Up with the Lark, or more likely the ubiquitous Butcherbird, we left the hotel just after eight. Our first port of call was the petrol station. Fuel is a rather important consideration here when fuel stations can be well over 200km apart. Although our destination was only 150km away, it was wise to fill up. Fuel is considerably more expensive up here, transport costs must be huge.
After topping up the tank, we headed south out of Exmouth, the only direction possible! After about 30km we turned off onto Charles Knife Road. This took us west into the hills of Cape Range high above the coastal road. The road narrowed and wriggled around as it climbed through scrub and rocky outcrops until it opened out to fantastic views over dark red coloured canyons and enormous vistas of the east coast. Eventually, the metalled road gave out and we continued for a while on gravel until the road really narrowed, crossed a very narrow ridge and climbed up a really rough bit of road to a small parking area. We took several pictures and I'm guessing we could see close to 80km in all directions. A very remote, but beautiful spot, but fiercely hot at 35C.
Back on the main road, we picked up speed and continued south past Learmonth airfield. We briefly stopped at a wartime memorial that commemorated attacks on Japanese forces in Singapore, the building of an airstrip and resupply facilities for the USN submarines. It must have been a hard existence living and working here with no road access and only tents for accommodation.
Finally, after about 140km we came to our turn-off to Coral Bay. It was only a short distance from there to the very small community of Coral Bay. We were rather early to check-in so we went for a coffee at the bakery and sat outside to drink it. Now, that might not sound interesting, but for us it was momentous! There were NO flies! This was a revelation and we don't really understand it, a community in northern WA and no flies. Believe me we are not complaining!
After coffee, we drove down to the beach and ate our filled roll that we'd bought in Exmouth. Still to early to check-in we looked at various tour opportunities and succumbed to an ice-cream on a shady verandah. Whilst sitting there, I mentioned that I thought buying a couple of 'Rash Vests' might be a good idea after we got sunburned yesterday whilst snorkelling. For those unaware, a 'Rash Vest' is a sort of t-shirt designed to be worn whilst swimming, snorkelling or diving. It protects you from sunburn, provides some warmth like a wet-suit does and potentially protects you from stings in the water. We returned to the small shopping centre and managed to get a couple at a reasonable price considering the location we are in.
By now, we decided we could check in at the Ningaloo Beach Resort. It was a bit of a blow out price wise for us, but the location and quality of the place made it all worth while. With the benefit of hindsight, we should have stayed here for three nights rather than Exmouth! Coral Bay has a really good feel to it and the hotel is excellent. The staff are friendly and the room looks out over the pool to the sea!
Dressed in swimsuits, Rash vests and clutching snorkelling gear, we left our room, crossed the car park and walked onto the beach. Ditching unneeded clothes, hats, sunglasses etc, we walked a further 100 metres up the beach, donned mask fins and snorkel and headed into the sea. The coral reef is only metres from the edge of he beach and is fairly spectacular, loads of fish and coral to see in warm still water. I think we were in the water for over an hour and a half, it was blissful!
Having rinsed all our kit off at the hotel, I went to the bottle store for a few beers to take to the room. The bar maid told me it was 'sausage sizzle' starting at 6. On enquiring, I discovered this was BBQ'd Sausages in a bun for free! That sounded like half of our dinner taken care of, so we went back, grabbed a couple of schooners of cold beer and sat outside eating hot dogs and watching the sunset over the sea. Surely, this what holidays are made of!
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