Well that was a first for us !! … we were sitting having a cuppa outside the tent and a bloody emu walked behind us !! Ben saw it walking behind me and didn’t know what to do. The look of terror in his eyes made me turn around and there it was ….. a 6 ft emu !!
Looking at us !! Ben managed to get a photo and then the guys in the tent next to us were shouting of it and whistling. Everytime they did this it looked at us. They are so massive and very ugly ….. (Emus not the guys in the tent!!) Eventually it walked away and up the campsite, you don’t get that in the UK!
Wow, my life flashed before my eyes. I thought I was a gonna (Claire). We were sitting by the tent and Ben went to wash the cups out. He left me on my own. All of a sudden, coming towards me …. A bloody emu !! Heading straight for the car. Luckily a guy came over to take some photos of it, so I ran around the tent behind him. The emu poked his head into Gracie, right into the boot !! The guy chased it away and off it trotted. I thanked the guy for saving my life … as you do !! Ben came back oblivious to what had just happened, I was traumatized. But the emu hadn’t gone, it came back. Luckily Ben was there and wanting to run around the front of the car to hide with me … he had to be macho though in front of the guys next to us. He eyeballed the emu, stood his ground, took off his hat and waved it. It worked the emu walked away !! The look of terror and relief in Ben’s eyes, was something I’ve never seen before !!
We left Exmouth at 12.00 and arrived at Coral Bay just after 2.30pm. It’s right on the beach and very windy. It’s such a small place with only 1 street of shops. We pitched the tent …. Eventually because of the wind and decided to take our snorkels down to the beach.
There weren’t many people in but we still decided to have a go. Stripping down, masking up and headed to the water. It was freezing, absolutely freezing!!! We got into our knees and got straight back out again. The beach was beautiful, your typical white sands and turquoise water. We decided to walk up the beach and see what was around. We walked towards where a load of people were standing at the edge of the water. There was a lady feeding some HUGE fish, there was loads of them. We then decided to carry on up the beach. We found a part of the ‘Paradise Beach’ that looked good. We again masked up and waded in. The water freezing, we walked slowly wincing at every wave. We must have got 100mtrs in and knee depth when we decided it was too cold, so we walked back towards the beach, still with our masks on !! We walked back to where we were at the start, where the other people were snorkelling and dumped our stuff. Right this was it, started walking in again. Didn’t get very far, when the big fish (who were being fed earlier) were there waiting for us. I (Claire) couldn’t go in, I couldn’t do it, they were looking at us with their big eyes. Ben decided to walk a bit further down the beach whilst I was psyching myself up. I knelt down and stuck my face in the 1t deep water trying to see some fish and reef but strangely enough all I could see was sand !! Ben says it was the funniest thing he’s ever seen, when he turned round and saw me. I was snorkelling (sort of !!).
After that I decided sunbathing would be a good thing and left Ben to it. Promising I would snorkel tomorrow !! Ben had a great time seeing a few fish and some of the coral. We made back to the tent and sorted tea out, even having 1 or our 2 beers we’ve got left!! It was windy all night but not too cold which we thought it would be.
Waking up this morning at 7.30am … what a first !! We got dressed and went for a walk along the beach before breakfast. Still it’s windy but the view was lovely. Didn’t get to see any wildlife from the lookout when we got to the top. We headed back for breakfast and then got sorted before going back down for some snorkelling. Got to the beach and found a nice sheltered place. We dumped our stuff, no messing around we got masked up and headed out (yet again!). Wahoo, we got in and snorkelled !!!!!! There were loads of fish and the coral was lovely and so close to shore. Ben failed finding Nemo but there were so many other fish it didn’t matter. We sat on the beach and read our books and had some lunch. The beach is beautiful and we reckon it’s the best beach we’ve seen. The reef snorkelling is awesome. After showering we took Gracie up to a place called Mauds Point. It’s where the Marine Turtles and Reef Sharks have they’re breeding grounds …… sure to see a shark !!?? Not a chance !! We saw one turtle …. Twice !! Think he felt sorry for us so swam back again !! We did have a nice walk along the beach though.We’re now nursing our sunburn and talking about out days driving tomorrow straight to Monkey Mia. We’re both so excited about the next part!!
We were off at 7.30am today heading south again. We stopped off at a place called Quobba (49kms West of Carnarvon). We parked up and had a look at the Blowholes. There was one big one and the blow was amazing. The waves were so big crashing into the sides.
A few hundred km’s later and we are approaching Monkey Mia. We stopped off at Shell Beach on the way. It’s one of the strangest things. There’s no sand or stones on the beach, just billions of shells. They’re tiny cockle shells that when the cockles die, the shells wash up on this beach, in some places it’s over 10 metres deep with shells …….. FACT !!
We decided to drive onto Monkey Mia and see the lookouts on our way out. We got there at about 4pm and pitched the tent. The Reserve is right on the beach. We decided to go for a walk along the beach before tea. It was stunning, really pretty. As we got closer we saw people snorkelling about 100 metres from the edge. Then all of a sudden, 3 or 4 dolphins there swimming with them. Excited we legged it back and changed into our boardies, grabbed our masks we went back. We were too late, they’d already swam off too far for us to go out. We waded in to knee height and stood there waiting. All of a sudden a turtle popped up to say hello … a loggerhead this time, it was massive. We watched it swim in front of us and then it decided to swim for Ben. Ben wasn’t sure what to do so he moved his legs, this was enough for the turtle to swim away. We stood there maybe 30 mins longer and decided to leave it and continue up the beach. The weather has changed a lot being here, it’s quite chilly. The Resort is small but has two restaurants, a café, small shop and the internet. It’s not too busy at the moment. We had a shower and tea and sat up for a while talking about the dolphins.
6am Claire awoke and started on Brekkie for Ben getting up. We dressed in our boardies again and sat and had a cuppa. At 7am we decided to head to the beach.
Loads of people were lined up at the waters edge already but we managed to get right at the front. We were standing right next to 4 pelicans that were obviously waiting for something to happen !! 8 or 9 dolphins swimming around about a metre in front of us, little baby ones playing around at the back having a great time !! It was amazing, wild dolphins turn up at the Resort every morning and have a feed, then swim off again/ We stood there watching for ages until ranger came out and started talking and introducing us to all of the dolphins.
At about 7am they brought out buckets of fish and stood in front of us all. Picking people out to go into the water (knee depth) and feeding a dolphin. She picked Ben !!! We were so chuffed out of all those people. He waded out and had to hold a fish by the tail and hold it in the water. The dolphin was just in front of him waiting with its mouth open. Ben released the fish and the dolphin ate it. It was so cool … got some pics !! After they had finished feeding them the fish, they said that they will keep coming back throughout the morning. Everybody went and we walked back down the beach. As we were walking back we saw a dolphin in the water! We decided to wade in (it was freezing, so we decided against snorkelling!).
We waded in knee depth and waited. The dolphin looked as if it was chasing fish, popping up every now and then. We stayed where we were and waited. It started getting closer, so we started tapping the water, it worked !! It came right by us, so close that we thought it was going to run into Ben’s legs. It didn’t stay for long though, just raced passed. We stood there for about 30 minutes longer, watching. It was racing around, it came closer again doing a lap around us and racing off again. Totally awesome ! We stayed for ages not wanting to move, but then it swam off into the distance. We walked out of the water and couldn’t believe there were just two of us and a wild dolphin racing around us. Happy honeymoon !! Later that morning we had a drive out to Denham, it’s about 20 kms south of Monkey Mia. It was a very small town on the waters edge. It was so windy and cold, we had to wear our hoodies. We had a look in the Tourist Information and picked up some leaflets about Perth. We then headed back for some lunch and then went back onto the beach. We sat for a while then Ben went off to take some photos. I read my book and waited for Ben to come back. He came back saying he’d been watching a turtle from the top of the jetty. He said it was massive and so clear under the water. He went for a paddle out to sea and not long after some dolphins came by him. It didn’t take much persuasion for me to go out there with him. Unfortunately they were just passing through and disappeared. We waited for ages but they didn’t come back. Ben did spot a Dugong, it had a funny head. We saw it twice after that but it then disappeared. We went back to shore and carried on reading, one eye on our books and one eye on the water. We had an afternoon on the beach, and then at 4pm we went for a drive. We got back just before 5pm and had tea. We didn’t last long outside as it was so cold, we had to sit in the car and play cards.
We woke up and the sun was already up and shining. We took down the tent and headed back down the beach to see the dolphins again. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky though it was windy, so the dolphins weren’t as easy to see through the ripply water. We sat up on the jetty watching for a while drinking our sups of tea. The road out of Monkey Mia passes by the Eagle Bluff Lookout. A cliff top lookout over the shallow waters below. The perfect spot to see stingrays, turtles, sharks and sea eagles. Great, we thought ! However, when we got there the tide was out so we didn’t see a single bit of wildlife. Nothing, not even a sausage !! Eagle Bluff, more like Eagle Guff …. Ha ha ! It was a nice view though!
We turned off the 1 and headed towards Kalbarri. It’s home to a National Park but the roads weren’t suitable for Gracie so we decided against it. We instead drove into the town and had some lunch. The town was lovely like a little seaside resort, with loads of apartments looking out over the cove. The water was the lovely blue and just a small band of sand around the edges. We then drove out along the Coast Road, passing Gregory and Horrocks. It looks just like home with the grass being so green and trees separating the field. Just the red dust at the side of the road reminds us of where we are. Even the cows look happy here, fat and happy……. Munching on the lovely green grass !! Better than the ones we have seen, skin and bones, head down and ears looking sad … wandering the outback. There just wasn’t enough room in Gracie for me (Claire) to help them !!
We got to Geraldton to the campsite. It was windy again here. It seemed a big city, loads of things to do, however it’s Sunday and nothing is open. We did think about looking for work here. So we might come back if we cannot find anything in Perth. The campsite is nice, right near the beach. After tea we went for a walk along the beach and waited for the sunset. There was a lady kite surfing and she was amazing. We watched her for ages with the sun going down behind her. We then went back to the tent. We had a little shelter by the ten so we put in our chairs and table and lit our candles for nearly the last time. We sat out enjoying tea and biscuits and watched the candles burn down to nothing. The wind never gave up all night, but the tent stood strong.
After putting the tent down and having breakfast we went to the local shopping centre, stocked up on some essentials and then hit the road again. We took the 1 but then took the coastal rod. We stopped off at a place called Green Head. A small coastal town. We drove to the beach and had a walk out. We then drove onto the next stop which was Jurien Bay. It’s a small fishing town and a National Park and also a Marine Park offshore. It’s home to sealions and we actually saw one. We went for a walk along the beach, it was really pretty.
We were watching expecting to see them everywhere. A la’al head popped up out of the water, then back in again. Only the one though. We then got into the car and pulled into Molar Hill lookout. It was a lookout over the ocean, Cervantes and Jurien Bay. It was full of flies too so we didn’t stay long!!
Next stop Cervantes where we pitched the tent. We then drove to the Nambung National Park. We chose to do the 1.5km walk through the Pinnacles, there was another 3.5km drive through them but we didn’t think Gracie would enjoy driving on the sand. They were really strange, quite eerie. They’re limestone structures originally from seashells and other sea remnants. Over time natural processes have removed the surroundings and left the Pinnacles. There are loads of them.
Whilst waiting for the sunset, a pair of motorcyclists pulled up in front of the Pinnacles. It just didn’t seem right. Ben offered to take a photo of them, both in front of the bike and the Pinnacles. The guy made his wife stand behind his bike so he could get all his bike in ….. who’s that remind you of ???? We decided to go for a drive before sunset and had a look at Hangover Bay. It was a 1km drive down a dirt track. It was a lovely little bay and had BBQ’s and picnic tables. It looked really nice with the sun on the water. We decided not to stay long though and got back into the car back to the Pinnacles. We sat in the car park and ate our tea …. Supernoodles !! We’re getting good at cooking our tea in Gracie. We ventured out into the Pinnacles at just after 6pm. The sun was setting and the shadows from the Pinnacles were amazing. Ben was off as usual, taking his photos. We’re glad we put our fly nets on again because we were covered. We stayed there for an hour and watched the sun going down and the moon coming up.
The moon was so white against the purple backdrop. The temperature dropped too. We had a lovely brew when we got back to the tent, celebrate our last night in the ten for a while and the fact we’ve drove 13,000kms!!
We woke up and decided to catch up on all our washing. We had breakfast and put down the tent. Whilst waiting for our washing, we took a drive up to Thirsty Point Lookout. It was 1km through the town and overlooked Cervante Beach. It was really pretty, just a small strip of white sand along the side. There was a couple of little islands but no wildlife, (well, not that we could see!). We drove back to the campsite, collected our bits and then set off to Perth, should be 2 hours and 30 minutes, we’re so excited! Hopefully we’ll find the house easy. We’re planning on cleaning Gracie when we get there, get her all ready for her new owners……….. sniff sniff!
We arrived at our humble abode just before 2pm. We found it ok, it does seem a bit far away from everything but we’ll have to see where we get some work.
We met Jenny and her friend Janet was there. They’re both really nice and friendly. We brought our bags into “our” room… wow, a bed! We were shown around our section of the house……wow, again! We’ve got our own lounge/bathroom/entertainment area, use of the kitchen and dining room, the bbq area, oh and forgot to mention, it’s got a pool! Amazing! Jenny took us for a walk around the town to show us where to catch the bus. It’s about 40 minutes into the Perth CBD so we’ll see what jobs we get before making any decisions about staying or moving on, but for now it’s great. We had walk after a brew and got some shopping in. It’s so nice knowing we’ve got a fridge and a freezer and even a shelf in a cupboard seems luxury! It’s a 15 minute walk, but it was so hot today, sweaty! We’ve got a busy day planned tomorrow, job hunting and car selling in Perth. Fingers crossed everyone!We made our tea and sat outside by the pool, this is the life! We then retreated to “our” lounge to watch a bit of telly! Brilliant! (Well actually, the telly is about 90 years old and the picture is crap, but hey, it’s a telly!)
Ahhhh, it was so nice to sleep in a bed! We actually didn’t sleep brilliantly, I think we’ve got used to sleeping on the floor in the tent, but we were comfy! After a nice breakfast and a cup of tea we walked down to the bus stop, luckily we remembered the way! Not long after getting to the stop the bus arrived. We got a couple of day passes to the city and took a seat. 50 minutes later we arrived at the Perth bus port, for future reference, you don’t need to stay on all the way to the bus port!
(Dolphins at Monkey Mia)
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