to our sites and we got ready for bed. The stars were amazing again and I got my tripod out and took some photos – more successfully than last time I tried (at Devils Marbles) – I still need more practice though. Millie and I went to bed first and started reading her Harry Potter book, she asked me to show her where I was reading and she read the words that she knows (that’s how Caitlin started reading too, with the first Harry Potter book). We did that for a while, then the others came in and we read Inheritance for a short while before everyone crashed.

Half-lap Day 86: Cape Range National Park

The wind picked up a bit overnight and kept us awake at various stages. The tent held it’s own though, it flapped around a lot but nothing budged. Once again I woke up after sunrise, and headed down to the beach with my cup of tea. I walked along the rocky beach and got to the point where the Mandu Creek comes out to the ocean – it’s dry now, and has left a wide bed of sand and rocks and driftwood. From there I had a good view of the osprey nest further along the rocky shore – one osprey was sitting on top of the nest, and a couple of seagulls started dive bombing the next. Another adult osprey suddenly stood up from within the nest, and the 2 of them screeched at the seagulls until the gulls gave up.

Back at the tent I started to get everyone’s breakfast ready, and to get things organised to pack up. We didn’t get started particularly early (because of our restless night, no one woke up early or easily) but the pack up went pretty smoothly. We chatted a bit to our neighbours and the kids watched the corellas who had descended on the campground. These ones were whiter and cleaner looking than the ones we’d seen in Tom Price. It was tempting to feed them to have them come closer, but we resisted. The kids also found it hard not to collect the amazing shells and rocks around us, but with this being a Sanctuary Zone we weren’t allowed to take anything from the area.

We’d been a bit worried that the jockey wheel might be stuck in the dirt now that the wind had dried out the ground a little, but when we went to turn the trailer around it moved quite easily. We were ready to go by just after 11, and drove the short distance down through the National Park to the North Kurrajong campground. Technically we aren’t supposed to set up until 12, and it was only 11.15 – but our campsite was empty so we backed in there and Caitlin and I went for a wander to check out the beach and see if we could find the campground hosts (the bigger campgrounds have hosts – volunteers who camp here for a week or a month or more, and liaise with the campers, help keep the campground neat and tidy and running well, and are full of information about the local area. North Mandu only had 5 campsites and had no host, this is a bigger area (about 10 sites) and does have a host, right next to our site). We found a couple painting the tables overlooking the beach, and asked if they were the hosts. They were national parks volunteers, but not our hosts. They said it would be fine to set up as long as our site was empty. We chatted to them for a while about places to see from here down to Perth, and things to do within the Park here.

The beach here was very different from North Mandu. We had walked up to the top of the sand dunes, which were much higher here, and gave us a great view across the beach, the lagoon, the reef and the ocean. It was even easier to spot whales from here because of the height. The water was a deep blue, and we could see patches of rock and coral in the clear shallower water within the reef. The sand was white and inviting, it looked like a great place to swim.

This site was much bigger than our last one (12m by 7m) so it was easy to simply back the trailer in to the right spot and set it up from there. The wind was still coming mainly from the east so we set up with the tent on the eastern side, and finally got it right, our annex and living area was protected from the wind! Once the tent was up and the kids had had a bit of an explore we had some lunch, and in the meantime our camp hosts had arrived back at their site and came over to introduce themselves (and make sure we were in the right campground and site).

Today’s plan was to snorkel the Oyster Stacks – a few large piles of rocks in the water, which are covered in oyster shells – which can only be done at high tides, because the coral is so close to the surface that it would be damaged if people snorkeled in shallow water (and people would be more likely to get hurt on the coral too). The window for snorkeling today was 12.30 until 4. By the time we got organised and drove up there, it was 2pm, which gave us a good couple of hours.

There were a lot of people along the shore and lots snorkeling in the water. It was a trickier spot to get into the water than Turquoise Bay – you could climb down rocks into clear, shallow water with a sandy bottom, but getting down the rocks was a little tricky. Further to the south the rocks were low enough that we could just walk in, but the swell made this not quite as easy as it looked, and the current was stronger in this area. We chose to go in at the low rocks. Walking across the rocks to get to the water, there were lots of little rockpools, and many of them had crabs in them. At first we were quite excited, then realised that they all seemed to be dead – they must have been stranded in the rock pools when the tide went out and perhaps the water became too hot?

Tony went in first, then once we were ready I took LiAM, Caitlin and Millie in. We’d heard that here you could see fish as soon as you entered the water and that was true, the coral and pretty fish were right near the shoreline. We swam around in the area between the last 2 oyster stacks and saw so many fish, and lots of coral, it was really beautiful. There were lots of parrot fish, and rainbow fish, angel fish, blue damsels, ocean trout, and so many others. Millie swam really well again and was quite confident directing me to where she wanted to go. Having looked at the fish book last night we all recognised more fish too, and also saw some we didn’t remember seeing yesterday. I found it a bit of work to get back to shore again, the current was strongish and I had to kick pretty hard to swim across it while holding Millie’s hand. I had put waterproof band aids on the blisters on my toes – when I came out and took my flippers off, the bandaids came off as well! I didn’t realise until I was out of the water, so they are in the ocean somewhere – I hope that they don’t hurt any of the fish or other creatures.

Tony, Caitlin and LiAM snorkeled over to the other oyster stacks. They said that the current was much weaker over that way (we’d heard that too) and that the fish around the stacks were incredible. They also saw an octopus. Once they got out I went for a snorkel by myself and went to explore the stacks. The number of fish here was so much more than those just swimming around in the coral. There were caves and gaps in the rocks, which were all full of fish swimming in and out. Under the northernmost stack there was an overhang, and under that ledge were 30 or 40 large fish, just hanging out. It was very cool. On the way back I saw a large group of crocodile longtoms.

When I got back to shore LiAM wanted to come in with me and swim on his own. He and I went back to the stacks, saw the large fish again, and he showed me the octopus. While we watched it came up off the bottom and swam towards some coral, so cool to see all it’s legs pushed out behind us. It nestled up against the coral and we looked around at some fish, when we looked back we couldn’t see the octopus. When we looked really closely we found it’s eye, and then could see it’s outline against the coral – if we hadn’t known it was there, the camoflauge would have hidden it entirely. It was amazing how quickly it changed colour and blended in to its environment.

Caitlin joined us as we headed back to shore (much easier swimming across the current when I had two hands available) and we went back out to the stacks. We didn’t see the octopus this time but saw lots more amazing fish. It’s cool having the 3 of us swimming together as we all see different things and point them out to each other, so we each see more than when we go alone. Swimming back to shore I saw what looked like a sucker in a hole on the bottom, and swam back around to look, Caitlin following me – there was an octopus curled up in this little hole in the rocks, we couldn’t see much of him but it was pretty cool. Right near the edge I saw an eye in a hole and was able so show LiAM this time as well – another octopus in a hole, amazing how we could swim right over so many things and not know they were there, unless you happen to look the right way.

Millie and Tony came in for one last snorkel before the water got too shallow. Swimming around with LiAM and Millie, we saw the octopus closest to the shore had come out of his hole, and was sitting on the ocean floor. LiAM and I got a good look, Millie was having a bit of trouble with the swell so close to shore and wasn’t sure what we were looking at, so didn’t see the octopus. We had another quick look around and then reluctantly got out. Every time I am in the water snorkeling there is no other place I want to be, I could stay in there for hours and never get sick of looking at the fish going about their business, and the incredible looking coral.

We dried off and drove back to our campsite. The sun was low in the sky now and made the ranges an amazing colour. Back at camp I wanted to try snorkeling off our beach, Caitlin was going to come with me then started chatting to a guy with a guitar, also from Victoria, so I went in by myself. There were a couple of fishermen on the floor (this part of the park is not a sanctuary, so fishing is allowed) and I didn’t go far out, so I felt safe enough snorkeling by myself. The water was cloudy near the shore, and fairly shallow as the tide was on it’s way out. I could see some submerged rocks just out from the point at the southern end of our beach, so I went to check them out. There were fish around, not lots but several angel fish and blue damsels and other little fish. It was hard to swim close enough to the rocks without getting in to very shallow water, so I just had a quick look around and then headed back to shore, feeling quite exhileratied and happy that I’d checked it out. Tony came down to the beach to have a look, and we had a bit of a chat then he went back to camp and I explored the rocks on foot, out of the water. There was another little beach just past the rocks to the south, and at the point where the rocks met the sand there were lots of completely moss covered rocks, low in the water and now being exposed by the low tide. I wandered around for a while and took lots of photos, very enjoyable.

Back at our tent we discussed our day with the camp hosts, and they invited us up to the tables overlooking the beach for happy hour – most of the campers head up there each evening to watch the sunset. We grabbed some drinks and went up to join the others. Our hosts were there, as well as the guy that Caitlin had been talking to, and his partner. There was another family there, with 4 kids – friends of the people we’d been next to at North Mandu, and that family had told each of us about each other, and we’d seen them briefly at the oyster stacks that afternoon. We started chatting, they are from Newcastle so it was cool to discuss a place we both knew well. It turns out that they are also homeschoolers – only the 2^nd full time homeschooling family we’ve met on our trip! We talked for ages, and all our kids played on the beach together (theirs are aged between 6 and 10. LiAM and the 10yo boy got on well, and Millie and the 6yo girl did as well. Caitlin and the other boys joined in whatever games were going on). All the other campers enjoyed watching so many kids play together on the beach, obviously having a lot of fun.

The sunset was magnificent, one of the best we’ve seen. As the sun approached the horizon we saw dolphins swimming through the lagoon. Caitlin raced down to the beach to show Millie, who looked up just in time to see one leap out of the water – we could tell she’d seen it because of the very excited dance she did on the edge of the water. We watched them swim past for ages, leaping out of the water and obviously playing together. Once they had moved on and the sun was down, the clouds kept getting more and more orange and spectacular, it was a wonderful sight and quite nice to share it with everyone else who was there.

Once it was dark we headed back down to the tent and Tony cooked some dinner – a tuna and rice dish, wrapped in rice paper rolls. We looked at the fish book some more and I finished setting up the beds. We were all feeling pretty relaxed and tired and happy. LiAM dropped some food on the ground and then saw a little shape run past his chair. A little while later another shape ran across our carpet. We turned more lights on and after a while saw a little furry mouse-like animal scamper out from under a chair, then ran back in when it saw us looking at it. Over the next half an hour or so we had about 4 of these guys scampering and hopping around our camp – they were so cute, with big round ears, plump little bodies and incredibly long tails. Sometimes they ran on all fours and sometimes they hopped. One of them found a big crust of bread behind a chair and hopped out with it – Caitlin could only see the bread and said it was hilarious to see this crust hopping across the ground. I scared the little guy by chasing him and he dropped the crust (I didn’t want him eating it) and soon after that they all disappeared. I wasn’t sure what they were called, but we were positive they were little native marsupials.

It was a clear night and as more people turned off their lights in their vans we could see more and more stars – probably the most we’ve seen anywhere. We could clearly see the milky way all the way down to the horizon, that rarely happens. We’d noticed here that the ocean seems so much bigger, with low headlands the view to north and south of the ocean is massive, and it was the same with the sky – with the dunes and the ranges being so low, there is nothing to block the horizon and it felt like we were in a huge dome, with the ceiling covered in stars. We saw lots of shooting stars too – I only saw a couple, but Tony and Caitlin saw 8 or 9. It was a beautiful night. Tony sat in a chair behind our tent, away from all the lights, and watched the sky for ages.

Eventually we headed in to bed and read for a while then dropped off to sleep.