Exmouth/Coral Bay - The Ningaloo Region

20/8/19  Yesterday we were on the road again heading south towards Exmouth. We weren’t going to get there in one day as it was quite a few kms between stops. After viewing a couple of apps and Martin’s reference notes we headed for a free overnight camp by a dry river bed. It was called Barradale Rest Area and there are quite a few of these along the way. It had the basic amenities such as a long drop but there was plenty of room to find your own little piece of paradise under the stars. We had all we needed in the van with hot shower, gas stove to cook and my Engle in the car to keep the beer chilled. Once the sun went down I cranked up my fire pit and settled back for a couple of beers under the southern cross. There was a red wine thrown in there just to cap the night off. It was a bit fresh when we woke this morning so I cranked up the diesel in the van just to take the chill off the morning air. Great investment for the times we free camp in the cooler weather.

Exmouth turned out to be a fascinating place. It is a township that was only established in 1963 but has played an important role in world history. They have a massive radio antenna setup that was build at the height of the “Cold War”. It was built and manned by a large contingent of American & Australian service personnel. It is the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere. It was also the base where  in1943 the commando squad “Z Force” launched the infamous “Operation Jaywick” attack on Singapore in the boat called the “ MS Krait”. There was a great display in town with all the stories about the radio antenna and how the two countries interacted together in this once remote region. We travelled around the area a little and out to the extreme tip of the peninsula to do a bit of whale spotting from the high vantage point of the lighthouse. Magnificent view and even managed to spot a few of the giant whales.

24/8/19 We are now based in Coral Bay. A small coastal hamlet that everyone in Australia seems to know about. Extremely busy this time of the year because it is so beautiful. The area has a coral reefs very close to the beach with all types of fish, turtles and reef sharks not far away. The area is very popular for snorkelling because the reef is so close to shore. Our activity for today is to go out onto the reef in a glass bottom boat and take in some of that fabulous scenery and also do some snorkelling. Unfortunately didn’t get to see the manta rays or the whale sharks. Whilst at Coral Bay we were off the grid completely. No TV, radio or Wifi. Luckily for me I have become a bit of a book worm and reading some very exciting novels. No, not comic books. On our last day we went for a long walk around the bay to visit the shark nursery. This is an area where hundreds of young reef sharks gather each day to feed. It was quite surreal to see them from only a couple of meters away from us walking along the beach. Another beautiful location on this great adventure.

26/8/19 Have been back in the saddle yesterday and ventured down the track a lazy three hundred klms. Arrived Carnarvon after a side step to see some blowholes on the rugged west coast. Carnarvon was the first space satellite station in the world to broadcast the first moon landing pictures fifty years ago. We are off now to visit what has been turned into the Carnarvon Space & Technology Museum to go back in time and revisit the Apollo Space missions.