CRYSTAL CLEAR CORAL BAY

The beach at Coral Bay







As we waded thru' the clear waters - these fellows swam in front of us.






From the glass bottom boat





Under-water sculptures



From the Van

  

I have been told that we didn’t give Exmouth a fair go – that is probably true considering our state of health at the time. There is another over-riding issue here tho’ and it will apply to everywhere we stop as we make our way to Perth. We are out of season. Generally the good weather has departed and the weather now is very changeable and super windy. I have to admit to having had doubts about weather really being of particular importance as you travel, but have had to re-think that issue after our last couple of stops. The good news is that the heat has let up somewhat here in Coral Bay but the wind has been consistent and has really prevented us from doing the things that make Coral Bay what it is. Don’t get me wrong here, I am a sand-groper born and bred and the wind is in my blood (and occasionally other parts too), and I actually enjoy the lovely blustery conditions we have on the West Australian coast – but sometimes, enough is enough!

Neither of us is particularly well at the moment, whatever the bug was that had Doug in its grip at Exmouth, has had its wicked way with me ever since we arrived here. On top of that, we both just feel ‘yuck’ – seedy is the best way I can describe it and we are really wondering just what it is. Perhaps it is just the prospect of being back in the everyday world and returning to the realms of responsibility and worry that has us in this sorry state. We celebrated (or tried to celebrate) our eighth year together last Thursday and I couldn’t even bring myself to open a bottle of champers to drink with our traditional seafood feast. Those that know me will understand that I really must be crook! SO......please bear all of this in mind as I tell you all about Coral Bay.


What an amazing little spot this is! This is the first ‘town’ we have encountered that exists wholly and solely for the tourist. Tiny is one way to describe the place. There are two caravan parks, a hotel/resort, several shops and a scattering of beach shacks – that is it – the whole place covers an area of not more than half a kilometre (excluding the tip).


The entire ‘township’ nestles around the crystal clear waters of the bay which is lagoon like in its structure and ideal for swimming and snorkelling. In the distance you can see the froth and foam caused by huge waves crashing on the reef. Although there are a couple of spots designated for beach fishing, in general terms this is a sanctuary and most forms of fishing are prohibited. We went for a wade in the shallow waters on our first day here and were amazed to see large fish swimming contentedly amongst the swimmers. We are told that most of the fish we saw out there that day were Spangled Emperors and they hang around the beach because they are fed there each afternoon. As with most of the WA coast, the sand here is sparkling white and the seas are the most glorious blues and aqua’s – very ‘post-card’ indeed. The People’s Caravan Park where we are staying has a good number of palms and verdant green grass and the whole effect is very tropical.


We have not been to the Visitor Centre since we arrived but it looks very good and we are told that if you take a cruise on the semi-submersible coral viewing boat you will be provided with snorkel and flippers free of charge (on loan of course) in order to better explore the reef. We did take the cruise and found it to be very good value. The charge was $33 for one hour and as we were the only people on board, the service was brilliant. The boat was skippered by one young lady and another, Vickie, was our guide. Vickie seemed to have a very good grip on her subject and we left the boat more knowledgeable than when we boarded.


I have not experienced the reefs off the East Coast so have no real comparison, however we were told that the corals off the West Coast are hard and skeletal as opposed to the softer styles of coral found on the Great Barrier Reef. What we were confronted with as we gazed hopefully thru’ the thick glass panels of the boat were the myriad of natural sculptures that comprise our local corals. We learnt that coral is an animal, not a plant and that being touched by people and boats etc has a very detrimental effect on the coral and can even kill it. The coral here forms a calcified skeleton and does not have the colours displayed in the softer styles. The only real colour displayed on the coral was the electric blue tips of the stag-horn corals. The reef is enormous and provides a haven for a multitude of our fishy friends. We certainly saw plenty of these as we cruised the calm waters of the bay – it appears that the larger fish actually sleep in the domed cavity in the middle of the boat and come out towards the end of the trip to be fed by the crew. Quite a spectacle! One interesting little piece of trivia, one of the most common fish on the reef is the colourful Parrot Fish – this character is equipped to actually bite off pieces of the coral to eat. The fish is especially designed to digest this tough food and the resultant excreta actually contributes to the white sparkling sands of our coast! There you go, next time you are wriggling your toes ecstatically in our beautiful beach sand, just remember what it is partially made of. After learning about how much damage we can do simply by touching the coral we are a bit bemused by the lack of suitable warnings and explanations displayed here. It would appear that the tourist dollar is considered more important than the survival of this enormously important natural resource.


There don’t appear to be any large creatures in the bay itself, any dolphins, rays or sharks. We are told tho’ there is a shark breeding ground just around the corner from the bay. That knowledge did nothing to encourage us to embark on a swimming expedition. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that while here we have not and will not be taking to the crystal clear waters - in our defence, the weather apart from the first afternoon when we arrived, has been too cool for swimming for our taste, especially considering we are not feeling quite ‘the thing’.


From an information perspective, there are a couple of small ‘supermarkets’ here which seem to stock all the emergency produce etc. that you might need while staying here. The bakery is excellent with some of the best pastry we have ever experienced. There are a considerable number of tour operators and a couple of places hire out quad bikes and kayaks for the more adventurous. For the ladies, there is a beautician who advertises all the usual bits. A newsagency provides the daily papers after around 11am and you can purchase alcohol at the pub/resort. We had breakfast at Fin’s cafe and found the food to be quite good and certainly the menu looked to be quite adventurous (albeit not cheap). Following some very good advice we are staying at The People’s Park Caravan Park and have found it to be excellent – not dog friendly tho’ folks. The park is lovely and shady and the sound of the wind sighing thru' the She-Oaks is relaxing in the extreme. The biggest problem in Coral Bay seems to be water. Neither park provides fresh water to the vans, the on-site water is salty bore water. The amenities block here does provide fresh water for the showers and tank water for drinking. Certainly it is advisable to have your tanks full of good fresh water before coming to Coral Bay. This caravan park is pretty much on the water-front and you can pay a little extra to obtain a site with ocean views. The only problem there is that during the season it is almost impossible to get in here – it is usually booked solid from one season to the next! Talking to the manager we were told it seems to him he pays a telephonist $30,000pa to turn people away! Now that’s the sort of business we would all like to own.


Well, we leave here tomorrow heading into Carnarvon and it seems to us we are just about home. Only a couple more weeks and its back to reality – what a bummer! Of course, we are looking forward to seeing our families again having missed them over the past ten or so months, but we are not looking forward to being responsible grown-up people again! Until next time, love your responsibilities and enjoy life whatever it presents. Stephanie.

 

ENERVATING EXMOUTH




Ancient ranges along the road to Exouth

 



Beautiul WA coastline at Exmouth

 




Extensive Reef Systems

 



Mouth of Yardie Creek

 



Turquoise Waters in the Bays Surrounding Exmouth

 
Sooner or later, there has to be a disappointment I suppose. We have found ours. We cannot say we are enamoured of Exmouth. Before all those Exmouth fans out there complain about our lack of appreciation, let me say that both the bloke and I have been a bit under the weather whilst we have been here. TBBITW has come down with a bugger of a bug, so to speak – you know the drill, sniffles, headaches, sore throat, funny tummy and general lethargy. I don’t seem to have been dealt quite the same bug, and have not been too bad, however, today, I can feel the bod going down -hill somewhat. Hopefully a good night’s sleep will fix the problem.


Our petty illness aside, we are truly disappointed with the caravan park. We are at the Ningaloo Caravan Park. We were expecting a Top Tourist Park, but sadly they are no longer members of that particular chain. Chatting with some of the regulars here, we have been told the park has ‘gone down-hill’ somewhat and is currently on the market. Certainly the sites are generally dusty (must be wonderful on the odd occasion it rains), only a few have decent lawns and the amenities are generally looking just a bit run-down. Mind you, we know this place is packed during ‘the season’ and it must be inordinately difficult to maintain lawns when people simply do not move off sites. Not all travellers, like us, enjoy watering lawns! Had we received a friendly welcome on arrival doubtless we would feel differently, but the attitude seemed to be that we were ‘out of season’ and a bit of a nuisance. The only highlight was the friendly sniffing from the resident Labrador. From that you will gather that at least the park is dog friendly, although you can expect to be put down the back of the park in the ‘dog section ‘. It does seem too, that they go out of their way to find things to ‘charge’ you for. We were a bit taken back by a section in the inevitable stern “Park Rules” sheet, declaring that campers on un-powered sites must not plug their phones, laptops etc into the power boxes as this would be stealing power. They are encouraged to go to the office where they can charge up their gear for a nominal charge. This I guess is fair enough, but it was the threat to report any break of this rule to the police that bemused us. Talk about welcoming! Subject for another blog/rant I think. On the up-side the park pool looks quite good but there is absolutely no cover of any kind over any part of the pool. Sadly due to our bugs, we didn’t try the pool.

Our other disappointment is the location of the park and most of the town. We imagined that Exmouth was right on the ocean – not so! There is not a skerrick of ocean to be seen from the township itself. The residential area does meander over to the bay and there are new canal type suburbs under development. The town offers two IGA supermarkets, a really good butcher, chemist and Westpac Bank. We tried the local Chinese restaurant and found it to be OK. There are other eateries etc. but we didn’t check them out. The town amenities are really quite good, one assumes that is due to the close proximity of the military bases.

When we were finally able to stagger from the caravan and explore the area, we discovered the sheer beauty of the local beaches and lagoons. This is the first glimpse of what we think of as typical West Australian coastline, glorious blues and aquas, huge rolling surf, crashing across extensive reef systems. White sands contrast with the soft greys and greens of the native undergrowth, and the overwhelming impression is of a stark and wild beauty. Ancient ranges roll down to the ocean, displaying sparse stunted vegetation spread across a mish- mash of white sand, dry rocky gulches and bright red bull dust. Emus wander negligently across the road in front of oncoming cars – nonchalantly ignoring we intruders. We also spotted a couple of obviously tame horses, who appeared to have ‘flagged down’ a passing car in order to partake of some munchies and get a pat.

A visit to Yardie Creek was well worth while, the area is pristine and wading across the Creek is a pure delight. We also checked out the caravan parks at The Lighthouse and Yardie Creek Station. Both parks looked good, the Lighthouse had the added benefit of ocean views. Both parks looked fairly rustic, but it seemed appropriate considering their relatively isolated locations. We gathered that there was no mobile phone reception at Yardie and as they are generator powered some appliances are not permitted.

I must point out here that the drive to these beaches and scenic spots fairly lengthy. Yardie Creek, the furthermost point of interest is 75ks away from the town. We found the best idea was to go to the end and work our way back visiting all the little bays along the way. The bonus is that many of the bays have camping facilities. I do use the term loosely as generally the amenities consist of one or two drop loos. Some of the camping spots had the most wonderful aspects and predictably, they were all fully occupied. The parks are all within the local National Park and cost a nominal $7 per night. Our concern was if they are still fully occupied at this time of the year, how on earth you manage to get a berth during ‘the season’. There is no water provided at these sites and some of them do not permit the use of generators. Some sites permitted line fishing whilst others were snorkel friendly only. We have made a mental note to come back some day and try to get a spot at one of these glorious camping grounds.

We have been bombarded by extreme heat since we arrived here and there has been no real relief at night. I’m sure that the earlier months of the year would have provided us with a more pleasant experience. I am aware too, that we have been well and truly spoiled – we have had such wonderful parks and sites that anything less than wonderful tends to be a let-down. In the overall scheme of things we are still having fun, just not as much as usual.

Well, tomorrow we take our sad bodies out of Exmouth and head south to Coral Bay. Here’s hoping we will have a happier time at this iconic holiday spot. Stay well – Stephanie.

A TRIBUTE TO THE BLOKE

• This entry may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you, particularly if you don’t know Doug or I very well, or if you have only read the more recent of my blogs and poems. ‘Poor old Dougie’ as one of our mates describes him, is my hero. I may not give this impression in some of my entries, but on the other hand, I do often refer to him as TBBITW – for those of you who don’t know, this stands for THE BEST BLOKE IN THE WORLD!
  On the 21st it will be 8 years exactly since we saw each other again for the first time in 33 years. These have without any doubt whatsoever been the best years of my life.
  When I first met Doug I was sweet 16 and he was a young god, tall, golden hair, peaches and cream complexion, hazel eyes, super sexy and the most intelligent and spiritual man I had ever met. I do say man, as he was a wicked 3 years older than me and I considered him to be a ‘man of the world’. Little did I realise then that we were both little more than children.
  Doug is the only man, inclusive of past husbands and partners that I have loved with my entire being, the only man I have loved with my soul. When I was young, he seemed to me to be a young philosopher and I was madly in love with his mind. He taught me to be true to myself and not to be overly influenced by the opinions of others – he encouraged me to think outside of the normal parameters. I was devastated when we parted company – he to follow a dream and me to have the family I felt I was destined to have.
  There are no regrets, had we stayed together I would not be the mother of two amazing sons who I love more than I could ever express. Had we stayed together he would not have fathered his two wonderful children and he would not have had the benefit of the love, support and companionship of his wonderful wife. Had we stayed together I would not have had the opportunity to meet the challenges I had to overcome in order to be the person I am today. Despite my feelings at the time, parting company was the right thing for us to do.
  The timing of our reconnection was perfect for us. We were both alone and looking for a new companion. God was certainly smiling on me the day we reconnected. I will never forget how, on the phone, Doug’s voice took me back in an instant to my teens. I had no idea how incredibly familiar his voice would sound.
  33 years is a long time but it never occurred to me that I would be disappointed when I met Doug again. I certainly wasn’t! Let me tell you about my wonderful bloke.
  · He is patient and non-judgmental (I must push the boundaries sometimes)
  · He never raises his voice (despite my tendency to raise mine several decibels)
  · He has a wonderful if somewhat off-beat sense of humour
  · He is social and amiable
  · He is not afraid of switching role models from time to time
  · He is a very good dishwasher! (even if he does drench the place)
  · He is still capable of surprising me
  · He is capable and blokey in all the ways that matter to a woman of my generation
  · He is masculine and comfortable in his own skin
  · He is capable of deep spirituality
  · He is a deep thinker
  · He has a wonderfully analytical mind
  · He is the only man with whom I have ever felt I could really be myself
  · He does not expect me to be perfect and accepts me with all my faults
  · He accepts my family as part of me
  · He takes care of me without suffocating me
  · He enjoys being taken care of
  · He likes my cooking
  · He rubs my back and my feet when I ask him
  · He does not keep an emotional ledger
  · He does not harbour ill feelings or remind me of my faults (can’t say the same about me)
  · He likes my poetry and encourages me to ‘do my thing’
  · He is honest with me when I need to hear an unpleasant truth (a good thing!)
  · He will sit and just talk about anything
  · He has no qualms about making himself ridiculous
  · He will leave his comfort zone
  · He is still capable of being extraordinary
  · He indulges my competitive side
  · He has the best lips in the world (not to mention a great bum!)
  · He listens to me and takes some of my recommendations
  · He respects me

I’m sure you get the picture, this is one amazing bloke. The very best thing about him though is that he is with me. I am not saying he is perfect, thank goodness! There are plenty of peccadilloes to keep him interesting and to keep me on my toes, he is however, absolutely perfect for me.
HAPPY ANIVERSARY DARLING!