Coral Bay Bliss (but still the flies abound)

Wow, now this is a real holiday! We arrived in Coral Bay the last Sunday of the school holidays hoping that would be a good time to bag a spot in a place we were told is always very busy and popular. After our unlucky time in Red Bluff we must have deserved some good luck as they had a few spaces and let us drive around to choose one that suited us. Bagged a great spot opposite the pool, jumping pillow and playground. Kids were rapt. Flies were still around but with the amount of people here they have many to choose from (including a lot of international backpackers who must stink more than we do!) so they have been bearable. As soon as you go away from the town though they are frenzied. 

Coral Bay is magnificent. Amazing snorkelling (huge coral rosettes and heaps of fish), beautiful beaches (safe bays for the kids to play in with snapper and spotted stingrays swimming close to the shore), perfect for paddle boarding and kayaking, incredible sunsets over the bay every night, 4wding through the sand dunes to secluded beaches, lovely restaurants and such friendly people (we've had some great times with a couple we met and their 4 year old daughter, Alexandra. Emilia is loving playing with her new friend and Jackson has his first crush ('Zandra, Zandra come' he says as he grabs her hand and tries to drag her away from Emilia!). We have been her for 9 days and plan on staying until the end of the week as we are loving it so much as there is so much to do. Daniel and I are swimming with the whale sharks on thus & fri and we are hiring and underwater GoPro cameras so hopefully we'll get some great shots.

We took the kids on the SubSea Explorer and they loved seeing the fish and coral, they do fish feeding in the afternoons and the kids got to feed some huge snapper. We also hired a boogie board with a viewing panel so the kids got to see some coral and fish through that too. 

Anyway we are feeling thoroughly relaxed and satisfied at the end of each great day. We've snorkelled, swam, kayaked and paddle boarded everyday and are loving being beach bums. 

The sunsets were amazing every night.

Jackson's new buzz cut

On the way to the Sub Sea Explorer (in background)

Coral roses & Norwest Snapper

Inside the Sub Sea Explorer

Sandcastle building on a remote beach (so many flies)

Sunset through a fly net!

Conquering the sand dunes

Daniel's circus tricks- our neighbours taught him and now he wants to buy his own!

Oyster Bridge - gorgeous beach and AMAZING snorkeling

Flies were bad at Oyster Bridge

EWWWWW

Here comes the bride........ My fly 'veil'

Flies, Flies and more Flies

Bush camping here we come! We had stocked up for a few weeks bush camping along the famed Ningaloo Reef. We were planning on doing it anti-tourist style and spreading the few weeks before we were expected in Karratha between several rural bush camps provided by the stations along the coast. This way we could explore Ningaloo reef on our kayak and paddle board and snorkel in waters not infiltrated by tourists. On the way we checked out the amazing Blowholes, holes in the cliffs that shoot water metres into the sky every time waves crash underneath, an incredible sight. Our first stop was Red Bluff campsite inside Quobba Station. It was a rough, rocky and corrugated track in but it looked well worth the drive as we approached. Spread out bush camping along the water. As we booked in the fly invasion began! Flies in our eyes, ears, noses, mouths and anywhere else slightly moist on our bodies. We were covered within minutes, no amount of shooing even got close to getting them away. An hour after we arrived we were so frustrated with the flies and lamenting our decision to pay for four nights. The fly nets came out and became our most prized possessions. From sunrise until sunset we were ambushed and the fly nets were our only reprieve, although when a fly actually got inside your fly net it had complete, unhindered access to your face whilst you weighed up how many flies could potentially get in whilst you tried get this one out. It was horrendous! Also we had picked the wrong beach for the kids. It was a fabulous surf beach, but an impossible beach for children to swim in. Anyway we made the best of the situation and explored the surrounding beaches. Found the lovely, sheltered Gnaraloo Bay where we spent the day swimming, snorkelling and playing in the sand. Saw lovely blue and pink tipped coral abounding with an array of colourful fish. Daniel saw a few reef sharks, which thankfully I missed. Met a lovely couple, Gilly & Lisa, and their 2 girls, Maya & Ava. The kids had a great time playing in the sand whilst we chatted. Great people who we spent the next day with also. Next day was at Gnaraloo 3 mile camp beach. Daniel had another snorkel, swam with a turtle and saw a few more reef sharks. We wandered up the rock pools and the kids were fascinated with the hundreds of hermit crabs in such a range of shells. We had dinner at Gilly and Lisa's camp and met some more great people (Martin, Kelly & their 4 year old daughter  Alexandra).  We left the next day as the wind was coming from the east which meant more flies (blown in from the bush stations) and we had reached our tolerance level! Although the flies had put a dampener on the stay we were so pleased to have met some interesting and like minded people. We would like to explore this area again on our way down, with the hope that the flies would have dissipated by then. 

Quobba Blowholes

Red Bluff - huge surf break near point & crazy waves on the beach

Fly nets were a necessity

Carnarvon

The plantations of Carnarvon were very damaged in the recent cyclone so the whole town was in clean up mode. We supported the farmers who still had some crops and bought a bit of local produce but a lot of places were not back open yet. We stayed in a lovely caravan park (Wintersun) and met a lot of families with kids. Explored the historic part of town and took a ride on the tram along the 1 mile jetty. It was a great place to restock and prepare for bush camping further north.

TOOT, TOOT!

Shell Beach, Denham & Monkey Mia

After leaving Kalbarri we headed towards Shark Bay, stopping off at the incredible Shell Beach, metres (10 m deep and up to 1 km wide) of tiny cockle shells lie adjacent to the crystal clear ocean. It was breathtaking. After lunch and a paddle we headed towards Denham, and Australia's most westerly caravan park. The wind was howling and we spent the night (in our unsheltered spot on a hill- great views though) praying that the canvas didn't give way. No damage, just some random washing underneath our van! We left early for Monkey Mia for the guaranteed 7.45am dolphin feed. Us and about 200 other tourists. It was jam packed but we still got to see some dolphins. We hung around for awhile and they did a second feed, this time with heaps less people. We got right up front with our toes in the water and the dolphins swam within a metre of us. Next up was an explore of the Francois Person NP to find out next camp spot. It was a rough road but we found a few amazing beaches. On one of the bays two dolphins were hunting in the shallows and wow did we get a show. Fish were literally jumping out of the water to get away from the dolphins who were rounding them up then chasing them with incredible speed. We saw the fight between one dolphin and a large fish and watched it enjoy its catch. A dolphin also caught a small whiting, bit its tail off then left it in the shallows. Daniel went in and picked it up, the poor thing was trying to swim but it was a bit hard with no tail. It is now going to end up as bait! Anyway the show we got was so much better then than the tourist show and it was just us and another family. No pictures though as we were waking up and down the beach following them and I didn't have my camera. We found a great place to camp but, after checking the weather forecast and finding the next four days were going to be gale force winds (35km +), we decided to head further north and come back on our way down. So off to Carnarvon it was.......

Shells as far as you can see

Emilia's 4th birthday (one for the grandparents!)

After the excitement of opening presents & a huge pancake breakfast (complete with mountains of ice cream for the birthday girl), we walked into town to the market as Emilia wanted to spend her birthday money. Unfortunately there was nothing for kids, so, after a play in the park, we headed back for a swim and to try out her new goggles. After a nap (in preparation for a big night out) we celebrated with a chocolate cake. Our neighbours for the night had 3 kids and they had even got Emilia a birthday present so it was great to share cake & sing happy birthday with them. After putting on her red party dress Emilia was ready for her night out. She'd decided she wanted to ride so off we headed to Finlay's Fish BBQ, a unique restaurant serving amazing fish in an extremely eclectic environment. The outdoor restaurant was adorned with bits and pieces collected over years, some highlights were a mannequin riding a tractor, a skeleton playing the piano, several boats hung from the roof, handbags with plants spilling out and even dance floor with disco lights! We asked the staff to call out Emilia's birthday who they announced our dinner and when went to collect it they had a little present for her (a beaded bracelet) and the promise of a free dessert (Apple pie with cream and ice-cream). After dinner we danced, with Emilia perfecting the dress twirl. Dessert came as promised and after singing Happy Birthday the piano started and all the patrons that were left made their way down to watch. Everyone started singing (song such as Hey Jude & Piano Man) then when they asked for request Daniel yelled out Happy Birthday. So Emilia (who was up on Daniels shoulders) ended up being sung to by about 30 people, she was so embarrassed she tried to hide in her dress by only ended up covering Daniel's face. After all this the rain started and we were stranded at the restaurant chatting with the owners for another hour or so. Ended up riding and walking home in the rain about 10ish, all exhausted. It was such a memorable day. 

Kalbarri

Mushroom Rock

The sunsets were incredible every night

With high hopes we approached Kalbarri and were immediately impressed by the gorgeous coastline and quaint beachside town. We had heard rave reviews of this place and were chuffed to have gained a spot at a caravan park for the Easter break and the first week of the school holidays. We looked forward to socialising and seeing the kids play with other children in the caravan park. Kalbarri could (and should) have been one of our favourite places on the trip so far as it had so much to offer. Jackson hand fed a pelican, we snorkelled and played in the reefs of the Blue Holes, we explored the magnificent gorges and cliffs in Kalbarri National Park, we found a fabulous seafood bbq restaurant, ate fresh fish most nights, we spent a day exploring the fabulous parrot park, the kids enjoyed the foreshore playgrounds and the pool at the caravan park and we went on numerous walks along, and swims in, the beaches and Murchison river. 

Unfortunately several things went awry and it wasn't quite the relaxing break we had envisioned. We were unlucky with our spot at the park as all the young families seemed to be on the other side of the park, we often had overnighters nextdoor, nearly all of them older without kids. We were then very unlucky with the weather. It rained heavily overnight on Easter Monday (40mm) then continued raining/ drizzling for the next 4 days. It was still hot and extremely humid (90%) which made it very uncomfortable in the caravan when you had to have the windows shut to keep the van dry. The super humid weather also increased the fly problem. The cyclone floods and hot weather had produced the perfect breeding weather for flies so we we inundated. From 6am until the sun set we had flies covering us, in our noses, eyes, ears and all over any food we tried to eat outside. We coated ourselves in aeroguard and even resorted to wearing fly nets over our heads. These became a much coveted item in Kalbarri, one store sold 200 in a day! Anyway we tried to look on the bright side (which was hard when we had flies in our eyes), but we were ready to move on when our 12 nights at the park were up. Easter and Emilia's forth birthday were highlights. We might venture back again as it was a lovely town and surely we couldn't get such poo weather again??

Fish from Daniel's morning out on the boat.

'Reading' the signage at the lookouts along the cliffs of Kalbarri.

Playing with the cocky at the Rainbow Parrot Park, Daniel had nearly as much fun as Jackson.

Nature's Window (complete with fashionable accessories)

Gorges along the Murchison River in Kalbarri NP

Our amazing hikers ( they did nearly 4km on this day)

Feeding the pelican (Emilia didn't want to get smelly fingers!)

Enjoying the beaches

Extreme Fishing of Jacques Beach (known for its huge waves & incredible surfing)

Amazing colours at sunset looking out onto Chinamans Point.