Anzac Day and its aftermath were now behind us for another year, the Cruiser was shipshape, Liz and I were again flu immune and we had caught up with many old Carnarvon friends. It was time to be moving on.
We hitched up under the pink clouds of a typical Carnarvon sunrise and made our way out of the Big 4 Plantation Park for the last time.
We hitched up under the pink clouds of a typical Carnarvon sunrise and made our way out of the Big 4 Plantation Park for the last time.
On this occasion we crossed the Gascoyne on the main highway bridge. Water was still flowing, gleaming brightly in the early morning sunlight.
As we made our way further north along what is now the North-West Coastal Highway (The Brand Highway ends at Carnarvon) we were again struck by the extent to which the countryside was now a carpet of lush grass. This was so different to what we had seen last year.
After a quick fuel stop at the Minilya Roadhouse
we pushed on towards the North-West Cape and the turn-off to Coral Bay. Here again we drove through a landscape which had been transformed by the recent cyclonic rains. It really was a picture.
We had travelled this road last year en-route to Exmouth, and had popped into Coral Bay for a quick look as we did so. Given that I posted quite a number of photos of the town, parks, beach and infrastructure, I'll not do so again here.
Fast forward to the Bayview Caravan Park. I have already told you of our tale of woe when we arrived here to discover that the site allocated to us was totally inadequate in terms of size. This really was annoying given that we always make sure that those taking our bookings are well aware of our length. It demonstrates the stupidity of a Perth based booking system where those taking requests and allocating sites clearly do not know how to do their job properly. And then we had to deal with the problem of getting onto the alternative offered us. It was certainly big enough but presented the challenge of negotiating the high bank between the site and the roadway.
But, as I related before, after several attempts at different angles and ploughing a considerable furrow in the grass, we finally settled in.
This end of the park is well grassed, and the sites are large indeed.
The grass here is a salt tolerant type of couch which is just as well. The artesian water used to maintain it is quite saline, and, because it can be dangerously hot when it reaches the surface, all the sprinklers used in this park have very fine spray jets. This allows the water to cool before it actually hits the grass.
Of course the other snag this presents is that all drinking water has to be collected from rain water tanks on a daily basis. And, as you can see, this end of the park does not offer any shade. Why would you spend three months here, we wondered? (as many do)
Other sections do offer much more shade, but here the penalty to be paid comes in the form of tight and crowded sites.
Unfortunately this park did bear the brunt of the fury of Cyclone Olwyn, and some of the scars were still evident. This cabin was very much the worse for wear,
as was the camp kitchen. This had not been repaired in the seven weeks which had elapsed since. And here I have another real gripe about the management of this park. Whilst an apology was offered by the staff member who checked us in, there was no discount offered, and for those camping, this complete lack of what is a standard park facility, presented a real problem.
Our immediate neighbours, a delightful English couple who had bought a second hand 4WD and a good tent and were travelling the country, faced this problem daily. Understandably they were less than impressed.
This, however, tuned out to be the least of their problems. Like us, they packed up on the morning of 1 May to escape the visitation of TC Quong, but unlike us they chose to head north, where they ran into heavy rain and significant highway flooding. We later heard from mutual friends that Verity had aquaplaned on a floodway, lost control and rolled several times. Her husband is now in a Perth hospital suffering a depressed fracture of the skull and a broken neck. She escaped with a broken wrist. What a dreadful way to bring their great Aussie adventure to an unplanned end. We wish them both a speedy recovery.
This was but one of several tales which confirmed as wise our decision to scurry south, but I've already regaled you with that short adventure.
Before injuring my foot and scooting out of Coral Bay, we did manage a good walk around the small town when Liz was able to check out the views I had captured when we were there the previous year and which I'll not represent here.
New to us both, however was the local boat launching area,
and its associated infrastructure which is pretty substantial. Like so many of these small coastal towns along the Ningaloo reef system, folk flock here in large numbers to take advantage of the excellent off-shore fishing where the vast majority of the species caught present fine table fare.
From this vantage point we could see along the coast northwards toward the Coral Bay township,
and south along the coast where a few hopefuls were trying their luck on the inshore grounds.
Looking directly out to sea, the proximity of the Ningaloo Reef becomes evident. This is, of course, one of the great draw cards of Coral Bay, apart from the (usually) warm winter weather. Along the main town beach, those snorkeling can access the reef with ease. Visitors wandering along the esplanade with large flippers, masks and snorkels in hand is a common Coral Bay sight.
It was while we were here at the boat ramp that I spied a particularly colourful camper trailer and equally garish towing vehicle. What on earth is this all about we wondered. We later discovered that we had missed the opportunity to get up close and personal with one of the morning TV show's weather girl who was on the road reporting from different WA coastal locations daily. We did not lose any sleep over it!
As you can see from all the previous photos, the clouds in the Coral Bay skies were beginning to take on a glowering grey appearance. They were thickening rapidly, the harbinger of things to come, but in a somewhat ironic twist, provided a spectacular sunset before things turned nasty.
I have mentioned in previous blogs that Coral Bay is one of three destinations which many retirees living in the colder southern regions of WA make their home for at least three months over winter. Carnarvon and Exmouth make up the trio. We were constantly bemused by the vehemence with which each particular destination was lauded by its regulars and the others denigrated.
The thought of spending three months or so in the hubbub and crowds of Coral Bay, in a noisy, bustling, over crowded caravan park, in a place with very limited activity options, sharing the road with hoards of quad bikes on a regular basis and dealing with the lack of park manners of the throngs of backpackers who invade this place at this time of the year, is far from our idea of fun.
Quite aside from the disasters which befell us here, our return visit to this much lauded holiday destination did nothing to alter the first impressions we gained last year. I concede that for those who are prepared to pay for them, there are a good range of 'reef' tours on offer here, but all this can be experienced in a few days. The bay itself is undoubtedly pretty and the winter weather is warm But three months?.....I don't think so. We had had enough in three days. In case you had not guessed by now, Coral Bay is right off our return agenda.
But, as I related before, after several attempts at different angles and ploughing a considerable furrow in the grass, we finally settled in.
This end of the park is well grassed, and the sites are large indeed.
The grass here is a salt tolerant type of couch which is just as well. The artesian water used to maintain it is quite saline, and, because it can be dangerously hot when it reaches the surface, all the sprinklers used in this park have very fine spray jets. This allows the water to cool before it actually hits the grass.
Of course the other snag this presents is that all drinking water has to be collected from rain water tanks on a daily basis. And, as you can see, this end of the park does not offer any shade. Why would you spend three months here, we wondered? (as many do)
Other sections do offer much more shade, but here the penalty to be paid comes in the form of tight and crowded sites.
Unfortunately this park did bear the brunt of the fury of Cyclone Olwyn, and some of the scars were still evident. This cabin was very much the worse for wear,
as was the camp kitchen. This had not been repaired in the seven weeks which had elapsed since. And here I have another real gripe about the management of this park. Whilst an apology was offered by the staff member who checked us in, there was no discount offered, and for those camping, this complete lack of what is a standard park facility, presented a real problem.
Our immediate neighbours, a delightful English couple who had bought a second hand 4WD and a good tent and were travelling the country, faced this problem daily. Understandably they were less than impressed.
This, however, tuned out to be the least of their problems. Like us, they packed up on the morning of 1 May to escape the visitation of TC Quong, but unlike us they chose to head north, where they ran into heavy rain and significant highway flooding. We later heard from mutual friends that Verity had aquaplaned on a floodway, lost control and rolled several times. Her husband is now in a Perth hospital suffering a depressed fracture of the skull and a broken neck. She escaped with a broken wrist. What a dreadful way to bring their great Aussie adventure to an unplanned end. We wish them both a speedy recovery.
This was but one of several tales which confirmed as wise our decision to scurry south, but I've already regaled you with that short adventure.
Before injuring my foot and scooting out of Coral Bay, we did manage a good walk around the small town when Liz was able to check out the views I had captured when we were there the previous year and which I'll not represent here.
New to us both, however was the local boat launching area,
and its associated infrastructure which is pretty substantial. Like so many of these small coastal towns along the Ningaloo reef system, folk flock here in large numbers to take advantage of the excellent off-shore fishing where the vast majority of the species caught present fine table fare.
From this vantage point we could see along the coast northwards toward the Coral Bay township,
and south along the coast where a few hopefuls were trying their luck on the inshore grounds.
Looking directly out to sea, the proximity of the Ningaloo Reef becomes evident. This is, of course, one of the great draw cards of Coral Bay, apart from the (usually) warm winter weather. Along the main town beach, those snorkeling can access the reef with ease. Visitors wandering along the esplanade with large flippers, masks and snorkels in hand is a common Coral Bay sight.
It was while we were here at the boat ramp that I spied a particularly colourful camper trailer and equally garish towing vehicle. What on earth is this all about we wondered. We later discovered that we had missed the opportunity to get up close and personal with one of the morning TV show's weather girl who was on the road reporting from different WA coastal locations daily. We did not lose any sleep over it!
As you can see from all the previous photos, the clouds in the Coral Bay skies were beginning to take on a glowering grey appearance. They were thickening rapidly, the harbinger of things to come, but in a somewhat ironic twist, provided a spectacular sunset before things turned nasty.
I have mentioned in previous blogs that Coral Bay is one of three destinations which many retirees living in the colder southern regions of WA make their home for at least three months over winter. Carnarvon and Exmouth make up the trio. We were constantly bemused by the vehemence with which each particular destination was lauded by its regulars and the others denigrated.
The thought of spending three months or so in the hubbub and crowds of Coral Bay, in a noisy, bustling, over crowded caravan park, in a place with very limited activity options, sharing the road with hoards of quad bikes on a regular basis and dealing with the lack of park manners of the throngs of backpackers who invade this place at this time of the year, is far from our idea of fun.
Quite aside from the disasters which befell us here, our return visit to this much lauded holiday destination did nothing to alter the first impressions we gained last year. I concede that for those who are prepared to pay for them, there are a good range of 'reef' tours on offer here, but all this can be experienced in a few days. The bay itself is undoubtedly pretty and the winter weather is warm But three months?.....I don't think so. We had had enough in three days. In case you had not guessed by now, Coral Bay is right off our return agenda.
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