Melbourne Cup
We arrived in Exmouth about 1 PM and checked into the Big 4. Got a good deal as prices dropped as of November 1st. Sandra and I got an even better one as the lady at the office must have made an error as it only cost $46 for two nights. Anyone who has camped at a Big 4 knows this is a very good deal. The caravan park is well laid out with very good, clean facilities including a swimming pool. We got setup and went into town to fill up with diesel, buy groceries, and check out the Visitor Center.
Wednesday morning Di and Terry got some bad news that their Sister in Law, Joan had passed away. She had been ill for some time and her passing was expected but still very sad. We had met her when we first started our trip back in May at Diamond Head and she was a very nice lady.
Carol, Stephen, Sandra, and I took a drive out to Charles Knife Road and into the Cape Ranges. What an unexpected surprise. We drove about 10 KM along a good sealed/unsealed road up into Cape Range National Park. What an incredible drive and unbelievable views. Massive beautiful coloured gorges with the Ocean in the background. The road was quite narrow in parts with gorges on both sides but there were several lookouts where you could pull over. We went as far as the Thomas Carter Lookout where you could see the Indian Ocean to the west and the Gulf to the East. Amazing! Lots of picutres.
From there we headed back out to the highway where we bought some prawns at a seafood packaging place. Along the highway we were also lucky enough to see some whales breaching in the gulf . We took a short detour off the highway down to the beach to get a better look. Wonderful although we quickly lost sight of them. We drove through the marina on our way home. Very nicely laid out with a new housing development going in. How nice with canals running through it where you can moor your boat at your back step. What a great lifestyle!
Di and Terry had a mobile caravan repair guy come by to fix their broken skylight. He also replaced their door handle which had broken (Terry had done temporary fix with magic glue). His name was Shaun and he was a very friendly bloke. Builds houses in the morning, works as a Chaplain in the afternoon, and fixes caravans in the late afternoon/early evening. He had a quick look at our fridge as well for the price of a cold beer. Couldn't understand the problem as all appeared to be OK with the flame and gas is generally more efficient than electricity. We have already spoken to the Dometic Agent this morning. He has just returned from 6 weeks leave and said to call him tomorrow morning so he can see where he is up to. Didn't sound too promising and Shaun indicated he is somewhat difficult to get work done by. Great! We had happy hour with Shaun as well as Sarah and Matt who are still camped here. They were leaving in the morning but we talked Matt into staying one more day to go fishing with us. We have arranged for a boat hire so we didn't need to do much convincing with Matt.
Thursday morning we were up early and Stephen and I picked up a boat we have hired for 3 days. We got a 4.2 Metre tinny with front steering and a 40HP Honda outboard. Great value as only $75/day. Terry, Stephen, Matt, and I headed off to Tantabiddi Boat Ramp on the North West side of the Penninsula. We had a relatively slow trip as there were so many kangaroos on the road in the early morning and they were reluctant to move. There had been a small shower of rain and they were all drinking off the highway. The water was fairly rough and Rans and I felt a little bit sea sick. Nothing too serious and we all persevered. We managed to catch lots of little reef fish and a couple of decent fish. We ended up with a couple of nice Trevally and a smallish Mackeral of some type. Matt also had a nice Spangled Emporer which he accidently dropped as he was trying to measure on side of boat. We had a nice new measuring place on the front seat but he thought he'd use the one on the edge of the boat. I don't know if I've mentioned that Matt is a Pom. You'll be glad to know some words (especially curses) sound exactly the same in any language or accent. He was devastated but lucky for him he had 3 supportive mates in the boat with him to ease his pain. Needless to say we gave him heaps on the boat and throughout the rest of the day.
We came into the boat ramp about 1PM to see the four girls who were waiting for us. They had been busy touring themselves in the morning. Sarah took them to Wobiri Beach which is a turtle rookery. When they got there Sarah pointed at the crystal blue water and said " See all those black rocks? They are Turtles" Apparently there were hundreds of turtles. On the beach resting, in the water swimming, and several couples mating. Sandra said it was Amazing! They then relaxed on the beach near the boat ramp. They watched a storm cloud pass over our boat as we were fishing.
We decided to load up the boat and travel to Bundegi Boat Ramp for a picnic lunch and to try our luck there. It is on the North East point of the Penninsula. We had a lovely picnic lunch near the boat ramp before launching the boat again. Not much luck in this location although I had a big one but it broke my line. Just kept swimming in the opposite direction against my drag. Damn!! The girls wandered along beach collecting shells and had a bit of a swim. We packed up about 4PM and headed home. Both boys and girls had a great day at their respective activities but we were all tired. The eight of us enjoyed a lovely fish dinner. We said our goodbyes again to Matt and Sarah as they are moving on to Coral Bay in the morning. Lots of laughs and hopefully we will catch up with them again once they get their tent trailer fixed in Geraldton.
Friday morning Terry, Stephen, and I were up at 5AM to try our luck again at Tantabiddi. Saw lots of Kangaroos again but they were much quicker to get off the road this morning. Not much luck today. Lots of small reef fish and bloody cod. Seagulls were also a pain in the ass; as they kept diving and stealing our bait before it could settle. Two seagulls were severly injured (possibly fatally) when they became caught on my hook. We tried a number of different locations without much luck. We had a number of decent strikes but none that were landed. Terry caught an Octupus which we released. We returned home around lunch time. Sandra had been busy cleaning the caravan and doing laundry. She contacted the Dometic Agent for the third time this morning and managed to convince him to come have a look at our problem. He showed up about 2PM. His name was Bill and although he is a bit rough around the edges he appears to know what he is doing. He was there for several hours and took the fridge completely out to have a look. All the easy things that could be wrong appear to be fine. Gas jet was fine, flue was good, gas pressure good, and good solid blue flame. The only thing he thought might be off was that the flame might be slightly misaligned under the element. He made some minor adjustments before he refitted the fridge and left a data logger in it for 24 hours as the fridge operates on gas. Temperature was 11 degrees Saturday morning which while improved from our last episode in Karijini is still about 8-9 degrees above what it runs on electricity after not being used during the night.
Saturday morning, Stephen & I took Carol and Sandra out on the boat. Terry was due for a break after two long days on a very uncomfortable boat in somewhat rough water. The four of us put the boat in at Bundegi and headed out to the reef opposite the point. Quite rough again and as we got there we realized that we had left all the bait back in the fridge/freezer in the car. Crap! Back to shore we went to retrieve the bait. This time we only went out a short distance to a closer and smaller reef. I got Sandra's handline baited up and in the water. I swear it wasn't 5 seconds later she was telling me she had a fish on. She pulled in a small Blue Tusked fish. The four of us tried to figure out what it was and decided it was just under what we thought was legal size. Threw it back, rebaited her hook, and threw her hand line back in. I reckon she had 3 fish pulled in before I finally got my line hooked, baited, and finally in the water. We continued to pull in a number of small reef fish of various variety. It was quite funny as the four of us poured through our brochure of fish types for the Gascoine area of Western Australia to determine the species and legal size. Sandra finally caught a Spanish Flag which was over the legal size limit. Carol caught a few as well although no keepers. Rans and I had our hands full rebaiting the girls lines. Rans kept getting caught up on bottom and breaking his line but no fish. We tried moving a number of times. I finally caught a Trevally that gave me a bit of fight. I had another good fish that broke my line and Carol had two that broke her line. All told we ended up catching about 15 fish of which Sandra caught 8. We only kept the one Spanish Flag and my Trevally. We found out when we returned to shore that a number of fish we threw back were actually legal size as our chart showed a different measurement than the size posted at the beach info sign. Oops! Stephen and I cleaned the two fish which was the blind leading the blind. Terry is our experienced fisherman/fish cleaner. We didn't want to burden him with our catch so gave it a go. Got them both done in fairly quick time although there wasn't too much left of the Trevally when we finished. Good learning experience! We all had a good time and the girls showed us how this fishing thing is done.
We returned to caravan around lunch. Called Bill from Ruby Refrigeration before we left to update on fridge . He had us adjust the thermostat to Maximum to see if it made any difference while we were out fishing. Called again upon our return to report that temperature was now 15 degrees. He agreed there was definitely something wrong with the fridge and possibly the thermostat control as well. He asked us to switch back to AC (240V) while he left the data logger in over night again. That way he could compare the operation of the fridge on both sources and have more information to take up with Dometic Technical Support. Fridge dropped down to 1 degree over night. Sandra and I did a bit of shopping Saturday afternoon at the local centre. Not a very big centre and funnily it has two IGA stores opposite each other. One is an Express but both are pretty much identical inside. Apparently both are owned by the same people now. Very strange! It is funny talking to the locals because they call the one the Uptown IGA even though it is less than a 100 metres from the Express. Stephen and I took the Wood Duck (our hire boat) back in the afternoon and gave it a good clean before leaving it. Had a relaxing happy hour listening to the girls brag about their fishing prowess. They were nice enough to acknowledge our effort in preparing their lines and baiting their hooks.
Sunday morning I updated Ruby Refrigeration on my fridge temperature and arranged for Bill to collect the Data Logger later that afternoon. He will download the information to send to Dometic Technical Support in Queensland. All of us except Terry took a drive in our car to the Ningaloo Reef area of Cape National Park. Our first stop was the Lighthouse Lookout. Had to stop just before the turn for a family of Emu's walking down the middle of the highway. A mother and eigth baby emu chicks. Didn't have a care in the world and caused quite a traffic jam, especially with tourists like us stopping to take photos. Got a few more photos of them from the lookout. The lookout was tremendous as you were able to see miles in all directions.
From there we travelled to the Turtle Centre which is an information area re the local turtles. Funny thing is that there are really no turtles in that area. They may have been driven away by the flies which were horrendous. We quickly read the informative displays while swatting at the little buggers. We jumped back in the car, applied fly ointment, and travelled on to Wobiri Beach. The turtles were not as plentiful as during the girls first visit but there were still lots to observe. It was wonderful to see so many in such a small area enjoying their natural habitat.
We then ventured down the road to the Cape National Park. There are a number of camping areas in the National Park but they are all surprisingly small. From 3 to 15 sites with only some suitable for caravans, and some allow generator usage. No good supply of fresh water at any which would be the most restrictive condition. You need to show up at the Park Gate before 8AM to try and get a spot in one of the camp sites. We could probably get one now but would be quite a free for all during the high season. Don't think it would be very enjoyable trying to get a spot. Some of the sites have lovely views but shade is limited. Our first stop was at Mangrove Cove where we had a short walk and got a few pictures.
We went on to explore a few of the campsites of which Ned's Camp was our favourite. Quite a bit of shade and generator usage allowed. The Camp Host (Volunteer Camper) was very informative and explained the camping process to us. From here we journeyed on to the Park Visitor Centre where we had morning tea and gathered some information about the snorkeling in the park. The colour of the water is incredible and the pictures really don't do it justice. After morning tea we went down to Lakeside Camp where Stephen and I had a snorkle. Wow! How amazing it was. We only had to go about 25 Metres off the beach to be in the thick of the reef. We probably went out a 100 Metres or so and covered a large area. We saw some lovely coral and a huge amount of fish species. Highlights were a huge stingray which we swam over and some huge emporer type fish. Oh, to have a spear gun, know how to use it, and most importantly be allowed to use it in a marine sanctuary. It was an incredible experience and one of the highlights of my adventure so far. The variety and colours of the various fish and coral were unbelievable!
From there we did the return trip to the caravan park which took about an hour arriving home about 2PM. Contacted our fridge guy who came and picked up the data logger. Bill will print off the information and send it along with his case notes to Dometic Technical Support. Hopefully they will come up with something although we are beginning to lose hope in the process.
We had a bit of cleanup before the five of us met at the park office to be picked up for a sunset whale watching cruise at 4PM. A short 5 minute bus trip took us to the Marina where we boarded our ship. Had a wonderful 3 hour cruise much of which was following a mother whale with her baby. They put on a great show with lots of fin slapping and breaching. What a great experience to view them learning these skills in their natural habitat. Got a few good pictures out of the hundred we took. The cruise served some lovely snacks including fresh prawns and gluten free biscuits and cheese. It was BYO so we enjoyed some nice cold drinks as well. Capped off with a wonderful sunset on our return to the Marina. The skipper, Pete, had only been sailing this ship for 2 weeks and the girl that drove us on the bus informed us that this was the first time she had driven after dark. A bit like Kununurra I think; where you can be anything you want to be. Skipper was experienced from Queensland at least and the bus driver got us safely home. We all cheered when we got there and she was walking around the bus with upraised arms in celebration. Very funny and enjoyable night! It was a great day in general and not one that we will forget anytime soon.
Monday morning Stephen, Terry, and I went fishing again. We went down to an area off the industrial subdivision south of Exmouth. Was very windy which limited our options and brought in a lot of weed. I caught a small flathead which we kept and we had a couple of other good bites. Gave up before lunch because of wind and weed. Girls did some shopping and cleaning. Sandra bought herself a dress.
The afternoon saw us busy catching up on laundry, caravan cleaning, and catching up on the blog. We also cooked four chickens (2 for baked dinner tonight & 2 for curry chicken in a few days). It felt great to get caught up on our Blog and the baked dinner was fantastic!
Tuesday morning the six of us set off early for the Southern end of the Ningaloo Reef in Cape Range National Park. Got a bit later start than planned as most of us had a very poor night because of strong South Westerly winds during the night. Nothing is more relaxing than hearing your awning flapping all night. Wind was still strong this morning. We travelled North, then West, and finally South around the Pennisula to arrive at Turquoise Bay around 9AM. The wind was a bit strong so we didn't attempt the Drift Loop Snorkel as it has a strong current. We chose the Bay which was somewhat sheltered from the wind. We had rented a Vu Board for the girls to try. Basically a body board with a plexiglass viewing area. Sandra didn't enjoy it as she didn't feel steady and felt like she was unable to make any forward progress against the wind/current. We tried again later with the snorkel and mask. She was still a bit uneasy but she did give it a good try and was able to see some of the coral reef and some fish life. Not quite as good as the Lakeside snorkle that Stephen & I did the other day but still very nice. The Drift Loop was supposed to be very good but it was too dangerous the day we were there. We had morning tea on the beach and enjoyed a beautiful couple of hours snorkling and relaxing in the sun.
From there we moved on to Sandy Bay where we had our picnic lunch. Beautiful location but the strong winds made eating quite challenging. We got to watch some Para surfers while there. The strong winds certainly allowed them to put on a show. The speed and heights they achieve are amazing!
Travelled on to Osprey Camp which was also beautiful but more rocky shoreline. Our most southern stop was at Yardie Creek Gorge. The road ends here except for a 4WD track that you can continue on to Coral Bay. Had a short walk up the gorge and out to the ocean before heading for home.
Wednesday we spent the morning around the caravan after another windy, restless night. We had put the awning down last night thankfully, but it was still a noisy night. Did some cleaning and computer work in the morning. The highlight of the morning was a call from Bill Ruby re our fridge. We have been in touch several times over the last 3 days with no response from Dometic re the fax and email he had sent them. He finally got a hold of them this morning and has managed to secure us a new Fridge. Finally! What a relief as we truly had just about given up hope of getting a satisfactory resolution. Won't be here until next Wednesday so we will continue on to Coral Bay as planned and return next week to have the new fridge fitted and tested.
The Ransleys and Bewells went on a drive Wednesday afternoon to Shothole Gorge in the Cape Range National Park. Basically you drive along the bottom of the gorge that we had viewed from the top on the Charles Knife Road last Wednesday. A different perspective and another very enjoyable drive. The rock is quite unique as much of it consists of a powdery white substance contrasted with some bright red.
The wind dropped suddenly while we were on our drive so we hurried back to the campsite to pick up our fishing gear. The six of us drove out to a rocky outcrop near the industrial subdivision and had a couple of hours of fishing and whale watching. Saw a couple of whales and a large mantaray very close to where we were fishing. Interesting rock formations caught the girls attention as well. Wind started to pickup after 1.5 hours so we headed home for happy hour and dinner. Terry caught a bream which we released. It was very enjoyable while the wind was calm.
Thursday was our usual preparation for moving on day. Sandra and I did some grocery shopping in the morning and made final arrangements with Ruby Refrigeration for our fridge replacement next week. He will advise us when it arrives then test it on electric and gas in the shop before installing. We have got in touch with a supervisor in Dometic who we will be raising the issue of compensation with. Not sure of what the outcome will be but it has certainly cost us a lot of money.
The afternoon was spent cleaning and blogging. We have really enjoyed our stay in Exmouth. Would probably be my favorite location to date and one of the few places I could see myself living. The wind has been the major drawback during our visit. Lovely little town with lots of things to do.
We are off in the morning to Coral Bay which is on the Southern end of the Ningaloo Reef system. Talk to you in a week or so!
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