Our week long stay at Carnarvon was over and it was time to move further north. The Vogts were on a schedule to make it back to Victoria, and we now knew that we would be back for an extended stay, during which time I shall explore this town in detail.
The Plantation caravan park is one of the few in this part of WA which will allow vehicle washing, albeit for a $5.00 fee. It is amazing to see just how many take advantage of this facility. JV certainly did prior to our departure...the Vogts hit the road with a rig which gleamed.
I was somewhat more circumspect....I knew that I could tub the van on our return (good excuse??), but this did not stop the navigator from giving the inside of the cruiser a thorough clean. No matter how well vehicles are sealed, dirt roads will always leave their mark after enough kilometres. We were still carting a goodly dose of Quobba dust with us,
This is not to say your scribe had been idling around the camp doing nothing. Far from it. I had another challenge with which to deal. I have a vague recollection of having previously squawked about the fact that the outside van door handle broke in Kalbarri, in circumstances which remain a mystery. We had been treating this vital part of the van with kid gloves ever since, and, just before we left Carnarvon, the spare part which I had ordered from Geraldton finally arrived.
This is the offending component. Would you believe that this small, latticed piece of plastic with its equally small built-in spring, reduced our accumulated funds by a whopping $45.00. We're in the wrong business.
And, as you may have guessed, replacement was not entirely straightforward.....these things are never what they seem. Having examined the entire mechanism I had decided I had located all the necessary screws to effect removal. How naive!
Two are obvious, but there is a third, hidden behind a slide on the interior side of the lock. I remain eternally grateful for the advice received from our good friends the Watto's, who alerted me to this trap for young players and steered me onto the right remedial path. With that knowledge under my belt, and the instructional video to which the good folk at Country Time (the Geraldton caravan shop) had referred me, I was able to remove the lock and replace the handle, but not without a few snags.
Again, as usual, the video failed to highlight, at a critical point of disassembly, the need to turn a component part through 90 degrees before it can be removed. After a number of frustrating (and for me, remarkably calm) moments of experimentation and thought, the 'eukrea moment' arrived, and, from then on the replacement was pretty simple. It was such a relief to finally be able to come and go without fear of permanently locking ourselves out.
So, with the wind on our sterns, it was off early the following morning to Exmouth and beyond. Our target destination was Yardie Homestead, a caravan park and camp on the western side of the cape, about 25 kms past Exmouth.
Beyond Carnarvon, the Brand Highway becomes the North West Coastal Highway, which we duly followed to the Miniliya Roadhouse, 140 kms north of Carnarvon. Just past this very popular stopover, the North West Cape road veers off to the left. We were well on our way
through country which had now changed dramatically from that around Carnarvon. We had, by now, travelled beyond the 'spike' of flat, arid land which meets the coast in the Carnarvon region. The narrow road north up into the Cape cuts through thick, low scrub, which,
to our real surprise, is home to colonies of termites, housed as always in their remarkable air conditioned units just like their Queensland and Northern Territory cousins.
Sixty kilometres later and we had arrived at the turn-off and the even narrower road into Coral Bay,
a small town on the coast adjacent to the southern end of the Ningaloo Reef system, a town as we soon discovered, which exists for almost only one reason.....tourism. We had heard much said about Coral Bay.
Many of the comments were from Western Australians amongst whom we have found there seems to exist an extraordinary type of proprietary in respect of their preferred place in the northern winter sun. The camps are strictly divided. One's allegiances belong to Carnarvon, Coral Bay or Exmouth, and, from what we have noted, never shall these allegiances change. We had seen Carnarvon...how does Coral Bay compete?
The new apartments next to the village shopping centre at the northern end of the 'esplanade' presented a pretty good start.
And then we drove into what can best be described as a holiday crush, both vehicular
and pedestrian.
There was just so much coming and going along the somewhat restricted space of the seafront road I was grateful to be able to find a parking spot in the layover designed for visitors or those waiting to gain access to their caravan park.
We were almost over Coral Bay before we started. Crowds are not our thing. Glitz is not our thing. Masses of competing tourist promotional signs are not our thing. Nor are footpaths jammed with backpackers and young families and kids, through which the long-term regulars carved a determined and somewhat haughty passage, easily identified by their restrained but unmistakably imperious mien. And the high prices which can be charged in these environments are not our thing either. "Ye Gods, Lizzie, we've arrived at Mission Beach on the West Coast."
The co-pilot was all for an immediate about face and departure, but we were in need of sustenance and a break, and I was determined to at least leave with something of a pictorial record of our brief visit. Liz remained on Max duty whilst I took off on a rapid recce. And I have to say that by the time I had returned from both the pictorial quest and with two excellent cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches, a degree of calm had descended on the main drag.
Coral Bay hosts two caravan parks, the Bayview and rather oddly named Peoples Park (which isn't at all really...or at least one is not a 'person' if travelling with a beast of any description). They are virtually side by side and occupy almost the entire length of the seafront.
The entrance to the larger Bayview also houses the inevitable cafe/restaurant.
We had been told that this was a park in which the sites were very tight and that life here can become somewhat uncomfortable.
I decided to check it out and found that this was not so. Certainly there was not a huge amount of elbow room between the sites, but we have seen and experienced much worse on the east coast. All in all this was pretty civilised.
Walking south past the entrance to the Peoples park,
it was obvious that this is the winter home of choice of many who have clearly set up for a lengthy stay. The waterfront sites were beautifully grassed and open, but, as you might expect, these sites come at a price, a hefty one. Don't expect any change from $50 + per night for one of these premium sites.
Immediately south of this park, at the end of the relatively short seafront road along the Coral Bay beach, is the Ningaloo Beach Resort, where the less mobile tourists take up temporary residence for equally large sums.
Further south I marched, up the small hillock at the end of the beachfront roadway, from where the curving shore of Coral Bay arched away to the north, and,
turning to the west, the line of surf on the nearby Ningaloo Reef stood out in contrast to the captivating colours of the ocean (you may have to peer a bit to see the low line of white water on the horizon).
The waters of Coral Bay are without doubt everything the promotional material presents and more. It is a snorkeling paradise, where a short swim across the white sandy bottom soon brings aquatic adventurers over the coral and fish of the inshore reef. And even at this time of the year, the influence of the Leeuwin current maintains a very acceptable water temperature.
For many who visit Coral Bay, a Ningaloo Reef cruise is the prime reason for the journey. There is fierce competition for the tourist dollar, and one enterprising operator has even devised a method by which he can embark the punters from the beach via a nifty floating landing platform to which his large cruise vessel is moored.
The sand of the Coral Bay beach is much whiter than many of this part of the coast, but as can be seen from this shot, there is not a great deal of it, not that that seems to matter much. I was surprised by just how few were actually taking in a few rays on the shore.
But it was time for a munch....off to the shopping centre to see what I could find there. An arcade leads to a central courtyard around which most of the shop fronts are arrayed
and in which tables and chairs are scattered for the convenience of the eating public.
A sojourn here also allows time to contemplate the advertising plastered all over the wall of the surf shop
to decide which of the many tours on offer will suit the holiday budget and objectives.
And if that is not enough, a short stroll to the front of the same shop provides more choice.
On the subject of signs, it is clear from this in the bakery, that not all who visit Coral Bay are well endowed, financially or morally.....a reminder that even a tourist paradise such as this is not without its share of opportunistic crooks.
But these, I am sure are in the minority. These drying wetsuits alongside the tourist bus are clear evidence of the fact that many are prepared to part with their hard earned coin and visit the reef.
And for those adventurous souls who wish to remain on terra firma...well there is always a bash about the bush on a quad bike.
Does all this glitz work in attracting folk to Coral Bay? You bet it does. In a recent conversation with one of her counterparts from the Bayview Caravan park, Liz was told that they had been fully booked since March. As if this were not proof enough, we have had many staying here in Carnarvon over the past few weeks who have extended their stays at short notice because their plan to move on to Coral Bay has been stymied by a lack of van sites.
Indeed it is a delightful spot, but not one at which we would choose to stay at the height of the season. I am keen to spend some time here, but we plan to do so next year in what is referred to in the travelling world as 'the shoulder', that 'spring and autumn' of the tourist calender either side of the madness of the height of the season.
We came, we saw, we left! Of all the three competing 'wintering destinations' which create such division amongst the citizens of the west, Carnarvon, Coral Bay and Exmouth, Coral Bay takes the 'pure tourism' prize in a canter. But the other two towns have different things to offer, as we discovered.
This is the offending component. Would you believe that this small, latticed piece of plastic with its equally small built-in spring, reduced our accumulated funds by a whopping $45.00. We're in the wrong business.
And, as you may have guessed, replacement was not entirely straightforward.....these things are never what they seem. Having examined the entire mechanism I had decided I had located all the necessary screws to effect removal. How naive!
Two are obvious, but there is a third, hidden behind a slide on the interior side of the lock. I remain eternally grateful for the advice received from our good friends the Watto's, who alerted me to this trap for young players and steered me onto the right remedial path. With that knowledge under my belt, and the instructional video to which the good folk at Country Time (the Geraldton caravan shop) had referred me, I was able to remove the lock and replace the handle, but not without a few snags.
Again, as usual, the video failed to highlight, at a critical point of disassembly, the need to turn a component part through 90 degrees before it can be removed. After a number of frustrating (and for me, remarkably calm) moments of experimentation and thought, the 'eukrea moment' arrived, and, from then on the replacement was pretty simple. It was such a relief to finally be able to come and go without fear of permanently locking ourselves out.
So, with the wind on our sterns, it was off early the following morning to Exmouth and beyond. Our target destination was Yardie Homestead, a caravan park and camp on the western side of the cape, about 25 kms past Exmouth.
Beyond Carnarvon, the Brand Highway becomes the North West Coastal Highway, which we duly followed to the Miniliya Roadhouse, 140 kms north of Carnarvon. Just past this very popular stopover, the North West Cape road veers off to the left. We were well on our way
through country which had now changed dramatically from that around Carnarvon. We had, by now, travelled beyond the 'spike' of flat, arid land which meets the coast in the Carnarvon region. The narrow road north up into the Cape cuts through thick, low scrub, which,
to our real surprise, is home to colonies of termites, housed as always in their remarkable air conditioned units just like their Queensland and Northern Territory cousins.
Sixty kilometres later and we had arrived at the turn-off and the even narrower road into Coral Bay,
a small town on the coast adjacent to the southern end of the Ningaloo Reef system, a town as we soon discovered, which exists for almost only one reason.....tourism. We had heard much said about Coral Bay.
Many of the comments were from Western Australians amongst whom we have found there seems to exist an extraordinary type of proprietary in respect of their preferred place in the northern winter sun. The camps are strictly divided. One's allegiances belong to Carnarvon, Coral Bay or Exmouth, and, from what we have noted, never shall these allegiances change. We had seen Carnarvon...how does Coral Bay compete?
The new apartments next to the village shopping centre at the northern end of the 'esplanade' presented a pretty good start.
And then we drove into what can best be described as a holiday crush, both vehicular
and pedestrian.
There was just so much coming and going along the somewhat restricted space of the seafront road I was grateful to be able to find a parking spot in the layover designed for visitors or those waiting to gain access to their caravan park.
We were almost over Coral Bay before we started. Crowds are not our thing. Glitz is not our thing. Masses of competing tourist promotional signs are not our thing. Nor are footpaths jammed with backpackers and young families and kids, through which the long-term regulars carved a determined and somewhat haughty passage, easily identified by their restrained but unmistakably imperious mien. And the high prices which can be charged in these environments are not our thing either. "Ye Gods, Lizzie, we've arrived at Mission Beach on the West Coast."
The co-pilot was all for an immediate about face and departure, but we were in need of sustenance and a break, and I was determined to at least leave with something of a pictorial record of our brief visit. Liz remained on Max duty whilst I took off on a rapid recce. And I have to say that by the time I had returned from both the pictorial quest and with two excellent cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches, a degree of calm had descended on the main drag.
Coral Bay hosts two caravan parks, the Bayview and rather oddly named Peoples Park (which isn't at all really...or at least one is not a 'person' if travelling with a beast of any description). They are virtually side by side and occupy almost the entire length of the seafront.
The entrance to the larger Bayview also houses the inevitable cafe/restaurant.
We had been told that this was a park in which the sites were very tight and that life here can become somewhat uncomfortable.
I decided to check it out and found that this was not so. Certainly there was not a huge amount of elbow room between the sites, but we have seen and experienced much worse on the east coast. All in all this was pretty civilised.
Walking south past the entrance to the Peoples park,
it was obvious that this is the winter home of choice of many who have clearly set up for a lengthy stay. The waterfront sites were beautifully grassed and open, but, as you might expect, these sites come at a price, a hefty one. Don't expect any change from $50 + per night for one of these premium sites.
Immediately south of this park, at the end of the relatively short seafront road along the Coral Bay beach, is the Ningaloo Beach Resort, where the less mobile tourists take up temporary residence for equally large sums.
Further south I marched, up the small hillock at the end of the beachfront roadway, from where the curving shore of Coral Bay arched away to the north, and,
turning to the west, the line of surf on the nearby Ningaloo Reef stood out in contrast to the captivating colours of the ocean (you may have to peer a bit to see the low line of white water on the horizon).
The waters of Coral Bay are without doubt everything the promotional material presents and more. It is a snorkeling paradise, where a short swim across the white sandy bottom soon brings aquatic adventurers over the coral and fish of the inshore reef. And even at this time of the year, the influence of the Leeuwin current maintains a very acceptable water temperature.
For many who visit Coral Bay, a Ningaloo Reef cruise is the prime reason for the journey. There is fierce competition for the tourist dollar, and one enterprising operator has even devised a method by which he can embark the punters from the beach via a nifty floating landing platform to which his large cruise vessel is moored.
The sand of the Coral Bay beach is much whiter than many of this part of the coast, but as can be seen from this shot, there is not a great deal of it, not that that seems to matter much. I was surprised by just how few were actually taking in a few rays on the shore.
But it was time for a munch....off to the shopping centre to see what I could find there. An arcade leads to a central courtyard around which most of the shop fronts are arrayed
and in which tables and chairs are scattered for the convenience of the eating public.
A sojourn here also allows time to contemplate the advertising plastered all over the wall of the surf shop
to decide which of the many tours on offer will suit the holiday budget and objectives.
And if that is not enough, a short stroll to the front of the same shop provides more choice.
On the subject of signs, it is clear from this in the bakery, that not all who visit Coral Bay are well endowed, financially or morally.....a reminder that even a tourist paradise such as this is not without its share of opportunistic crooks.
But these, I am sure are in the minority. These drying wetsuits alongside the tourist bus are clear evidence of the fact that many are prepared to part with their hard earned coin and visit the reef.
And for those adventurous souls who wish to remain on terra firma...well there is always a bash about the bush on a quad bike.
Does all this glitz work in attracting folk to Coral Bay? You bet it does. In a recent conversation with one of her counterparts from the Bayview Caravan park, Liz was told that they had been fully booked since March. As if this were not proof enough, we have had many staying here in Carnarvon over the past few weeks who have extended their stays at short notice because their plan to move on to Coral Bay has been stymied by a lack of van sites.
Indeed it is a delightful spot, but not one at which we would choose to stay at the height of the season. I am keen to spend some time here, but we plan to do so next year in what is referred to in the travelling world as 'the shoulder', that 'spring and autumn' of the tourist calender either side of the madness of the height of the season.
We came, we saw, we left! Of all the three competing 'wintering destinations' which create such division amongst the citizens of the west, Carnarvon, Coral Bay and Exmouth, Coral Bay takes the 'pure tourism' prize in a canter. But the other two towns have different things to offer, as we discovered.
No comments:
Post a Comment