Birthdays in the Bay

We were off, warmer weather here we come! The first day we free camped overnight at Lake Indoon. A recreational area with camp sites, toilets and not much else. We left early next day to make a start for Kalbarri National Park.

The day was getting late  and we were about to pass the Pinnacles which were a detour off the main highway.  Our motto has always been to try everything and not miss out on anything if we can help it, so we stopped. They were really quite amazing and interesting rock structures dotted amongst a lunar landscape. A bit like something out of Mad Max or Indiana Jones. The kids enjoyed it and Josh went camera crazy.

Back in the car we kept on going where we finally arrived at a lovely free camp area overnight on the Murchison River, a popular site with over 30 caravans there for the night and a bit more school work to finish as well. Unfortunately, we found out that a large part of Kalbarri had been closed for road resurfacing so we decided to bypass Monkey Mia and head straight for Coral Bay via Carnarvon.

A couple of nights in Carnarvon to restock our supplies of fruit and vegies was enough. This small agricultural town doesn’t really have a whole lot going for it and we were ready to move on. You know you are the youngest couple in the caravan park when the lady next to you in the bathroom is washing her dentures.

We were very excited to be heading for Coral Bay. The home of Ningaloo Reef and the majestic Whale Sharks. We booked for only 5 days at the Caravan Park and were going to move on to a station right on the reef for another week. When we arrived in the Bay the kids settled in very quickly and were keen to stay longer. Luckily for us they could move a few people around and we stayed for 11 days. Position is everything at a caravan park as it is in the big smoke and we had a great position with lots of room, close to the amenities and just far enough away from people with young screaming kids.

Coral Bay is a very small village with only 2 caravan parks, a pub/resort and a few small shops and supermarkets. The beach is absolutely beautiful, crystal blue water, clear and cold, filled with lots of sea life, something we were keen to get into.

We had gathered snorkels and goggles along the way and were set to discover the wonders of the reef. Every afternoon at 3.30 the local dive shop would bring food on the beach to feed the fish. People would come from far and wide to line up along the shore for the feeding frenzy. Quite an awesome looking fish called the Spangled Snapper-big and fast. Ruby really enjoyed the feeding, in fact she was keen to go every day for 11 days.

The weather was improving after a few days of heavy rain, and we were excited to book onto some tours and head out to the reef. In the meantime we spent days collecting shells, swimming on the reef and just relaxing in the sun. Jem had recently received a kite for his birthday from Gran and Pa and he had a go at flying it on the windy days. Oscar too was keen to show his skills with his double string kite.

Ruby’s 8^th birthday was the first of the b’days celebrated in Coral Bay. We had gathered numerous presents throughout our trip for the kids as well as Josh returned from Sydney with quite a loot from family, so the kids were about to be very spoilt. We spent the day at the beach swimming and soaking up the winter sun followed by an ice-cream cake and dinner out. It was a wonderful way to spend a birthday and Rubes loved every minute of it.

So after the Kangaroo Island vomiting fiasco on the boat, Oscar was a little hesitant to go out and swim with the Whale Sharks. We encouraged him to give it a go and dosed him up with some ginger and sea sickness tablets and off he went with Josh. It was a full day tour both within the reef snorkelling with the turtles as well as out to sea to swim with the sharks. The day was sunny but a very large swell of over 2.5m was brewing. Rubes and I were thanking the gods all day long that we weren’t on the boat. 

 Whilst the boys went on the day tour, Trace took the other two on a glass bottom boat to view the reef which was only 1 hour and just enough time for Jem who was getting restless by the end. The coral was amazingly beautiful, not so colourful but dramatic shapes and sizes.

As the boys walked up the road at around 5pm we could see on their faces that Oscar hadn’t had the best of times. In fact, he had only managed to get in once to swim with a turtle and the rest of the time was spent looking overboard at the water whilst he vomited. Poor little man…. He, along with half the boat was sick including a small chuck by daddy Josh. Josh was however well enough to get in and swim with the Whale Shark, who was 5 metres long, a fairly average size. It was beautiful, graceful and very large amongst the tiny human bodies swimming with it.  Not only did they see the whale shark but they were lucky enough to watch a group of humpback whales and their calves breaching in the water and flipping the fins back and forth. A magical sight to see so close up.

We decided to take a little drive along a 4wd track to a well know fishing area. We drove as far as we could and walked over a few sand dunes to find the rugged coast just below us. The water was so turquoise blue and the turtle swimming in the water was enough to entice Josh into navigating the families way down the cliff to the rocks below. It was a beautiful spot but once again fishing was not good and Rubes was the only one to catch the one that got away.  

Jem’s 5^th birthday was next on the calendar. He had been counting down the days for most of the year and was excited to finally be celebrating his birthday and receiving his lego more to the point. His eyes said it all. The joy when opening his wrapping paper and finding lego and more lego was enjoyment enough for us all. His cake was to be ice-cream too but with a twist of caramel sauce, his idea. It was great to celebrate the birthdays in such a beautiful location.

It was time to try our luck at fishing again but to no avail AGAIN. We were hoping to catch some fish for dinner but nothing but small annoying reef fish were biting. We lost our lines, hooks and sinkers more times than we actually pulled anything in and it was getting more than frustrating. The only thing getting any fish was a monster cod called Merv who waited daily for the fishing boats to come in. He weighed about 500kg and was one of the most enormous fish we had ever seen. Luckily for us we had befriended a guy across from us who gave us some of his squid that he had caught. It was delicious but not as good as if we had caught it ourselves.

A few more days in Coral Bay snorkelling and enjoying the sun and it was time to go. We were heading for Karijini National Park east of Coral Bay. A night at a free camp spot called the RIP rest area near the mining town of Tom Price was not a welcoming sleep spot but nonetheless close to where we needed to be the next day.