24th Aug ....and on we go to Coral Bay....Fish, boats, birthdays and lots of sand.

Coral Bay was only a couple of hours drive from Shark Bay, so the journey did not take too long. Luckily I had been warned to book ahead, so I managed to secure a pitch on the site we wanted. We book on for 3 nights, which sees us over the weekend. The park is so busy that we are put in the overflow/non powered part of the park. This means we wont have access in the tent to any power, so we have to make the most of our torches and our ability to plug the laptop/Ipod etc into the kitchen plugs when we are eating. We soon get the hang of it and apart from not having light in the tent at night its not too bad actually. The only bain here is the amount of sand and bloody ants that end up in the tent... (luckily I did't see the two large monitor lizards that live at the back of the camp near where we are set up, and who decide to wander through by our tent area (John decided to tell me about this some days later)....

Its quite strange here because its generally pitch black by about 5.30pm (days and daylight hours are much shorter in Oz, and because of the risk of hitting an animal on the roads at night, most people are off the road by about 4.30pm) and the sites tend to go really quiet just a few hours later and then they wake at about 7.30am. We meet some lovely people here and make some new friends. We dont tend to mix a lot, not because we arent friendly, but more because we are actually ok with each others company, we read, and chat and walk quite a lot, so time soon goes. But we dont tend to get involved in some of the group chats and bbq's that go on. The bike remains a big conversation starter and we are both on auto now when the questions start flying... it certainly breaks down any barriers.

25th Aug and its Roxanne's birthday, so we make the call back home ( well John does) and he promptly goes into full swing singing her happy birthday, he gets to the last line and this deep voice goes, 'Its Dan, John' well I laughed and laughed. apparently Roxanne is in the shower, so we have to call back which we do, we sing her happy birthday again... so all is well and she is having a nice day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOO xxxxxxx have a good one.


Less chat, heres the piccies and the mini write-ups... enjoy

This is the entrance to our camp site.

John by the campers kitchen... fed up of having his photo taken .. apparently.

Our new home, new site, new layout..

A view across the Coral Bay

Yes John, another photo.. and.?

The beach.

These fish are called Nordic Snappers, they come in daily to be fed by hand, even John and I fed them. It was brilliant.

Some of the catch from one of the local fishing boats.

More hand feeding.

A view as the sun is setting right outside the camp.

This was a view though the floor of the glass bottom boat we went out on, it was a great way to see the underwater world and to spend a couple of quiet, relaxing and calm hours.

This is some of the coral reef that edges Coral Bay.

A piece of coral.

more under the sea and under the boat lol...

A view of the land from the boat.

This is one of the biggest pieces of coral and is called Ayres rock, after the rock in the centre of Australia

John and I treat ourselves to Sunday dinner at the local resort, very nice too...oh happy days.

Love to our Girls and boys, be good , be safe, Love Mum and Dad xxxx
We are off to bed now as its the 26th and we are moving on to Exmouth tomorrow.

22nd-23rd Carnarvon trains and boats ...

Carnarvon was different to the other places we had stayed recently, although its still a seaside town its got lots of rebuilding going on and quite a lot of history to look at and into...we stayed on a site right on the edge of the town, but very nicely laid out and well looked after.

Heres the piccies anyway

We stop for fuel on the way to Carnarvon..could we get anymore on that poor bike ???

Another roadhouse...

Some local art...this is painted on a wall outside a school just as you enter Carnarvon.

Our home at Carnarvon, this was quite a nice site actually and very well cared for...shame there was a builder yard the other side of the fence, but it made no difference as camp life starts at about 7.30am anyway..

Views across the town...we walked all round this.

Silly boy...

more views, we walked over this and on for a further 3km to reach the railway museum and it was well worth it...

John finds a new mode of transport.... dont think so John !

This is at the local railway museum...

The one mile Pier at Carnarvon, the train is driven backwards for the return journey, there is only fencing on one side of the track , the other side is just ....the sea, yes the sea. The train is driven by to by a lady called Sas, who was proberly about 85 years old, and very very funny....

A view from the train.

This is the end of the one mile pier and the point at which the train starts going backwards.

 John chats to Sas...

Some old photos of sheep shearers in Carnarvon...

How about this one John ?

The boat with the hole in the bottom... Carnarvon railway museum..

More old photos...of sheep shearers

Some sheared wool..

Info on a local famous shearer and pilot..

Johns at it again...

Our time went fast in Carnarvon... anyway its back to the tent and start to pack as we are off to Coral Bay next....

20th Aug -22nd Aug and its off to Shark Bay...via Billabong and Overlander

Shark Bay next, but first we have to go through Billabong... now you would think with a fashion label named after it it would be big. But let me just put you right! Billabong is one garage and one pub. Then there is Overlander, well thats just a garage (or roadhouse, as they are called here). BUT.... and I stress But they are not to be missed as they do the best chips and gravy ever... yum yum flippin yum... and their coffee was sooooo good too.

We roll into Shark Bay and start looking for the 'Tops site'. We come across it but it is full, now unfortunately thats the one we have been recommended to stay at, but hey ho. We drive on through town, up a hill and there in the sunlight appears 'Shark Bay Caravan Site'.  Now I am not gonna say too much about this place accept it was a bit like staying in the middle of a bomb site car park, (you know where someone has bought a bit of land and decides that for a lot of money you can park on it!!!! )  The showers were basic as were the ameneties. We slept on shell and gravel (bloody hard ground). But we still had a good stay, the town was ok and quite pretty, the people were a bit offish though and it felt as though they actually could not be bothered, not all of them, but a lot of them.... There was a nice esplanade to walk along. We are trying to hold on the budget so decide to have chips and a roll. But guess what, the chips (we share a box) cost £5 and the roll was £2 each, so even chips in a butty are not a cheap option out here. Still never mind, we are fed and watered. WE have to remember that you cant drink any of the tap water out here and the washing up water and the shower water has a slight orange tinge to it as its bore water, but again we get our heads round the situ and just carry on.

Heres the piccies...

On the way to Shark Bay..

Yes this is Billabong... ALL OF IT!!!

Will he never grow up....??

The esplanade in Shark Bay (Denham) and yes thats me waititng for me chips and buttie lol

along the foreshore in Shark Bay, really pretty

The man...

Keep on dreaming John ...

John making the sarnies .... for the chips...

This is 'Bob' the rescued turtle we saw at the local aquarium, which turned out to be really good. . He's ca;led Bob cuz when they found him thats all he could do 'Bob'

 The sharks at the Aquarium..

The signage... look at those distances and yes we covered all of them...it tool over 6 hours and we were both knackered at the end of them..

Now after doing all these KM's and more, I still got John to give my hair a quick trim..... yes I know but he dosent charge and everything is so flippin dear out here...we also made a nice chilli and a chicken curry....We ended up staying in Shark Bay for 4 nights, so it was't that bad, it could just have been better...