Life in a Humpback

Day 87: Kalbarri (Day 1)

Today we got up early and headed into Kalbarri National Park for a day of walking and wildflower viewing. Our first stop was Z Bend. We walked to the lookout to see the sharp bend in the river below, then continued along the River Track to the Murchinson River below. Along the way down we saw a school group who were getting ready to abseil down the wall of the gorge. On the way back up we stopped to watch for a little bit while the kids assessed if it was something they might want to try later on in the trip.

The next stop was Nature's Window. Here we walked out to a "window" in the rock that you can look through and see the Murchinson River below. Theo and I got excited when we thought we could see a mallee fowl down by the river (one of the animals in our Menagerie card game), but on closer inspection with a zoom lens it looked more like a swan.

Our last walk in the Murchison River part of the national park was to the Skywalk. Here there are two cantilevered lookouts that hang out over the gorge below. It was a very windy day today so we were careful to hang on to our hats. Unlike many previous visitors who had lost their hats (and at least one drone) to the cliffs below in what the kids called the "hat graveyard".

On the drive back out to the coast we saw a thorny devil on the road. We have been looking out for one for a long time. It was super cool to finally see one.

In the coastal section of Kalbarri National Park we stopped at Natural Bridge/Castle Cove for a look at the ocean. This was the first time on the trip that we have seen big waves coming in to the shore and crashing onto the cliffs. Further north the reefs stop the big waves of the Indian Ocean from getting to the coastline.

On the way back to camp we stopped at Blue Holes for a look around, before getting ice creams and having a quick play in the town playground. For the rest of the afternoon we stayed at camp where the kids spent their time making up new games with the other kids staying at the farm.

Day 86: Shark Bay to Kalbarri

Another travelling day today. We stopped into the Denham visitors centre and the "little shop" for one last look around before heading south again.

On the way back to the main highway we stopped at Hamelin Pools to try and see the stromatolites. Even though the tide wasn't very low we could still use binoculars to see some of them sticking up out of the water. After looking at the stromatolites we walked along the shore towards the old Hamelin Station, and its shell brick quarry, before circling back to the car.

As we headed further south we started to see fields of flowers along the side of the road - including white everlastings near our petrol stop at Billabong Roadhouse.

For our stay in Kalbarri we camped at the Big River Farm. The property used to be a horse farm but it is now up for sale. There are still a few horses, dogs, cats, and peacocks around. The kids were excited to have the pool and playground right near our site and made good use of them before dinner.

Day 85: Shark Bay (Day 3)

Today we went on a tour of Francois Peron National Park. Access to the majority of the park is only by 4WD, so rather than driving ourselves through all the sand we booked with Wulu Guda Wyinda.

We meet our tour guide "Capes", who gave us (and our two tour-mates) all indigenous names for the day, which we were told we had to remember if we wanted to eat lunch! Olivia's name was Warda (pearl shell), Theo's name was Biguda (handsome kangaroo), John's was Thaaga (shark) and I was Wirriya (ocean). Once introductions were over we drove out towards the park - spotting kangaroos and emus along the way. Then at the old Peron Homestead we let down the tryes and drove into the sand. The two kids took over as navigators and animal spotters sitting in the front seat of the old Landcruiser.

As we made our way to the northern tip of the park we made a few stops along the way to learn about bush tucker - digging up some native yams and having a taste. We kept an eye out for thorny devils and echidnas along the roadside, bearded dragon in the dead trees, and blue tongue lizard in the scrub. We saw lots of animal tracks, some smaller lizards, and the bum of blue tongue lizards before we made it to Cape Peron.

At Cape Peron we had morning tea and then went for a walk along the coast. Wow what an amazing mix of colours - red and white sands meet blue ocean and sky. We also saw dugongs and eagle rays swimming off the cape.

We all had a swim while "Capes" cooked up some fish for lunch. While we were eating, a monitor lizard dropped in to check out the BBQ area. After lunch we walked along the coast the other direction towards Skipjack Point. From the lookout at the point we saw cowslip and eagle rays, a white tipped reef shark, and some large fish swimming below the cliffs.

We then drove to Bottle Bay and along the sand to the end of the beach. To end the tour we headed back to the old Peron Homestead for a soak in the artesian hot tub. It was a perfect end to an amazing day with amazing people. We all learned so much and really enjoyed a day out in the park.

Day 84: Shark Bay (Day 2)

Today we got up early to go see the dolphins 🐬 getting fed at Monkey Mia (sadly, no monkeys). They feed the dolphins three times. The first time we stood on the beach and only one dolphin came. The second time we stood on the jetty and two dolphins came. While standing on the jetty Theo's hat 🎩 accidentally fell off the side into the restricted area that was just for the dolphins!! We had to wait until the second feeding was finished, and for permission from the rangers, before someone (Dad) could swim out and get it. There were a lot of comments from the peanut gallery (fortunately, no peanuts). For the third feeding a whole group of dolphins came into the area (more than the first two feeds). We think they came in to see what was splashing around in their restricted area - Dad.

Then we looked at souvenirs. I got a badge and turtle mood ring. Then mum and dad got a drink before we went for a walk. After the walk we got lunch - well Mum and Dad did because there was nothing me and Theo wanted that did not have nuts. So we both had a milkshake.😁

We just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Day 83: Shark Bay (Day 1)

Me, Mum, and Olivia saw the blood moon it was really cool. A blood moon is when the earth blocks the sun from the moon. This is called an eclipse. To see the blood moon we went to bed after dinner and woke up around 1.30am. Then we stayed up for an hour and a half to watch the earth block the sun light. We also saw a few shooting stars.

Later after the sun came we went to the Ocean Park Aquarium where we saw lots of fish. There was lion fish, clown fish, stone fish, lemon sharks 🦈, sand bar sharks 🦈, and a really big fish called the estuary cod. And that is just a few of them. When at the aquarium they feed the sharks 🦈 by using a rod to hang a fish head over the water. The sharks 🦈 viciously pulled the fish head off the rod to eat it.

Fun fact - stone fished can move very fast. If you step on them they will hurt you a lot. It is very painful but will not kill you unless you have a heart attack.

Then we went to Eagle Bluff. At Eagle Bluff lookout we saw a few rays and a shark 🦈 in the water from up high on the cliff.

Last we went to Shell Beach. It had lots and lots of tiny shells instead of sand. Where I made a shell castle.

Day 82: Carnarvon to Shark Bay

Today was Father's Day. Sadly it was a travelling day so John couldn't have a sleep in. But he did wake to cards and hugs from the kids so not a bad trade off.

We headed south once again and into the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. Our first stop (and lunch) was at the Hamelin Pools. Unfortunately we got here just as a rain shower blew through so did not get out to have a look. We did learn that as it was also high tide we would not have been able to see much anyways since the boardwalk was damaged during a cyclone that came through a few years ago. We hope to drop in again in a few days when the tides are lower.

By mid-afternoon we arrived at the Blue Dolphin Caravan Park and Holiday Village in Denham. Olivia and I went for a walk through town before we had homemade pizzas for Father's Day dinner.

Day 81: Carnarvon

Today the sun was back out first thing in the morning. The kids and I headed to the local Saturday market in the town centre. We had a look at the crafts stalls, picked up some fruit and veg from the local farms, and had mini pancakes between rain showers.

Once back at the caravan park we picked up John and headed to the Carnarvon Space & Technology Museum. The site had several of the old dishes and radars used for tracking during the Apollo moon landings. Part of the museum covered the history of the Base Station through the Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab eras before it was shut down in the mid-1970s. The kids favourite part of the museum was the hands on science room. Here there were several simulation activities from landing a space shuttle on a runway to docking with the international space station. There was a green screen to "take" photos of yourself on the moon, a science quiz to do, and a vending machine where you could pretend to buy various foods to have in space and learn the pro and cons of those foods (chips = too many crumbs; baked beans = good that they stick to your spoon but makes you too gassy; lollies = can spill and bounce around hitting you in the head while trying to sleep). Finally near the back there were four old Atari games to play - John and Theo kept trading the top score on Gallaxia.

Day 80: Coral Bay to Carnarvon

Today we packed up, did a bit of souvenir shopping and said goodbye to Coral Bay. We continued our southern journey leaving the Ningaloo Coast for the last time and arriving in Carnarvon just before the rain started - our first rain since Kakadu. The winds that came with the rain are definitely the strongest that we have encountered this trip. We hunkered down for the afternoon at the Discovery Park Carnarvon for a bit of down time.

Day 79: Coral Bay (Olivia)

Today we went on a manta ray snorkeling tour. We saw lots of animals including turtles, fish, coral and manta rays. They provided wetsuits which is good because I get cold in the ocean easily. We met some other kids from... Germany! and did lots of snorkeling. Afterwards we got hot chips.

Day 79: Coral Bay (Theo)

Today we did a manta ray tour where we first had to get wetsuits before we left. After that we took a bus to the boat. Then we took the boat to our snorkelling test area. We had to do a snorkelling test before we could swim with manta rays to make sure our gear worked, we were able to swim, and to pull ourself back onto the boat while it was moving.

After that we got back in the boat and left to go find the manta rays. When we found one we had to learn how to respectfully get into the water to see the manta ray. We had to get into groups of ten because then the mantra ray would not feel overwhelmed by too many people. When in the water we had to stay 3 metres from the tail and 2 metres from the sides of the matra ray. But since the manta ray stayed at the bottom we could get a little closer. When we got in the water we saw the manta ray - it was BIG (4m wide)! We got in a few times to see the same manta ray because there were different snorkelling groups.

Later while waiting for lunch to be ready we saw a logger head turtle! Much later we went snorkelling again. We saw two turtles - one was a green sea turtle they other I do not know. We saw a white tip reef shark under some coral that had one of the turtles higher up on the coral. When we got back to our campsite we had hot chips.