Leaving Denham we were on the road before 9am, all was double checked and ready to go, so hooked up and as we passed our site on the way to the exit (avoiding the speed humps), I glanced across to see something gleaming from the tap at our caravan spot........it was the hose adaptor which had been left behind (a cardinal sin of campers)......there would be repercussions for Belinda!!!
We set off and after the barrage of "are we there yet's" the boys settled down to watch the GPS click down to 100km from our destination and they were allowed to have their movies! We arrived in Carnarvon and setup our site (within distance of the play park and the bouncy castle) a 5yo"s nirvana!
Soon we were in the car and downtown to check out the sites, on the way Riley was complaining that his eye was sore (had been for the last day or so), so after getting to the doctors and unable to get an appointment...... it was off to the hospital for a wait!, well just 20 minutes later we were in, beat that RPH!!!!!! the doctor had Riley reading the eye chart like he’d been bribed with a pound of sweets (he didn't get a thing, apart from an orange eye and a clean bill of health!).
Next morning we headed along Southern River Road in search of the prized Carnarvon deliciously....the BANANA! we found a stall and refreshed our supplies (ate most on the way home). We stopped on the side of the road to have a closer look at a banana plantation, the boys now know this is where bananas come from an not the shop!! Our next destination was the Gascoyne River, we managed to get down onto the riverbed and trek across to the water.........you can see the photos that it is actually an underground river and what we can see is just the flood way????, on the way back we stopped to see the devastation of the most recent cyclone and what remained of roads and farms near the river. We then returned to our site for lunch and after what seemed an eternity of negotiating we went with the boys to the Bouncy Castle until dinner time.
That night it PERSISTED DOWN, we awoke to find more water then we had seen in months. After schoolwork we were off to the Blowholes, 80km north of Carnarvon on the way we visited the Lighthouse with a fantastic view of the area. Nearby was a sanctuary cove where we had lunch and the boys explored, found fish and crabs much to their delight.....(NO FISHING ALLOWED! ) The blowholes were great (once they got going) so we left and returned to Carnarvon to take the boys out and see the old Jetty........only to find that there was a TRAIN MUSEUM.........well was there some shouting and hollering from the midgets in the back! Once the excitement had subsided we got out and went to have a closer inspection.............. 6 million questions later and they were stuffing their faces with cheese and crackers, relief!
We decided to have Fish & Chips for dinner up at the OTC dish at the surrounding parkland.........well it would have been a good idea if they had not fenced it all off, think they need to update their advertising flyers, so back to the bouncy castle to the boys delight.
The next morning it was still raining, we managed to pack up the van from access hatches on the inside and all that was left to pack outside was the hoses and the awning, we were off again. We arrived at Coral Bay and it was still raining, Aiden had been complaining his ankle was sore, so Bell gave him some panadol and he was into our big bed and out for the count. Bell and Riley went exploring and finally 3 hrs later they returned as Aiden awoke so we all could go down and look at the beach, it was amazing, the boys rode their bikes in the big puddles and we returned home for dinner books and a well deserved bed!.
Up at 7 and off to the beach for a snorkel, it was overcast but not raining, we went for a swim and found immediately some large Snapper following me around the bay (looking at my watch and wedding ring) the boys had a run-around in the rain and Aiden made it into the water only to emerge and disappear under my towel!. Back home for brekkie and it was off to the boat ramp and then for some 4x4ING down the coast south (5 fingers). We found a fantastic little bay and proceeded to catch our next fish (finger fish actually about 15cm long!) the boys had a blast with their new friends in the rock pools and beach, we met a poppy that had been coming here since 1964 and still loved it (even with the commercialism). We then dug out a tourist who strayed onto the beach with inflated tyres then it was time to go home. On the way we were hit by a massive deluge from above, we almost had to stop as visibility was almost zero, when we returned to the park there was water everywhere. We went down to the bay for Spangled Emperor feeding and we were not disappointed!!! There were approx 30 fish varying from 3 to 10kg in size swimming thru our legs and around our feet, it was frenzy! We returned to the van to prepare for dinner and we filled up our little rectangular 15LT tub to wash all our feet, only to find it was approx 50deg Celsius in temperature as it was artisan water..........lovely. 10 minutes later Belinda looked outside to find Aiden squeezed into the tub enjoying his very own Artesian Spa!
Next morning it was great weather, we were off north to Maud's point and some swimming in the warm waters, we got out the surf mats (for you over 35s out there) and taught Riley to body board.......... it was great!. Then it was back to town via the old dirt bike course for some 4X4ing and then the fish feeding once again. After dinner we went down to see the sunset and on returning we watched the "lucky buggers" filleting there fish, Riley and Aiden were given a skeleton (what they wanted to hold) to pose with for a photo opportunity!
Tuesday the boys did their schoolwork and both Riley and Aiden made an extra effort "AIDEN WROTE HIS NAME FOR THE FIRST TIME" with no help from mum and got 50 cents ..... damn inflation! We did some domestics and then went on a glass bottom boat across the reef for an hour which just wet our appetite for Wednesday "Manta ray swim!", we met with Max and Linda for some snorkelling and Frisbee on the beach, Riley has got his confidence back and can duck dive and even clear his snorkel.
Max and Linda offered to look after the boys for the day so we could go and do the Manta Ray dive, for that we are so gratefully as without this kind offer we would have surely missed the opportunity! Following dinner it was back down the beach for the sunset, some locals and tourists commented it was better than Broome, the best they'd ever seen !!!, we visited the filleting spot on the way back and Riley got to hold a whole fish for another photo opp!.
The Manta Ray Swim was amazing (words are not enough ... just do it), we can't stop watching the photos and video we took, to have these magical creatures just carry on their merry way as they fed right under us, by doing barrel roll after barrel roll as they filled their mouths with microscopic plankton. It is one experience we would recommend. It was a full day with snorkelling on reefs with all kinds of fish that were interested in us, you can definitely tell it is a marine park with no fishing. This marine park is the only area in the world that has a good population of Mantra Ray's.
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| See photo - Manta Ray. |
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