West Coast Gold

So a month later I've gotten my act together and finished a blog. Through the Christmas period and New Years and all that in between I've really put this blog on the back bench. Sorry to my readers especially to my good friends and mostly my family for my slackness. Here we go again...

We’ve been told throughout this whole trip on how beautiful the west coast is and so far the descriptions from other travellers have certainly been true to their words. Turning off the highway leading to the coast ends with vast white sandy beaches lined with red roar cliffs then opposite, to the west is endless desert which randomly if you take the right roads results in amazing gorges in a little oasis. Karijini National Park was a place we’ve heard and seen in many photography stores that showed off how amazing the place is. Just heading out of Karratha our day was designated to travelling into the national park but as we were travelling the Abc news updated us that the national park had been closed due to a severe accident. At the main gorge a father had died attempting to rescue his son when he fell off the cliff track. It was a shock to us and with that the park had to be closed for a few days. This was a place we were definitely looking forward to but for respect of the family we left it at that and didn’t complain that we couldn’t go see it. It looks like we’ll just have to come back over to the most amazingly beautiful state in the country. Damn.

So with the change of plans we decided to drive straight into Exmouth on the coast known for neighbouring Ningaloo Marine National Park and the coral snorkelling right on the banks of the beach. We arrived into Exmouth with a lovely welcome from the local whales. Driving in we saw at least 5 or so whales just frolicking together just near the beach which was a nice introduction to this special peninsular. Driving into Exmouth we knew that we needed to get our hands onto some snorkelling gear which was an absolute necessity in the world heritage marine park where some of the best snorkelling in Australia is found. So with a little luck the local boating and fishing store were having a ½ price sale on everything. It was a quick “Dave pull over” moment. We scored some sweet branded stuff for cheap as. 

With that done we checked into our little campsite right on the beach with views of the coral and the reef breaks us a few metres away. This was our little paradise for a few days where we could fish, swim, snorkel, and relax which we needed on this holiday. The old saying: need a holiday after the holiday. 

Our favourite place was one of the more popular sites named Turquoise Bay. There was a steady current flowing through the whole coral site which made for ultimate relaxation just floating along. We saw a few reef sharks, swan with a turtle, tried to photo a blue ringed sting ray, followed thousands of schools of fish, and certainly saw the most amazing coral reefs. The photos don’t at all show what colour these were. There was no bleaching just colour; it all seemed very much alive.

We found this while we there...

More gear than ours

We were able to get very close to some local turtles on the beach. We heard of the touristy hub where you could go on guided tours during the night and see a few on the beach. The conditions were you had to stay 5m away, no flash photography and all that jazz. So we decided against it but found out from some other campers there was a more private location to see some turtles. So with this super doggy mud map, climbing over sand dunes, taking a left at the gate and a right near the old oil barrel we walked over the last sand dune to find a bay completely full of turtles.  It was one of the most amazing sites I’ve seen, even better when we rescued a turtle which had landed on its back from the incoming waves.

Fishing was good at times. We spent the whole day on the beach fishing finding nothing but one afternoon we hit the jackpot with schools of emperor and snapper.  This was the first only photo I took which showed one of the smaller fish we threw back. Dave caught them all that night which did make me wonder was I was doing wrong. He was so proud gloating all night but I brought him down a level when I asked him who caught that Barramundi in Kakadu.

Me in the background fishing

After a few days of pretty much awesomeness we moved on south to a little town called Coral bay. The town is basically dependant on the tourists; consisting of a few resorts, an IGA, and a lovely caravan park which has bookings years in advance because of its absolute waterfront sites. You may have heard about this town which has been in the news lately when a snorkelling guide got attacked by a 3 metre tiger shark. There was a popular bay known for its variety of reef, nurse, and tiger sharks which he got attacked in and where we logically stayed away from

thankfully.

Swimming and snorkelling in this bay did have its own uniqueness allowing us to see plenty of wandering sharks and the especially rare manta rays. I tried my hardest to take a photo but they obviously are amazing swimmers; me at full pelt with flippers on was like a walk in the park for the ray. Once it had enough it was gone just like that.

Dave swimming with snapper in the afternoon feeding session

Would recommend this region to anyone visiting; I’d say it in my top 5 places so far.

Through the Pilbara

Been physically threatened and verbally assaulted off our farm job was a definite first for both of us. 

We were a little scared, rushed off the property, threatened of no payment, and slightly worried about our well being we assertively decided to get the hell out of Broome. We had no idea whether these threats we real or just tough talk. We didn’t want to hang around to find out and when you’re in a town in the middle of nowhere and where everyone knows everyone things could happen.   Another issue we had were some flight itineraries that were left on the fridge at the farm. Assuming the worst we considered that that son might become revengeful and possibly cancel or change our flights. He had our names, date of birth, address, and flight details; technically nothing was there to stop him. So before we left we cancelled our flight to Perth from Broome and confirmed that our flights could not be cancelled without Identification. It may seem over protective now but during the whole event it seemed like anything could be possible.

Eerie morning heading out of Broome

We finally left the beautiful town of Broome now forever remembered as ‘that town’ heading south leaving our problems behind us. So what we thought... We got into Port Hedland to meet up with our good friends Emily and John (john was unfortunately absent with work), and to check out the local area but leaving the car outside our friends place for no longer than 20minutes someone had engaged one of the 4WD hubs. Unaware of what happened we drove off and soon heard metal grinding and lack of control on the front right side. We were so worried especially when we checked out the front wheel which felt like it was just going to fall off and even more so when the 4WD hub was almost smoking hot. It costed us $490 for that little stunt; $145 an hour for labour and a new wheel bearing. At the end of the day, a simple wheel bearing is nothing compared to a new front differential. What a few days ... luckily for us, things didn’t happen in threes.  We were blessed that this happened at Hedland with the comfort of friends and with a lovely place to stay and recover. So in this blog, Dave and I would like to thank our lovely friends again for their help and the cooled, relaxed manner towards us hanging out at their place while we waited for our car. It made the whole experience so much better knowing that we had friends there to help us out.

Pilbara landscape

Travelling throughout WA, there is a lot of driving in between towns which both of us had underestimated when looking at the trusty HEMA map. Quickly viewing the maps we overlooked the distant markers; the 400 km of nothing didn’t quite sink in when it’s just a little number on the page. Until we compared it to the east coast did we final realise how far we had to drive to get anywhere.  Sometimes the most interesting thing is just the local servo station which in most cases I couldn’t pronounce its true name. We almost ended up tasting every isolated servo pie along the western coast along side with many other tourists and more commonly very interesting truckies. 

I was also spoiled with seasonal wildflowers along the road side which always made for something very pretty to look at.

Wildflower season

For anyone that has seen Red Dog at the cinemas this may trig your memory. We made a definite side stop to Dampier to see the legendary statue of Red Dog. It seemed to hit home for us knowing that we’ve been travelling in his footsteps.

The plaque read:

“The stories this old dog could tell

If only he could say

Would add a page in history

For ever and a day

But still he’ll be remembered

By those who knew his way

The Red Dog of the Pilbara

From the north of W.A.”

We just wanted to wave hello
Some free campsite one the west coast Pilbara