Stay at Bullara Station & Snorkelling@Coral Bay

At Bullara Station where we camped for a night, the miniature horses is so cute...

He's waiting patiently for our pancakes. When we turn around to cook, he would take the chance to seize the pancake! Naughty.... Grass is healthier for you mate!

Another fat miniature horse at the station...

Coral bay*****

From Bullara, we just drove a while to another snorkelling paradise, Coral Bay. It is just a small town but packed with tourists. The beach is beautiful and we can see the reefs so clearly. The fringing reef here is much larger in scale than those at Exmouth.

We thought we had enough snorkelling yesterday but when we see such beautiful water and reef, we just can't resist to snorkel again! We hire the snorkel gear from the shop just beside the beach for only $5 a set for 4 hrs. Their price list says $10 per set for 4 hrs but don't know how the lady miscalculate. Yay! The reefs are so near to the beach, and here we don't need to worry about the strong current. It is quite protective area. But many tour boats around though...

Giant Clam

The visibility of that day was not really good

Yellow Flute Fish

???

Not sure what coral is this... ANy idea?

We only manage to snorkel twice this time. There are less fish here than Turquoise Bay but the corals are more beautiful here. The biggest fish we ever saw, about the length of Peter, although the snorkel mask had magnified it a little :) Peter tried to catch it on the video, but the visibility is too low, we reckon it was a BiG Garoupa.

Camped at a free rest area on the way to Carnavon. Got the full MOON tonight, the craters are visible in this picture. Cool =)

Carnavon

Snorkelling @ Turquoise Bay

So the next day, we paid the entrance fee again and this time we hire the snorkel gear from visitor centre. There are few other place to snorkel in the national park, the Lakeside (just around the visitor center) and Oyster Stack (which you can only snorkel during high tide because there are lots of rocks. Many people reckon Turquoise Bay is the best, so we headed straight to Turquoise Bay and we were the first ones to arrive. The wind is so strong! We can see the current so strong and the swell is quite high from where the waves break at the reefs. 

Got a little scared, so we waited when there were more people came in before we get into water.

Many fishes at Turquoise Bay. Very nice snorkelling area but the water temperature is quite low, we can only snorkel about 20min and had to get up to lay on the sand for sunbath.

 

 Sun bathing.. Really nice when you are freezing cold in the sea... 

Beside Turquoise Bay is the drift snorkel area where we just follow the current and come out before reaching the sandy end. Have to be careful with the current though, because there is a reef gap which will pull you out to the ocean if you don't come out in time. 

 

Saw this cute fella, quite small in size... There are other beautiful fishes we saw like moon wrasse, black dotted dart, angel fish, butterfly fish, parrot fish, sea star, christmas tree worm, coral fish, very big flute fish and unicorn fish... but not able to capture in on our camera...

We went snorkelling for four times today and each time we saw different fishes. Fish are plentiful but the corals weren't that nice. After the intensive snorkelling, we move on again. Driving towards Coral Bay, which is also part of the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park. 

Our dinner of Crimson Snapper, bought at the Kailis Bro fish shop @ Exmouth.. We camped at Bullara Station, a farmhouse with camping facilities, very nice toilet and showers and farm animals to accompany you when you're eating. LOL. They only have wood fire BBQ though, no stove. It's a nice place to spend a night if you have small kids. We paid $25 for unpowered site. 

Next: CORAL BAY

Exmouth, Cape Range National Park

Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, Exmouth. The views from this lighthouse is very beautiful, can see the Cape Range and the coastline quite clearly. But we were there when the sun is high up, so pictures taken weren't that perfect.

Finally we arrive at Exmouth, the famous Ningaloo Reef Marine Park where many people say it's more beautiful than Great Barrier Reef ^^ We shall find out! Ningaloo Reef is the easiest reef to access because you can just swim out from the beach and you will find the beautiful fringing reefs. Exmouth is a small town with few caravan parks, supermarket and library. Cape Range National Park (where the Ningaloo reef is) is about  52kms from Exmouth. Entrance fee to the park is $11. The first day we came here, there were no camping spot available (very famous tourist area, so better book). So we had to camp at Yardie Homestead caravan park which is about 6km from the park entrance for $26 (unpowered). If you want to camp inside the national park, do a booking online or be at the park entrance before 8am to wait for the queue. Certainly the national park camping is the cheapest (with only bush toilet), and it is convenient to camp just beside the beach. 

And because we came to the national park late, we did not hire the snorkel gear but just relaxed at Turquoise Bay. The snorkel gear can be hired from shops in Exmouth town ($10 per day) or at the Milyering Visitor Centre ($10per day or if staying at national park camp $15 overnight hire) or Yardie Homestead Caravan Park ($15 per day). Cape Range is famous for its beautiful gorges as well and there are few hikes to do here. We reckon we had enough of hikes, so we just spend time relaxing at the beach =P

Peter supporting the Sky of Beach!!

Can see the reefs from the beach but we can't snorkel! We will do that tomorrow!!!

Relaxing at Turquoise Bay doing funny things like this:

Peter's version of Little Nemo.. 

A: Looks like a dumb fish... =P

Angie's patriotic CRABBY...

Peter's Octopus

A: ITs mouth looks like Peter's.... ehehehe...

Angie's cute Turtle =P

Oooh.. the real CRAB is here... We think its called the Ghost crab...

Yay, sunset.... See above the horizon where the wave breaks the reef... It is so high!

Next: Snorkelling @ Turquoise Bay

New Hiking experience@Hancock Gorge

Hiking @ Hancock Gorge*****

Next day @ Karijini, we took a big challenge, big challenge for koala because we need to drive 43.5km unsealed road to get into Weano gorge. People say it is so beautiful, so we have to take the risk. The lady at the visitor center say it's alright for 2wd to drive in, just have to take it slow. 

Yeah, real SLOW... We go on 20-30kph, sometimes even lower, the road is so bumpy. All the 4wd just pass us by, giving us a good 'sand blasting' all the time. Finally we reach there after 2.5 hours!!

We went to the Hancock Gorge walk which is a level 4 & 5. The track is not long, about 1.5 kms to reach Kermits Pool but takes about 2 hours because there are rough sections.

The vertical ladder.... part of the track..

After climbing the ladder down, we have to get our shoes wet! Hiking through this river..

Might as well get our legs even wetter!! Hiking down on these rapids and waterfalls. But the water level ain't that high, above the knee level. So we can still carry our backpacks and camera gear in. Just have to be careful not to slip and get everything wet! 

This is by far the most extraordinary hike we have done, in the water =) It is really adventurous and the views is just magnificent! Buried deep inside the gorges, travelling through the waters like we're in another world....

The last stop of the track is the Kermits Pool, where we can't go any further unless being authorized. It is way too slippery and steep beyond Kermits Pool. 

Kermits Pool.. Peter happily playing water in the pool, in fact he is actually freezing cold... Hahaha...

Like a frog in the well, we look up to see the narrow gorge, while the real world is actually on the other side..

Peter even had a dip...

And meditation? Pretentious-nyer...

We spent couple of hours in here, just immerse ourselves in this 'secret' world (as the other tourists pass by)....

If you see really closely, you will see a rope from the right side of this pic, follow the rope to the left you will see that tiny guy trying to abseil this gorge! It is not possible to walk on foot after Kermits Pool, so people who are professionals can abseil through this with a permit. There is a tour running from Karijini Eco Retreat that brings tourists around the gorges doing adventurous stuff like kayaking, abseiling and hiking these gorges at a rather deary price for the whole day. Sounds fun for the adventurous seeker! Something that ordinary tourists wouldn't do! 

So ordinary tourists like us, likes to spend time taking photos of this beautiful surroundings..

This area is called the 'amphitheater'. It really resembles a theater, with layers of rocks forming the seats (where Peter seats), and there is a big rock at the center like a stage (you can't see on this pic though).

Making our way back to the real world...

........

On our hike back, Mr Peter had missed a foot while climbing these rocks (like what the guy is doing in this pic) and down he fell into the river! He actually dip the whole 'him' and his bag as well!! Luckily he was fast enough that the backpack is still dry inside. Camera safe.. =P

A good lookout is at Oxers Lookout where we can see the junction of Weano, Red, Hancock and Joffre Gorge.

The way out from Weano Gorge is just as crazy, another 39 km of corrugated road to get out of the west park exit. Gosh, Koala please survive this drive.... Then we realize the crack on our front mirror had got bigger and LONGER, oh NO....

The whole journey out, it was scary. Peter had try to drive faster (up to 70kph) so it won't be that bumpy, it went alright for about 5mins then the road gets bumpier that we have to slow down. It feels like ages when we have to drive 10kph. Angie's so afraid that she couldn't look at the road. Koala seems to befalling apart... God bless that we can reach the other end, to the bitumen road!!

Why can't the national park make a better road for us!!! Please develop it sooner for the sake of the tourists dollars! =P Karijini is really amazing, and we thought we might be better off hitching a ride from someone else than driving in our 2wd because it takes such a long time and damaged the car a little (or more, the windscreen has got a big crack now, it would cost about $300 to replace a new one)... =.=

NEXT up: Exmouth, Ningaloo Reef