EXMOUTH THURSDAY 10TH NOV 11.

Well hi again, we are currently in Exmouth and are having a great time. We even had a few sprinkles of rain, the first since 19 May back in Cobar !!. So here is what we have been up to since our last post. SUNDAY....We packed up to leave nice & early, but we find we have a flat rear tyre on our car, so with the help of John & Tezza we change the tyre ( how many grey nomads does it take to change a tyre ??) and we headed off. The other four continue south while we went into Karratha to see if a tyre shop is open. Whilst in there we get a call from Steve Williams (cowboy) who is in town on his way to the van park we had just left as he is working in the mines, anyway we get to see him for 10min or so which was good just to quickly catch up. As no tyre shops were open, we continued south, catching up with the others for lunch at a nice parking area beside the river. We then made our way to Onslow which is 80km's off the main road. This is a small industrial town (another one) beside the water. The van park is so so but the area we have is not to bad. It was late arvo by the time we set up so no exploring. 

MONDAY 31 OCT.... Rans went for a walk, finds the boat ramp and other local sites (not many). He then came back for breakie and the boys went for a fish down at 5mile creek, and they caught some fish, bream etc. Later that arvo the 5 of us went for a drive to Old Onslow where the township use to be, but is now the area for the new Gas Factories & pipelines which are being laid at present, so the road is busy with work utes/trucks graders, loaders etc, very very dusty. Anyway we get to the area where the town was and now there is one building and all over the place are signs saying what use to be there, eg there is a sign that says This was the site for the Police Stn.......wow we drove 80km for this, anyway....we can say we've been there !! TUESDAY 1ST NOV....We head off early as we have a long drive, on the way we stop beside the road to listen on the car radio to the Melbourne Cup (a bit diff to 2yrs ago when we were there !) so here are the 6 of us egging our horses on, Carol won the sweep!!

We continued on into Exmouth & set up then drove into the shopping centre which is lucky to be one block, it has 2 IGA's 50m apart ??????? & not much else. WEDNESDAY...The Bewells & us went for a drive up to Charles Knife Gorge & Thomas Carter Lookout which is only a few kilometres off the main road. This is another AMAZING sight with these deep gorges which overlook the Gulf, giving us some great photos of the water in the background, just fantastic. We then drove to the Marina which is being developed with man made canals & new homes being built, a nice area to live. The township is quite small with most of the area either Commonwealth Land with RAAF & Naval bases or National Park. We bought some prawns for tea which were delicious. THURSDAY 3/11.... We hired a tinny for 3 days, so today its the 3 boys and a mate, Matt who we met at 80mile beach, headed out into the Ningaloo Reef, putting the boat in at Tantabiddi Boat Ramp. We were out for approx 4hrs and caught a couple of keepers, Spotted Makerel but Matt had a good fish & lost it back overboard when he went to measure it!!!! boy did we give it to him.... Meanwhile the 4 girls went for a drive into the Nat Park with them stopping at Woribi Beach where there were hundreds of turtles on the sand or  close to shore. It was just magnificant to see. We meet the girls for lunch at  Bundegi Boat Ramp, then put the boat in on the Gulf side and went out for another 3hrs but did no good, lost some good bites (same ol' story !) 

We then headed back to cook up with what we had caught which was enough for 8 people so not a bad day.  FRIDAY 4/11.... The 3 boys headed off early to try & beat the wind, but it was still blowing, we headed out into the reef but after 4hrs we only caught one keeper. Rans was pretty tired and had a nap in the arvo, the same with Tezza, as his back was killing him, whilst John had the service man to his vans fridge freezer...again, it must beso frustrating. SATURDAY  5/11.. ..Today is the Bewells & the Ransleys day out in the boat, we headed out into the Gulf today, a nice morning with a slight swell & a little windy....well, we went out for 1-2km before we realised the bait is still in the car fridge !!! so back to the ramp, then we headed out again and within 4seconds of Sandy throwing her line over she has a fish, a blue Emperor, she ends up catching 8 on a hand line, Carol catches 5, John 3 & Rans....0.

 It was a good day, everyone enjoyed themselves without getting sea sick, the water was so clear, we ended up keeping 2 but could have kept another 5 but the chart we had was showing a different size to the legal one, anyway a good day had by all. Over the 3 days we may not have caught heaps or huge ones but there were times that we did have some decent size ones on but we lost them & the tackles.....( blahh blahh blaahh !) SUNDAY....6/11 Rans woke up during the night to watch the footy. The girls & John headed out to the markets this morning, they were back before they left....that's how big they were....The 5 of us then went for a drive into Cape Range Nat Park with us stopping at the Lighthouse looking over the Indian Ocean and Ningaloo Reef with its blue waters a fantastic sight, also seeing Drilling Platforms in the distance, we also see an Emu with 8 chicks walking along the roadway.

 We then drove to the Turtle Info centre and then made our way to Wobiri Beach Access track where there are dozens of Turtles either swimming close to the shore or up on the beach. We then continued south stopping at Mangrove Bay, Neds Camp, Mesa Camp, the last 2 are where you can camp for up to 28days.These camping areas are all along the coastline heading south and close to the water, they are beautiful areas but there are limited spaces (bet 3 to 15 max spots) with not much shade  & you have to line up at the Park entrance to be allocated a site, so we may not have been altogether.   We then went to the Milyering Visitor Centre which was well done out. Here we had morning tea with some nice home made muffins...well done Sandy, we then drove down to Lakeside where we walked along the shoreline for 500m and then John & Rans went for a snorkel. They both said it was fantastic so much different fishes,  manta rays, coral & we think a shark lurking further out (this is when they came back to shore....quickly). The colours were AMAZING.. We then made our way back as John is still having probs with his fridge. Later in the arvo the 5 of us again headed out on a Sunset/Whale Watch cruise on the Gulf.

We ended up sitting up top looking out with the skipper, it was a bit windy....but that's WA, after a short time Sandy & Rans spotted Whales which we came close to but we then saw a mother & calf playing so we spent the next 2hrs following them, it was so good, having nibblies, prawns, beer & wine watching the sunset & whales breaching etc. Another great day. MONDAY 7/11.... The 3 boys went for a fish down off a rock ledge but it was very windy so only 1 Flathead today, the girls work out food for the next week or so as we have extended our stay here as Coral Bay has limited shops for food. A quiet arvo as the wind has picked up. TUESDAY  8/11....We all head off early going down the Peninsula first stopping at Turquoise Bay, a beautiful beach on the Reef where you can snorkel. The girls hired a body board which has a viewing piece at the top so you can put your face in to see the coral & fish.

Well what a laugh, when Di had her go it filled with water and she was nearly drowning with her face in the water & couldn't see a thing. Carol then had a go at snorkeling, ( yes she got her face wet !!) with me between her and the ocean and swimming beside her...but after a second go she ended up about 30m from me looking up to see where I was and then going back under, the new Val Taylor !!!  The coral, the large amount of different types of fish, the colours were amazing, Carol loved it. Sandy had a go too, which was good. We stayed here for a while then we moved onto Sandy Bay for lunch. This is another beautiful swimming area with the brightest blue water. There were a number of Wake boarders as the wind was very strong. We then called into Osprey Bay where you can camp. This has a couple of sites which look over the pristine water of the Reef and although no shade it would be my pick to set up the van.

We then drove down to Yardi Creek. Here you can catch a boat which goes up through the gorge, but it wasn't working today. This is as far as you can go South unless you have a 4WD with all the gear & another vehicle to assist if trouble as its very sandy.(the road goes to Coral Bay). We then made our way back stopping at the site of ship wreck"Mildura" then making our way back making it a full day. It is very windy here again and continues throughout the nite. WEDNESDAY...9 NOV Happy B'Day Heals. Its windy again today so we just caught up on photos, blogs etc, The Bewells found out that Dometic has come to the party and will supply & install a new fridge for their van, it may take a week or so to arrive etc, but at least they will hopefully have a fridge that works on gas etc. After lunch the Bewells & us drove into Shothole Gorge which was another AMAZING place with different coloured rock escarpments, varing from white to red & oranges all on one rock face.

We then returned & grabbed our fishing gear as the wind had eased and the 6 of us drove out past the Industrial area to a rock face onto the reef. Here we had a couple of good bites, with Tezza catching 2 bream but he threw them back. THURSDAY 10 Nov... Still windy here so its tidy up day as the dust/dirt in the cars & vans, you can feel everywhere you touch, so not too much to report so after a swim in the pool and cleaning we relaxed with a drink or 2. So we are moving on tomorrow to Coral Bay for a few days which should be nice. So everyone take care, miss you's all & check out the photos under WA part 2 on the RHS of our blog. love Rans & The Mrs !! XXXXXXXXXXXXX.