Brisbane Trip Day 22: Brisbane

We had another quiet morning, chatting, playing with kittens, playing Roblox, watching YouTube, I did some work with my photos. Caitlin and one of the girls wanted to go shopping again, so I dropped them off at Riverland in Ipswich, then I went to Jaycar to get a new cable for our USB charging box for the car – it stopped working when we were on our big trip and I’ve been using the fan charging cable ever since. The guy there was very helpful – looked at it and said it might be the fuse, so checked it, changed the fuse for me and charge me 40c. I got back in the car and it worked again – very happy! I got petrol and milk and headed back home for a cuppa with my friend.

The girls were ready to come home around midday, and we decided to all go into Ipswich and meet them there and have a play at Queens Park. My friend took the boys and picked the girls up at the library, Amelie and the oldest girl and I went in my car. We were almost there when it started raining, so I popped back home to get my clothes inside – I want them dry when we leave tomorrow. Back to the park where we found the others. It was a very cool playground. The girls borrowed my camera and took some modeling type shots, they had a lot of fun. Caitlin and one of the girls were wearing the same coloured skirt, they looked good together. Caitlin had found some high-heeled boots at the op shop so was very happy to finally get some.

It started raining fairly heavily and we moved under a gazebo to have some sausages and cake for lunch. Liam’s shorts had got caught on the flying fox so I rummaged in the car to find more pants for him – most things were at the house but I managed to find something acceptable. As the rain eased all the big kids went back out to play, and Amelie danced for my friend and I – to Shake it Off and You Belong With Me. It was pretty awesome.

We wandered across the road to the Nature Reserve where there is a free animal zoo. We saw wallabies, wombats, snakes, lizards, turtles, bilbies, spinifex hopping mice, and birds. Very cool. At the end of the walkway is a petting zoo where we patted a steer, a sheep, and looked at some goats. It was a lot of fun.

The boys and Amelie went back to the park and the rest of us went to look for the Japanese gardens. At first we went the wrong way and found an orchid greenhouse which was quite pretty. We located the gardens and had a wander – pretty paths and bridges and trees and ponds and streams and lilies. There were lots of water dragons – at one point we saw 12 on the same area of grass. We even saw some swimming which was a bit exciting. There were turtles in the main pond who swam right near us.

My friend left to take one of the girls to dancing, and I went back to the park to collect the boys and Amelie, the other girls followed soon after. After a bit more of a play I did 2 trips to take everyone home. I had a cup of tea and relaxed for a little while, then started on sorting out the car – getting all the rubbish out of it and reorganizing things so I could put our bags back in. Once that was done I packed all our bags and got everything together inside so we wouldn’t forget anything in the morning. It took a bit longer than I’d hoped but really wasn’t too hard. One of the girls cooked dinner and I did get to sit and relax once I was all packed. The boys played more Roblox (they had 2 ipods connected to the xbox so they could all play the same game), Amelie watched YouTube and the big girls did yoga and gymnastics together. They made up some 2 person yoga positions, then the boys came outside and they started to incorporate them into the yoga as well, and ended up with a 5 person position. It was really cool to watch them work it out, come up with the ideas then play around with who should be where, and adjust as necessary. The mozzies drove us inside after a while.

My friend came home around 11 so we had a bit of a last chat before I headed to bed, everyone else went fairly soon as well as we all have an early start in the morning.

Brisbane Trip Day 10: Byron Bay

We awoke to sunshine for the first time since leaving Newcastle. I hung up all our wet towels and clothes and opened up all the windows in the tent to try to dry everything out. It was a warm morning and with so much moisture around it was extremely humid. We had a relaxed morning around the tent and at around 11 we headed in to Bryon Bay. We stopped at Woolworths to get ice for the eskies, and some grapes and morning tea.

We drove up to the lighthouse and on the way saw an inviting looking beach, and then magnificent views down the coast to the south. Once again there was a lot of traffic, and we noticed cars parking a long way from the beach - I was worried it might be difficult to find a place to park. The road at the top of the headland near the lighthouse was jammed with traffic and it seemed unlikely that we would find anywhere to park there, so we headed back down. We were planning to go for a swim first then walk back to the lighthouse, although it would have been a long walk, then I saw a parking space in the 2nd carpark down from the headland. We parked and paid for 2 hours, and walked back up to the lighthouse.

It was probably a 10 or 15 minute walk and the view was spectacular. Blue ocean crashing onto a long beach far below us to the right, with the water being more aqua as it came close to shore. The headland is quite high and so we could see a long way, to headlands far to the south. It was a hot walk as there was no shade - snacking on the grapes helped to keep us a bit cooler. At the lighthouse we could also see to the north and the west - interesting shaped mountains, a rock island in the middle of the bay, beaches around the edge of the bay and more blue blue ocean. I ushered the kids down the path that goes out to the tip of the headland. There were cool views from the path down the rocks to the water far below. We reached the most easterly point of mainland Australia (which is why I wanted to come to Byron) and the kids were mildly impressed that everyone else on the mainland was to the west of them. We were about to head back when we saw dolphins in the water - a pod for 4 or 5 heading north, then a single dolphin, then another small pod. Amelie saw them and was thrilled - last time we saw dolphins from a lookout, she'd already headed back to the car and she missed them. We watched them swim and leap and once they'd passed we started to walk back.

The kids walked faster than me as I was taking photos of the rocks, and I noticed a dark shape swimming at the base of the cliff. I stopped to watch it for a while, and eventually a green turtle came up for air and I was able to see it really clearly. The dolphin pods also headed back south passed the headland, and another, much larger pod came up from south to meet them. This time there were several mothers with calves. I signalled to the kids (already back at the lighthouse) to come back - the turtle had moved out of sight by now, but we stayed at one of the lookouts for ages watching the large dolphin pod - between 40 and 60 dolphins. They divided into a couple of groups and were doing some tail slapping and other behaviours that suggested they'd found fish and were feeding. It was amazing to see so many dolphins together and watch them play and fish.

Back at the lighthouse we admired the view for a brief time, and I'd promised the kids a cold drink at the cafe after our hot walk (and before the walk back to the car). We went to the toilet first - they were down the hill a bit in a beautiful cool rainforesty setting, but the toilets themselves stank and the kids felt they were worse than drop toilets. Everything at the cafe was (not surprisingly) expensive, so we decided on a gourmet milkshake to share - we chose choc mint and it was delicious. While we sat on the steps of the cafe and drank it, we were accompanied by a large water dragon who seemed to really like the kids, he kept moving away then coming back and sitting right near us.

The walk back down the hill was beautiful although hot. At the car we used some of the ice we'd bought this morning to cool down a bit, then drove down towards the beach. We found a parking spot on the side of the road near Clarke's Beach, and walked down to the beach. We swam near some rocks to our left, and the water was a beautiful temperature. The water level became too deep for Amelie to stand in, although the waves were not big, so I carried her further out and we all stood on a large sand bar (not far from shore) and played in the waves and watched the kite surfers. Caitlin and I were both startled by a large black shape moving through the water - it was the shadow of one of the kites! It was a little rougher out here - not dangerous at all but a bit beyond Amelie's confidence level - she's not really swum in the surf before. We went back closer to shore, off the sand bar, and she found a place where she could stand some of the time and we swam for ages in gentle and enjoyable waves.

We had a picnic lunch on the beach and then went back in for more swimming. Amelie was much more confident by now and we all had a great time. Liam and I (and then Caitlin) played the game where we tried to see who could stand for the longest without the waves moving our feet - it was much harder doing it out in the surf than on the shoreline. There was a bit of a current so we kept moving back up away from the rocks - a good way for the kids to see how ocean currents can impact on a swim. This one wasn't strong and all the kids could work against it, but it was noticeable.

After a while we headed through the water to the east, then walked on the sand for a while because the current got hard to fight against for that distance. We went to Captain Cook lookout and climbed up the stairs - it gave us a good view of the bay and some of the cliffs leading out to the headland - and of the rain that was coming in from the north. There was also another water dragon up there - this one was more wary and stood really still, hoping we wouldn't notice him. Back down the stairs we explored the rocks for a while, and Liam found an old damaged plastic crate that he brought back off the rocks and we walked up and put it in the bin. The water was quite shallow here so we sat and played in the shallow waves, then swam all the way back to where we had started. The afternoon had become quite cloudy, but the rain headed out to sea and we didn't get any more.

We had a bit more of a play in the waves then got out and packed up, rinsed off at the shower at the top of the stairs, and Caitlin got some stretching tips from a guy using the exercise circuit there. On the way back to camp we stopped at Aldi to top up on a few things, and Woolworths to get a hot chicken and items that we couldn't get at Aldi. We had chicken sandwiches for dinner and a very quiet evening after a long, fun day. I was a bit sunburnt - I'd worn a dress with straps instead of sleeves, which is very rare for me if I'm going to be in the sun, and even though I'd put sunscreen on I was burnt on my walk up to the lighthouse and back. There'd been a bit of wind throughout the day so  most of our stuff was dry although some of it was on the ground. I tidied up a bit and we went to bed as soon as we could.

An interesting thing we'd noticed about Byron Bay is that almost everyone seemed to be either kids under 8, people in their twenties, or people over 60. There weren't many people around outside of those demographics, so at times we felt a bit out of place. It also seemed that men in their 20s were not allowed to wear shirts, and it was fine to wear swimmers (and nothing else) pretty much anywhere in town. The roads were in terrible condition and there was a lot of pedestrian and vehicle traffic, I really didn't enjoy driving there at all.

Brisbane Trip Day 7: Coffs Harbour

Amelie came up into my bed in the middle of the night and I was awake then for a couple of hours. Initially I was worrying about things then I looked up some auto electricians online and started to plan the next leg of our trip and felt much better. When I woke up in the morning I felt ok although my cold seemed worse. I went for a quick walk down to the beach then came back to ring an auto electrician who started work at 7am. He wasn’t able to help me but gave me the number of someone who would probably be able to. I played with Amelie for a while then rang the 2^nd guy, he agreed to come out and have a look at the window the following morning.

We’d planned to have a quiet day today then go to Dolphin Marine Magic (formerly the Pet Porpoise Pool) tomorrow – but not knowing how long it would take the window to be fixed I didn’t want to risk having to sit around all morning waiting to be able to go. So we decided to go today and quickly got everyone else out of bed, had breakfast, packed some food, untaped the window and were at the Dolphin place by 9.30. I’d bought our tickets at the caravan park and saved about 15% which was a nice bonus. When we arrived I taped the window back up in case it rained and for security.

We had arrived at the dolphin place in time for dolphin kisses so we headed out to the dolphin pool – there were 2 dolphins swimming in the pool when we arrived so we excitedly watched them for a while. The kids then lined up to get a kiss from a dolphin which they all loved. They said the dolphin’s nose felt rubbery. We headed down to then get a hug from a seal – the kids all had one individually and then I joined them all for a group hug. We were able to put our arms around the seal – it felt smooth and furry and slippery.

We went back to the dolphin pool to get ready to watch the show – we were early enough to get the front row of seats, right at the middle of the pool. The show was enjoyable and funny – and Amelie was picked to go and help the dolphins dance – she got to stand by the side of the pool and conduct the dolphins by pointing her fingers and swinging her hands side to side. The smile on her face was as big as I have ever seen. The seals performed directly in front of us, we had a great view. Caitlin was picked to throw rings to a seal, who caught them over her head. She was also pretty thrilled. Once the show had finished we were all able to stand at the side of the pool and the dolphins swam past on their backs and we were allowed to pat their bellies. They felt cool and smooth and it was a lot of fun.

After the show we went to watch the shark and ray feeding. We looked at the fish, small sharks and rays in a large tank – we could look in through the top, or through windows in the side. There were also smaller tanks containing colourful fish from the region. Fish and squid were handed out on little metal plates and we were able to feed the animals using tongs. Some of the big snapper really splashed as they came up to grab the food, it was pretty funny. A banjo shark came right up the side of the tank and kept popping up to try and get food – it was beautiful and also amusing.

Next we watched the green turtles being fed – one of them was huge and the others a good size. We listened to the guy talk about how and where they’d been rescued and some other turtles that had been rehabilitated. On our way from there to the penguin feeding I noticed a plaque with this trainer’s name on it – he has been working there since 1970, so would have been there even when I visited as a 2 year old!

The Little Penguins were very cute (as expected). We got some photos then were able to help feed them fish – the guy handed out a couple of little fish or a piece of squid to each person as they got to the front of the line – we held out the fish and the penguins pulled them out of our hands (and then fought over the fish until one of them managed to swallow it). We were able to back to the end of the line and keep feeding them until all the fish were gone – the kids had several turns. Most people were feeding the penguins right up at the barrier, we reached a bit further back to feed some of the other penguins. Some of them didn’t like squid (and many people didn’t want to hold the squid) – Liam spent quite a while trying to find a penguin to eat his last piece of squid.

We then helped feed the small turtles (throwing pellets in to their pond), looked at the photos of the dolphin kiss and seal hug, then went back up to look at the dolphins again. One of the trainers was about to do a training session with a seal so we were able to sit (in our front row seats again) and watch that, it was cool to see how the trainer was working on tricks with the seal. We chatted to another trainer who had started working there part time in Year 11 and had recently moved to a full time job once she finished school, she loved working there and was really appreciative of the opportunity she’d had. One of the dolphins brought a ball over to the edge and Amelie played catch with it for a little while which was pretty fun. Walking back down from the pool we saw a trainer with a little New Zealand Fur Seal and talked to her and one of the vets.

We went and had some lunch (surrounded by a school group) and the kids wandered around and looked at the animals some more. Soon it was time for the afternoon session of dolphin kisses so we went back for more – I had a kiss this time as well, it was pretty cool (and yes, it did feel rubbery). Then off for hugs with the seal, the kids had another individual hug, I had one as well, and Caitlin and Liam hugged her together.

Back to see the show again, and had our front row seats again. This time I was picked to hold fish out for the dolphins to jump up and grab (very excited), Liam got to help the dolphins dance, Caitlin got to do a tooth and heart check on one of the dolphins, and Amelie got to throw a ball to one of the seals. (There were very few people in the audience this time, only 2 other kids and they also were selected to interact with the animals). We patted the dolphins again then went for another shark feeding and turtle feeding. We played with the dolphins in the pool again, throwing the ball to them, and then went back to see the penguins and fed them again. We went and watched the seals in their pool for a while, and then went to purchase the group photo of us with the seal. The kids browsed the gift shop and Caitlin and Amelie bought some jewellery.

It was very hot and humid by now so we decided to go to the Big Banana to get a frozen banana. I drove around via the beaches so we could have a look – the beach just to the north of the marina looked very inviting, not rough, wild surf like everywhere else we’d been. I drove all the way to the end of Ocean Parade and the last little bit felt very familiar – just like a memory I have of walking with my Dad when we were in Coffs Harbour in 1974. (I checked with Mum later and we stayed just near that road on that trip, so I think it was the place from my memory). On the way out of town we passed a shopping centre so called in to get some milk and something for dinner. We also went to Target and bought some clothes that were needed.

At the Big Banana we bought 2 choc (and sprinkle) covered frozen bananas to share, as well as an Ultimate Banana smoothie (with cinnamon and maple syrup) and a Choc Banana smoothie. They were all delicious and very very enjoyable. We wandered through the banana and then went to play in the video arcade for a short time. The kids all got lots of tickets and we exchanged them for a few little toys – including those rubber popping domes that I remember loving as a kid. We went back to the banana and took some photos of the kids in front of it, and I figured out the self-timer on my camera and we got a group shot.  There’s now a fun park at the Big Banana as well but we were there too late in the day to do any of the activities.

Back at the caravan park we went for a swim in the pool which was lovely and refreshing. Amelie played for a while with some other kids in the playground. I figured out that this caravan park was the same place I’d stayed with my family in 1986 – but it looked different because they seem to have recently sold the top half of the park and it’s now a housing estate. So I was feeling quite nostalgic for previous Coffs visits.

We cooked sausages on the bbq in the camp kitchen and then headed back to camp for a quiet night. There was more rain coming so I spent a bit of time setting up the awning so that none of the rain pooled in the roof, and felt like I did a pretty good job (it worked overnight). 

Half-lap Day 90: Edagee -> Shark Bay

I woke up around 5am and decided to get up and start catching up on my blog – with so many early starts lately I’ve got a bit behind. It was cold, though I was still comfortable enough sitting outside, until it started raining. I covered up or put away anything that we didn’t want wet, then I sat in the car to finish my cuppa and do some typing.

The rain was only light, and hung around for a couple of hours. It stopped and started for a while, but wasn’t too much of a pain. We stood up to eat our breakfast so that the chairs didn’t get wet (they were folded up under the table). We enjoyed having a slower, quiet morning, without anywere to be in a hurry. The kids played in the tent for a while, and Tony and eventually started packing up. Once the sun came out it was a beautiful morning. We did things in a funny order because we wanted to give the tent (and the washing I’d hung up the night before) as long as possible to dry, so it took us a couple of hours to pack up, we were done by around 10.30. Having the trailer already hitched saved us a bit of time and mucking around too. I rang ahead to caravan parks in Denham so that we didn’t have to stress about getting there early – there wasn’t much choice left, most were full or almost full. I took at powered site at Blue Dolphin Caravan Park, the last one available for the 3 nights we wanted, and it cost more than we have paid anywhere else so far. I did ring the resort at Monkey Mia – it was significantly more expensive still, and we would have had to move after our first night to an even more expensive (although beachside) site.

We made some sandwiches before we left so that we didn’t need to stop for lunch, then headed towards Shark Bay and Denham. Millie has been wanting to get to Shark Bay since we first started talking about the trip, it was all she really wanted to see, so she was very excited. The land as we drove was still very red and sandy, with sparsely placed black trees and low scrub. This is one of the few places in the world where the desert comes right up to the ocean. We saw more wild goats, and a couple of cows.

We stopped for petrol at the Overlander Roadhouse, then turned off the highway, through a big stone entry way into the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It was 100km from here in to Denham, during which time we had glimpses and sometimes long looks at the water of Shark Bay – Millie was thrilled and we were all impressed with the view. The water was flat and almost exactly the same colour as the sky, it created a really hazy, glassy effect that I haven’t really seen anywhere else. This country is obviously still extremely dry. The hills are covered in plants, low lying bushes, and occasionally in between hills there’s a round area which has obviously been filled with water at some stage and now is dry and filled with red and purplish plants that look like the plants on the surrounding hills, just a different colour and more sparse. The road was long and straight, up and down over hills, it felt like we were driving somewhere very very remote. Tony and I saw a Thorny Devil on the road – we’d seen one yesterday as well, exciting as I’d really wanted to see them, and had thought we were past the point where it would be possible (I’d expected them in the Northern Territory, with no luck, and hadn’t realised that this area was desert as well).

We reached Denham and found our caravan park. For a minute the girl couldn’t find our booking, then tracked it down. We were in a fairly small site, right in a corner, with someone else’s car parked quite close. Tony very skillfully backed the trailer in, then the lady next door came out and said she could have moved her car. The kids saw a dog with her and went to pat it, she asked if they wanted to pat the bearded dragon (called Charlie) so they happily played with the dragon and dog while Tony and I figured out how we could fit the tent on the site. We attempted to turn the trailer around to put it in the best spot, but the ground was too soft and sandy and we couldn’t get it far enough into the site. We eventually set it up sideways into the site, which means that we won’t get as much shade as we’d like, but we can put the annex up and we will fit.

We got the trailer into position, then the kids and I left to go and check out the Aquarium. Tony stayed at the site to watch the Collingwood game on his phone. Ocean Park Aquarium was about 10km out of town – we got there just before 3 and it closed at 5, so I hadn’t wanted to delay any longer. It was well set up – there were lots of tanks, some with open tops and some enclosed glass cases, and a marine biologist took visitors around from tank to tank, explaining about each of the creatures in there. The tour went for an hour, and as each group of people arrive, they just join the tour wherever it is up to, and then stay with it until its done the full circuit, then they can leave.

clownfish

green turtle

Blue spotted ray

lionfish

We arrived about halfway through the sea snake talk. We saw several turtles, moray eels, a frog fish, a squid, clownfish, boxfish, lion fish, stone fish (they are one of the few creatures that really scare me), blue spotted rays,  leopard rays, shovel-nosed rays, and lots of fish. We discovered that the silver fish we’d seen in schools at Cape Range would have been tailor. We were the only people left on the tour when it got to the shark feeding, so the kids got to ask lots and lots of questions and talk about some of the marine creatures we’ve seen on our travels so far. The guide was really interested in all the things we’d seen and asked lots of questions herself. The sharks weren’t hungry and didn’t come up to eat anything, but we saw a couple of lemon sharks and a couple of sandbar sharks, incredible animals and I really love watching them swim, so graceful.  We finished up back at the sea snakes and listened to the whole talk there (also incredibly graceful animals) and then we had a quick look at a few of our favourite fish again (the rays for me, and the lion fish, also the stone fish because they are so fascinating). Out to the gift shop, where Caitlin bought a turtle necklace, and LiAM a dolphin puppet. Millie wanted a huge soft crocodile (it was very cool) though I convinced her to save her money until tomorrow when we’d be at Monkey Mia with the dolphins.

sea snakes

Sandbar shark

Stonefish

Out in the carpark we were looking at the view of the beach when the marine biologist came out – she chatted to us for another 15 minutes or so, telling us lots about the local area and more about the marine life, and talking more about our trip. We left her there and drove back to town, seeing an emu foraging along the side of the road.

Back at camp Tony had almost finished setting up the tent by himself, so I helped him with the last little bit. Collingwood had won and he was very happy (although keeping quite about it since they’d beaten West Coast). I hung the (still wet) washing out, and the kids wandered around the park and chatted to dog owners. We decided to walk down the main street of town and get some (local caught) fish and chips for tea – there wasn’t much open at 6pm on a Saturday night in Denham, but we did find a fish and chip shop. It was a bit pricey but within our means. We ordered then went across the road to play in the playground and walk along the beach a little. It was windy and bit cool. We sat and ate our dinner on the foreshore, enjoying the fading light on the water and the sea air. The kids played in the playground a bit more and I tried to find an ATM (no luck – although enjoyed walking further along the main street and seeing some of the old buildings).

Back to our tent and everyone was on edge – very tired and also a bit anxious, we’d been waiting a long time to get to Monkey Mia and I think everyone (especially me and probably Millie) was worried about how it would go. If no dolphins came or we couldn’t see properly or the weather was terrible – Millie would be devastated. We were all hoping that the experience would live up to what she’d imagined it would be like.

I was so tired I went to bed as quickly as I could, and we didn’t read for the first night in a long time. We had an early start in the morning and everyone was OK with just going straight to sleep and trying to be rested for tomorrow. 

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.