Exmouth

 This was taken at Tom Price I am greasing the second wheel so no more mechanical issues slow our trip down.

 Taken at an overnight stop between Tom Price and Exmouth called Barradale. We all enjoyed building a fire pit and collecting wood for our fire in the evening. It was extremely windy during our fire and when sleeping. We used the rocks to shield the fire from the wind, unfortunately we couldn't shield the camper trailer which felt like it was going to lift off  luckily it stayed put and no damage was sustained.

 We spent 2 weeks in Exmouth, unfortunately wifi coverage was poor to non existent at the places we were staying so that is the reason for the long delay re this blog update. The first 6 days we spent at the lighthouse caravan park. We explored Exmouth and its many fishing and swimming beaches. We had some great success, one day Jake and I brought our rods along whilst Sue, Liam and Benjamin played on the beach. Within the first 5 minutes Jake had caught the biggest fish of the day a 40 cm Bream (seen below), he caught 3 other Bream and we kept two of these which tasted very nice for dinner. I caught one. We were very fortunate to come across the school of Bream and we had plenty of nibbles amongst the 5 fish caught for the day. Amongst the fishing Liam and Benjamin caught crabs and spotted many feeding turtles in the water.

It was a beautiful view from the lighthouse as seen below and with an added bonus of watching humpback whales and dolphins frolicking in the ocean.

 These flowers are called "Mulla Mulla", they are everywhere, we have seen them ever since we entered WA.

 After 6 nights at the lighthouse caravan park we spent 8 nights at the Cape Range National Park. We have seen some spectacular things during our trip but this was definately a major highlight. You can see the view from our camper trailer it was magic. Getting to the camp site was an ordeal as you have to line up at the NP rangers gate before 8 a.m. and hope that camp sites are free. There are about 50 campsites in the NP lined along the coast. You can book online some spots but 90% are first in best dressed at the rangers gate . So in the morning Liam and I woke up at 5 a.m., and made our way to the rangers gate which was about a 10 minute drive from the Lighthouse CP. It took us nearly 20 minutes to get there due to the large number of roos on the edge of the road and some stupid ones wanting to play chicken with us. We arrives at 5.20 a.m. and were astounded to find that we were 7th in line. By the time the ranger opened the gates at 8.a.m., the line had grown to 19. Luckily we got a spot and I think the first 10 were successful. The campsite consisted of 14 spots, each one had a permanent camp host who looked after payment and maintenance of camp. We stayed at the Mesa camp which was fantastic. The camp host was a 73 year old retired WAPOL member who was a fitness freak. He ran a boot camp at 4 p.m. everyday which consisted of push ups, skipping, dips and running up sand dunes. Not for the faint hearted, I did it once and decided that I would either keel over or do myself an injury which would not be good for the rest of the trip. Sue and the boys did it a couple of times as they had the brains to take it easy when they got tired. I can still remember running up the sand dunes trying to keep up with the 73 year old with the boys not far behind me, pride was at stake so I gave it my all but I was really sore for the next couple of days. I'm sure the ex WAPOL member was in charge of the fitness at the academy, he was a fine specimen for his age.

                                                         View from our camp site.

 Snorkeling at Turquoise Bay, Cape range NP. 'Fantastic', Liam was given an underwater camera from my mum and dad, he used all 36 shots in the first hour. Lots of colourful fish and coral. Unfortunatley all fish are protected in this area so you can't catch them and they know it it too.

 Benjamin and I filling up with water from the local bore. Two Emu's often appear when they hear a car turn up for water. It's pretty dry and hence the native animals seize any opportunity to drink water. It just shows how thirsty this emu is even with us around.

 We really were bush camping, no power no showers and only a drop toilet. We bought a handy device which heated the cold water to a comfortable temperature for a shower to wash off the salty water after swimming (seen above). We did a lot of snorkeling and fishing. We also made our way to a little known beach which had 100's of turtles mating in the shore. This poor turtle (below) had no energy left and was resting on the beach.

Benjamin just about to start snorkeling at Turquoise Bay. The beauty about the Ningaloo reef is that it was a short swim to the coral which was great for young kids. The water is so clear and there are no big crowds.

We are now in Coral Bay for 1 week and enjoying more snorkeling and fishing. The caravan park here is very well equipped with a heated pool, 2 great tennis courts, 2 playgrounds and the local shops and beach is across the road. The biggest dilemma in the morning is what to do first. We are also enjoying having  proper showers and toilets, power and internet/ phone coverage after being in the middle of the bush for 8 days.

Keep well everyone, I'm off for a swim!