Exmouth, Isolated Opportunity.....  Exmouth, with a population of about 3000 people was only established in 1967 to support the US Naval communications base which, along with tourism, is the main source of employment for the town.  Exmouth is built on the west coast of the Exmouth Gulf and on the opposite side of the cape is Cape Range National Park and the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park.  This is the regions 'claim to fame' and in the future will provide untold eco tourism opportunities as it's full potential is developed.  The advantage that the Ningaloo Reef has over the Great Barrier Reef is that much of it is accessible from the beach and still offers the magnificent coral and an abundance of marine life.

Oh No! More Gorges..... Our first full day in Exmouth was spent familiarising ourselves with the region and exploring the Gorges on the eastern side of Cape Range National Park.    Quite different from Karijini as the gorges here have been formed by erosion over millions of years which gives them an entirely different appearance.  The region, interestingly enough, is devoid of much vegetation except for small shrubs and bushes.   It appears that trees have trouble surviving in this area due most likely to soil conditions, lack of rainfall or weather conditions.  One of our discoveries whilst exploring the gorges was the Kaillis Fisheries prawn farm.   After parting with $17.00 we were the proud owners of  1kg of beautiful fresh king prawns which we delighted in eating over the next two nights along with some fish that the people next door gave to us.  Very tasty.

After a sumptuous lunch we travelled back inside the reef for snorkeling around the coral.  Another unforgettable experience seeing all the different colour corals and thousands of fish of every variety imaginable.   Liz and I spent 1 1/2 hours in the water just circling and observing.   An amazing day with both of us having this fantastic experience to remember.   Not wanting the day to end we went back to the van, showered, had a light dinner and then to the pub with all the backpackers that we had met on the cruise.  They made us older folk feel very welcome and we had a great evening with them.

A Reef Encounter Of The Great Kind .....  This side of Cape Range boasts another couple of gorges, the best by far being Yardie Creek Gorge, which we took time to explore, but the main attraction is the reef.   This really is a spectacular part of the Australian coastline, and sadly, is probably known better by overseas tourists than by Australians.  Our pick for snorkeling to see the coral and marine life was Turquoise Bay and trying what is called the snorkel drift.  To experience the snorkel drift you walk 300 to 400 metres down the beach in a southerly direction, enter the water and swim out about 50 metres.   You then let the current carry you northwards parallel to the beach whilst you take in the abundance of coral and marine life.  Hundreds of different species of fish as well as turtles, squid, sharks, sting rays and crayfish swim past you as if you are not there.   Just an amazing experience and all from the beach.
The Loaves & Fishes Trick... After making a couple of loaves of bread in the morning, our final day at Cape Range was spent with a young couple, Tony & Chris, we had met who were also staying at Neds Camp.   After a morning tea of fresh oysters we moved on to Tulki Bay to try our hand at fishing for a few hours.  It is amazing that in the sanctuary zones there are literally thousands of fish of every variety, but just outside these zones where you are allowed to fish, they seem rather scarce.  Do they really know where the boundaries of the sanctuary zones are?    It was not until late in the afternoon that Tony finally had luck, and what luck.  He had caught a reef shark about 1.5 metres long that put up a real fight and all whilst Chris was out snorkeling about 30 metres away.   At one stage the shark was no more than a few feet from her.   What's more, as he was pulling it in, another 3 or 4 sharks of similar size were hovering around looking for a feed. 'Reel' excitement. The shark, after having it's tail cut off to bleed, was expertly filleted by Tony, providing us with dinner, along with a loaf of our bread, for that evening as well as another couple of meals each.  In the end a great afternoon of fun and excitement followed by an enjoyable evening.

The Kalbarri National Park is just full of wildflowers at this time of year which include, banksias, grevilleas, hakeas, star flowers, smoke bushes wattles, etc., all adding colour to the scenery.  There are a couple of extended walks which can be done right down into the sandstone gorges or shorter walks to the lookouts which give great views of the Murchison River and the spectacular gorges.   We only made it to the lookouts this time (must be getting lazy), but well worth visiting.   The photo inset shows Rob standing next to "Natures Window", a sandstone feature at the top of "The Loop" which is part of the Murchison River gorge system.

From Kalbarri it was time to move on to Geraldton.   With a population of 25,300 this is the largest town we have been in since leaving Melbourne on April 29.   It is the key port and administration centre for the mid west region of WA.  After restocking the pantry and cellar we continued our southward journey.  Whilst the days are still warm there is now a real chill in the air at night and the water is much colder so I think the swimming has finished and we can pack the bathers for the rest of the trip.

Until our next update.