The Call of the Coral Coast: Kalbarri & Shark Bay

Well, my dear gremlins we have succeeded in travelling north and staying comfortable over Easter with no accommodation booked – cheers to us! We left Rockingham early Wednesday morning I believe and hoofed it straight to Kalbarri, a small resort town on the edge of Kalbarri NP. We camped here for two nights and explored the gorges that line the Murchison River. A terrific spot, although once again we underestimated the heat, and upon completing an 8km hike at 2:30pm we were a bit worse for wear.

From here we travelled to Shark Bay. Now, I say travelled like it was nothing, but in actual fact there was a good 500km in that stint alone. Since leaving, we are now almost 900km from Perth already! Shark Bay is another World Heritage Area and it is absolutely stunning. Upon arrival, we gained one nights free camping before we had to pay $25 for a patch of gravel in the sun. See, being Easter weekend, coupled with Anzac day, everyone had decided it was a grand time for a holiday, and accommodation was sparse. We ended up in an overflow area of a caravan park that has literally, no trees. But despite this crowding, it’s nothing to what you would experience on the Sunny Coast, or the Goldie or Cairns on the east coast. We still had room to move around, even if we did have to wait in line for a shower.

You may have heard of a place called Monkey Mia? Basically it is dolphin Mecca. All up the west coast, towns will advertise various dolphin experience ‘see the dolphins’ ‘swim with dolphins’ ‘environmentally friendly dolphin experience’. Our advice is don’t bother. At Monkey Mia the dolphins are there every day, and it is a nature reserve that is Government run so therefore much cheaper. Dolphins come right into the shore where you can feed them (if you are chosen) and see them and get good photos, et cetera et cetera. To be honest, we saw so many dolphins we are a little dolphined out. They are a beautiful animal though. From Monkey Mia we caught a catamaran and went on a wildlife spotting tour. We saw turtles, a sea snake, more dolphins and a dugong which was exceptionally special. Sailing, we have decided, is one of the most peaceful modes of transport (at least in good weather).

Today we explored the national park. Did a bit of 4WD in the sand, snorkelled and Caleb managed to spear us dinner! So, fresh fish and chippies for us for dinner on our last night in Shark Bay. Tomorrow, we head for Ningaloo Reef and our Coral Coast Adventure will be sure to continue… 

Phase III: North for the Winter

Well it’s that time again ladies and germs: we are quitting yet another job each to head off into the unknown savannah…also known as Northern Western Australia. Now, the plan is that this stint will be remarkably shorter than the previous two, but they are sure to be a riot and a half of fun!

Before we get into plans and the like, allow me to fill you in on our previous happenings, as I have not given you much love for the past month.

Basically it has been same-old same old in Rockingham. Work…and a bit of study for good measure.

We did have a delightful time with Mum and Dad Cheetham though, who very kindly flapped their wings and flew for five hours to have us greet them in Perth. We took them on a tour of our favourite sights of the area, including Busselton Jetty (I did warn you in previous posts – this was a favourite, especially for shutterbugs!) Point Peron, Kings Park in Perth and so on and so forth. The obvious highlight was the dive trip out to Rottnest Island. Two dives, the second through some pretty fun limestone caves – also it was pretty surgy on that one, so you would be trying to dive in a cave against the surge one minute then VHOOMPAA! down the cave you go with the surge. Saw a great Port Jackson Shark and a small fish swimming out of soft corals – which I suppose you would have to be there to enjoy. It’s a special place because (and now for the serious technical/scientific bit) the Leeuwin Current flows from the north bringing warm water and tropical species with it, hence the soft corals and a smattering of tropical fish so far south.

All in all it was great to spend five days with the parents before we head up north…

And now, the plans for Phase III.

Goal = Karratha

Likely attractions along the way = Kalbarri NP, Karrigini NP, Monkey Mia, Exmouth, Ningaloo Reef and whatever else takes our fancy along the way!

If you observe map below, you will notice a marker where we are = Perth (basically) and where we are aiming for = Karratha. We have 3 weeks to cover this distance…Considering we did the Stuart Highway in less than a week, we are fairly optimistic…

So, WATCH THIS SPACE!! This is sure to be an adventure!! Rip roaring and ready to go!

Halt! – Reflection Required

Well, I just had to hold my horses there for a touch – it seems that we are about to embark on phase 3 of the Mayne Adventure, and I thought seeing has we have been in such a rush, and I have given my fabulous and dedicated readers a whole lot of zip on the blog for the past month I would take some time to pause and reflect on some of the casualties of The Mayne Adventure. Some of these personalities (not always actual beings mind you) you may have known, most of them you probably won’t care about, but I believe it warrants a moment of reflection for those who have fallen victim to this crazy adventure we have subjected our lives to…

• Snorkel and Mask – Cause of Death: Love and Frequent Use

We finally discarded the first snorkel and mask I ever owned, that my Dad bought me when I was around the age of 10 or 11, down at Blargowrie. That $30 piece of equipment served me very well and was constant proof that cheap does not always mean nasty…

• Lisa’s Laptop (Barry) – Cause of Death: Unverified (Possibly Lisa’s impatience and frustration, however this remains unconfirmed)

Yes, Barry had been mine for 3 years, had carked it once before and been revived, however this time it appeared it would be too expensive to pay for the drugs to resuscitate him. However, thanks to Caleb who had a second laptop on hand (figuratively) and wonderful parents who ferried said laptop, we figured that was the cheaper option.

• The Trusty Mio  - Cause of Death: Falling from the Dashboard one too many times

And it just so happened that this occurred right as we pulled into the metropolitan area surrounding Perth. After a few weeks of going straight on a relatively straight road and a GPS, the GPS decides to die when we need it…We had to revert back to the good old UBD.

• The Ginger Ant Queen – Cause of Death: Various

There were actually two of these – one was squashed gleefully with a coffee mug, the other was fried crispy with the BBQ lighter…See the “Let Me Tell You About” Page for details on Ginger Ants…

• The Ginger Ant Nest – Cause of Death: The Wrath of God

I truly believe the above statement. The Ginger Ants had apparently formed nests in some of our awning poles and they were not going anywhere despite the heat of Alice Springs. We prayed about this particular frustration, took our jaunt to Kings Canyon whilst leaving the van at a resort in the West MacDonnell Ranges. When we came back, to our surprise the ants in our van were not ginger and feisty, but black and smelly. After a days driving however, our van was practically ant free. It would appear the Black Ants Ate the Ginger Ant larvae and once they had their fill (and decided they didn’t like the bounciness of the van) kindly vacated leaving us in peace – praise the Lord!

And thus, the significant casualties of the Mayne Adventure to date will be remembered!