Relaxed morning for us (unlike Tony and Natashia who were up not long after 6am to climb Jacob's Ladder 6 times, and Joshua who was off to play football)
Some heavy but short rain showers overnight and first thing in the morning, but cleared by 10ish, so we all took Zak the dog for a walk (cue arguments about who holds the dog lead, and who clears up the mess!) and a campaign for a dog (although we understand that a share of a kitten may be in the offing back at home!)
Then we jumped in the car and made our way to Freeemantle - which is THE place to be on Sundays - it was packed, although Jim was smug to get one of the few free parking spaces around!
The Freemantle Dr is a wind that blows in off the Indian Ocean and cools Perth in the red hot heat of summer. Today we decided the Dr was on overtime - or steroids as it was very blustery - and we did not need cooling! That said Jim and Joseph managed shorts (just!), out of the wind it was very pleasent.
Wandered around Freemantle enjoying the architecture, and smelling the coffee from the myriad of posh looking coffee shops and bistros until a couple of heavy squally showers (exacerbated by the blustery conditions) sent us diving for cover into the Freemantle Market - where the exchange rate made our eyes pop out of our head from time to time. Joseph used some of his money (gifts from John, Lynn, Mollie and Keith to buy a baseball cap for an Australian Rules football team - he was very keen to do this because his friend Harry had one!)
There were plenty of lovely smelling foods on offer in the market - but out of the price range for an English family of 5 (and fair play to the kids for recognising this is not part of the Australian experience we are incorporating into our holiday) - so instead we made our way to the park for a picnic watching Freemantle buskers doing their thing on route.
Then it was onto the supermarket to buy the ingredients for a traditional Sunday Roast which we cooked for the Brania's.
Instead of making a pudding, Eleanor volunteered to bake a cake, but on our return to the house all the kids went onto the trampoline - where they remained for the next 2 hours, so the cake remains in the form of raw ingredients!
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Dodging the rain showers in Perth - 30 July
We all had a fantastic night sleep in a proper bed for the first time in 3 weeks.
Lazy morning for adults (kids played hard on the trampoline) then we borrowed Tania and Tony's car and headed into Perth (or at least followed Tony into Perth who kindly showed us the way and where to park).
First stop the fantastic Kings Park where we walked around the botanical gardens, enjoyed the waterfalls and the parrots that fly around - hard to get used to parrots being normal wild birds! A couple of short but sharp rain showers need dodging in the park, but luckily we found shelter each time.
Then we went into Perth centre and looked around the 2 cathedrals, and the main street. Interesting contrasts of architecture from the earlier part of the 20th century, 1960s and the present day - all juxtaposed between themselves, + a couple of quaint shopping arcades which we had to take shelter in during the occasional heavy rain showers.
Went to a ticket shop to try and get tickets to this evening game - Australian Rules football the Freemantle Dockers against a team from Tasmania. Only the most expensive tickets were left, so we gave it a miss. As it was the Perth team were well beaten, and we would have got soaked to the skin with the rain - so in retrospect not too disappointed not to get tickets!
Back to the park via "Jacobs ladder" - 240 steps, which Perth citizens (including Tony we are staying with) utilise as exercise by running up, walking down several times., Tony did it 10 times this morning. The Hopkinsons each did it twice this afternoon, which we calculate makes an aggregate of 10 so evens us up!
In the evening we found a catholic Church for mass, but could not hear the sermon as it was drowned out by the sound of heavy rain on the church roof.
Then we shared Australian style fish and chips, before bed called. We are exhausted from our trip up Jacobs ladder twice, the Branias are still getting rid of jet lag from their US trip.
Bad news: No photos today - too wet.
Good news: at least we have made use of the rain coats we have been dragging around for the last month.
Lazy morning for adults (kids played hard on the trampoline) then we borrowed Tania and Tony's car and headed into Perth (or at least followed Tony into Perth who kindly showed us the way and where to park).
First stop the fantastic Kings Park where we walked around the botanical gardens, enjoyed the waterfalls and the parrots that fly around - hard to get used to parrots being normal wild birds! A couple of short but sharp rain showers need dodging in the park, but luckily we found shelter each time.
Then we went into Perth centre and looked around the 2 cathedrals, and the main street. Interesting contrasts of architecture from the earlier part of the 20th century, 1960s and the present day - all juxtaposed between themselves, + a couple of quaint shopping arcades which we had to take shelter in during the occasional heavy rain showers.
Went to a ticket shop to try and get tickets to this evening game - Australian Rules football the Freemantle Dockers against a team from Tasmania. Only the most expensive tickets were left, so we gave it a miss. As it was the Perth team were well beaten, and we would have got soaked to the skin with the rain - so in retrospect not too disappointed not to get tickets!
Back to the park via "Jacobs ladder" - 240 steps, which Perth citizens (including Tony we are staying with) utilise as exercise by running up, walking down several times., Tony did it 10 times this morning. The Hopkinsons each did it twice this afternoon, which we calculate makes an aggregate of 10 so evens us up!
In the evening we found a catholic Church for mass, but could not hear the sermon as it was drowned out by the sound of heavy rain on the church roof.
Then we shared Australian style fish and chips, before bed called. We are exhausted from our trip up Jacobs ladder twice, the Branias are still getting rid of jet lag from their US trip.
Bad news: No photos today - too wet.
Good news: at least we have made use of the rain coats we have been dragging around for the last month.
Friday, 29 July 2011
Getting soaked in the desert on the way to Wembley - 29 July
In preparation for a planned 6am start, we went to bed in our campervan in a gale around 8.30pm. No sooner had the first snores commenced, then the owner of the house we had been utilising returned from his holiday, so we got up a shared a bottle of wine with him. It was great to hear of his experiences as a Doctor in and around Australia. We eventually turned in around midnight!
However, we were still up at 6am, and on the road by 6.20am with a coffee inside us. We simply transferred the children from their beds to the cab in their PJs.
We started driving in the dark, so were a bit cautious of kangaroos, and woke the kids up to witnress the sun rise. First brief stop was a tree, one of many that has been shaped by the prevailing and strong winds that is common around the Geraldton area.
Then it was onwards South along the recently constructed Indian Ocean Road - much across reclaimed land, then through the Port Jurian (which had suffered some damage in the recent storms), and then onto Cervantes and the Nambug National Park which is also called the Pinnacles Desert. Here, thousands of huge limestone pillars rise out of a landscape of yellow sand (elsewhere then are still fairly young sand dunes in the vicinity). In places they reach up to three and a half metres tall. Some are jagged, sharp-edged columns, rising to a point; while others resemble tombstones.
According to their website "The raw material for the limestone of the pinnacles came from sea shells in an earlier epoch rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime-rich sands which were brought ashore by waves and then carried inland by the wind to form high, mobile dunes. Three old systems of sand dunes run parallel to the WA coast, marking ancient shorelines.
The oldest of these, known as the Spearwood dune system, is characterised by yellow or brownish sands. In winter, rain, which is slightly acidic, dissolves small amounts of calcium carbonate as it percolates down through the sand. As the dune dries out during summer, this is precipitated as a cement around grains of sand in the lower levels of the dunes, binding them together and eventually producing a hard limestone rock, known as Tamala Limestone.
Although the formation of the Pinnacles would have taken many thousands of years, they were probably only exposed in quite recent times. Aboriginal artefacts at least 6,000 years old have been found in the Pinnacles Desert despite no recent evidence of Aboriginal occupation. This tends to suggest that the Pinnacles were exposed about 6,000 years ago and then covered up by shifting sands, before being exposed again in the last few hundred years. This process can be seen in action today - with the predominantly southerly winds uncovering pinnacles in the northern part of the Pinnacles Desert but covering those in the south. Over time, the limestone spires will no doubt be covered again by other sand drifts and the cycle repeated, creating weird and wonderful shapes over and over again.".
As we walked around in the eerie desert landscape, the heavens open, and we got soaked - being around 1 km from the car park we had little choice but to grin and bear it. Our first real soaking in Australia, but the kids saw the funny side of it, especially as bright blue sky and warmth appeared just as we got back to the van. For the first time in the whole trip we put the heating on in the van!
Then it was onto Perth, past fields of sheep, and ancient grass boys trees in equal measure.
We arrived at our friends the Brania's house in the Wembley area of Perth around 1.30pm - all feeling tired - which is nothing given the Brania's returned home yesterday after a 30 hour flight from USA - so we really had not too much to complain about.
Then it was off to near the airport to return the campervan. On the very first day, we had hit a tree branch by misjudging the height of the 3.4 metre van, so wondered if we would be charged for that, but they did not seem the least bit bothered, so we got our full deposit back.
A nap for Jim, while the girls caught up on TV and Joseph on his diary.
A few days in civilisation will be nice.
Stayed with Tony, Tania, Natshia and Josh Brania at 221 Jersey St, Wembley, Perth
However, we were still up at 6am, and on the road by 6.20am with a coffee inside us. We simply transferred the children from their beds to the cab in their PJs.
We started driving in the dark, so were a bit cautious of kangaroos, and woke the kids up to witnress the sun rise. First brief stop was a tree, one of many that has been shaped by the prevailing and strong winds that is common around the Geraldton area.
Then it was onwards South along the recently constructed Indian Ocean Road - much across reclaimed land, then through the Port Jurian (which had suffered some damage in the recent storms), and then onto Cervantes and the Nambug National Park which is also called the Pinnacles Desert. Here, thousands of huge limestone pillars rise out of a landscape of yellow sand (elsewhere then are still fairly young sand dunes in the vicinity). In places they reach up to three and a half metres tall. Some are jagged, sharp-edged columns, rising to a point; while others resemble tombstones.
According to their website "The raw material for the limestone of the pinnacles came from sea shells in an earlier epoch rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime-rich sands which were brought ashore by waves and then carried inland by the wind to form high, mobile dunes. Three old systems of sand dunes run parallel to the WA coast, marking ancient shorelines.
The oldest of these, known as the Spearwood dune system, is characterised by yellow or brownish sands. In winter, rain, which is slightly acidic, dissolves small amounts of calcium carbonate as it percolates down through the sand. As the dune dries out during summer, this is precipitated as a cement around grains of sand in the lower levels of the dunes, binding them together and eventually producing a hard limestone rock, known as Tamala Limestone.
Although the formation of the Pinnacles would have taken many thousands of years, they were probably only exposed in quite recent times. Aboriginal artefacts at least 6,000 years old have been found in the Pinnacles Desert despite no recent evidence of Aboriginal occupation. This tends to suggest that the Pinnacles were exposed about 6,000 years ago and then covered up by shifting sands, before being exposed again in the last few hundred years. This process can be seen in action today - with the predominantly southerly winds uncovering pinnacles in the northern part of the Pinnacles Desert but covering those in the south. Over time, the limestone spires will no doubt be covered again by other sand drifts and the cycle repeated, creating weird and wonderful shapes over and over again.".
As we walked around in the eerie desert landscape, the heavens open, and we got soaked - being around 1 km from the car park we had little choice but to grin and bear it. Our first real soaking in Australia, but the kids saw the funny side of it, especially as bright blue sky and warmth appeared just as we got back to the van. For the first time in the whole trip we put the heating on in the van!
Then it was onto Perth, past fields of sheep, and ancient grass boys trees in equal measure.
We arrived at our friends the Brania's house in the Wembley area of Perth around 1.30pm - all feeling tired - which is nothing given the Brania's returned home yesterday after a 30 hour flight from USA - so we really had not too much to complain about.
Then it was off to near the airport to return the campervan. On the very first day, we had hit a tree branch by misjudging the height of the 3.4 metre van, so wondered if we would be charged for that, but they did not seem the least bit bothered, so we got our full deposit back.
A nap for Jim, while the girls caught up on TV and Joseph on his diary.
A few days in civilisation will be nice.
Stayed with Tony, Tania, Natshia and Josh Brania at 221 Jersey St, Wembley, Perth
River Gum Tree adapting to (constant) prevailing wind
Friendly spider
Pinacles - pillars in the desert
Thursday, 28 July 2011
After 3168 miles we saw something go red, amber then green - 28 July
We have now travelled 3168 miles from Darwin (5100km), and have just 500km to go before we return the campervan in Perth tomorrow.
The last time we saw traffic lights was Darwin, 3168 miles ago, but Geraldton classes itself as a city, and although in the UK we would call it a town, it has enough traffic to justify traffic lights!.
Last night was stormy! We are sleeping on the driveway of a friend of a friend (the campervan just fits on the driveway with inches to spare on each side - so getting on and off the driveway is a bit hairy!). The campervan rocked like a boat in the night, less than 100km further south the radio reports some houses had their roofs blown off.
It remained windy all day today, but dry. We visited the Geraldton museum (free admission got anything to do with this decision???). It is absolutely excellent. There have been numerous ship wrecks off the coast as it is notoriously windy and stormy around here - and this section was particularly interesting.
After that a brief walk around the city centre (hold on to your hats), a quick shop, a quick fill up with diesel (felt like a complete bargain as it was more that 25% cheaper than some of the roadhouses in the outback!), then spent the afternoon sorting out the campervan so we can return it tomorrow.
Time for a quick walk on the windswept beach (the house we are utilising is literally on the beach), but the wind, chill and swell meant that any thoughts of swimming or lingering were far from our minds. Instead we encouraged the children to do some maths from the books we brought with us.
The plan is to leave tomorrow about 6am, drive for an hour or so, then get breakfast. We hope to visit a national park on the way down to Perth - but it will all depend on getting an early start.
As I write this it's blowing a gale outside - so another night at sea in a rocking campervan can be anticipated!
The last time we saw traffic lights was Darwin, 3168 miles ago, but Geraldton classes itself as a city, and although in the UK we would call it a town, it has enough traffic to justify traffic lights!.
Last night was stormy! We are sleeping on the driveway of a friend of a friend (the campervan just fits on the driveway with inches to spare on each side - so getting on and off the driveway is a bit hairy!). The campervan rocked like a boat in the night, less than 100km further south the radio reports some houses had their roofs blown off.
It remained windy all day today, but dry. We visited the Geraldton museum (free admission got anything to do with this decision???). It is absolutely excellent. There have been numerous ship wrecks off the coast as it is notoriously windy and stormy around here - and this section was particularly interesting.
After that a brief walk around the city centre (hold on to your hats), a quick shop, a quick fill up with diesel (felt like a complete bargain as it was more that 25% cheaper than some of the roadhouses in the outback!), then spent the afternoon sorting out the campervan so we can return it tomorrow.
Time for a quick walk on the windswept beach (the house we are utilising is literally on the beach), but the wind, chill and swell meant that any thoughts of swimming or lingering were far from our minds. Instead we encouraged the children to do some maths from the books we brought with us.
The plan is to leave tomorrow about 6am, drive for an hour or so, then get breakfast. We hope to visit a national park on the way down to Perth - but it will all depend on getting an early start.
As I write this it's blowing a gale outside - so another night at sea in a rocking campervan can be anticipated!
View from the sitting room of house in Geraldton
Beach outside house (windswept!)
Beach outside house
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
photos from Kalbarri 27 July
Kalbarri National Park - Hawk's Head (Liz and Jim previously photoed on top of the head!)
Kalbarri National Park - Murchison Gorge
Barnaby Bear enjoys the fauna
Grass Tree - one of oldest species of tree on earth
Road into national park
Flora
Murchison Gorge
Nature's window
Nature's window
Nature's window
Pink lake at Port Gregory
Could be England?
Photos Monkey Mia and Shark Bay - 26 July
Liz feeds a dolphin
As does Eleanor
Dolphin close up
Joseph gets close to dolphin
Katherine feeds a dolphin
Sunbathing lizard by the side of the road
Long, long, straight, straight, road back from shark bay
Shell castle on shell beach
On beach made entirely of shells - no sand!
We elected to give the "useless loop" a miss
Tea around the camp fire
Kalbarri revisited and Geraldton in a storm - 27 July
Up early in our roadside camp, and off by 8am
First stop Kalbarri National Park by 8.30am, where we revisited places we last visited 20 years ago. The national park is fantastic - the main feature being a massive gorge which snakes its way through the park.
Of course as ever things have changed over 20 years. There are now marked footpaths, guard rails, specified look outs, warning notices. Places where we were last photographed clambering on are fenced off as too dangerous etc - but the increased volume of people justifies this I guess, although the park was still very quiet.
Went for a few small walks over the park, all in all we would have walked 5 miles or so. Tried our best to enthuse the kids not only with the vistas, and physical features of the gorge, under cutting by water, striation marks on rock which show that they were formed under the sea, but also the fauna. There are some amazing wild flowers, and also grass trees (when we were last in Aus these were called "black boy" trees). These are trees that are close to the oldest surviving trees in the world with fossil evidence showing they were around at the time of dinosaurs.
In terms of wildlife, some pretty birds, a kangaroo and lots of feral goats which they are trying to cull out of the national park along with feral pigs, rabbits, foxes and cats. Clearly the number of goats we saw suggests they have a way to go!
It was very pleasant in the National Park - 25 degrees C or so and a gently cooling wind.
Then onto Kalbarri town itself. Our abiding memory of Kalbarri is hot, still and flies, flies and more flies. This time there was a gale force wind so no flies. We had our picnic lunch by the sea, but anytime anyone got up, their chair blew away.
We then slowly moved down towards Geraldton, calling in on a few of the coastal features (trying not to get blown away), until we realised that we were again getting short on daylight, so speeded up towards Geradlton.
On the way we passed a bright pink lake where the natural beta carotene in the soil makes the sea appear bright pink.
Around Kalbarri the landscape suddenly changes from bush (as per Kalbarri national park) to huge fields of wheat and pasture supporting sheep. We went through a town called Northampton, and some of the houses, along with the greenery, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in some park of rural England.
We arrived at Geradlton just as it was getting dark. A friend from work had kindly "volunteered" his friends driveway for us to sleep in. His friend was away so had offered to leave a key under the doormat so that we could use his loo, kitchen, washing machine etc.
He actually had someone else house sitting so when I tried the door I nearly gave the English house sitter a heat attack, but once we established who we were we took full advantage of the shower (water is very limited in Shark Bay and Coral Bay) and the washing machine. Kids took full advantage of a TV for the first time for 3 weeks!
Arrival in Geraldton was amidst a massive storm. Gale force winds and rain such that we got soaked to the skin in the 10 metres between the campervan on the driveway and the house. The house is right on the coast, overlooking a fantastic beach. However exploring the beach will have to be tomorrows job!
Stayed c/o Dr John Pollard, 32 Glendinning Road, Tarcola Beach, Geraldton
photos to follow....
First stop Kalbarri National Park by 8.30am, where we revisited places we last visited 20 years ago. The national park is fantastic - the main feature being a massive gorge which snakes its way through the park.
Of course as ever things have changed over 20 years. There are now marked footpaths, guard rails, specified look outs, warning notices. Places where we were last photographed clambering on are fenced off as too dangerous etc - but the increased volume of people justifies this I guess, although the park was still very quiet.
Went for a few small walks over the park, all in all we would have walked 5 miles or so. Tried our best to enthuse the kids not only with the vistas, and physical features of the gorge, under cutting by water, striation marks on rock which show that they were formed under the sea, but also the fauna. There are some amazing wild flowers, and also grass trees (when we were last in Aus these were called "black boy" trees). These are trees that are close to the oldest surviving trees in the world with fossil evidence showing they were around at the time of dinosaurs.
In terms of wildlife, some pretty birds, a kangaroo and lots of feral goats which they are trying to cull out of the national park along with feral pigs, rabbits, foxes and cats. Clearly the number of goats we saw suggests they have a way to go!
It was very pleasant in the National Park - 25 degrees C or so and a gently cooling wind.
Then onto Kalbarri town itself. Our abiding memory of Kalbarri is hot, still and flies, flies and more flies. This time there was a gale force wind so no flies. We had our picnic lunch by the sea, but anytime anyone got up, their chair blew away.
We then slowly moved down towards Geraldton, calling in on a few of the coastal features (trying not to get blown away), until we realised that we were again getting short on daylight, so speeded up towards Geradlton.
On the way we passed a bright pink lake where the natural beta carotene in the soil makes the sea appear bright pink.
Around Kalbarri the landscape suddenly changes from bush (as per Kalbarri national park) to huge fields of wheat and pasture supporting sheep. We went through a town called Northampton, and some of the houses, along with the greenery, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in some park of rural England.
We arrived at Geradlton just as it was getting dark. A friend from work had kindly "volunteered" his friends driveway for us to sleep in. His friend was away so had offered to leave a key under the doormat so that we could use his loo, kitchen, washing machine etc.
He actually had someone else house sitting so when I tried the door I nearly gave the English house sitter a heat attack, but once we established who we were we took full advantage of the shower (water is very limited in Shark Bay and Coral Bay) and the washing machine. Kids took full advantage of a TV for the first time for 3 weeks!
Arrival in Geraldton was amidst a massive storm. Gale force winds and rain such that we got soaked to the skin in the 10 metres between the campervan on the driveway and the house. The house is right on the coast, overlooking a fantastic beach. However exploring the beach will have to be tomorrows job!
Stayed c/o Dr John Pollard, 32 Glendinning Road, Tarcola Beach, Geraldton
photos to follow....
Dolphins, beaches, shells and a dash for a camping spot! - 26 July
Up early, and off to see the "dolphin interaction" run by the national park rangers in Monkey Mia.
Dolphins have been fed here for more than 40 years, firstly by local fishermen, then in an unregulated way, now in a highly regulated way, but to be cynical about it, no dolphin feeding would equal no 100,000 visitors to shark bay each year, so I guess there is an imperative business reason to keep feeding them and continue the "research".
Anyway there are 3 feeds a day between 7.30 am - 12 noon only (not at set times), only 5 adult female dolphins are fed (males and calves are not fed), and they are only fed one quarter of their daily needs etc etc.
At 7.30 prompt a load of dolphins - about 10 in all swam into the shore, a park ranger gets into the water and invites us too to paddle then gives us a talk - all about the genealogy of the dolphins, while they swim around in knee deep water. After 20 mins or so (the max time allowable for the "interaction" is 30 mins), 5 buckets appear with volunteers and the dolphins are fed. Each dolphin gets about 5 fish (each dolphin gets a specific weight allowance dependant on their size) and a few volunteers from the 60 or so crowd are picked at random to feed a dolphin. Liz was picked in round one.
We then retired back for breakfast, and Joseph and Jim for a swim in the posh (but very cold) resort pool. Sooner or later the girls wandered down to the beach in time for the second dolphin feeding. again the talk, but to be fair a different national park ranger so different facts (although the girls were probably thinking "get on and feed them". This time Eleanor was picked to feed a dolphin.
Of course this meant that we then HAD to stay for the third feed (about 11am), and fortunately (after a diplomatic intervention from Liz, Katherine was picked to feed a dolphin, so equilibrium was established. By the third feed the crowd was only 30 or so strong - most people get up early, see the feed and then move on to the other sights of Shark Bay (world heritage sight)
Shark bay is fantastic, pristine beaches, fantastic cliff top look out points from where the water is crystal clear and we could see large schools of fish, turtles, dolphins (there are over 1000 dolphins in Shark Bay) and big things - although I could not really identify from the cliff top if they were sharks or dugongs (wish we had invested in better binoculars!)
We ambled back the 180km or so from Monkey Mia to the main coastal highway reflecting that it was well worth the visit. (When we drove up yesterday along the 180km of almost entirely straight road we were wondering if it would be!). On the way we spotted a reasonable size lizard sunning itself at the side of the road. We got out of the car to investigate, and could get as close to it as we wanted as it "played dead" - in fact we thought it was dead until we saw its eye blinking!
We also called in on shell beach. To quote from the info "Shell beach covers a 110 km long stretch of coast along the L'Haridon Bight. It is one of only two beaches in the world made entirely from shells. The beach was named "Shell Beach" because of the great abundance of the shells of the cockle species Fragum erugatum. The seawater in the L`Haridon Bight has a high salinity due to both the geomorphology and local climate of the area. This high salinity has allowed the cockle to proliferate unchecked, since its natural predators have not adapted well to this environment. The shells typically reach a depth of 7 to 10 metres. Over time, the shells have formed a limestone that is known as Coquina"
It is pretty amazing, we build a shell sandcastle, and as deep as you dig the shells keep appearing.
When we were last on shell beach, the bus we were on just drove onto the beach - as I recall we were the only people there, but it was the thing to do to drive on the beach. That was banned 10 years ago, so now its a regulated car park and walking only on the beach. In fact they have raked the beach to get it back to its natural pre vehicle state. Instead of it being just us on the beach, there were a good 25 people or so (and school holidays are over!).
We were reluctant to leave shell beach and shark bay (it was beautiful, and about 26 degrees under cloudless skies), but we had a distance to travel to keep up with the itinerary. So, after over staying, it was back in the van, back along the straight, straight road, pausing only to take a photo of the sign to the "really useless loop. This is to Australia's most Western point, but we ignored this 100km detour - even though we have previously been to Australia's most N, E and S points. Denham which we passed through is Australia's most western village so that will do!.
Once back on the main coastal highway we realised we were really pushing it to get to our planned free road side camping spot before nightfall, so we blew all thoughts of fuel economy, arriving in at our overnight roadside camp just as the sun was setting. OK so the grey nomads had got all the best spots - but actually as soon as the sun goes down it gets cool - so hogging the shade is no longer a premium, Jim just had time to make a camp fire for us to sit around while we ate our tea before darkness descended. To teach the kids survival skills, not only did we have tinned peaches for pudding, but we then used the peach tin to boil a cup of water, and make a coffee.
We were all in bed (exhausted) by 8.30pm.
Stayed at the free Murchinson River roadside stop
Photos to follow......
Dolphins have been fed here for more than 40 years, firstly by local fishermen, then in an unregulated way, now in a highly regulated way, but to be cynical about it, no dolphin feeding would equal no 100,000 visitors to shark bay each year, so I guess there is an imperative business reason to keep feeding them and continue the "research".
Anyway there are 3 feeds a day between 7.30 am - 12 noon only (not at set times), only 5 adult female dolphins are fed (males and calves are not fed), and they are only fed one quarter of their daily needs etc etc.
At 7.30 prompt a load of dolphins - about 10 in all swam into the shore, a park ranger gets into the water and invites us too to paddle then gives us a talk - all about the genealogy of the dolphins, while they swim around in knee deep water. After 20 mins or so (the max time allowable for the "interaction" is 30 mins), 5 buckets appear with volunteers and the dolphins are fed. Each dolphin gets about 5 fish (each dolphin gets a specific weight allowance dependant on their size) and a few volunteers from the 60 or so crowd are picked at random to feed a dolphin. Liz was picked in round one.
We then retired back for breakfast, and Joseph and Jim for a swim in the posh (but very cold) resort pool. Sooner or later the girls wandered down to the beach in time for the second dolphin feeding. again the talk, but to be fair a different national park ranger so different facts (although the girls were probably thinking "get on and feed them". This time Eleanor was picked to feed a dolphin.
Of course this meant that we then HAD to stay for the third feed (about 11am), and fortunately (after a diplomatic intervention from Liz, Katherine was picked to feed a dolphin, so equilibrium was established. By the third feed the crowd was only 30 or so strong - most people get up early, see the feed and then move on to the other sights of Shark Bay (world heritage sight)
Shark bay is fantastic, pristine beaches, fantastic cliff top look out points from where the water is crystal clear and we could see large schools of fish, turtles, dolphins (there are over 1000 dolphins in Shark Bay) and big things - although I could not really identify from the cliff top if they were sharks or dugongs (wish we had invested in better binoculars!)
We ambled back the 180km or so from Monkey Mia to the main coastal highway reflecting that it was well worth the visit. (When we drove up yesterday along the 180km of almost entirely straight road we were wondering if it would be!). On the way we spotted a reasonable size lizard sunning itself at the side of the road. We got out of the car to investigate, and could get as close to it as we wanted as it "played dead" - in fact we thought it was dead until we saw its eye blinking!
We also called in on shell beach. To quote from the info "Shell beach covers a 110 km long stretch of coast along the L'Haridon Bight. It is one of only two beaches in the world made entirely from shells. The beach was named "Shell Beach" because of the great abundance of the shells of the cockle species Fragum erugatum. The seawater in the L`Haridon Bight has a high salinity due to both the geomorphology and local climate of the area. This high salinity has allowed the cockle to proliferate unchecked, since its natural predators have not adapted well to this environment. The shells typically reach a depth of 7 to 10 metres. Over time, the shells have formed a limestone that is known as Coquina"
It is pretty amazing, we build a shell sandcastle, and as deep as you dig the shells keep appearing.
When we were last on shell beach, the bus we were on just drove onto the beach - as I recall we were the only people there, but it was the thing to do to drive on the beach. That was banned 10 years ago, so now its a regulated car park and walking only on the beach. In fact they have raked the beach to get it back to its natural pre vehicle state. Instead of it being just us on the beach, there were a good 25 people or so (and school holidays are over!).
We were reluctant to leave shell beach and shark bay (it was beautiful, and about 26 degrees under cloudless skies), but we had a distance to travel to keep up with the itinerary. So, after over staying, it was back in the van, back along the straight, straight road, pausing only to take a photo of the sign to the "really useless loop. This is to Australia's most Western point, but we ignored this 100km detour - even though we have previously been to Australia's most N, E and S points. Denham which we passed through is Australia's most western village so that will do!.
Once back on the main coastal highway we realised we were really pushing it to get to our planned free road side camping spot before nightfall, so we blew all thoughts of fuel economy, arriving in at our overnight roadside camp just as the sun was setting. OK so the grey nomads had got all the best spots - but actually as soon as the sun goes down it gets cool - so hogging the shade is no longer a premium, Jim just had time to make a camp fire for us to sit around while we ate our tea before darkness descended. To teach the kids survival skills, not only did we have tinned peaches for pudding, but we then used the peach tin to boil a cup of water, and make a coffee.
We were all in bed (exhausted) by 8.30pm.
Stayed at the free Murchinson River roadside stop
Photos to follow......
Monday, 25 July 2011
Photos from drive to Monkey Mia - 25 July
Self explanatory
Whose head is which side of the tropic?
Been here before!
Talent learned at Minilya Roadhouse 20 years ago retained!
Liz proves she can still juggle too!
Satellite dish used to track Apollo landing!
Lunch - photo does not pick up flies!
Wild pumpkins (?) growing at side of road
Road to Monkey Mia - dead straight for 200 Km
Rescued by the Hopkinsons from a squashed future!
Photos from Coral Bay - 24 July
Eleanor and Katherine enjoy the coral reef
Clam
Turtle
.JPG)
Ayres Rock
Snappers
Fish 'n' coral
Awaiting the sunset at Coral Bay
Sunset at Coral Bay
Sunset at Coral Bay
Sunset at Coral Bay
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