Day 85: Tue 11 Jun 24 - Coral Bay to Exmouth

Tue 11 Jun 24 - Coral Bay to Exmouth (151km)

14 Deg C at Coral Bay, to 27 Deg C at Exmouth, partly cloudy and a light N wind all day.  

We had a very slow start packing up today with a lot of delays getting away. First, I had to drag my tired body out of bed, then return Paul's Go Pro to him at the other caravan park. The delay with this was telling him about the Whale Shark experience yesterday. On the way back I bumped into an ex-Navy cook mate I haven't seen for more than 25 years. Mick Sparkes and I did our advanced cooks courses together many moons ago, and we also lived a few houses apart from each at HMAS Cerberus for four years on another posting. We will see Mick again at Exmouth again on Thursday. Paul (also an ex Cook who worked with me a few times), is also coming to Exmouth on Friday, so it might be a bit of a mini cooks reunion. Totally unexpected and incredible timing that we should all cross paths like this. Mick had to get away for a Manta Ray swim tour, so I was finally able to return to the van and start packing - well so I thought. The next door neighbour heard that I did the swim yesterday, and wanted to know everything about it. After another delay, we finally got back to packing up, and managed to drive away by 09:30. Thankfully it was only a short drive of about 150km today, and we had plenty of time. 

The drive was mostly flat and treeless, with evidence of recent bushfires, but the growth was surprisingly green. The further north we travelled, the more termite mounds we saw and they became increasingly larger. They are scattered through the countryside as far as the eye can see. Despite our delays in getting away, we had time to kill, so we stopped by the roadside for our morning brew. I didn't have a coffee yesterday, and I hadn't had one yet this morning, so I was starting to feel the effects of withdrawal. The check-in process for the RAC Exmouth Caravan Park was extremely efficient. Because we booked, paid and pre-registered on-line, we were invited to check-in 2 hours earlier at 12:00pm. As we drove into Exmouth, we received a text message confirming our site was ready, and provided us with the gate security code and site number so we could proceed directly to our site without stopping at reception. We were quickly setup on a rather large site at the back of the park by 1215. Unfortunately, I reckon it took me another hour to drill pegs into the ground to secure the awning and off-side shade sail. The ground here is as hard as concrete. The rest of the afternoon was quiet, including a visit to IGA in town, then the Visitor Information Centre where we also booked the Yardie Creek Boat Tour for Saturday. Back at the van we had a quiet afternoon and evening - nothing unusual really. 

PS - I updated yesterday's blog by adding a selection of photos taken by the photographer on the Whale Shark swim if interested. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to upload the short video clips that I took. I'll persevere.

The further north we travelled, the more termite mounds we saw, and the larger they became. 

A large Termite Mound at our coffee stop

A large termite mound and a dramatic sky

Coffee stop view from above

Road to Exmouth 

I have no idea where this road leads to

Road to and from Exmouth 

The grass is not always greener on the other side, but it is surprisingly green 


Yay...Made it.


A lovely mural in Exmouth to remind me of yesterday's experience


How I like winter - The weather forecast for the next week 

Our back yard at Exmouth for 5 nights


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 109: Fri 05 Jul 24 - Merghiny Gravel Pit (Ceduna) to Port Augusta

Image
Merghiny Gravel Pit (Ceduna) to Port Augusta (450km)  It was 8 Deg and feeling much less, raining on and off from 4:00am for the first 100km, then cloudy and very windy for the rest of the day. At Port Augusta it reached 18 Deg with strong winds gusting in excess of 60km/h. The past few days have been tiring driving in the wind and rain with lots of heavy transport travelling in both directions, so it was nice to have a quiet start to our 450km drive today. This post is a little light on photographic material, as we have now covered the stretch between Ceduna and Port Augusta three times in the past 18 months, so we kept driving with minimal stops.  Coffee was had at the Minnipa rest area, then lunch at the Kimba roadhouse, before arriving at 3:00pm at the Discovery Parks Caravan Park in Port Augusta for an overnight stay.  We have a drive through site for the night for a quick get away tomorrow. From here we have settled on a couple of nights at Clare for a bit of a brea...
Read more

Day 111: Sun 07 Jul 24 - Clare

Image
Sun 07 Jul 24 - Clare  The overnight temperature dropped to 6 Deg with 54km/h winds which eventually eased by the time we climbed out of bed. No surprise though when we woke, it was raining again, and it continued raining until mid afternoon, so it was a day of forced rest which we both enjoyed. The day comprised coffee in town this morning, then a visit to Hill River Wines to buy a few local wines. I chose this winery out of all others because t hey are a young cellar door and they are family owned. The wines also tasted nice. Back at the van, we had a quiet afternoon resting and watching a documentary series about one of Australia's biggest and strangest art heists on SBS.  It's about an investigation into the art heist from the New Norcia monastery where we recently visited - it's very interesting. Check it out.  The clouds cleared late afternoon, so I mustered the motivation to go out into the cold (6 Deg) for a late walk, before we drove back into town for an Indian ...
Read more

Day 11: Fri 29 Mar 24 (Good Friday) - Madura Pass to Norseman

Image
Fri 29 Mar 24 (Good Friday) Madura Pass to Norseman (530km) It was 14 Deg with a very slight SE breeze and a light dew, reaching 32, clear and sunny with no wind at Norseman. It was a lovely morning, and a nice change waking to early daylight, so we took the opportunity to get on the road earlier than usual. Today was a long haul, 530km along very good road, but with not a lot to see. We were amazed at how green the countryside was, and particularly so around Madura. This is clearly a reflection of all the recent heavy rain had in the region. One other observation from our trek across the Nullarbor, is despite the various Camel, Kangaroo, Wombat, Cattle and Emu warning signs, we did not see any roadkill. Disappointingly, Noeleene went another day without spotting a camel (dead or alive). The traffic today was well spread out, and the majority was Heavy Transport Trucks and caravans - all well behaved, and surprisingly a lot of three-wheeled motorbikes.  We also spotted a couple mor...
Read more