Carnarvon

Tuesday 30^th August

 After a good session of school work we decided to go and have a look at Miaboolya Beach which was about 20 km north of Carnarvon, on the northern side of the Gascoyne River. We finally found the beach after driving down some hairy dirt and sand tracks through sand dunes.  There was a strong wind blowing and the place looked quite uninviting.  The sea was a dirty brown colour, probably caused by dirt stirred up from the nearby Gascoyne River. 

The beach itself stretched for miles to the north and looked quite desolate. We had a bit of a walk along the beach but seeing as it was so unpleasant decided to go back to camp, where we had a very enjoyable swim in the pool and spent the afternoon doing very little.

Wednesday 31^st August

Happy Birthday Lara.  The day started as usual with school work.  While Christel and Cameron were educating each other, I gave the van a well overdue wash.  We had to pay $2 to wash the car, and $4 to wash the van, but at least, at long last, there was sufficient water to do it.

After lunch we decided to go and check out Carnarvon’s jetty. 

At a mile long, it was for a long time Australia’s longest, and today is still one of the longest jetties in Western Australia.   In the early days it was an essential part of Carnarvon’s history with huge amounts of livestock being shipped out.  A cattle race was built along the entire length of the jetty and cattle and sheep were driven along it to waiting boats.

Later a railway line was built along the jetty, and part of it is still used today to take lazy tourists out to the end for a look.  We decided to walk it.

We were back at camp, just before three o’clock in time to ring Lara at the prearranged time of 7.00pm New Zealand Time.  What a thrill to be able to talk to Lara, George, and the boys, and catch up on all their news.

Thursday 1^st September

After school work we headed north along the road towards Exmouth, and then turned off onto the road leading to Lake MacLeod and Point Quobba.  Our destination was the Quobba Blowholes, on the coast at the southern tip of Lake MacLeod.  We stopped off at a lighthouse overlooking the coast where the blowholes were, and could see them erupting even though we were still more than a kilometre from them.  We could also see whales spouting out at sea.

Down on the rocky cliff tops, we watched the holes do their stuff.  The blowholes are activated by the sea pounding in against the cliffs.  Over millions of years, the sea has worn away the softer parts under the cliff, enabling the waves to crash in under the cliffs into caves and tunnels, where they become trapped.  The huge pressure that builds up then cases the blowholes to activate with huge geysers erupting into the air through holes along the top of the cliff.

Some of the blowholes are about 30 or 40 metres back from the cliff face, so there is about 30 seconds between the time the wave hits the cliff face, to when the blowhole erupts. 

It was fascinating stuff.  Equally fascinating was watching the pure power of the waves as they crashed into the cliffs.  Made you feel a bit insignificant watching nature do her stuff as she has done along this coast for millions of years.

While we were watching the blowholes do their stuff, we could see turtles out in the waves, and further out to sea several whales spouting and sounding as they made their way up the coast.  Just as we were leaving, Cameron spotted a pod of dolphins playing in the waves.

After spending about an hour watching the blowholes, we headed south for about 5 km to find a beach we had been told about, that was great for snorkelling.  We soon came across this beautiful little sheltered bay with a small island about 100 metres offshore. 

The bottom of the lagoon between the shore and the island was completely covered with coral, perfect for snorkelling. The contrast between this beautiful peaceful lagoon and the violent sea we had been watching at the blowholes just a little way up the coast was amazing.

We had lunch on the beach and then went snorkelling.  The coral was brilliant, equal to any we had seen.  It was growing so thick on the sea floor there was just nowhere to stand. We worked our way over to the island and clambered out on its sandy beach.  About 50 metres away on the south end of the island was a wide flat sand bank covered by knee deep water.

We could see hundreds of dark shapes in the water, and as we got closer realised they were sharks all about a metre to a metre and a half long.  We presumed they were Reef Sharks which were known to frequent these waters.  As they were known to be basically harmless, we quickly took the opportunity to snorkel amongst them. 

What an experience lying in about half a metre of water, with literally hundreds of 1 to 1½ metre long sharks all around you.  They were pretty timid and would swim right up to you, then suddenly veer away when they saw you.  Looking at them through goggles made them seem even bigger than they were, and sometimes, when they came swimming towards you, you started thinking “Shit, I hope these are Reef Sharks and not some man eater”.    Cameron showed absolutely no fear, and just loved it, even though some of the sharks were almost as long as he was.  It was at times like this that we wished we had an underwater camera.

Eventually we had to head back to Carnarvon.  About 30 km down the road we suddenly ran into a swarm of locusts. They sounded like large hailstones when they smashed into the windscreen.  We drove through them for about half a kilometre.  Luckily I think we must have just caught the edge of the swarm, as we had heard stories of cars having to stop and wait for a swarm to pass because the locusts were so thick they just couldn’t see.

The coast at the blowholes is the furthest west you can get by car in Australia. So now we have touched the coast on all four points of the compass on our trip around Aussie.  We must be on the home stretch now.