We left Carnarvon with the skies still threatening - but it was clear enough to head to the coast and the southern end of the Ningaloo Reef. We were heading for the Blowholes - because the road was sealed, and locals recommended it as one of the best places to swim at the reef.
As we made it just past Point Quobba Lighthouse I had to pull off to celebrate a momentous milestone. Rocky clocked over 50 000km since new - exactly 22 756km since leaving home. It was worth a photo, with the lighthouse in the background!
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| Happy 50 000km Rocky! |
We decided to camp at Point Quobba, a shire run camp-ground for the princely rates of $11.00 per night. It was an interesting place with plenty of old beach shacks, grey haired nomads and keen fisherman all jostling for a spot. We found a nice place near the beach access, and set up camp.
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| Just back from the beach - glorious |
The following morning we checked out the Blowhole. Best seen at low tide, there are about half a dozen holes in the limestone rock shelf. One is particularly large, and near it a small vent provides a spectacular display. Timing a photo to show it off at full glory is particularly difficult, but we enjoyed our time here looking at the blowhole.
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| Waiting for the perfect shot |
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| You get the idea |
The part of the world has a protected fish sanctuary area, well called the aquarium. Fishing is not allowed near here, but the snorkelling is first rate. Whilst the coral may lack the colours of the Great Barrier Reef, it is incredibly accessible, being just off the beach - and the waters are full of fish!
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| The Aquarium - doesn't look so much from above the water - but in the water it is very much alive! |
The boys kicked about in the shallows for a while, before donning their snorkels and heading out into slightly deeper water. We spent ages just looking at the clams, coral and fish of all colours and descriptions. I did take the GoPro camera with me, and hope to have taken some good video of the excursion underwater.
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| Kicking about before donning the snorkel |
We were told to take a bit of bread with us - and if we thought there were plenty of fish in the water earlier, the mere dropping of a few crumbs had the water literally teaming with fish. A few over zealous fish even nibbled the fingers of those silly enough to hold onto the bread underwater! It was simply delightful.
We wandered up to the rocks overlooking the 'Aquarium', and were rewarded with a sighting of a Green Turtle. The waters were beautiful and we spent ages looking down on the fish waiting in the gentle current for a fresh feed.
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| Green Turtle in the Aquarium |
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| Check out the fish! |
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| There are worse places to sit and check out the fish! |
A real highlight for The Little Fisherman was that he finally - after much effort - caught a fish (in the fishing zone), the first of the trip! He was in-a-word ecstatic. In fact Mum even heard his cry of "Fish" from camp, a good hundred meters upwind!
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| Little Fisherman with his catch |
Thankfully the fish was unable to be identified from our little books and the WA fishing guide, and being of a small nature, we returned him to the water to live another day.
On our last night at Point Quobba, the weather changed. A front came through that brought very strong winds and lots of rain. I could tell you how it was, but The Little Helper (7 years old) wrote an excellent journal article that I will reproduce here:
When we went to Point Quobba. We were having a good night... until... uh oh. Heavy rain!!!! It came down in pools of water! Lachlan and I had a wet bed because we have a flap. The flap kept on opening!!! When Dad took us for a wee our shoes were floating!When we went for a wee it was like having a shower out side!! When we went inside, Mum said "Come and sleep up here!!" So up we went. All of us were squished. Lachlan was not squished because we was doing a star fish in the middle of the bed. So of course we did not get any sleep. Lachlan wanted more room, so he was going 'wiggle, wiggle, wiggle...wack!' to poor Dad. I can tell you how we got no sleep. It was because the sound was ear splitting!
It was a wild night for sure - and we all decided to head off early the next morning. We packed up and returned to Carnarvon to resupply and head inland. Unfortunately we should have had a closer look at he road conditions before we set off!
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