The Coral Coast

I have never been interested in the concept of "heading North for the Winter" I have always really enjoyed living with four seasons, to the point of sometimes lamenting living in Brisbane because there is not enough change in the seasons.  Well I have to say I think the Coral Coast may have changed my mind.

For the last 10 days or so we have been basking in the glories of what is known here as the Coral Coast.  Starting to the north at Exmouth heading south to Carnarvan.  Ningaloo Reef follows the coast and at places you can simply walk in off the beach and swim over some beautiful corals and other fantastic sea life.  The daytime temperature is around 27 and the water temperature has been around the 22-23 degrees mark.  Big blue skys and white white sand.  Yep I think a couple of months here each year would be ok with me.  Even some clothing optional beaches for the allover suntan.

I went out on a day cruise to snorkel the outer reef which is around 2km off the coast - just fantastic and was very lucky to spend some time in the water following manta rays (these guys can get up to 4m across) barrel rolling across the sea floor trying to stir up food.  A very special day!

Back on land for those of you interested in a bit of history - Exmouth the town was created simply to house workers on an American Communications base - have a look at the photos I have included a interpretive board explaining it.  Bit different now - it has a fancy marina and even a canal estate.  And then here in Carnarvan where we are at the moment - there is a Space and Technology Museum built around a Tracking Station and a OTC Satellite Earth Station built to support the Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs. I think all this has to do with the fact that this part of the coast is pretty close to the most westerly part of mainland Australia. Steep Point is proclaimed the most westerly point but it is only minutes west of us and as much as I would like to make it to that point I don't think we will be going the track is a bit rugged.

The water is very clear - the dark bits in the water are the reef structure.

My day on the reef was just fantastic.

See the white rectangle down by the sea - expand the photo and you will see that is Midi bus - we are camped right on the shoreline

Me trying to bring some poetry to my photography

I need the sweats in the early morning but then look at that sky the day just warms up.

Sammie is loving the sand - he digs and digs 

Sammie spends the day in the pound at Tom Price

We saw where the ore left Australia at Port Hedland so we thought we better go see where it comes from. Off to the town of Tom Price - we organised a tour of the mine and organised Sammie (good story I will tell you in a sec) and headed the 300 odd K's into Tom Price. We meet some people at one of the free camps on the way who tell us that the only caravan park in town did not take dogs they had tried the day before we meet them.

We have learned on this trip to not listen to anyone - not to say people tell fibes, but things just change on a daily basis (however I do want to say there are some serious cases of the old Chinese Whispers where story can completely change as it are handed down between travellers).  We did believe these people however we were nearly there and I had booked the tour.  So I rang the info centre and the lady tells me they got an email that morning saying yes to dog.  Yeah!

So in we head - now to the Sammie story. The council provides a dog minding service, fantastic, so I go in to the Shire administration to pay and get the directions.  And guess where Sammie spends the day - at the pound! The girl looking after the pound is very nice and she tells us they don't get many strays so this service keeps her busy.  Sammie still not so happy but we are sure he is safe.  And the best bit is when we go back in the afternoon to pick him up.  The girl says would we like some eggs - she also looks after the town chooks and she has loads of eggs and would love for us to take some.  The town chooks I hear you asking -  the pound is next to the sewage treatment plant and they keep the chooks to take blood from they every week to check for any mosquito born diseases.  They were well looked after and looked like they had a great life and there eggs were yummy.  Sam had scrambled eggs for breakkie the next day.

The story goes on - the mine tour was cancelled as the only bus driver has rung in sick.  Sammie is in for the day we can not pick him up till 4.00.  What to do - well lets go to the National Park - we have noticed that wherever there is a mine there is usually a National Park nearby.

Here are some photos of the gorgeous gorges at Karijini National Park

Looking for investors

So here we are we just crossed over the Fortescue River and I am taking lots of photos and I say to Jim - I think there is iron ore in the that hill, Jim says yep I agree so we have a plan.

Dig up the iron ore - put it on a boat to China - and become billionaires.  Really I think it is that easy - we just need a few investors, anybody interested?? 

Ok maybe we need some infrastructure - but it looks like some other people have done that maybe they will let us use their railway line and port.  

As you can see we have moved from the Kimberly to the Pilbara and the whole world changes - 

We counted 125 carriages on this train going to Port Hedland - each one carries 138 tonne of ore.  4 engines to move it. 

The ore gets loaded on one of these ships and heads north - we counted 29 ships waiting offshore.

Rio tinto mine salt here too!

Before Karratha and Dampier there was Cossack it was a thriving port town until the early 1900's - now a ghostown this is the courthouse built in 1895

We have started calling Sam Red Dog cause the dust is so red and it just get into his fur - so we just had to have him pose with the sculpture that is a tribute to the real Red Dog from Dampier (nice Australian movie made about Red Dog worth a watch if you have not seen it)

Broome

So we travelled the very boring 600+ km south to Broome from Derby with a couple of free camps on the way.  Broome is a bit of a funny town in my mind - I think it has grown to fast and things are a bit disjointed - having said that there is a lot of history here and beach is pretty special.  We took Suzi for a big drive along cable beach late afternoon of course to get the photo that everybody knows.
 
                                        The sun going down over Cable Beach.

We had a couple of hic - ups needed a new something for the car trailer which was a three day wait - but on the good side we are at the beach and the locals say no crocodiles but I didn't see to many of them swimming, but I did.

And our other bother about Broome was it is very busy place this time of year and so the three caravan parks on the first of June  - a/ put there prices up and b/ don't take dogs anymore!!  However with a bit of a ring around there is this place called the season overflow - it is run by the PCYC and we camped on there oval - still not cheap.
Like I said the town has a long and interesting history a lot of it based around pearling.  Jim thought $22,000 for the one pearl that I liked was a little to much. But I just find anything else I liked as much so didn't get anything in the end.

The main shopping area in town is called Chinatown - interestingly it was called Japtown (the pearling industry was very Japanese based in the early days) for many years until WWII when they changed it to Chinatown.  

                     Sammie and Jim waiting for the camels to come along the beach

There are some of the old pearl luggers on show in Chinatown.

The land is vast but so are the gulfs!

We ummed and arrrahed (who knows how to spell that - I don't) about spending the money to go and see what is known as the Horizontal Falls.  It is all part of the big tides - masses of water run in over a flat shelf and then it turns around and runs back out again.  At the falls the water spreads out over a couple of big lakes and then when the tide turns it has to push its way out through a very small space.  There are all sorts of tours you can do but we settled on a flight over the whole area.  It was great just us and the pilot we felt very special.

Here are some photos- the Buccaneer Archipelago and King Sound if you want to find them on the map find Derby and look to the North.

At Derby we also experienced our first sunset over the water - one of a lot more to come I think.


How big is that plane - not big!

You know you are getting old when you ask the pilot if he has a drivers licence.

Heading out over King Sound

The only Road to Cape L  but we flew - and landed for a nice lunch  near the beach.

Some of the many islands and secluded beaches in the Archipelago

Mining is everywhere in WA!

The Horizontal Falls - the water has this great urge to run out to the gulf.

Heading home with the sun going down over the water.

I am completly fasinated by the water system would love to come visit in the wet season.

SORRY FORGOT TO PUSH THE PUBLISH BUTTON LAST WEEK JUST DISCOVERED THIS POST NOW - NOT DOING SO WELL WITH THE BLOGGING AMI!

KATHERINE (NT) - KUNUNURRA  -DERBY (WA)

Very excited to leave Katherine and get on the road.  Have travelled around 1400 km crossing into WA.

This is when you start realising the shear size of this vast land - kilometre after kilometre just fly by - the scenery has this slow gradual change where you think it hasn't changed and then you have another look and it is completely different.

Once we cross the border we are in the Kimberly where the tides can change up to 13 meters in one turnover.  For those of you who don't follow tides I think the average tide in Moreton Bay is around 2 mt sometimes as small as .5 of a meter.  

We are in the dry season now which gives the scenery a strange dry underneath but green on top look about it. And following the footsteps of the aboriginal people the country is often burnt off, which adds another colour to the pallet.  We cross land that is back in the hands of the Aboriginal people and most signage and brochures tell you who's land you are travelling on.   

Kununurra is great little town - the info tells you it is the youngest town in WA.  We travellers I think are the main income and support for the town but I think most people we meet understood this and were happy with their town and the growing population to support us.

We followed the Victoria Highway out of Kununurra - the more adventurous types go across on the Gibb River Road.Through Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing - not the most glamorous towns but are doing a good job servicing the local populations.  We had a visit to a place called Mimbi Caves they are on community land and the tours are run by the the landowners.  As you know we have Sammie with us and so visits to National Parks are out so anyway I rock up to the gate to meet the guide and say there will be one of us doing the tour and jokingly two of us if the dog can come! The guide says we have plenty of dogs around here bring the dog so Sammie went caving with us - he actually had loads of fun and the kids on the tour thought it was great.  

More miles and onto Derby - here we took a flight up over the Buccaneer Archipelago I will do another post for the trip.  

Lots of kilometres

The beautiful Victoria River

There are boabs and anthills everywhere - a burn had just been through this area but the boabs love the treatment.

Just thought you might like to know I really am on this trip.

The view from the Five Rivers Lookout at Wyndham on the Cambridge Gulf - which runs off the much larger Joseph Bonaparte Gulf - there is a lot of French names

 around this area - must find some info on the French guy who was exploring around the coast the same time Matthew Flinders was - his name will come to me.

This is Lake Argyle formed by the daming of the Ord River - I remember this from grade 8 geography.

Tiny little dam to hold back something like 24 Sydney Harbours.

Sometimes you just have to do the washing on the run. 

 -