Exmouth: zero day

We are staying for a couple of nights in Exmouth with our friend John Sinclair. He built a large two storey house near the beach,  but on an industrial estate 8 kms from town. His views are magnificent:

The balcony rail is rusted iron with a design of shoals of fish swimming along. At the right time of year, whales can be seen going past. His kitchen is much envied:

There are always ospreys around. They like to observe life from the top of light poles:

This morning we went for a drive as far as the lighthouse on the North West Cape: very windy up there! The Cape Range National Park was clear inland and out to sea. We once camped down there with the Nats and it almost blew our tent away!

Coral Bay to Exmouth

A rainy day - very unusual in these parts! We awoke at 5.30 am to hear heavy rain dropping on our tin roof: not a good start to a day in Coral Bay. There would be some wet and miserable souls in the camping site down below us. The arid garden near us would be thankful:

See the flying insect seeking pollen on the left?

Time for a walk on the beach before breakfast. There is a wooden walkway going down, planted with tropical foliage on either side:

Looking back up towards the units on top.

The caravan park was pretty full: not much space between sites:

I had the beach to myself at 8.00 am though- apart from the seagulls:

It rained on and off all the way to Exmouth. We pulled off the road for a coffee and happened to park right next to one of the few wildflowers out so early in the season. It’s a Bush Tomato (not edible though).

Carnarvon to Coral Bay

We left the Fascine Lodge at about 9.00 am with the first stop the supermarket to replenish supplies. There was a 4WD in the car park with the same idea, but they were stocking up for a boat trip. In fact, Woolies have special checkout for this, as people buy things by the box full and discard the boxes willy nilly.

On the road again, we drove out of Carnarvon and admired the levee put in by JL around 1964 to protect the town from flooding  when the Gascoyne River was high. Before that, when floods were imminent, the town had to be evacuated. JL had to decide when an evacuation was necessary and the Public Works Dept would give the order. People immediately moved out of town and camped for several days by the main road! 

We stopped for morning tea at Minilya. The river was completely dry.

On the road into Coral Bay, we started seeing the termite mounds. I posed beside one:

Lonely road.

We checked into our studio up on the hill overlooking Coral Bay, had lunch and siesta before hitting the beach. The tide was out, so it was very shallow, but I had my first swim of the trip:

Geraldton to Carnarvon

The roads were relatively quiet and we made good time today. We are now in the country of huge road trains with two or three trailers. They are difficult to overtake, but on long flat roads through desert-like landscape they go at a fair pace. There were a few grey nomads in caravans, but not as many as I’d seen in the past.

We stopped for morning tea at Galena Bridge. This is a popular shady spot, where overnight free camping is allowed. The only facilities are long drop toilets. It’s a lovely quiet place by the river, with a couple of white herons poking about and some common “28” parrots in the tree above us:

The modern road bridge is the highest one and replaced the old one, which was designed to be submersible when the river flooded. This bridge was designed by JL’s university  friend Gilbert Marsh.

There were some tiny pink flowers struggling in the dry stony ground:

On arrival in Carnarvon at about 4.00 pm we found our chosen accommodation (Hospitality Inn) was fully booked, so we were advised to go to another motel, the Fascine Lodge. Carnarvon is known for its Fascine, which is a wooden reinforcement of the river bank to prevent erosion by floods. At sunset we parked alongside the Fascine and I went for a walk along the old rail track which goes out to the One Mile Jetty.

The tramway was used to transport goods, such as bales of wool, to the jetty for loading onto boats heading overseas. It is no longer in use due to silting up of the Gascogne River.

Dinner was yummy seafood chowder; I’ve never tasted better!

Perth to Geraldton

We came via the Indian Ocean Drive, possibly the wrong choice since there were multiple roadworks which slowed us down. There have been fatal accidents on this stretch of road and attempts are being made to upgrade it. Speed limits of 60 or 80 km per hour were in force and numerous signs warning drivers to Keep Left in German, French and Chinese. On a quiet road it’s so easy to forget where you are and set off on the wrong side. I did it myself years ago in Majorca!

We stopped for lunch at Jurien Bay and JL carried our chairs down to the beach. It was a lovely sunny and still day and we had the place to ourselves. In Geraldton we checked into the Ocean Centre Hotel. We got a nice room on the 4th floor with a sea view, but there was only an hour of daylight left for a walk along the prom. After that we claimed our free drinks at the bar, which (surprisingly) was packed. The car park was also full, so there are plenty of people on the move this week.

Sushi for dinner from across the road. It’s a warm night . We can listen to the waves rolling in and watch the twinkling lights which mark the passage into the harbour.

Early morning view:

Roadtripping W.A.

We are busy planning our escape from lockdown.

Destination: Broome!

Camels on Cable Beach

Perth to Geraldton. Tues

419 km. 4 hrs 34 min

Geraldton to Carnarvon.  Wed

474 km.  4 hrs 57 min

Carnarvon to Coral Bay. Thurs

238 km.  2 hrs 26 min

Coral Bay to Exmouth. Fri

152 km.  1 hr 38 min

Walking in the sun

Another visit to King’s Park was called for after the wash-out on Sunday. Yesterday the weather was much improved and a beautiful sunny day ensued. I also had to get out of the house, because a nearby apartment was undergoing noisy renovations which began with drilling up the old tiles. Now that the building is about 10 years old, everybody wants to renovate. It drives you mad, as noise reverberates everywhere.

King’s Park is always full of interest and the Botanic Garden section has representative species from all over the state: 

I specially like the Kimberley area. I found a better example of the Birdflower, which shows how the name originated:

I also retraced my steps to the Wickham’s Grevillea, where I found both red and yellow varieties:

All these can be looked up on W.A.’s website FloraBase, a mine of information about plants and their distribution:

This is a pandanus tree, showing its roots and big fruits:

Finally, I went across the “treetop walkway” and then walked back below it: