THIS IS A RECAP SINCE THE 12TH OF AUGUST. HAVE BEEN OUT OF RANGE FOR INTERNET FOR A WHILE! HAPPY READING!
Thursday 12 August
After a smooth pack up, refuel, we headed out of Tom Price towards Karratha via Millstream-Chichester National Park. The road was crap – dirt all the way and hadn’t been graded for a while. Thought the sign said 110km of dirt... must have been 210kms! Anyway, an uneventful 3 hours except for one part which was bitumen and wound itself down into a gorge for about 5kms. This was the highlight on this road.!!!
Arrived into Millstream NP around 230pm. Good time to set up and after feeling so dusty after the drive and clean up in the van ( aarrgghh ) we went to Deepreach Pool in the NP. Deep it was. But refreshing. Liam only put his toes in! The campsite was lovely, good long drops and a great camp kitchen!
Friday 13 August
Waking to a wet camper, wet chairs, tables, whatever else was left outside! Yes! Some rain. The first since Kakadu. I left the boys to have a sleep in and did a short walk to the Homestead – where a little boy who used to live there in the late 1800s , tells his story. Saw kangaroos, and a beaut blue winged kookaburra. Oh yes! And forgot to mention – our first sighting of the sturt desert pea! So delicate
So, on the road north to Karratha we detoured into the Chichester part of the park to Python Pool. The landscape was something from Mars or the the Moon! Very rocky and hilly. Just as well we didn’t want a swim at the pool. It had a green algae in it
Arriving at the park in Karratha, expecting an ensuite power site for the price ( 64/night ) we only got a powered site! Even more expensive than Broome! I guess that is what the mining does up here. Anyway, set up . Liam was wrapped as there was a playground nearby and quickly made a friend! Another Liam who was 4!
Waited for Jeem to come home around 530, Jack and I had a quick game of table tennis. Missed Jeem going by but caught up with her at our site for a drink and a bit of tea. We also met Peter and Ann who Jeem is staying with whilst here. The boys were so happy to see a familiar face on their holiday!

Saturday 14 August
Just a clean up day today , trying to get rid of all the dust! Dave got some plywood and fixed up the bottom bed in the camper and whatever else needed fixing in the van! Poor Camper! Had a BBQ with Jeem at their unit – was a late one. 11pm!

Sunday 15 August
Nice sleep in for us all this morning though you could hear all the cars starting up at 430 – 445am to head out to work!!! Also , at around midnight last night one of the sprinklers next to our site burst and made a racket! So a real broken sleep!
The day made up for it. We went to Point Samson first. A great little fishing town and port. WE fished here for a while. Could see the garfish and bream but just couldn’t grab them. So off to Clearville nature reserve , in a river mouth. Jeem was the only successful one, catching 2 tiny fish.!! Wouldnt feed a cat! Hahahaha
Pizza for tea and in bed by about 10. Didnt say goodbye to Jeem at this stage as she was taking a sickie!!! Tomorrow! Hahahaha

Monday 16 August
Good sleep last night! Must have been the shot of Ouzo! Packed up slowly and whilst Dave, Liam and Jack packed the rest of van, Jeem and I went to the shops to get a few bits. ( including a toy for Liam! That ‘ did Jeem buy that for me?’ ) lolol Boys will miss her but might see her in Adelaide.
Said our goodbyes and headed towards Dampier. Was a nice town , similar to Point Samson. Also famous for the true story of a dog from a book called ; Red Dog, which Jack has partly read!
2 1/2 hours on the road and not a great deal to see. Called into Nantunna Roadhouse.... what a bunch of money grabbers there. There was a beaut picnic area at the bottom of the river with toilet and tables but no signs! You could see they had ripped it down! And petrol was $ 1.74.9!!! a litre. We only paid $ 1.47 in Karratha! Well, we didn’t have to fill up luckily! We had 3 jerry cans on top.!
So, here we are now sitting at a rest stop along the highway. Would have to say without a word of a lie there would be more than 150 vans here! Cool wind.... just chilling.................. off to Exmouth tomorrow.

Tuesday 17 August
Up and packed by 830am after a nice restful sleep! Amazing really so close to highway- not many trucks! Not a big day driving to Exmouth today only 220kms. As we got closer up the Peninsula to Exmouth we noticed lots of vans departing! Guess it was the onset of rain! Yes Rain.... not just a sprinkle.... As we pulled into the visitors centre we noticed a flat tyre on the van! And it was raining! So Dave changed the tyre in the rain.... about 10 minutes later the clouds left and we have seen the sun ever since! Lololol Glad it didn’t happen on his birthday tomorrow!hahahah
Checked out the accommodation at Cape Range National Park but all full. Apparantly you have to line up before 8am ( the ranger told us they start lining up from about 2am ) to get a spot. Spots are obviously limited! There weren’t many caravan parks available either but we got a nice one 17kms out of town with a stone throw to the beach but nice enough to be out of the wind! Lighthouse Caravan park and yes ! there is a lighthouse! Llololo. Also need to mention the resident emus that love to have a sticky beak! Jack nearly jumped out of his chair as one came up behind him!! Hahahah. After setting up we went for a little drive towards Cape Range NP stopping at the lookout at the lighthouse to get our bearings. Saw 3 whales out there- a couple quite close in. Also some surfers!!! Now thats something we haven’t seen for a while! Lolol So , cross fingers, hope Daves board is ok as he hasn’t checked it yet! He plans to surf on his birthday tomorrow. Drove a bit further after the lighthouse to where the coral viewing boats leave from and got a good look at a pair of osprey in their nest on a pole! Some great photo shots for sure! Checked with the Ranger at Cape Range NP about camping then headed back. Think I will be the one designated to drive and line up for a spot at 4 in the morning on Friday! Sounds like it must be a really nice place to stay. Further up the beach we saw some kite surfers, boats, fishing. Back to camp whilst Dave went back to town to get the spare tyre for the van. Probably not a good idea to go into the NP without one!

Wednesday 18 August Happy Birthday Dave
Dave managed to have a great birthday today! Started off the morning with a fabulous surf at Dunes Beach, just north of the caravan park. The view here is lovely, has a beach shelter overlooking the beach and surf. Could just sit there and wile away the hours! Got every wave he caught so he was happy! After pressie exchange, we headed into town ( Exmouth ) as Dave had just missed the guy at the tyre shop yesterday! Had to go in for some more supplies anyway , for the national park stay tomorrow. Also got some more tackle.... ( I think Jack and I are responsible for losing most of it! ) Had some lunch , then Dave went off for another good surf! Can your birthday get any better than this! Wait! Theres more.... ( lolol ) had a lovely dinner at the Cafe in the Caravan Park. Dave was hanging for a steak !
So a big day and all in bed early!

Thursday 19 August
Next 3 days at Cape Range National Park. I got up at 430am and headed to the ranger station to line up for a possible vacant campsite! I got there and there were 3 others in front camping! Anyway, didn’t matter – I was 4th! Lolol Had to wait for the ranger to come around 8am , tell them which camp area you wanted off the board and then you had to go there with your payment to the camp hosts to secure your spot! So didn’t get back until 9am. The boys were already packing up the van as the guy next to us told them I got a spot! The spot isn’t fabulous as a campsite itself... very barren and , though there are only 8 sites , you still feel like you are on top of each other! But when you go over the sanddune to the beach it is breathtaking! Clear, aqua, white sandy bottom water with reefs about 500m off! The marine life is lovely! Orange rays with blue dots! Reef sharks, fish! We had a swim and a bit of a snorkel to try it out. Jack loves snorkelling! Thought it was great. So here for the next 3 nights , snorkelling, fishing, swimming and sightseeing!......

Friday 20 August
What a day! Woke to windy weather but soon disappeared. Hired some snorkelling gear and headed for Turquoise Bay where you can go in at one end and snorkel , drifting to the other , then walk back and do again! Dave and Jack went in first for about 45minutes. Jack had big smiles on his face. He hadn’t seen anything like it before. They also saw a huge turtle and Dave snorkelled down to touch it.! Then is was my turn to have a snorkel with Jack. The coral was lovely, not very colourful but lots of it! And the fish ! Amazing. But best of all I got to see a huge turtle too! Just snorkelled above it for 5 minutes whilst it was swimming underneath us! That made my day! As we were heading back in to shore we spotted another one , a smaller one... this time Jack and I both snorkelled and touched his shell! Not sure if he was happy about it – he did turn around to look! So was very nice!
Liam just liked playing and frolicking in the water and sand.... seeing all the little fish come up to him then he would scare them away! So, after Jack and Dave went in for another snorkel then me again! By this time I think Jack was stuffed! We headed back in the car , as it got quite busy here too after an hour being there, and headed south to have a look at some other bays. Back at camp Dave and Jack went fishing – no luck of course! They were all inside the Sanctuary Zone! Lolol there must be a line under the sea the fish don’t cross! Hahahaha
Had 6 oclock drinks at the tables with the other campers ( only 9 bays in Tulki Beach camp ) . Was lovely to exchange days events and places to see.

Saturday 21 August
Woke to windy, cloudy and spotted rainy weather today. The sun was doing its best to try and peek through the clouds. As high tide was early this morning we decided to go to Oyster Stacks where the snorkelling is good too. Jack and Dave braved this one ( brrrr cold ! ) – saw bombies, mushrooms, clams, huge fish! And lots of them too.... Said it was nicer than Turquoise Bay because it was in a concentrated area. I reckon it took them about 2 hours to get warm again. WE headed south of the National Park to Yardie Creek. This was quite surprising. It is the only waterway in the National Park and was a lovely 1.2km return walk up to the canyon/gorge looking down at the water and river mouth. Was a lovely spot!
As Jack was now warm again after the hike, he wanted to do another snorkel. Not sure if Dave was keen but went in with him all the same! So off to Lakeside where there is a smaller concentrated part of the reef. Highlights here were the big fish and brain coral! After about ½ an hour they got out. The water was actually warm . It was only the wind factor when you got out. So into dry clothes and returned the snorkels to the visitors centre. Back to camp and prepare for the night. Apparantly it is going to rain! Yuk! Hate packing up when its wet!