Friday 5th - Sunday 7th October 2012 - Kalbarri

We headed off from Hamelin Bay and drove down to Kalbarri. It has been years since Ed and I had been there so It was nice to return. We stayed 2 nights at the caravan park.
The Kalbarri Coast is beautiful with lots of places to explore.

When in Kalbarri you can't not go and see Natures Window.

How romantic!

Wednesday 3rd - Friday 5th October 2012 - Hamlin Bay & Steep Point

We left Quobba and went into Carnarvon to resupply water and food before heading south towards the last most do part of our trip - Steep Point the most westerly point of mainland Australia. We camped at Hamlin Bay For 2 nights. We got there late in the afternoon and only had enough time to explore the shell quarry and the Stromatolites.

The next day we took the long drive out to Steep Point. There are very few camping spots there so we were lucky that we didn't come out here to camp. Ed enjoyed a fish off the rocks. The kids and I were well away from the edge.

Ed Fishing off the rocks at Steep Point

It was a long day to drive there and back but we were glad that we did it. We ended the day tired but happy that we had completed our goals to go to all the major geographical landmarks around Australia.

Tuesday 2nd October 2012 - Quobba Station

We drove down to the blowholes which are around 50km out of Carnarvon. We had planned to stay at Point Quobba however there were very few spots left (due in part to all the grey nomads who were there) so we decided to camp out at Quobba Station. The station owners very generously gave us a nice, just caught Spangled Emperor. There were only 3 other cars there. It was very quiet for our 1 night there.

The Blowholes

The beach at Quobba Station

Friday 27th September - Tuesday 2nd October 2012 - 9 Mile Camp (Coral Bay)

We had heard about a camping spot called 9 mile just out of Coral Bay. We managed to find it and we had a great time staying there. The caretaker had already left so it was free! There were 4 caravans there so there was plenty of space to chill and relax in a pretty spot.
We spent our days exploring the beach and fishing. Thomas really improved with his fishing and is now able to cast out his line a reel in a fish. He was very proud to catch some Flathead and Thread-fin Salmon without help. Ed also caught a Golden Trevally. We had lots of fish to eat. The girls also went fishing but with no success. Olivia lost 5 fish! The beach was fun to explore and we found lots of pretty shells.

We were in need of showers and clean clothes so Monday was spent in Coral Bay snorkelling, washing clothes and bodies. Another great day. We packed up on Tuesday at a leisurely place and hit the load heading down towards Carnarvon.

Saturday 22nd September - Friday 27th September 2012 - Exmouth/Cape range National Park

We left Karratha and Dan & the kids and headed south to Exmouth for some sun, fishing and snorkeling. We spent the first 2 nights at the light house caravan park as Cape Range National Park was  full. We managed to catchup with another family that we had met in Kakadu.
The next day we did some exploring and took the kids down to Leamouth Jetty. Olivia had some success fishing and caught a fish much to her delight.

We also took a drive around to the lighthouse and into town. Ed managed a fish in the late afternoon on the beach. Unfortunately the wind started to pick up and we had a very windy night.
On Monday we drove down to Yuli Beach in the Cape Range National Park to camp for 5 nights. Apart from the annoying wind we had a great time there. Every day we went snorkelling at Turquoise Bay or Oyster Stacks. It was so much fun as all of us can now do it together, although Thomas gets cold quickly and doesn't last out in the water as long as the girls.(Even with a wet suit and floating vest on!). We saw some beautiful coral and lots of fish.
We spent time exploring the beaches and fishing here and there as well. We enjoyed our days chilling out at the beach and trying to stay out of the wind. The late afternoon and nights were very windy.

The wind got worse so we cut our stay by one night and headed south - just a little!

Thursday 20th - Saturday 22nd September 2012 - Karratha

We left Balla Balla and drove on down to Karratha. My cousins Dan & Lisa live there with their children Lily, Henry and George. Unfortunately Lisa was visiting family down in Perth and we didn't get to see her, but we enjoyed 2 nights catching up with Dan and the kids. The girls enjoyed playing with Lily and Thomas was in heaven playing with the boys and a lll their lego.

Thomas and Henry playing Lego

Lily and the girls

George did not want his photo taken!

Dan and I saying goodbye

Thomas had been complaining on and off about having a sore ear and when he was in tears again I took him into Nickol Bay Hospital in Karratha and he had a nasty infection in his ear canal most probably caused by all the water we had been swimming in up north. Great! Just in time for our trip into Exmouth!

Tuesday 18th September - Wednesday 19th September 2012 - Broome and heading South!

We discovered a fuel leak late yesterday so Ed got that looked at and patched up before we left town. It was a leak in the hose between the tanks apparently. We got out of town around lunchtime and drove down to the 80 Mile Beach and stayed the night at the caravan park. The beach was endless and there was some amazing shells which we collected that day and early the next morning.

The endless 80 Mile Beach

Ed and Charlotte went out early and got caught in an early morning fog whilst collecting shells

The next day we drove down to Port Hedland (where we stopped for lunch) and then we drove onto a campsite at Balla Balla Inlet for the night. There wasn't much there except for lots of mud and some cute little red crabs.