Karijini NP

Karijini National Park is another spot we can now tick off our ever growing list of places to visit.  We have been like salmon swimming against the tide on the trip so far, but going in a clockwise direction has been paying off.  We have always managed to get into the spots we want when we want.  

Our Campsite

Another magic day to go for a walk.

The first walk saw us heading down to Circular Pool in Dales Gorge.  The kids enjoyed the ladder.

Another beautiful reward at the end of the track.  The weather has warmed up substantially in the last few weeks and the cool pool looked inviting, but when we had a better look it was full of leaches.

Graffiti!  It amazes me the distances some people will travel to see these natural wonders, only to decide to leave their mark.  

Fortescue falls was the next spot we visited.  I would love to see it just after the wet.

The kids didn't need to much convincing to kick off their boots and wash the dust off.

Having a dip.

Later that afternoon we went out to Hancock Gorge.  I wanted to go and have a look after seeing some great photos of this area.  We were all excited to do this walk which was rated as class 5 - Class 4 was the best we had done so far.

 The walk in involved wading and climbing to get to the good bits. 

The afternoon light was kind to me, giving the water a nice golden glow.

 The girls were interested to see what was further down the gorge so they tried the "spider walk".  This meant we had to straddle the water in the pic above and shuffle along to the other end.

Another team photo. 

This is as far as you can go in Hancock Gorge - unless you have a guide with climbing gear to help you get back out.

Proof that the kids are doing their school work.  

More to come.....

The Coral Coast

The Ningaloo Marine Park starts to the North of Point Quobba where we pulled up for lunch.  The show the waves put on was spectacular.

Can you see the bloke just to the right of the wave??

Western Australia's Coral Coast is an amazing part of the world.  I've been keen to check out this part of the country for some time, this is where Ningaloo Reef meets the coast.  We spent a few days around Coral Bay where we all had a go at snorkelling.  It is surreal stepping from the beach to the reef.  Every afternoon around 3.30pm there is fish feeding.  

The kids loved having the Spangled Emperor's swimming between their legs while I stood there with my mouth watering.

The water was a little too cold for some.

Caitlin and I spent hours paddling around checking out the reef.

After a few days in Coral Bay we headed a bit further up the track to Cape Range National Park.  I have read about the need to line up at the park's entrance to secure a spot.  We pulled up at the caravan park just outside the NP the afternoon before.  Jen drew the short straw and headed down to cue up at 5am, while I got the troops moving/fed/packed.  

Lucky for us no-one else was mad enough to get down there quite so early.  That said she was only alone for about 15 minutes. 

It's not hard to figure out why this place is so popular.

One of the neighbours in our camp area was a Henna artist and offered to decorate the girls.

Something they've been keen on for a while.

It's a good thing that we don't have an itinerary.  When someone offers to take you fishing the day you're supposed to leave, plans change very quickly.  

Thanks to Bob I had a great day.  It's not often you can go fishing out the back of the reef in a 4 metre tinny. We got a few fish but the icing on the cake was getting to watch Humpback Whales breaching late in the afternoon.

After the fish were filleted everyone in the campsite comes together for sunset drinks and a yarn.

Not a bad way to see out a day.

More to come.....

Denham & Monkey Mia

After leaving the westernmost point of the Australian mainland we decided to duck up the road to Monkey Mia.  Jen and I can both remember hearing as kids about the wild dolphins that come into the beach, so we figured we should go for a look seeing how we were so close.

On the way to Denham we pulled into Shell Beach for a look.....when you walk onto the beach it becomes pretty clear how it got its name. 

I'd hate to have the job of counting the number of shells on this beach.

The kids couldn't resist going for a dip.

One of the early arrivals for the morning feeding at Monkey Mia.

The dolphins in Shark Bay are an Indo-Pacific Bottlenose's.  They have coming to the beach here since the 60's.

It is amazing how many people rolled up considering it's not school holidays.

I couldn't believe the kids' luck when they were chosen to hand feed one of the dolphins, "Nicky".  

After the feeding we all jumped onto a catamaran to sail around the bay.  The first stop was at a working black pearl farm.

                                     

It was interesting to learn how they farm pearls, it's not an easy way to make a quick buck with it taking up to 7 years to get a return from an oyster.

Jen and I relaxing on the catamaran's "trampolines" while the kids were busy.

Bronte checking out one of the hitchhikers.

Bumming a lift.

Shark Bay is also home to a huge population of Dugongs.  We spotted dozens while cruising across the seagrass beds.

I couldn't figure out why none of the other passengers put their hand up when offered a chance to go boom netting.  It was painfully obvious when I got into the water.  I can now say we have tried boom netting for the grand total of about 3 and a half minutes - it was freaking freezing!! ;-)

The weather was too nice to pass an opportunity to take a paddle boat for a lap.

Seth loved getting towed around while others were left to do the hard yakka of peddling.

More to come.....