Exmouth and the Best. Day. Ever.

We drove up to Exmouth and were immediately intrigued by the ‘Emus Crossing’ pictorial signs along the main road.  They are like the ones near schools that show an adult and children crossing the road but these ones show a big emu being followed by several small emus.  During our stay in Exmouth it became clear why the signs are necessary.  This is a picture one of our trips to the local shops and it was not an isolated experience.

A different kind of traffic jam.

We set up our van right next to the playground in a very nice caravan park.  Mark, Fiona and their girls (who we first met at Gnaraloo Bay and then again in Coral Bay) were set up 30m away and we were also really pleased when Ross, Barbara and Daniel who we met at Red Bluff stopped for a chat on their way out shopping.  Rachel, Simon and kids were staying in Exmouth too, at a friend’s house.  It is funny but not really surprising that we all keep bumping into each other.  The only downside of meeting the same people was that Ben also saw Jacob, the potty mouthed boy from Coral Bay again so we had to monitor their activities more closely than we usually would.  When he also made friends with Grace and Jonti, the 2 kids next door, the four of them ran around happily together.  After Ben came home and told us that Jacob had taught him the F bomb (which I admit, he already knew) I had to have a quiet word Grace and Jonti’s Mum to let her know that they might come home with an expanded vocabulary (and that is wasn’t Ben who taught them!). 

Awesome things in Exmouth…

Whale Shark Swim!

This was the best day ever.  We went out with the Exmouth Dive Shop tour for a superb day of snorkelling and swimming with Whale Sharks.  Kids should be 6yo but Ben is a strong swimmer and we were very confident that he would be fine.  They took us out to a snorkelling spot far out on the Ningaloo Reef for an initial swim so that they could assess everyone’s swimming skills.  We put Ben in his snorkel, flippers and Wahu buoyancy vest (best purchase ever – thanks Kathryn!) and he happily jumped overboard.  He was awesome.  Despite big rolling swells he swam like a champion.  The crew were brilliant too.  When the swell kept filling up Ben’s short snorkel, one of them swam back to the boat and grabbed him a better one.  They also made sure they were nearby at all times and happily looked after him in the water so that Jenny and I could still see the coral and sea life below.

The three of us snorkelling.

Once the crew had ascertained that nobody was going to drown in the vast deep ocean, we motored further out to sea.  The spotter plane overhead had located a whale shark and we commenced the first of our 5 swims with this magnificent, gentle creature.   As you can imagine, a 4.3m whale shark can swim pretty quickly.   The captain positioned the boat in front and to the side of the whale shark, then we jumped into the ocean and waited for it.  As it cruised by, we swam along with it (keeping a distance of 3m from the body and 4m from the tail) dwarfed by its size and awed by its majesty.  The water that day was what the crew called ‘Gatorade Blue’ and visibility was excellent.   Once the whale shark swam away, we all returned to the boat, the captain motored ahead to be in front of it again and we all jumped in for another swim.  We did this leap frogging over and again for a total of 5 swims, although unfortunately I got an unexpected bout of seasickness and was so busy throwing up that I missed two of the swims.  After the first three swims Ben started to look a little tired but when we suggested that he sit out the rest he absolutely refused, stamping his foot and saying “I AM going in again!”  In the end, he did all the swims and had a brilliant time.  We got a heap of great photos from their underwater photographer who does every dive with us.  These three pics are hers.

Jenny

Ben with one of the crew

Scuba Diving (by Jenny)

I did my recreational open water scuba diving certificate over 3 days and absolutely loved it.  Those first breaths you take underwater are absolutely exhilarating. The first day was theory and in the pool but the next two days were off the boat on Ningaloo reef swimming with bat fish, emperors, reef sharks, nudibranchs, starfish, octopi and more.  While we were being tested on our ability to replace our masks underwater we had the attention of a fascinated bat fish who watched the whole thing. It was interesting to realise that I was very much being observed by the wildlife just as much as I was observing it.
Ben and Louise spent the time exploring Exmouth’s marina, skate park (not good for bikes) and surrounding beaches. 

Cape Range National Park

We did a day trip to Charles Knife and Shothole Canyons.  They were beautiful but not as amazing as we hoped for. The day was more memorable for poor Ben’s face plant that left him with a graze and bruise next to his right eye.  It was a freak accident that saw him stumble on a rock as we explored a cliff top and unfortunately when he put his arm out to break his fall he managed to stick it straight down a hole that swallowed his entire arm and left him to smash his face straight onto the rock.  We didn’t have an ice pack us but we did have a car fridge full of cold drinks.  I’m sure nobody driving past thought it odd to see a 5 yo sitting in a car with a can of beer pressed to his face.

Cliff Risk Area was right.  At least he didn't trip over the edge

Ouch!

Osprey Bay

Osprey Bay is one of many campsites in the Cape Range National Park, a short drive from Exmouth.  We chose this campground on the recommendation of friends and we were not disappointed.  The campground is huge, clean, well set out and is right on the beach.  We took the caravan and were loaded up with food and water as you have to be entirely self-sufficient there.  There are really clean drop toilets but no showers and no water.

We were initially booked for 3 nights but we lost most of the first day because we had to take the car back to the auto electrician yet again to get the dual battery system tweaked some more.  By the time we arrived at Osprey it was late afternoon and we were met by the fantastic camp hosts, Frank and Merle.  During peak season most National Park campsites have hosts, who are volunteers (usually Grey Nomads) living in the campground for 3-4 months.  They check everyone in, answer questions, keep things tidy and look after the place.  It’s a great gig – free accommodation in a beautiful spot.  Something to keep in mind for the future…

It took us all of an hour to realise that 3 nights was not going to be long enough in this awesome place.  It was warm and sunny, we had a brilliant view out over the ocean and the sunsets were spectacular.  It was a short 2 min walk to a pristine beach with white sand, clear blue water and turtles so we ended up booking a further 2 nights even though it meant we would have to move spots in the campground.  On our second day we saw Rachel, Simon and the kids pulling in and discovered that they were also staying there for a few days.  Ben and Jamie ran the length of the campground towards each other, yelling each other’s names and enveloped each other in a giant hug.  It was like a scene from a soppy romance movie.  So funny.

Ben and Jamie on a 'date'

There is awesome snorkelling in Cape Range NP and we made several trips to Turquoise Bay where we swam with loads of fish and turtles above interesting coral, clams and sea snails.  The water was cool and we were glad that we had Ben’s wet-suit to keep him warm.  There is also a great place called Oyster Stacks where you can only swim at high tide as it is really rocky and the current is pretty strong.  If you go when there it’s too shallow you get cut to ribbons on the rocks and coral.  Even though we went when the tide was at its peak we still had trouble getting in.  Jenny ended up carrying Ben over the rocks and into the water while I hobbled over and tried not to slip while I put on my snorkelling fins.  It is well worth the effort and danger though – the sea life there is magnificent and we saw more turtles, loads of colourful fish of all sizes and a diverse range corals.  A few people saw reef sharks and I am glad I wasn’t one of them.

Lots of fish to swim with

Cape Range NP also has some great walks and we hiked though Mandu-Mandu Gorge, a 3km round trip that was pretty challenging.  Ben was a superhero and clambered over all the hard bits like a little monkey.  Given the choice of paths he would (as usual) ask “which is more dangerous?” and choose that one.  We walked up the gorge on the dry river bed and looked up to see mountain goats standing half way up the steep walls.  I have no idea how they got there, they are amazing animals.  The trail eventually led to a steep, rocky path up out of the gorge and we walked back along the top, looking down on the route we had just taken.   It was about 30 degrees and sunny by then and we were glad to head back for a swim.

Agile mountain goats

Looking back down the trail

Yardie Creek is at the southern end of the NP and we went down there one morning to walk up the gorge above the creek.  We pulled into the carpark at 10.50am and saw a sign for a boat tour up the gorge at 11am.  We were lucky enough to get the last seats and spent a great hour on the water with the very informative guide/captain Pete.  He told us all about the history of the local cattle station, the numbers of Euro (like wallabies) that he monitors every day, the Osprey nests in the gorge that were first constructed by the birds over 100 years ago and are still in use today. We also learned about the young WW2 war heroes of Z special unit from Exmouth who snuck into Singapore Harbour aboard the "Krait" disguised as local fishermen. They placed limpet mines and blew up seven Japanese Navy boats. A movie called "The Highest Honour" (also known as "Heroes of the Krait") as well as a mini-series called "The Heroes" have been made about it.

All the maps show a 4WD track crossing the creek but it has been flooded for some time now and is under several metres of water.  Pete told us that this doesn’t stop some people from trying to cross anyway – the map says there is a track after all.   Late last year he had to help retrieve a Britz van that had tried to cross, despite the creek being fully flowing.  Not only had they just driven straight in, they hadn’t engaged 4WD or reduced their tire pressures (apparently they were also without insurance). 

We were sad to leave Cape Range and Exmouth but excited to be heading to Karijini.