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A journal of our adventures

Archive for August, 2011

Day 34 – Tom Price

Aug 11

Posted by Anthony in Big Lap 2011, Caravanning | Comments off

We were up at 6am and on the road at 7:30am.  The brumbies were awaiting our return and this time we had apples for them.  For wild horses they’re pretty tame.  A short stop at the wreck of the SS Mildura soon had us at Exmouth.  A chance drop in at the local bottle shop saw us replenish our stock at prices equivalent to home.  A slab was about $43 compared to the $56 that I’d paid in Coral Bay.  Needless to say we now have more beer than available storage … not that that problem will last long out here.  It’s warmer than the 30 degrees the thermometer suggests.

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Day 33 – Exmouth

Aug 10

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With only a single day to spend in Cape Range National Park we were a bit flustered about what to do.  After being woken up by the noisy pack of galahs in the next campsite we had a walk along the beach after breakfast, this turned into an impromptu dip … until Blake discovered the dinner plate sized crabs lurking nearby.  Back at the van I proposed an itinerary that garnered only a few murmurs, so off we went.

 

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Day 32 – Exmouth

Aug 9

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We sadly left Coral Bay this morning.  It’s a very cool place, we could’ve easily spent a lot more time here.  There’s plenty more to explore via 4wd.

Only a short day today, 170km to Exmouth and then about 40 or so more around the cape to our campsite.

The only stop we had was to get a little bit of groceries at Exmouth.  A little bit of groceries took about an hour though.  Exmouth was so incredibly busy and I can’t begin to explain it.  There was a queue at the bus stop about 200m long with people waiting to go ‘somewhere’.  It was a bit bizarre seeing all these people queued up … we’re just not used to crowds of more than 20 people anymore I guess.

We headed around the cape and saw the submarine comms array.  It’s a bit hard to miss it.

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Day 31 – Coral Bay

Aug 8

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Yet another day of excitement in Coral Bay today.  Coral Bay Eco Tours are really getting a good wad of our cash, but it’s all been well spent.

Kel flipped out when she learnt I’d booked it.  She was ‘not happy’.  Didn’t think she could do it.  “And what about the kids! … they can’t do that!!!”.  This has lead to a sleepless night and much reassurance on my part.  My doubting family has rubbed off on me a bit though and I got little sleep last night too.

But now, it’s morning and we’re resigned to our fate.  Except Kel … she’s still looking for an excuse to try and swap to a different tour… something sedate, like a glass bottom boat in about a metre of water …

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Day 30 – Coral Bay

Aug 7

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Today Kel surprised herself.  We were booked in on a 3 hour quad bike snorkelling tour.  Kel hadn’t ridden a quad bike before, so took Blake along for moral support.  Hannah came with me figuring she’d be somewhat safer.  We were the only people on the tour.

Once we left the confines of Coral Bay and engaged 4wd and started heading up a few dunes it was all going well.  Well … that was until we lost Kel …

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Day 29 – Coral Bay

Aug 6

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A sleep in was had, since we couldn’t really do much, other than pack up and move to our new site.  Around 9am we were packed up and moved the 100m to our new home for the next 3 nights.  A full van setup was done for the first time ever this trip.  Ground cloth, shade cloth, clothesline … you name it, it was unpacked.  Kel also took the opportunity to pack away the winter clothes and break out the summer clothes.  The roof top box is now full of the ‘too many’ winter clothes we’d packed.

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Day 28 – Coral Bay

Aug 5

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We woke up at 8am, such was the sleep. We’d planned on staying here another day since we weren’t booked in anywhere else, but upon looking out at the water we started pondering another location. Where had the water gone? I grabbed the GPS and went for a walk … from the high tide mark to where the water currently was, was 550m … and it was still receding at a rapid rate, crabs and octopusses scrambling to keep up with it.

There’s a caravan on the shore way back there somewhere

After my kilometre round trip I grabbed the free camps book and found slim pickings between us and Coral Bay. There were a few roadside stops and also Warroorra Station. The decision made, we did a late packup and got underway.

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Day 27 – New Beach

Aug 4

Posted by Anthony in Big Lap 2011, Caravanning | Comments off

We reluctantly left Monkey Mia this morning.  There wasn’t much more to do particularly, but we were kinda in need of doing absolutely nothing. It’s been go go go so far, after all.

Driving all the way back South to rejoin the main highway only to drive North again just as far … and further is a bit disheartening.  At least at the highway intersection there is a roadhouse.  There you are tempted by the prospect of a morning coffee, since Monkey Mia is on bore water … a morning coffee is something to only dream of.

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Day 26 – Monkey Mia

Aug 3

Posted by Anthony in Big Lap 2011, Caravanning | 1 Comment

Kel & I woke up at 5:30 as usual, just before the alarm goes off.  Kel had a look outside and discovered that overnight the wind had changed and the various anchorages that were holding down the washing were now successfully holding the washing on the ground.  Not all of it, but enough.  So … there we are, in our dressing gowns at sunrise, rehanging the washing.  All my fault, naturally.

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Day 25 – Monkey Mia

Aug 2

Posted by Anthony in Big Lap 2011, Caravanning, Geocaching | 1 Comment

The day started out at our usual time of 6am.  A stress free packup saw us on the road at 8am.

The main gorge road out to Nature’s Window was still closed … no surprise.  So, we kept on truckin’ out to the main highway.  There is a short drive out to two parking areas: Hawk’s Head & Ross Graham.  Hawk’s head is so named for the rock formation that looks a bit like a hawk’s head … provided they give you enough beer.  And the other is named after the first school teacher of the area … no beer required.

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