Camper Capers: Sunny Days

April 27. We know that is the date, because it was just after Anzac Day. The last time we had rain. It was, therefore quite odd to be watching visions of a dark and gloomy Melbourne on the TV screen, spectators rugged up against the freezing conditions. It was the AFL Grand Final and we found ourselves in a pub in Exmouth watching the game. Outside was ‘another sunny day’- this one hot at 35 degrees. Inside the pub, it was dark and cool all eyes transfixed on the big screen before them.
I must confess I enjoyed watching the game (and of course AFL lover Dave did too). To me it was an entertaining game and once over that was it. To others, and especially the players of St Kilda, the losing team, the bitter result would linger for days to come. As we watched visions of grown men crying, I realised we all have different passions. To me it is travel (amongst others); to Dave it is photography (and AFL....). We have been fortunate to be able to explore our passions, and hope that you enjoy the journey with us.

The Big Prawn, Exmouth... we enjoyed a kilo after the 'game'

Exmouth is positioned on the eastern side of Cape Range, with the Cape Range National Park encompassing a small section on this side and the majority of the park and Ningaloo Reef on the western side. The eastern side of the park does not have much to it, but does possess some amazing views across canyons and far down the jagged coastline.

Giant Whale Shark, Ningaloo Reef is the only place in the world where they can be seen regularly

View at Yardie Creek in Cape Range National Park

However, it is Ningaloo Reef that is the signature attraction here and one that has to be seen to be believed! Having set up camp at Yardie Homestead, not far from the reef, it was off to Turquoise Bay for a snorkel. The bay is so named because of the colour of the water. With a white sandy seabed, it almost makes the sea iridescent, like the colour of a blue highlighter pen.

Turquoise Bay

But, the real iridescent colours are underneath the water. Floating just 10 metres from the beach you are on top of the reef. We were doing a ‘drift snorkel’- that is letting the current drag us along, and it felt like we were on a moving travelator above a large aquarium. Surely this was not real?

Working on my tan

The huge amount of fish was only surpassed by the different types and colours on offer. WOW! We are no longer interested in birds, our twitcher days numbered. These fish came in all shapes, including square box shaped ones, designs, including ones with eyes on top of their bodies and vivid colours, in all manner of swirly patterns. Regular fish are also plentiful here, with a school of mackerel that seemed to be following Dave. They were in fact using Dave as protection, from a nearby Reef Shark.

Mum Emu and chicks- there are millions out here

The road into the National Park is littered with road kill. Kangaroos making up the majority of carcasses. It is no wonder though, even in the middle of the day, we had roos and emus jump out in front of us, a few near misses, we didn’t hit any though. The park has a large wildlife population and during a windy day, when we did not snorkel, we spotted the rare Black Footed Rock Wallaby. Fortunately they are very agile and jump from rock to rock, high up the escarpment wall of the Mandu Mandu Gorge. If only the same could be said about us as we climbed to the top of the gorge.
Having become pruned and tanned, it was goodbye to Ningaloo. Heading south we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. The simple sign, covered in graffiti seemed offhand, but for us it meant that we had left the tropics and the balmy days of Northern Australia. Lucky we are nearing summer.......

Tropic of Capricorn, goodbye endless summer........

Carnarvon, the next town was over 400kms away, so we spent a night camped by a river, somewhere on the highway. It was actually a very pretty spot. A huge flock of Corella’s also thought it a pretty spot and kept us company. However, being a full moon, the babies of the flock thought the sun was out and ‘cried’ most of the night. Thankfully they stopped an hour before sun up........ only to start again when the sun came out.