Exmouth was a bit of a disappointment for us. We were looking forward to Ningaloo Reef but weather and tide were against us. Low tides meant that snorkelling in the best areas was not allowed. We had our first overcast day since June! Also, it was as windy as… Anyway, we made the best of it. Had a nice swim at Turquoise Bay and snorkel. Pity you aren’t allowed to fish there as we had good size bream swimming at our feet!

Carnarvon was the location of one of NASA’s tracking stations. As it’s about 180 degrees in longitude from Cape Canaveral it was an ideal location to track the Gemini and Apollo missions. There’s a great Space and Technology museum with a lot of items from that period. The centre was opened by Buzz Aldrin! Later, the station became the base for OTC (how we sent phone calls and video overseas in the old days). Morels was a great place for fresh fruit and veggies and we managed to get a ripe black sapote! There was also a display at the One Mile Jetty museum of the HMAS Sydney II sinking/discovery during WWII – 645 crewman lost their lives in what has become known as Australia’s worst naval disaster.

At Shark Bay we stayed at Hamelin Station Stay. This is owned by Bush Heritage and was one of the nicest places we have stayed so far. The managers gave us a tour of the old homestead which was very interesting. The homestead is made from shell block which is formed from the shells of Fragum cockles that have built up over thousands of years. In some locations they are nine metres deep! Rain mixing with carbon dioxide in the air forms a weak acid and forms a type of limestone known as coquina. The coquina is then cut into blocks that are very light and have great thermal properties – something you need when day time summer temperatures can get over 50 degrees celsius!

The drive into Denham passed the beautiful waters of Hamelin Pool with many scenic spots along the way. Another display at the information centre went into even more detail of the Sydney II sinking and had a 3D movie showing the underwater scenes from its discovery in 2015. Jude was relating this to her Dad and he mentioned that both he and Jude’s mother were friends of the children of one of the Chief Petty Officers on the Sydney and could remember them getting the news.

Kalbarri is still showing signs of the cyclone earlier this year with many buildings still damaged and missing roofs. A lack of rental accomodation is slowing recovery as there is no where for workers to stay. Just about all the shops have job vacancies. The bar from the Murchison River to the sea is one of the most dangerous looking I’ve seen. The channel runs parallel with a reef that has waves breaking on it and the water looks ‘confused’.

The gorges in Kalbarri National Park were stunning and the Skywalk was fantastic! Walking to the Z Bend lookout was like walking through someones enormous native garden. It’s wildflower time here and they are absolutely stunning – I wanted to stop the car every kilometre and get out to take photos!