Day 81 (Thursday 5/820/10) Bullara station to Exmouth “By Trudy” – Press here for map link
We were woken by the sound of horses galloping past our camper as the station owners were heading out to muster sheep and cattle. The girls loved seeing all of the farm animals before we left to drive to Exmouth. Going through the town we were interested to see that the marina hadn’t developed that much more than when we were here in 2007. We were hoping to camp in the Cape Range national park but found out that the sites were already full and that people line up at the rangers office during the night in order to get a site the next day (if anyone leaves)! So we checked in to the nearby Yardie homestead caravan park and after lunch we headed to the beach for our first round of family snorkelling. The kids all did so well and we were amazed with the array or coral and fish in the underwater world. Was nice to have a shower and get all the washing done back at the caravan park before tea, card games and bed.
Mikayla talking to the animals
Snorkelling fun at the beach
Some of the coral and fish in the Ningaloo marine park
Chris got up at 5am to drive to the rangers station to line up hoping to get a camp site. He was the 7th in the cue (at 5am!!!). The ranger arrives at 7:30am and then radio’s all of the camp hosts at each location along the park to find out whether they have any campers leaving that day. By 8am they know how many sites will be available for that day and then start allocating the spots out in order in the queue. We were all delighted that Chris got up so early and that we got a spot – the day before there were only 6 sites available (so we would have missed out) with about 28 cars in the queue!!! It is all a bit exasperating for many campers who miss out – especially because many of the people already in the sites stay for the maximum of 28 days. Anyway, once Chris got us a ticket he came back to help us pack up from the caravan park to move to our new beach site at Ned’s camp in the national park. We went into Exmouth to send our blog from the past week, post some letters, make some phone calls, and restock the fridge, before going back to camp to relax. We had a lot of fun jumping off of sand hills, and Chris helped pull out some bogged Italians vehicle from the sand. We went to the beach by our camp where Chris and I lazed on the beach while the kids snorkelled and played in the sand dunes. More card games with the kids after tea – we are loving this time together and hope to somehow make more time for these games when we are back home and busy with normal life!
Our site at Ned's camp, Cape Range National Park
Lots of fun jumping off of sand hills
Ryan down under
After breakfast we went to look at the Jurabi Turtle centre and learnt about the life of sea turtles that nest here. Then we went to the Visitor Centre in the national park and learnt more stuff about the area, like what animals, plants, and fish live in this area, including the whale sharks, dugongs and manta rays. Then we went snorkelling at Turquoise Bay where we drifted slowly with the current seeing even more coral and fish. Mum’s favourite fish was a black, yellow, and white one called a Moorish Idol (like “Gill” from finding Nemo) probably because of the yellow and black like the Richmond football team! The best thing I saw was a yellow sting ray with blue spots all over it. That night Amy and I slept outside and I saw heaps of shooting stars.
A Moorish Idol fish
A blue spotted sting ray with lots of friendly fish
Ryan and Amy slept under the stars
Ryan, Amy and I got up early to go looking for kangaroos and emus. We didn’t see any emus but we saw 20 or more kangaroos and I took lots of photos of them. Mum and Dad decided to stay here another night so I went over to the Host to pay. We drove to Turquoise Bay and went snorkelling in the drift part again. We saw lots of coral and fish and I loved the rainbow fish and the black and white clown fish. Me and Ryan were chasing big schools of big fish in the shallows. We went to the visitor centre and had our lunch on a table there then got an icecream and a turtle souvenior. We went back to Turquoise Bay to swim and relax in the bay section. Mum and Ryan went snorkelling and saw a starfish, and Amy and I played in the sand. Dad had to fix Amy’s snorkel. Back at our camp we cooked a stir fry for tea and then learnt a new card game.
A pretty rainbow coloured Wrasse fish
A friendly little blue fish
A thirsty kangaroo visited our camper in the night
On Monday we packed up the camper trailer. It was windy. We got in the car and started driving from Exmouth to Coral Bay. We decided to take a dirt road near the sea to Coral Bay. We saw some emus on the way and some wild flowers and some kangaroos. We set up our camper in the caravan park and did our journals. It was nice to have a shower again. We had mango and chilli chicken kerbabs for tea with chips. After tea Daddy taught us how to play a card game called “Pig”. It was funny because the person who lost had to squeal like a pig and do something funny! That’s all. Bye, Amy
An emu wondering down the road
Wattle in the wild
Sun setting over the Indian Ocean
Take care and stay warm XXxxx
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