Coral Coast (2)

Leaving Shark Bay and heading to Warroora, there were wild goats everywhere. I had read a sign that there was shooting of wild goats occurring in the area. One crazed goat took a leaf out of the kangaroo’s book from a while back, and launched out onto the road in front of us… again everyone escaped unscathed, but sweet baby Jesus does it get your heart pumping.

We’re well and truly ‘above the 26th’ and heading deeper into the country’s North West. Apparently (according to tourism Western Australia), this is “one of the world’s last true wilderness areas and the place to go for an authentic Aussie outback adventure.” WA is interesting. You don’t have to venture far from the coast, at all, and you feel like you’re way out the back. It is so much less developed than the east coast. It’s incredible. In some ways it’s like stepping back in time. It’s not only less developed, but there are significantly fewer restrictions, and there seems to be a deeper trust that people will make responsible decisions. I often feel ‘should we be doing this?’ Or ‘why isn’t there a fence here?’

Malachi in particular (and of course Leon) is so excited to be heading to Warroora/14 mile and then on to Exmouth. Mal’s been looking up fishing videos on YouTube every time we have reception and watching the incredible fish in the area.

Warroora | 14 Mile

When we came to the Warroora turn off we pulled over and dropped the tyre pressures, and as per usual at any red dirt stops, I keep my eyes peeled for thorny devils. I didn’t have any luck, but did see a few pie dish beetles that we’d seen at the Alice Springs Desert Park and thought were pretty cool. Turns out they were abundant at camp! This was another full campground, on the beach, much smaller and well spaced than Sandy Cape. We set up and went down to the water for a look.

Shark! There was a shark. Right there swimming in the shallows, a few meters from where the water lapped at our feet. I was about to let the kids splash around in the water – nope! Instant hebejebes. The seaweed had followed us which was a frustration, but it was less of an imposition than further south. Less dense, less stinky. We ventured back to camp to set up some rods for an evening fish and met Amy and Dan from Dunsborough on our way through the campsite. Leon has continued with his socialising and stopped to chat with Dan to again seek further fishing advice. I chatted to Amy who was lovely and I soon learnt she’s also a teacher; an Assistant Principal at a Catholic primary school. We learnt from Amy and Dan that Warroora is pronounced ‘Worra’. Matt, who was giving us advice about Margs, did reference that a lot of places in WA aren’t pronounced the way they’re written. It sounds like Warroora is to Amy and Dan and their family, what Moreton Island is to me.

We had a bit of a fish from the beach that afternoon where Leon caught a reasonable perch. The sunset was great, but the colours it threw up into the deep blue of the early evening sky as the stars emerged were particularly beautiful.

The team were keen to fish first thing in the morning. Even before coffee and breakfast. I think they all caught fish, lots of dart and Malachi landed his first flathead. This had them excited so we went back to camp, filled our bellies and ventured out equipped with Dan’s advice, in search of turtle rock.

Turtle Rock was another example of how unrestricted WA is. You follow a well manicured track to the cost. The literal edge of the cliff top, park your car and off you go! There were so many turtles. Possibly ten. Some of them huge. Their faces/heads are so damn cute. It’s like each one has its own little personality. After getting to know the local turtles we learnt we couldn’t fully follow Dan’s directions as the track had been blocked, presumably for revegetation. So we left the troopy (recently named Tracka) up on Turtle Rock in all her glory as we ventured down the rocky shoreline to a slice of sand to cast from. We’re happy that Tracka is getting so much opportunity to do what she was built for. Her seven minute drives to and from work with Leon each day probably weren’t filling her bucket nearly enough.

Not too many fish were caught (maybe none) but it was such an enjoyable day. We headed back to camp and rested for the afternoon. We don’t get much rest for the sake of rest, so it’s nice when we do. We enjoyed another fish later in the day and caught one or two. We were gifted another beautiful sunset, and the moon rises are currently also pretty impressive. 

We came across Amy again on our way back to camp and Joey was full or stories to share. Amy gave him all the time in the world. She was amazing. And filled him with compliments. She thought he was very astute, mindful and intelligent. He spoke with her about our experiences on this trip so far, his life back home, his position in the school band as a vocalist. All the things. We learnt that Amy’s daughter is a musician. Amy told me her name is Lily Meyer. It took some decent stalker skills to ensure that was the correct spelling, but I still can’t locate ‘Lily Meyer Music’ to follow her. So if you figure that one out be sure to let me know!

The Arrival of Batman (Exmouth)

If you know me, at a minimum you’re aware of Batman. The real Batman; not the superhero. Batman, Batty, Batbat, Bat, all of the above, is a deadset legend and as she would say, my platonic life partner. She’s such a legend that after a quick trip to the UK for a wedding, rather than flying home to Brisbane she detoured and met us in Exmouth to share our time there. She was due to land at 7am or something insane so we were committed to an early departure from 14mile to have her wait time as short as possible. We killed it and we’re out of camp by 7:30.

We made good time and collected Batty, had brunch at the Exmouth bakery which is impressive and very busy, we made a few stops including the IGA, Tackle World and the paid water station before heading on to Osprey Bay to camp.

Osprey Bay

What a place to camp. The view to the west was spectacular turquoise blue, crystal clear water with picturesque rocks. The view to the east matched the beauty of the west with Cape Range stretching from left to right, keeping the sun hostage before breaking the dawn later than expected and sprinkling the yellow and green leaves of the natives in gentle golden sunlight.

The accessibility of the Ningaloo Reef is amazing. It’s literally right there! Soon after lunch time we were all swimming, snorkelling and fishing. Oh how I wished we were better equipped for snorkelling. When we head back here (yes, I love Exmouth, but Leon is in love with Exmouth, and we will certainly be back) I will have the best snorkel and mask, incredible flippers, and a quality underwater camera. Leon was stoked to catch numerous spangled emperors in his first session.

Turquoise Bay

Turquoise Bay is said to live up to its name, and to have some of the best snorkelling on the reef, so this is where we headed on Tuesday. It’s true. The water is turquoise. The sand is white. The way that the morphs from the palest of blues where the water laps the shore, to the aquamarine of the shallows, and the deep deep blues created by the shallow reef that meanders along the coast. The snorkelling was great. I probably didn’t realise how much I love snorkelling, and again wished I was much better equipped with all the appropriate gear. My favourite fish to spot are the iridescent blue with yellow accents that look like they’re under a black light. The little Dory’s of the world. Having Batman there made the experience so much more enjoyable. The adult to kid ratio was now 1:1 which makes a huge difference in the water, especially when it’s much deeper than an adult can stand in some points, and the current can be unnerving. The kids were also great at occupying themselves in the shallows or on the shore so all three adults could snorkel, uninhibited, together. One time Leon, Batty and I ventured out we saw the most enormous cod plodding along; if fish can in fact plod. It would have been about as heavy as Leon. As we were packing up to leave, Teddy was occupying himself as Teddy does, playing in the shallows. We spotted a shovel nose shark, at least a meter long. Teddy took a liking to it and ‘played’ with it, following it around. He was so peaceful and calm swimming along behind it, alongside it. At one point he lost sight of it and swam straight over it in water that was about 40cm deep!

Beginning of Birthday Celebrations

Batty and I dropped Leon and the kids home in the early afternoon and the two of us ventured into town. I bought Leon a sneaky pair of sunnies for his birthday, we checked out the visitors centre in case there was things to do in Exmouth I wasn’t aware of, we got some celebratory drinks and a cake, and needed to contact Corry, the skipper of the boat taking us on a fishing charter tomorrow for Leon’s birthday. We headed home, made some dinner and enjoyed a birthday cake for Lenny to mark the beginning of the 40th birthday celebrations. 

After cake we went for a night walk to the ocean. As we were walking the top of the rocks… which are very uneven and rocky, and if you trip or fall you’re getting pretty badly cut up, or landing in the waist high water. As we crept along the rocky edge, someone yelled ‘crab!’ Dear god, what a fiasco! Again, the 1:1 child adult ratio was welcomed as the children climbed our legs. Hilariously, Batman was equally freaked out and had Joey, the most freaked out child. We took some deep breaths, returned to camp, put the kids in bed and toasted Leon with the nice bourbon that Batman had picked up for him duty free.

Exmouth Fishing Adventures

Leon was like a kid on Christmas Eve the night ahead of the Fishing charter. And Malachi matched his excitement. Neither slept well and we’re up early. We met Cozza (skipper) and Mitch (decky) at the boat ramp at 7:30. They were ‘normal’ which was a huge relief, and spectacular with the kids. We headed out past the reef in search of mackerel. We spotted some jumping tuna so Leon began flicking lures, and so did Mitch. It was undeniable that Leon was in his element, absolutely loving the chase. When he hooked one, it was next level excitement, and Malachi hooked one very soon after. Leon lost his first one and Mitch helped Mali bring his in, it was hooked in the belly. Leon hooked another one very soon after and reeled it in, with quite the grin!

We didn’t have much luck with the mackerel. I did hook one and got him awfully close to the boat, but he got away. Cozza brought one aboard, and plenty snapped us off. Much like the sharks! It was difficult to reel in a fish without a shark getting it first. We had plenty of fish taken by sharks, but only hooked one and had to cut it off at the boat.

The fish we caught in the reef were incredible. The looks on the kids faces after the fight with a fish was something else. Batman’s exclamation every time she reeled in a fish, ‘I caught a fish!’ was equally as entertaining. We caught the striped tuna, some big spangled emperor (and red throat, and spotted and other emperors), striped snapper, goat, a huge rankin cod, chinaman cod, and a lot fish I can’t remember the names of.

Leon would say the fishing charter was possibly the best day of his life. No one got sick, the eight hour day went quickly, and every single person had a great day. What more could you ask for? Then, on the way back in we were set up to look for Marlin and crossed our fingers while Mitch filleted and skinned all our fish. No luck with the Marlin, but we were sent us home with a fridge full of delicious filleted fish and a huge set of smiles. A fantastic day.

Battery Blues

Unfortunately, when we arrived home, after some overcast weather, the batteries were low. Very low. And then overnight, the alarms sounded. This wouldn’t be a fun time for anyone, but anyone who knows Leon knows this would be a particularly un-fun time. We did what we could with the car batteries and the solar, but the struggle was real.

Lazy Last Day

Thursday, Batman had booked a day of swimming with the whale sharks. I dropped her to the boat ramp and headed back to camp. We had a cruisy fish and a bit of a snorkel at our camp at Osprey Bay. Teddy, Joey and I had the privilege of seeing a spectacular green sea turtle swim directly under us and come up for two breaths, less than two meters away! Phenomenal. 

At about 2pm we all piled into Tracka to collect the Bat who had really enjoyed the whale sharks, but also said it was hard work keeping up with them. She had some affirming comments that we made the right call on not taking the kids. Thankfully, Batty was not too exhausted and we stopped in at Oyster Stacks for more snorkelling.

Cozza had said if you want to see big fish more so than pretty coral, this is the place. And it delivered. I wish the tide was higher because I have to work on calming my nerves when the reef is so close to my body as I swim past, but this place was amazing! And the current was great at assisting you rather than working against. You could get in, have the current gently transport you about a hundred meters or so along the reef, and deposit you at the sandy beach further down. The kids were a little freaked out by the close reef and the abundant sea life so Joey and Teddy’s enthusiasm wained early. With Batman present, Leon, Malachi and I were able to float down the shoreline without having to keep our minds on the little two. The fish were incredible. So many big spanglies, trevally, and lots of very colourful coral fish. I did see a parrot fish, a couple of turtles, and the prettiest of stingrays… pale brown-grey with bright baby blue spots!

The Final Goodbye

We had an easy sausage on bread for dinner. Turns out Mal loves veggie sausages! And after some Star gazing, said good night to Cape Range for the final time. We had an early pack up, bought a new battery for the car, and had breakfast at the bakery in town. The corellas that hang around the bakery area were particularly painful today, one was biting Leon and another went for Teddy. I am coping remarkably well with the over-friendly bird life and the persistent flapping in very close proximity. Some of the locals must think I have a tic, but I have come a very long way! Just as we were leaving, a man drove up to us on his electric wheelchair type scooter thing and asked to speak with Joey. Joey was quite unsure, but we assured him and stood right with him. This man gifted Joey a green leaf in the shape of a bird. It was beautiful and the kids were impressed. He also told us that after the rain, if you suck the liquid out of the bird’s tummy it’s like a sweet treat. Malachi and Theodore were also given a leaf bird, which I think this man called a Regal Bird.

We said a swift farewell to Batman, which Teddy was particularly unimpressed with, and we headed, much later than desired, for Karijini! One of my most awaited destinations.