The following morning we lazed in the van for a while before the Harveys turned up. They were packed and heading out of town today so they called in to say goodbye. We were horrified to hear that when they left us last night, they’d hit another kangaroo – although this time thankfully with the bull bar. After saying our farewells, the girls did a quick maths test before we all headed into Exmouth to post some schoolwork and have a look around. First we ran into the McLean’s, followed by the Woods family and not too far behind were our “Harley friends” Mark and Sharon who recently arrived in town – just like a mini reunion! After spending time catching up, we checked out the shops. There aren’t a lot of them but with a town of about 2,500 permanent people it is probably plenty. It was pretty late by the time we drove off so we had a look around the outskirts and new home areas, caught up with a few phone calls and emails and then headed to the Lighthouse for a quick look (just missing sunset) before heading back to the van, keeping an eye out for kangaroos all the way back.
Mark and Sharon rode into our
camp this morning to meet with us, we were heading to Mesa to take out boat out
again and they were joining us. Just
before we left, Peter and Karen turned up to say farewell. It was their turn to leave this gorgeous
place today and continue their journey south.
After saying goodbye and making arrangements to definitely keep in
touch, we finished packing the boat gear up and headed into the N.P.
again. Susan was home with the boys
doing a bit of schoolwork and Mick had ducked into the Visitor Centre. Mark, Sharon and all our gang headed to the
beach and the water was looking mighty fine.
It was flat as a tack and crystal clear – there was no hesitation to get
out on the water today. The boat was in
and the girls and I hopped in first with Josh.
It was like scooting around in a very large swimming pool, but with coral
and fish beneath us. We didn’t need to
go snorkelling today as we could see everything from the boat. We spotted a couple of turtles, and best of
all even saw a dugong. Once back on
shore, we hopped out and Mark and Sharon jumped in for their turn. While they were gone, Zoe sat playing on the
sand while Sami and I swam out for a swim and snorkel. Back on the beach, Sami and I started to make
a sandcastle but then turned it into a 3D turtle (we did pretty good too) and
when Sharon returned she made a beautiful mermaid. We had a few more turns on the boat before
the wind started to pick up; it was by now the middle of the afternoon and we
decided to pull the boat out of the water and put it away. Just as we finished packing it away, the
Woods turned up, they’d been snorkelling at a few other spots today. We all sat about on the beach enjoying the
sun and company. Mark and Sharon left as
they didn’t want any encounters with kangaroos on their way back to Exmouth,
while us Scheffers were invited to stay for dinner with the Woods. They cooked up a storm and we all sat as one
big family to eat together – again the kids (nor us) wanted to leave as we were
having a great time. However, it was
getting cold and it was also very late (and dark) so we left, driving slowly
and watching out for big hoppers all the way back to the caravan – thankfully,
none veered into our path and we made it back safely.
So, it was Saturday, and we were
supposed to be packing and leaving today but it is just too pretty to leave –
so we are staying at least a few more days.
We planned to meet the Woods this morning to snorkel at the Turquoise
Bay drift side today. It was quite windy
and still pretty early in the morning (9.30amish) but we geared up and jumped
into the water. Being a drift with quite
a strong current, we took a child each to ensure that we got out of the water
at the right point instead of drifting out to sea. Whilst snorkelling we saw many fish - both
big and small and ranging from bright to the more dull. I would love to list them all but there were
far too many to list. There was a quiet
little octopus glued to a rock but he wasn’t fussed to see all our faces
peering at him as we floated past. The
coral too was magnificent, one type in particular looking like a large woolly
mammoth and hundreds of tiny fish swimming in amongst it. I was swimming with Sami and she was showing
lots of confidence duck-diving under the water to get a closer look at the
sea-life. We made it back to shore
safely but the kids weren’t keen to go again, they were happy to play on the
sand (where it was probably slightly warmer) with Toby and Lachlan. Josh and I walked back up the beach hand in
hand and entered the water again. We
floated along arm in arm gracefully with hundreds of fish just swimming along
paying us no attention, then I heard Susan calling out to me. I looked up at her and saw her waving us
towards her – she’d spotted a turtle! We
swam as fast as possible against the current to where her, Mick and Samuel were
and sure enough there was a turtle still there, slowly swimming along. He didn’t care that we were all so close to
him, not even when Josh and I were swimming only about a metre or two above
him. He was so beautiful and had such
big eyes. 5-10 minutes went by and we
figured he’d probably had enough of us so let him be. We finished that snorkel and decided that we
should do one more loop around – absolutely loving this place! Our next stop for morning tea was at Sandy
Bay. The big boys actually went for a
snorkel while Susan and I sat on the sand watching the kids drifting along in
the water – again there was a strong current so we couldn’t let them go too far
out. They had a great time in the
current with their flippers on seeing who could swim the fastest. Back at the car, we opened the door to the smell
of boat petrol which had leaked in the back so Josh spent about the next half
hour pulling stuff out and cleaning things up as best as possible. We decided to head back to Mesa again as Josh
was itching to put the boat in again. It
was a little windy but still lovely enough to get back out on the water. We all had a bit of a go out on the water,
except for Sami who wasn’t too fussed. On
our way out, Josh, Zoe and I spotted a large ray before moving out and seeing quite
a few turtles swimming about, some of which were huge but nonetheless still
pretty fast. We followed them each only
for a short while but didn’t want to distress them so moved on. The Woods all had a go too and they saw much
of the same. After cleaning the boat up
for the day, we settled in for a drink on the beach before moving up to their
camp. The kids were running around
playing and Susan even managed to send them on a bit of a journey around the
beach, over the dunes, etc. before coming back to camp. However, they didn’t return in a hurry so we
went looking for them. We found them all
rolling down a large sand dune, sand flying everywhere – they were having a
fantastic time. On our way back to camp
we stopped to check out another group of folk that had been out fishing. They’d brought back quite a few fish
including three Spanish mackerel which they were happy to share. They offered some to us which we were more
than happy to accept, eating it for dinner later that night and it was
delicious! We left before dark tonight and
saw stacks of kangaroos again and even a wedge-tailed eagle on our way
home. We were extremely sad to farewell
the wonderful Woods family today but we hope to catch up with them all again on
our travels somewhere along the track.
The following morning was
Father’s Day and the girls were actually first awake. They jumped into bed with us and gave Josh
his father’s day card and a big hug. It
was a very slow morning of relaxation and a bit of washing and cleaning
up. Mid-morning we decided to get out of
the van and see more of what was around.
We started by driving back towards Exmouth, stopping not far from where
we were staying as there is a bay where lots of turtles swim and come to the
beach to lay their eggs. However, after
trekking across the sand hills and avoiding rolling balls of spinifex, we made
it to the beach and it was really rough and we didn’t see any turtles. Not to worry, we moved on. We pulled in to a few other bays to check out
the beach and water before then stopping at Jurabi Turtle Centre. This is just a non-manned information site
and display about turtles in general but it was great as it was simple for the
kids to read and understand. The
lighthouse was next just for a quick bypass drive before heading out to the SS
Mildura boat wreck (a ship carrying nearly 500 head of cattle which became
stranded in 1907 after hitting the reef at the North West Cape). It was pretty deteriorated but at least you
could see, from the land, quite a bit of what actually remained. We drove past the large towers which make up
the Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt which was originally built
around 1974 for the U.S. Navy (unfortunately there wasn’t a whole lot of
information around to learn about this place – needed to find it on Wikipedia)
and then to a beach where you could see the Naval Pier which is meant to be one
of the best dive sites in the world. It
was after lunch by now so we headed into Exmouth for a late lunch and a walk
around in order that we could give our Dads a call for Father’s Day. We then ended up across the road at the kids’
water play area while we used the internet for a while; that kept the kids out
of our hair for a while. There was a bit
more driving about Exmouth to pass some time and wait for sunset to near –
where we headed back to the lighthouse and met up with Mark and Sharon for a
drink – or three! It was a bit windy and
cool and I should have learnt by now to keep some jackets in the car as we
don’t often end up back at the caravan before the sun goes down and it gets
cool.
We visited back at the Visitor
Information Centre this morning and spent lots more time reading the exhibits
and learning about the reef. When we got
there, there was a massive osprey sitting atop the telecommunications tower –
he was gorgeous and sat there casually overlooking the reef with the best view
of us all. We left there and went to
Lakeside for a snorkel as we’d heard a lot about it being another great
place. However, after trekking around
the bend to the markers, the wind was blowing a gale. The four of us hopped into the water with our
snorkel gear and tried to swim out towards the marker in the water but we just
kept being blown backwards so eventually we gave up and hit the shore again;
before trekking back to the car again.
On our way back out of the N.P. we crossed paths with Andrew & Kylie
and their gang, now with their car all repaired, so stopped to catch up. Back at the van we had a quick bite and the
kids got to work on making a paper box as it was our neighbours daughter’s
birthday. Elokin turned seven today so
her family was having a mini party at the bbq and invited us along with another
family. It was great, lots of party food
and an ice-cream cake to top it all off.
The six kids including ours, Elokin and Hendrix and Chloe and Jake went
to the playground to play while us adults sat and chatted a while. Nathan and Mandi came over for a drink a
little later and then we got some photos of Zoe, Sami and Elokin in front of
our “Classroom on Board” sticker to send back to SDEPS, yes – we’ve finally met
someone from the kids school! We were in
before dark tonight, retiring to have dinner and watch a movie with the kids –
hopefully a big day of school tomorrow.
Tuesday was just another school
work kinda day… got a bit done but still haven’t caught up and finished it
all. Zoe and I got started on her museum
display which she is doing on turtles. Mid-morning
we heard Mark and Sharon ride in on their bike – they were staying here for the
week. We got about half way through
before they conned us into going for a swim in the lovely caravan park
pool. Josh and I decided that while the
kids did more school work this afternoon that we’d have a hit of tennis. It was pretty warm but lots of fun,
especially seeing as though I beat Josh two sets to none. Tonight while all the kids took off to play,
the adults all had a few quiet drinks back at our van. The kids made the most of their time together
even pulling out sparklers to light up the night.
The following day was a matter of
doing more school work. Mid-morning
Andrew & Kylie called through to say goodbye – hoping to catch up again in
Coral Bay. The kids got stuck into the
school work and got quite a bit done up to early in the afternoon when they got
distracted and went to the park to play with all their new friends (Elokin,
Hendrix, Chloe, Jake, Samantha and Georgie) – it was like a kids group but at
least they were all being amused and not needing too much attention from us. Mid-afternoon we headed back to the camp
kitchen, this time for Hendrix’s 5th birthday party. We just hung about eating and chatting. Mandie had made the chocolate birthday cake
which the kids were all hanging to dive into.
Thursday we drove into Exmouth,
stopping at the old “little America” along the way. There is an area on the outskirts of Exmouth
where the USA navy set up camp many years ago.
This little town had housing facilities, their own dental clinic, a
church, a pool, baseball fields, bowling alley, cafes, etc. and apparently they
even imported and drove their Cameros and Corvettes. However, it is now a rundown ghost town with
no use. On our way back out of here, we
saw a mother and baby emu crossing the road, they were very cute! We continued in to Exmouth to some
information and pictures on the whale shark as Sami had decided that she was
going to do her museum display on this lovely creature. I gave her some ideas on how to do it and
then Josh and I went about helping her to create it. We decided to use a roll of baking paper to
identify how long the whale shark can grow to and then add lots of facts and
pictures to make it more interesting. We
found the local library and Josh got to researching the web and printing off
lots of information while Sami and I decorated the extremely long paper. We managed to use what we had and didn’t take
up too much room in the caravan so not a bad effort. In between doing this little project we
stopped in town for lunch. Josh found a
seafood shop so we picked up some fresh prawns and rolls – just what we’ve been
craving – while the kids headed back to the bakery. After completing all that needed to be done,
including restocking on food and alcohol, we headed back to Yardie
Homestead. Josh and I grabbed our tennis
rackets and played another two sets, this time we won a set each. This evening Mark came over after dinner for
a few quiet drinks and he and Josh tried to swap movies on the hard drives. A couple of bourbons later they called it a
night, hoping for a sunny day tomorrow.
We awoke to lovely sunshine this
morning and although the wind had died off, there was still a bit of a
breeze. We packed the car and headed to
the Oyster Stacks for one final snorkel with Mark and Sharon. However, after evaluating when we got there,
we decided that the swell was too big to get in. Instead we went back to Turquoise Bay for an
easy snorkel. It was better but the
visibility was a little murky. Zoe chose
not to come in, instead she enjoyed the sun back on the beach, but Sami is really
enjoying the snorkelling. Actually, I
think she is just loving the duck diving deep down to the coral and then
looking like a whale when she gets back to the surface and spurts the water out
the snorkel. We sat on the beach for a
while to warm up and dry off before heading back to camp via the biggest sand
dune around. It was a gorgeous view from
up here and both the girls enjoyed tumbling down the sand and then racing back
to the top. At camp, Josh and I decided
to have a final hit for the championship.
It was bloody hot in the middle of the day and we only got through the
one set, Megan winning 7-5! After a
quick shower we were ready for our final evening here at Yardie. We were having a bbq with all the families
that we’d made friends with at this park, 6 families in total including families
from Blacktown, Bathurst, Albany, Sunshine Coast and Bunbury. The ten kids all had a great time together,
ages ranging from 2 to 10 years old, and the adults enjoyed the great
company. It was a great night, and
again, there are many new friends that we will keep in touch with.
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