Day 87: Thu 13 Jun 24 - Exmouth

Thu 13 Jun 24 - Exmouth

19 to 29 Deg C, mostly cloudy with moderate SE winds all day and a light shower in the evening.

After some early chores, we set off for a 140km return drive to the other side of the peninsula along the Yardie Creek Road stopping first at Tantabiddi Boatramp then Neds Campground and Trealla Beach. The next stop was at Turquoise Bay where I donned the snorkelling gear and headed out into the crystal clear waters. Turquoise Bay is considered the best snorkelling spot in Exmouth area, and it didn't disappoint with a vast array of colourful fish and corals to be seen. The highlight was looking down on a very large groper, at least 1 metre long, below me on the seabed. After about an 45 minutes in the water while Noel watched and waited patiently on the beach, we continued to our next stop - the Oyster Stacks where I went for another snorkel. Here, the Ningaloo Reef is around 300m from shore, the narrowest section of lagoon along the entire Ningaloo Coast. With its close proximity to the outer reef and being a narrow lagoon, there was a higher concentration of marine life on display. I thought the snorkelling at Turquoise Bay was great, but exploring the shallow coral gardens and swimming amongst such an array of different marine life at the Oyster Stacks was next level. Two regrets are that I had to get out of the water, and that I didn't have a Go Pro or other underwater camera. We will travel past hear again on Saturday when we drive down to Yardie Creek, so I may stop here on the way back for another snorkel.

On our way back to Exmouth, we called into the Milyering Discovery Centre and took some photos (including Drone shotes) at nearby T-Bone Bay, before continuing to the Vlamingh Lighthouse. Vlamingh Head Lighthouse is located about 17km north of Exmouth overlooking Lighthouse Bay, and is notable as being one of few places in Australia where you can see the sun rise and the sun set from the same location. There are wonderful views from the lighthouse, including across the Harold E. Holt Naval Communication Transmitting Station towers. The communications station is a joint Australian and US naval communication station about 6 kilometres north of the town of Exmouth. The station is operated and maintained by the Australian Defence and provides very low frequency (VLF) radio transmission to US, RAN and allied ships and submarines in the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean. It is claimed to be the most powerful transmission station in the Southern Hemisphere. Exmouth was actually built at the same time as the communications station to provide support to the base and to house dependent families of US Navy personnel. The VLF station that can be seen from the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse has thirteen radio towers covering more than 1000 acres, with the tallest tower being 387.4 metres high, for many years the tallest man-made structure in the Southern Hemisphere (Taller than the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Tower and Empire State Building). 

After another great day exploring, we eventually returned home to the caravan at about 4:30pm, shortly followed by a couple of refreshing ales and dinner. 


Beach at Tantabiddi Boatramp

Beach at Tantabiddi Boatramp

Tantabiddi Boatramp

Beach at Neds Campground

Beach at Neds Campground

Beach at Neds Campground

Beach at Neds Campground

Trealla Beach

Waterway from Cape Range to Trealla Beach

Trealla Beach

Trealla Beach

Trealla Beach

Aerial of waterway from Cape Range to Trealla Beach

Trealla Beach

Turquoise Bay (Snorkeling)

Turquoise Bay (Snorkeling)

Oyster Stacks (Snorkeling)

Oyster Stacks (Snorkeling)

Milyering Discovery Centre near T-Bone Bay

Beach at T-Bone Bay

Beach at T-Bone Bay

Beach at T-Bone Bay

Aerial view of the coastline T-Bone Bay

Aerial view of the coastline T-Bone Bay

Aerial view of the coastline T-Bone Bay

Aerial view of the coastline T-Bone Bay

View from Vlamingh Lighthouse to the VLF Antennas.

Vlamingh Lighthouse and an old WW2 radar tower with original sandbags around it

Vlamingh Lighthouse 

View from Vlamingh Lighthouse 

View from Vlamingh Lighthouse 

Vlamingh Lighthouse

View from Vlamingh Lighthouse to the northern tip of the peninsula

Vlamingh Lighthouse

Our drive today - about 140km round trip

Just a small speck on the map.






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