Diving, Dolphins and Diamonds!

SATURDAY, 8th October 2011


We celebrated Jace's birthday today, he got spoilt with a waterproof camera.  And then we toured around Exmouth, checking out the lighthouse and nearby beaches. 

We were so lucky at Five Mile Beach that we got to see what must have been 100 giant sea turtles rolling in the waves onto the beach.

 

Jace put the kids to work to clean the car, they weren't much help though as you can see, but about 4 hours later Jace was done and the car was surprisingly shiny.  Not used to seeing it like that, its been covered in red dirt for a long time now.

Ash has started his pashing practice on the younger girls (luckily it was only a doll).

 

SUNDAY, 9th October 2011

Today we went out to view the reef on a glassbottom boat.  It was just long enough to keep the kids entertained and we got to see a turtle and some cool fish amongst the reef.

MONDAY, 10th October 2011

We moved around the west side of Exmouth to Ningaloo National Park today.  It was packed out due to the school holidays so we were camped some way aways from the beach, this turned out to be a blessing in its own way because the winds were howling through but not as strong as they were on the beachfront.

The tent is slightly worse for wear with a few bent poles, and I could sure do with a good night sleep without all the flapping of the tent keeping me awake.

 TUESDAY, 11th October 2011

We took off exploring Osprey Beach this morning, and then decided to work our way up the beaches north.  We we snorkeling at Turquoise Bay and got to put Jace's new camera to the test.  We were lucky enough to see another turtle whilst snorkeling plus plenty of fish and starfish, it was a very cool snorkeling spot.

 

 

While we were resting later in the day a kangaroo decided to come and take advantage of some of our shade.

 

SATURDAY, 15th October 2011

Moving south today we took the coast road down to Gladstone to set up camp.  I'm now driving since JAce hasn't managed to get his replacement licence sent here, and thanks to his wonderful navigation skills we took a slight detour to get here via some salt plains that resulted in me getting us bogged.  No evidence though as he wasn't quick enough to get photos.  

The flies and heat drove us mad here though and we will be moving on tomorrow to get to Monkey Mia.

 

MONDAY, 17th October 2011

Arrived at Monkey Mia and we've spent the last couple of days paddleboarding, feeding dolphins and glass bottom boating.  

 Ella was lucky to be chosen out of the hundred or so people that were there to feed the dolphin, but she let her older friend do the honours while she got to stand close by.

 We made the most of the overcast day and headed into Denham to catch up with some friends that we met in Cape York.  And then went 4wding through Frances Peron National Park.

 WEDNESDAY, 19th October 2011

We 've left Monkey Mia and are staying at Hamelin Pool.  We went to check out the stromatolites there, and typically at a protected place where you are supposed to stick to the boardwalk and not touch the scenery, Ella managed to drop a toy off the boardwalk and had me clambering all over the rocks to collect it - so much for protecting sensitive prehistoric lifeforms!

 Meanwhile the flies are driving us MAD.  We are wearing the sunshades that usually reside over the car doors, just to keep the flies out of our mouths.  Gross.

THURSDAY, 20th October 2011

We took the "Useless Loop" out to Steep Point today - the most westerly point of Australia.  It turns out Jace had some special plans for this place as you can see in the picture below.

 Luckily enough I accepted his proposal (after checking inside the ring box to ensure there were no burger rings like last time).  And so now 2 kids and 5 years later Jace and I are engaged!

Yep that's the proof its not edible!

 The kids were none the wiser for what was going on.

 We spent the rest of the day on the beaches nearby, just us, the white sand and beautiful water.

 FRIDAY, 21st October 2011

Onward to Kalbarri National Park today, and the flies are still following us, so we stuck to the short walk lookouts.

And then set ourselves up in the coastal town for a couple of nights.  We've managed to land a campsite right next to the playground (awesome, no leaving the site to keep an eye on the kids), and next to a family with an Ella same age as ours travelling from Sydney also. So with friends and playground the kids are stoked!

SATURDAY, 22nd October 2011

We went exploring Red Bluff today.

 And then went to the Rainbow Jungle Aviary to see the birds.  The kids are addicted to "Rio" the movie (thanks Katie!!) so they went on the hunt for Blu and Jewel the blue macaws....and found them to their delight.

We can't decide if we want to stay longer in Kalbarri, it may be a couple more days...who knows!

Well I say that and then have a spider crawl across the screen telling me that that's enough.  Ewww.

Cya
xx Carlie.