Peelies travels

Continuing south from Coral Bay, we re-joined the North West Coastal Highway at the Minilya Roadhouse and then it's a mere 139 km to Carnarvon. Here we bought fresh fruit from one of the many plantations that line the river (which looks dry but there is water in there somewhere). One of the items we purchased was prepared mango, frozen for convenience and our later delight. Have you ever eaten anything better than defrosting mango when the temperature is in the mid thirties?? It was delicious. Just another 206 km south is Overlander Roadhouse and that was our turnoff to Shark Bay Marine Park. Our first stop was at Hamelin Station, another ranch but in complete contrast to Bullara in the north, this is an ultra modern campground in an utterly arid ranch. I honestly don't understand how any livestock can be raised here. There is nothing on the ground just a load of stumpy bushes. The facilities are perfect and maintained by a farm employed husband and wife team; similar to ot...

21 October 2013 We left Exmouth for the second time, bound for Coral Bay, a much recommended location south of the North West Cape and Ningaloo Marine Park. Coral Bay is very remote as it is 152km south of Exmouth and 247 km north of Carnarvon. So you take your pick when you need to go shopping. At Coral Bay there are two campsites, a smal hotel and a backpacker hostel, plus some accommodation for seasonal workers. That's it! It's a two minute walk to the beach...and it's stunning. The lighter colour water shows where the shallow water is covering soft sand and the slightly darker area is over coral. After our snorkelling experience the previous week, it was a little strange to go back into the water and we had several sessions before we felt relaxed. I have also found myself watching and listening to other swimmers far more than I should! We signed-up for an outer reef snorkelling trip of six hours. The attraction was the possibility of swimming with manta rays and...

The first stop on the slow journey south from Exmouth was to a homestead - Bullara Station, www.bullara-station.com.au This is a large ranch which offers a variety of options to stay: Shearer's quarters, places for caravans, trailers and they also accept the occasional odd mad English campers. We keep telling people that were are camping-with-a-tent and not a camper-van. The place was almost deserted, as the holiday season this far north is almost over. Temperatures are now rising and will exceed 40 C frequently through the next few months. It provided our first dark nights with the Milky Way easily visible and a waxing moon (doing it from the opposite side too). Bullara is about 95km south of Exmouth - a mere 60 minutes at a steady pace. It's a mixed cattle and sheep farm employing a couple working as farm hands and temporary Backpackers otherwise known as WWOOFers (Willing Workers On Organic Farms), who are working for board and lodging in order to get some sort of credit t...

Exmouth (pronounced as in eyes, nose and mouth), is on the eastern side of a peninsula which forms the Gulf of Exmouth to the east and the Ningaloo Reef to the west. It's a major centre for watching whale-sharks, humpback whales and turtles, as well as for exploring the coral reef itself. The first wildlife we saw were emus, at the side of the road outside the town. Later we saw one walking up the main street. We finally saw kangaroos near the visitor centre at the reef. We haven't been driving at night so that probably explains why we've only seen dead ones at the side of the road. Kangaroo dung is similar to that of rabbits - just bigger. It would be wrong not to mention flies. It's not that there are lots; there aren't. It's just that they have very specific behaviour and that is, they fly straight onto your face. They don't fly around, they go straight for your nostrils, eyes or ears. That's why we are perfecting the Ozzie wave. They are much ea...

Saturday 12 October 2013 Perth's Spring was struggling to take hold as we left the city. It was raining and 14C but we knew things would change as we drove north. It doesn't take long to leave the city and we soon turned onto the Great Northern Highway. It's 1,200km to Exmouth so we settled in for a steady three day drive, with the first leg to Northampton (472km). There's nothing at all along the road save for the occasional roadhouse and a few turn offs to even more remote places. These might be shown as 125km away and it will be a gravel road. The road north is very easy and the driving is definitely the most relaxing we have experienced anywhere. The speed limit is 110km/hr and for 99% of the time, that's what you do. Many returning holidaymakers were travelling south after the two week mid-term break. Almost all travellers we meet are pulling caravan or trailers. However these are no ordinary caravans; for the most part they are twin axles rug...

The flights went well and passage through Perth airport was very smooth. Sonja at Thrifty car rental was a bubbly sort, very happy to see us and to explain (as several have done since), that WA is much the best part of Australia. The hire car deal has been great. At £17 per day we thought that there might be a catch but the car is great - with plenty of ground clearance and 4WD with diff lock ( not planning to use that feature but you never know). We are getting over jet lag whilst staying with hosts Judy & Peter, at an Airbnb place in a northern suburb. It's really good to have what's effectively an apartment to ourselves ( we have upstairs plus use of the kitchen). Today (Wednesday) we have been shopping for the camping gear we couldn't bring and non perishable food. So Kmart was first stop where we bought a cheap picnic table and the chairs that once you sit in them, you can't get back out, a big plastic box for all the bits, a water container etc. etc. Th...

What preparation is required for a trip that involves a camping road trip to a country that doesn't allow the import of most foodstuffs as well as dirty tents?! There's not a lot to do except to check the usuals such as phone and iPad chargers, maps and routes. Plus we are making a list of all the stuff that we'll need to buy when we arrive. Most importantly however, the tent must be CLEAN! We are embarking on a five week road trip up the western coast of Australia. We will start in Perth, swiftly drive 1,200 Km north to Exmouth and then turn around to make a slow journey south. Australia covers a huge area... Highlights will include seeing kangaroos (hopefully not on the road), dolphins, emus, humpback whales and plenty of remote scenery such as Cape Range National Park. Stretching for around 150 miles is Ningaloo Reef - this is the world's largest fringing reef, meaning that we should be able to swim out to it from the shore. Further south is S...