Coral Bay to Exmouth

Day 15 – August 3, 2014 – Coral Bay to Exmouth - distance travelled: 241 kms - 28^oC high; 13^oC low.  We reached Exmouth just before lunch with a nice new chip in the windshield.  As Exmouth is not very big we had no choice but to stock up at the IGA, the smallest and our least favourite of the three common grocery stores here, Coles, Woolworths and IGA.  Time to fill up both of our tanks with diesel again, which at Aus$1.818 per litre set us back $279.06. We got just over 1,100 kms out of the last two tanks.   The main tank and sub tank each hold 90 litres for a total of 180 litres of which we still had about 27 litres left, good for about another 200 kilometres for a range of over 1,300 kms.  Not great fuel economy, but in defense of our Troopy, we have loaded it down with six people and luggage, and the vehicle itself is not light to start with.  Set up camp at Yardie Creek Homestead, about 40 kms north and then west of Exmouth (around the cape), which caused a lot of frustration for all of us as it was VERY windy, plus we had not yet had lunch (this is never a good thing when it is past lunch time.  We normally pack our lunch after breakfast but had run out of supplies).  Explored a little of Cape Range National Park in the hours after that.  Off the coast here the Ningaloo Reef continues, and snorkelling is a popular activity.  We visited Turquoise Bay, which had a nice beach, but as wetsuits and snorkelling gear were really a requirement to get full enjoyment out of this spot, we opted to go back to the campground so that the kids could have some fun in the pool yet.  On the way back we saw lots of kangaroos which greatly improved the overall spirit in our vehicle.  While the kids were in the pool, Don drove the vehicle over to the camp kitchen so we could cook and eat out of the wind, and Gwen threw in a quick load of laundry. The wind actually died down for the night, and we were in bed by a very reasonable 9pm.

Turquoise Bay, Cape Range National Park

Cape Range National Park

Sturt Desert Pea

Cape Range National Park