The Mayne Adventure: 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…