Wow, we have loved this part of the trip. There is literally nothing except road, scrub or desert between these three places but each place has stolen a bit of our heart. We have learnt that WA also stands for Wow! Amazing! So what is special about this part of the WA coast? The crystal clear turquoise water, white sand beaches and the wildlife are your 'Wow' but add that to the Ningaloo Reef, and the history, and there's your 'Amazing'!

So, let's start from the beginning at Carnarvon. We limped into Carnarvon with a flat tyre so not the best of starts. We then found out that the One Mile Jetty, for which Carnarvon is famed, was closed as it had become unsafe so we were not sure what to expect. However, the caravan park was huge, but pretty empty, and had a bowls green at the end. So we went for another first, a game of lawn bowls in Oz! We hired the bowls, jack and mat from reception and off we went, until 'Barry from Essex', joined us. Unbelievable! Barry was from Colchester and his wife from Ipswich and we chatted for a while about Chelmsford and Great Dunmow! They have lived in Oz for 50 years and have settled in Carnarvon where Barry now maintains the bowls green at the site - in exchange for his site rental we presume as bowls greens cost a lot to maintain! Unfortunately Barry liked to chat and so we only got half a game of bowls but all good fun!

Carnarvon was the place where they established a NASA tracking station from 1964 to 1974. From here they tracked the Apollo space missions. There is now a museum on the site, which contains the huge 29m wide reflector dish used by NASA, lots of the original equipment, which looks so old and dated, and also a command module simulator. Bob dressed up in his astronaut gear and we both lay on our backs in the module, as the astronauts would have done. A film played of the countdown and the actual take-off, the module shook and vibrated and you could see the earth disappearing out of the 'windows'. Quite an experience!

We were also amazed by the greenness of Carnarvon, which is renowned for its thriving agricultural industry and fruit plantations. However, when we crossed the Gascoyne River Bridge, the wide expanse of the riverbed (wider than the Thames in central London) was dry and sandy apart from a small lake at one side. Apparently the river only runs once or twice a year, and occasionally floods. So hard to believe! However 'Barry from Essex', filled us in. Locals know it as the upside down river as the water is all underground. Aquifers and pumps draw up the water and there is an irrigation system, hence the proliferation of plantations in this area. We are finding it hard to come to terms with the UK's constant calling of drought when it hasn't rained for a few weeks. In some areas here it hasn't rained for 18 months, although 8-12 months is more the norm here out west. There are a few signs stating that we are in drought conditions and to please limit our showers to 5 minutes. In one place we had no fresh drinking water, you had to buy bottled, but there was bore water to use for washing up, showers etc. Bore water is used for all irrigation, which explains why all the footie ovals are green and the plantations looked so healthy. Water just doesn't seem to be an issue in the main towns, although it is far more serious for those farmers, in the middle of nowhere, where it hasn't rained for 12 months or more!

Then we set off for Coral Bay. I was really looking forward to this as the Ningaloo Reef comes close to shore here and you can snorkel from the beach. We have to admit that we hadn't heard of the Ningaloo Reef before, as everyone talks about the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), but this reef is spectacular. In our opinion it beats the GBR hands down as it is more accessible but also the coral seemed to be a lot healthier. Maybe that is because the GBR had just suffered damage from cyclone Debbie the year before we got there?! Coral Bay consists basically of 2 huge caravan parks and a few shops and bars to service them, plus the amazing beach. The water was SO clear that you could see the fish, and take photos of them while being knee deep. We went out on a glass bottom boat to see the coral and were blown away. The colours, the size, the fish - it was hard to know what to look at. And so to the snorkelling - to be fair the last time I snorkelled was in Queensland, but I am just not a natural water person. It sounds easy doesn't it - just breathe through your mouth! Can I do it?! Yes, for a few minutes and then I forget when I see a fish, or a spectacular coral, and I splutter and cough and nearly drown myself! So swimming with the whale sharks, just off the coast, was a no-no for me unfortunately. I think I would have swallowed the whole Indian Ocean! But, thanks to a friend's info, we managed to watch the videos and snaps of other people doing it which was quite impressive. Saying that we still saw lionfish (quite nasty if you tread on it's spines!), huge spangled emperors, butterfly fish, Nemo's, pipefish and others whose names we didn't know plus loads of different corals, and all just metres from the beach! We also hired SUP boards following our lesson in Fremantle. It was great, I didn't fall off once and managed to go up and down the bay and turn around several times! Bob was far more confident again with racing turns and surf stance! When I got tired I sat on the board and went out over the reef and just sat there watching the fish and coral. Just fantastic!

Next stop Cape Range National Park - we had prebooked a site at Mesa campground as that is the only way you can camp there. Nowhere has power or drinking water so you have to be fully self-sufficient. The way in was pretty spectacular with emus crossing the road in front of us, and then a huge dust storm. We had to close all the air vents to stop Winnie ingesting a whole load of red dust! Mesa was practically on the beach - we watched the sun go down from the top of a dune and then marvelled at the stars and the Milky Way, magical! From there we visited Yardie Creek, where we did part of the Gorge Trail, another grade 4 walk, and Turquoise Bay. Wow, Turquoise Bay was indeed turquoise and another place where you could snorkel the reef. If I'm honest I wimped out but only because the fish were swimming around me anyway! It was like walking into a giant aquarium with fish swimming up to you to check you out. They were not small fish either, most of them were about a foot long! However, I did hear the girl next to us on the beach say she had seen a turtle and a shark, but she had gone out a long way and was obviously an expert snorkeller.

We also visited the Jurabi turtle sanctuary, and the wreck of the SS Mildura, which can be seen clearly from the beach at the most northerly tip of the Cape. Whilst walking along the beach here we suddenly realised we were walking amongst corals and shells that we had never seen before. And then we saw the turtles! A lady told us that we should look in the waves as the turtles were often seen here so we looked patiently. Then we saw a head, and then another one and another. At one point we saw one so close to shore that we tried to get a good photo but failed. It was just so good to see these beautiful animals in their own habitat instead of an aquarium!

We are now in Exmouth on another huge, almost empty site. Apparently we are just ahead of the hordes of grey nomads who head north for the winter. Winter? It was 29 degrees today! Exmouth has a fabulous Visitor Centre with a very interactive exhibition. The Americans came here to establish a VLF (Very Low Frequency) radio station as they needed to communicate with their submarines in WW2. You can still see the masts arising over the town. The Aussies and Americans got on well, despite the fact that the Americans had a much better standard of living than the Aussies. They even had drive-in movies! But the highlight for me was the cyclone simulator. The noise was scary enough but to see large objects and bits of houses flying around you was quite unnerving. Don't worry, we are out of cyclone season - just! The very latest (datewise) cyclone to hit this coast was Herbie on 21st May, 1988 so we feel pretty safe now?!!

The Ningaloo coast has amazed and impressed and we will be sad to leave. The reef creatures and animals here take some getting used to. Emus and goats randomly walk across the street in front of you, even in the towns and Bob had to step over one goat in order to get into the servo to pay for the fuel! Anyway, next up is an inland jaunt to the Tom Price iron ore mine, said to be huge, and Karijini National Park. Then to Broome and on to Darwin, a mere 3172km away!! Eeekk, poor Winnie!

Not sure whether this is a good or a bad thing, but we were told by our neighbours at Coral Bay that we don't sound very English, he didn't realise where we were from??!! Are we developing Aussie accents? WA - What Accent?!!