A Clothing Optional Beach???

Mildura ShipWreck @ Exmouth

We passed through Carnarvon with not so much as a sideways glance. The only thing we were a little interested in was the Mile Long Jetty but they charged if you wanted to walk down it...we declined.

Carnarvon is a fresh food hub and so we stopped for some dried Mango and home made ice creams on our way out of town.

Fuel is getting expensive; we are paying anywhere from $1.60 - $1.90 a Liter. It is so expensive but we are a captive audience and it is a free market so we pay.

The best thing about waking up this morning about 100km North of Carnarvon at a rest stop was that I got to see the sun rise out of my window in the camper and had time to have a good old chin wag with my husband before we got out of bed. Dreamy!

We arrived in Exmouth and found a caravan park that is safe, clean and pet free. Bonus! Exmouth is home of so many tourist tours that a person is spoilt for choice...they are also expensive...we decided to take matters into our own hands, do our own itinerary and have a good time saving some cash.

Today we went to Charles Knife Gorge and the 11km drive on dirt was amazing. The gorges were winding ally ways carved out by Mother Nature leading to the ocean. They are sparsely covered with some vegetation and the colour of the rocks are spectacular.

We drove into Cape Range National Park which is a World Heritage Listed Area. The coast line is rugged but awe inspiring.

There is a clothing optional beach in Exmouth and being adventurous we thought we would give that a go. I can safely say that nude bathing is my absolute favorite way to swim! Yep I am a convert. Dont be surprised if next you see me with NO tan lines at all. We had a swim and there were some others doing the same so it was all good.

We did have to run out of the water however when we heard a splash! I said to Mark "Was that you?" he said,
"No I thought it was you splashing..."
"Ah no...RUN!"
So we ran out of the water. On closer inspection we had been swimming with a sting ray. We saw him splashing around as we were safely standing on the beach...with no clothes on.

Hope you are all well and not to cold! It is 30 degrees here most days and we are loving it!

Love Krystal

Francoise Peron National Park

Denham was our next destination. It is a town smaller than Eugowra but on the beach!

Connected to Denham in the famous Monkey Mia and Francoise Peron National Park. We decided that Monkey Mia stank of money, money that we could little afford to spend. A powerless camp site is $50 when we pay, at the most, $30 so we gave it a miss.

The upshot of this was we got a campsite on the beach at Denham and got to watch the sun set over the beach from our home. There is just something magic about watching the sun set over water. People come to see it, everyday. It is truly fantastic.

We also ventured into the F. P. National Park. It was 4x4 only and the visitor centre at Denham assured us we would be fine in Mendoza. So we set off.

Bogged...scared...eating apricots!

At the entrance to the national park they have a bay for you to let your tyres down. Ok we thought, this is a bit serious, so we let our tires down a little. Then the real fun began...actual 4x4ing over deep deep dust.

Snorkling at Gregorys Beach

Mark was an amazing driver and got us through it. I was so nervous that I ate all our dried apricots. You see its not to bad if you get your car stuck, someone will pull you out. If, however, you get your home stuck with no service, on a deserted part of the WA coast it can be a little worrying. Actually it is down right harrowing.

We did almost get stuck in knee deep sand. I was so worried. The scenery was beautiful but I hardly saw it for nerves. Mark, with his excellent driving ability let the tyres down even more and got us out of there.

The highlight was having Gregories Beach to ourselves while we swam and snorkled. Absolutley beautiful.

Another highlight was the hot tub that is out in the open and is about 40 degrees. It is filled with water from underground and makes you feel all tingly. This was a blessing after all the nerves (and apricots) of the day.

The FP National Park was great but is not for the faint hearted and not for the uninitiated. It was an epic way to see some of the most isolated and beautiful parts of the WA coast.


Next...Exmouth!

Kalbarri Dreaming

Natures Window

 Mary who works with my Mum said Kalbari was her favorite town. This made us excited for our day ahead in the little seaside town. The pace is slow and the people friendly in Kalbarri.









The views from the Kalbarri National Park ocean side lookouts were great. Looking out into the endless Indian Ocean with the next closest continent being Africa! Amazing! We snorkeled at Blue Holes where we swam with schools of fish and looked at the beautiful underwater world. The current is not strong and the snorkeling straight off the beach made it easy to accesses even if you are nervous of sharks! (Like I am!).

We wore our vibrams to snorkel and that made me feel pretty pro. Our $20 snorkeling gear has paid for itself in entertainment value. Kalbarri National Park also contains breath taking Gorges and rock formations. The layers of ocre red rock contrast with the flowing fresh water and blue sky to make you stop and stare. The walks were easy to access and the views were just unreal.

There is some other person called Moyle other than my Uncle??

We had to pinch ourselves to check it was real, that's how amazing the scenery was. We seem to be doing that a lot lately. The best part of the park was not only do you get to see the gorges from above, you get to walk down to the edge of the river where you can swim or just sit and suck it all in. Kalbarri gets our big tick as a little town with lots to offer.

Pictures to come so stay tuned.

Week 14: Indian Ocean Dreaming - Beach and Desert

We have definitely hit the point of no return where it would be just as much effort to get back to Sydney as it would to continue the lap. We are moving at a pretty fast pace up the coast line now and have begun to enjoy the Indian Ocean much more.

The Margaret River is a well documented awesome place and it lives up to its reputation with good hospitality and great wines. We entered Perth with a not-so-welcome welcome from the burbs but it redeemed itself with a pleasant CBD. It has a strong Asian influence there which is surprising considering the welcome. It's also got some red light district and seedy nightclubs mixed into the CBD for some extra pepper. Freo is also pleasant.

After Perth we visited the Nambung NP, home to the Pinnacles which are phallic shaped rock formations that range from 50cm to 2m high. At a distance it looks a bit like a big graveyard. Cervantes was next, where we enjoyed some local Western Rock Lobsters at a good price.

Next week, we'll continue along the coast to Kalbarri, Monkey Mia, Exmouth and then start to head inland. These places are home to dolphins and whale sharks.


Km Traveled this week: 1500km

Places visited: Manjimup, Karridale, Margaret River, Perth, Nambung NP, Cervantes, Jurien Bay, Ellendale, Geraldton and today we are in Kalbarri.

Highlights: The real Pinnacles, camping with awesome weather, Ellendale Pool, swimming in the tropics
Lowlights: rednecks in Perth, a 15.5% redwine from Silkwood - way too much burn to be nice.

Peanut butters: on no. 13
Flies up the nose count: 3
Roadkill: first one!! a poor little lizard.

A cheeky honey eater at Cape Mentelle Winery

The road towards Freo where the Canning and Swan Rivers meet

The Pinnacles, Nambung NP

Sunset at a roadside camp

Planning!!

A big blue bus and other stories

From Perth the road leads north, meandering along WAs beautiful coral coast. Manning national park was our first stop. In this dry, sandy beautiful park are the Pinacles. It is not proven how the Pinacles were formed but it is thought that they were trees, covered in sand dunes and turned to lime stone. You can walk through what are fields of these rocks and they look magic.

Next on our list of to do was to have some western rock lobster at Cervantes. At the Lobster Shack we paid $30 for a small lobster and it was pretty good.






We arrived at our planned camp for the night just above eneabba. It was just a rest stop with loos on the side of the highway.

 Deciding if a camp is good, safe, mice free, flood proof, any free, possum free, a place of little wind where the highway lights will not shine in your eyes and a speeding truck will not side swipe you is a real skill. At this particular camp there was a big blue double decker bus towing a trailer! Amazing.

The safety of a campsite depends on its occupants. The owners of the said blue bus gave us a wave. You know the type of wave. It says "hi I'm not a serial killer I'm normal... See I wave." It is important to not only get this wave but to give it to other travelers so they know it's safe for them to camp there too. At this particular camp we ended up with 5 groups of travelers all getting and giving the special non serial killer wave. So all was safe.

The next day a stop for a swim at the beach at Geraldton and some sun baking on a pontoon. Geraldton reminded us of Broken Hill but with a beach. We were in desperate need of a shower so we soaped up on the beach and washed under the beach showers in our swimmers. There is no shame here people.

On to Ellen Pool which was beautiful and camping near Kalbarri was magic. A free camp with lots of people giving the non serial killer wave. It was by a river and had a picnic table and the night was clear and warm. Everything you want wen camping.



Tomorrow...snorkeling!

Ptown (Perth)

How we roll

 Before we arrived in Perth we spent a night in a free, side of the road type of camp. We met a nice older NZ couple who had a drink with us and we cooked sausage casserole to match our wine. The good free camps are safe and there ended up being about 6 other cars in this particular camp. There is safety in numbers and it gives you a real sense of camaraderie.

BIG SCRABBLE!

Perth is a small city that is very diverse. The outer suburbs seem boganesk but the CBD is very cosmopolitan. The CBD is a big Asian district with the red light district attached to it. We had Yum Cha and Singapore cuisine which was good and I enjoyed looking in the Chinese book stores.







It seems that sex as an industry is big in WA and very acceptable to advertise and partake in. The CBD has art galleries and the Museum of WA which were free and pretty good. There was a family fun day and big scrabble to delight.

The little vintage shops are cute in the CBD and as with most cities it was fun just to walk around and soak up the atmosphere.

  

Dresses!

Kings Park

 Kings Park is a huge park in the middle of the city and is beautiful in its flora, landscaping and location as it looks out over the Swan River. Fantastic.

Town Hall in Freemantle

We paid a visit to Freemantle and enjoyed fish and chips and marveled at the old buildings. It is very touristy though, but then we are tourists so there you go.

We attempted to book our wonderful wedding present from the Townsends which was a sunset catamaran ride but alas we missed the last boat for April and it does not start running again until November. Dont worry Mandy we will use it for somethings else amazing along the way.

Perth has been enjoyable and reminds us of being back in the early 90's. Mark even found a time zone!

We are off tomorrow along the coast heading North. We purchased some snorkle gear and I am very excited about A) wearing it and B) actually snorkling!

Margarete River Images

Our wine and food haul

Climbing the Diamond Tree Fire Lookout.

Leuwin Winery

Busy making silk at the Silk Road.