G'day to you all from sunny, sunny Australia. Get yourself a nice cuppa or a tinnie and prepare yourselves for the further adventures of the two Andrews. When we last left you we were off to Denham and Monkey Mia to feed the dolphins. This area is known as Sharks Bay and is a long and winding 150 km off the main road so we had are fingers crossed that it was going to be worth all the effort and it sure didn't disappoint. We fond a sandy little campsite called Sharks Bay holiday resort which was great as each pitch was fenced in. As our campervan is so small we spread out with our table and chairs, it becomes quite homely when we had finished setting up. The heritage site of sharks bay has loads to offer and we decided to take our time exploring all the sites. The first of these was the stromatolites which are the oldest living things on the planet and were the first life forms which luckily for us created a lot more oxygen in the air. They look a little like coral but are more uniform, to see these we had to park up and walk a very long 2km return trip in the heat of the day to a handy jetty which took you out over the formations, in this area. It is one of the only places in the world they still exist as the water is so salty no fish can come and eat them. There was also an old telegraph station which was interesting but due to the amount of flies we didn't stay as long as we should. The flies get in your mouth, ears, up your nose and climb on your eye lids. These flies were to become the most troublesome part of our trip so far, as when you drive through miles of nothing and stop for a leg stretch they are all there waiting to hitch a ride in the van to your next destination.
The next stop for us was Shell Beach, a beach made from hundreds and millions of tiny white shells and they give the impression of the whitest sand which reflects in the water to make it seem unnaturally blue. After a peaceful nights sleep we were up with the larks to head over to monkey mia the home of the dolphins. We had to be there before 8am and it was a fair drive from where we had decided to camp, it was better than expected and the dolphin experience was done really well and was great to see dolphins in the natural sea. We were lucky enough to see the feeding twice and get some great photos as well. Monkey Mia as well as being home to the dolphins has some wild emus just walking around the place and loads of pelicans my (Andrew Day) new favourite bird, they just look so happy all the time but have something menacing about them as well. On the way out of Monkey Mia, we had a look at little lagoon which is a perfectly round lagoon and again it had the bluest water which looked so inviting so as always I (Andrew D) took the plunge only to find that someone forgot to turn the water heater on.
Denham to Carnarvon was to be our next drive and the site I had picked for us was for me (Andrew D) going to be a real treat, we had planned to stay here for 3 nights and just have a well earned rest (it's tiring being on holiday for such a long time). The town had nothing about it at all and was really dull but the camp ground which is called Winter Sun had it all. A lot of Australians come here for months at a time to escape the colder southern weather. The big draw for me was the site had a bowling green and from June thru November they run daily competitions so we were too early for then but I got in some well needed practice and I also got the other Andrew to have a go, which he seemed to enjoy if not find a little frustrating. They also had a great pool area so we lazed around and generally did nothing. After Carnarvon we headed still further north to the home of the Ningaloo Reef, some say a better reef than the great barrier reef, and much more accessible and cheaper to book trips to view. (we will have to let you know when we get to north Queensland our view on the better of the two). The coral was great and you could even see it from the beach, as this area is a marine park the numbers of fish were too many to count. Just going in up to your knees you were touching them with your legs as you went deeper, we were even luckily enough to see a string ray as it swam round our legs out into the ocean again, they look very much like a plaice carrying a dagger. We decided that we would book on to a glass bottom boat tour to see the best of the coral and it was well worth the $35 per person we paid, the talk wasn't so bad either. Leaving Coral bay we were unsure if we should continue northwards or start heading back to Perth, but we had set out to drive the length of the coral coast so off we went to Exmouth, not expecting much and planning on just a one night stop to say we had done the 1600 mile drive before we headed back to drive the 1600 miles back to Perth and our flight to Darwin. Well it just shows how wrong the Exmouth tourist information brochures can be, they make the place seem really dull when it is just the opposite, IT'S GREAT, we don't want to leave and we are now carefully planning our time so we can stay as long as possible.
Let me explain to you all why it's so great and West Australians best hidden treasure, but if I tell you, promise to keep it our secret as we don't want any Tom, d*** or Harry coming here and spoiling it. The biggest draw is the cape range national park and the cape itself add to this a sweet little town and you have a first class holiday destination. The town has a small shopping centre with all the things you need, a takeaway, Chinese restaurant, shops, supermarket, newsagent and everything is clumped nicely together with loads of easy parking as well. The cape range national park runs for 50km on a tarmac road with great sign postage and easy access to see the reef. The final access point for 2wd cars is Yardie creek which is a gorge formed over 15 million years ago and is home to the rare black rock wallabies, you access the gorge on a boat trip which was run by the park office and the guide was well qualified to answer any questions anyone had, we were lucky enough to see 4 of the 15 wallabies that live in the gorge and plenty of birdlife as well. Up from the gorge is Sandy Bay, a beautiful bay ideal for swimming with the fish. Turquoise Bay has two main snorkel sites you can do directly from the beach which Andrew B did them both. They are the bay snorkel where you swim out to the reef to look at the coral or the more fun drift snorkel where you swim out and the currant takes you over the reef. You have to make sure you exit at the sandbar for safety as the sea escapes through a narrow channel in the reef and it is like being sucked down a drain plug into the open sea. The ozzies being nuts don't let things like that worry them though. The sandbar was a strange sight as the waves break from either end of the beach and it looks really dramatic. Moving on from Turquoise bay you have the Oyster Stacks which is another great swimming area and there are another 16 swim and snorkel areas for people to choose from so you can pick somewhere as deserted or as busy as you want. Moving out of the national park the area still has more to offer from great surfing which we are hoping to watch from a safe distance, a lighthouse with a thrilling drive up to and great views over the coral reef, turtle viewing beaches and another dozen or so little coves of which we found one which we have been to a couple of times and plan to go to again as it has nobody around for as far as the eye can see. In fact it is a little strange as somebody has built a sitting area complete with shell garden and murals in the sand made from shells.
Camping in Australia is just so easy, the sites are set with everything you could need from free BBQ's, pools, camp kitchens, book swaps, small shops and always the best local advise which we have used to the full. As our van is of a certain size (small) we have had to make use of the kitchens however we have booked a larger model for around Darwin and Alice Springs to make things a bit easier as the fly problem is set to get much worse up North. As always everything in the van is well organised and we can now fully set up or pack away within 10 minutes.
As for the Apollo club we lost them ages ago so were not sure if we are ahead or behind!
As we sign of again we still have over 4 months in Oz and if they are as action packed as this we are in for a real treat.