There have been very few days during this eight month journey that I consider long travelling days, but the trip into Karijini National Park was certainly one of those days. We arrived at Dale’s Campground in time to set up and head down to Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool for a look around and cool off in the water. Dale’s Campground had basic facilities; a drop toilet, no shower and no power, but a bargain at $10 per night. We returned to camp around dinner time, and Eliza jumped on her bike to cruise the camp looking for someone to play with. You can imagine her excitement when she came back saying “the McMaths are here!” So once again, we gathered up our meal prep, wine and chairs and headed over to their camp to catch up on the past weeks’ events.
We planned the next day’s walks based on the many comments on our two favourite Facebook pages: Families on the Road Travelling Australia and Travelling Australia With Kids. It was hot in the shade by 9am, so we headed for Hancock Gorge. It was a steep walk down into this narrow gorge, but they were all pretty tough. It involved a fair bit of rock walking and walking through the water, but it was well worth the trip. Eliza’s favourite part was the Spider Walk, which involved a starfish style walk through a small crevice, with a deep water base. Considering Jas is so small she did a wonderful job…probably better than I did! The reward at the end was a refreshing plunge into the clear but cold water of Kermit’s Pool.
We decided that night to head off the next morning. Some of the walks were quite challenging and Dave was reluctant to spend the whole day with a 4y.o on his back. Dave and Eliza got up early on pack up day and did a sunrise walk to the bottom of Circular Pool and back.
We made up some time on our return journey from Karijini, as after a fuel stop and toilet break in Tom Price, we motored on to Exmouth.
Karijini N.P
We had tried a couple of times to book a site at Cape Range National Park, which is adjacent to Ningaloo Reef, however, it was fully booked. We decided to stay at the Ningaloo Caravan and Holiday Resort ($48pn for a powered site plus $7 per child), which is opposite the Information Centre on the main road in to Exmouth. This was a nice clean park, but a bit overpriced for the dusty site we had. We were also next to the park caretakers, who were up early having loud conversations with grounds staff with no concern for others. Steer clear of site 122 if you can!!
From there it was just a short drive to Ningaloo Reef, and we spent many days enjoying the sun, sand and snorkelling on the beautiful beaches that stretch along this amazing coastline. Turquoise Bay was our favourite beach, and Dave and Eliza spent hours walking across the sand dune to the drift beach, which slowly takes you along the current for some excellent snorkelling. Dave was lucky enough to drift with a turtle for about five minutes and got some great GoPro footage.
After a week exploring the Cape Range National Park we headed towards Warroora Station for a few days of wilderness camping at Elle’s Beach ($10 per person p.n). Pronounced ‘Warra’, this family run sheep and cattle station offers remote-style beach camping and home stay facilities. It is adjacent to Ningaloo Reef and offers the most amazing snorkelling and swimming in clear blue water. The marine life is prolific, with dozens of turtles (mostly Hawksbill Turtles) swimming and feeding just a few metres from the shoreline. A few of the beaches had a quite steep entry, so we had to keep one hand on Jas when swimming. We enjoyed the total isolation (closest camper was 1km away from us) and the kids loved toasting marshmallows on the fire at night.
An easy 60km drive North brought us into Coral Bay. Our week was about to get hectic! We arrived at Bayview Caravan Park on the Friday before the first week of the school holidays. Wow! We couldn’t believe how busy one little town could be! The town of Coral Bay consists of a small shopping village with pub and bottle shop, bakery, general store, newsagents and dive shop, with a few other little boutique shops. The Coral Bay beach is then solely made up of the two caravan parks which are side by side, with a pizza restaurant and seafood cafe thrown in the mix. What more could you want!
It was also proving to be a very social time in our trip, as it was Coral Bay that most of the friends we had made earlier in the journey would finally meet. The McMaths, Beer and Bere (hahaha!) families all landed in town at the same time. Party Central! We have all totally embraced the travel lifestyle, and the demands that such a gruelling social life bring. For the next week, we swam, snorkelled, played, kayaked, drank beer and ciders on the beach, shopped Coral Bay dry, relaxed, played cards and drank copious amounts of red wine. It was loads of fun and we won’t forget Coral Bay in a hurry!