Kristy's Chat Coral Bay-Carnarvon

Have I mentioned yet that the west has the best beaches in Australia?  Chris and I were in the hot tub the other night with two German tourists when Australia’s unique beauty was really spelt out for us, (no Jennifer Hawkins and her hubby didn’t join us in the tub).  The friendly tourist told us of their utter dismay at the west coast beaches.  They said that if Europe had any beaches as beautiful as ours they would erect a thousand motels on each of them.  They couldn’t believe that the majority of this coastline lay untouched by high-rise buildings and in fact most of them exist without a single human sole on them.  It makes me smile to here such praise, given I’ve never set foot outside Australia’s borders, it’s reassuring to know that what I’m doing is envied across the entire world!

Pristine is how I’d describe Coral Bay.  Set once again in the middle of nowhere this  immaculately tidy little tourist village stole my heart.  Only a handful of people live in the town although the tourists flock constantly.  As beautiful as it is the fact that the only water used in the town is salt water drawn from an artesian basin takes its toll.  Taz and I just can’t get a brush throughout salty long locks while Taj is going with a “no shower policy”.  Brushing your teeth in salt water also has a few setbacks!  Certainly if it wasn’t for the water and distance this place would be a great place to retire.  Our encounters with wild animals continued in Coral Bay and in fact lifted a notch or two.  Just a short walk from the caravan park takes you to the shark breeding ground. 



You can see 2 sharks coming in from the left.

 I always thought these breeding grounds were an urban myth, but there we stood thigh deep in water surrounded by about 50 sharks.  I’m still not sure if I should have been scared or if I was being reckless but we found ourselves just walking further and further into the water as we were lured into a sense of security.  The slightest move sent these killing machines scattering at high speed.  Standing perfectly still they’d majestically cruise in coming within meters to check us out.  Now I know what you’re thinking, you’re imagining 30cm sharks without teeth, but we’re talking about a minimum of 1.5m long.  It was just amazing!

Once again fishing was a highlight in this little town.  The kids and Chris had a very successful night that saw them bring home their first ever kill.  The most unlucky fish in the world was a very impressive Spangled Emperor.  They walked in the van demanding a group shot with their catch of the day, I was happy to oblige.  Then Chris asked me to clean and gut it, nope, not so happy to oblige this time.  Not due to lack of knowledge or skill, my dad and brothers have taught me to prepare any hunted food and my mum has certainly equipped me with the skill to cook any meal but I’d just had a shower.  In addition, I like to prove that you can teach an old dog new tricks, so it was decided (reluctantly by Chriso) that he was about to learn a new skill.

  Armed with a torch and pathetic fishing knife we headed to the bait table.  “Insert the knife into his pooper and run the blade up to his throat, don’t go too deep or you’ll cut all his intestines up and then it gets messy,” I instructed.  Chris looked at me blankly like I was taking the piss.  After a short staring competition Chris glanced at his kill and I know he was questioning what the hell he was doing.  It only got better (for me that is) when I instructed him to insert his fingers in the fish’s wound and drag the guts out.  We both agreed to cut off the head to alleviate any guilt while we cooked him up.  AT this point I’m convinced that we’ll never eat fish again.  The following night we cooked up the beast along with a few whiting that Taj and I scored at Exmouth. Sadly for Chris, I think he’ll need to hone those skills further, we devoured the meal and the kids have put in a request for more.  Next time I’ll take photos so you can all laugh as hard as I did.

The final highlight of Coral Bay was to be our last opportunity to snorkel on the amazing Ningaloo Reef.  In very calm water Taz, Ry and I headed out to glide with the Emperors, cruise with the Cod and dance with the sergeant Majors.  A truly beautiful experience with my two big kids.  Taj on the other hand has been frightened out of the water after seeing so many sharks.  He happily sat on the beach digging holes with Dad.

Travelling for an extended time with your family has its ups and downs.  We can count the downs on one hand and the ups are too numerous to count at all.  It’s the things that go unnoticed that have the most profound effect on me though.  The things that I don’t spare a thought for until they slap me in the face.  A huge slap came my way in Carnarvon where we had organised for a quick catch up with some of Chris’ mum’s friends.  David and Sharon have known Jan for roughly 25 and 40 years respectively and it was so lovely to relive memories of mum with people who have a different connection to her then us.  The greatest surprise was watching Tamsyn and Ry engage so willingly with these two strangers.  Especially Ry who barely speaks to strangers, he didn’t draw breath for the first four hours and Taz just bubbled as she talked about all our adventures, our home and of course Nanna.  It was like having a little bit of Jan with us and it was lovely.  Sharon and Dave absolutely spoilt us with a couple of real beds in the house; they even had fresh water to shower in! The best however was yet to come, we spent an entire day sailing around Carnarvon

 on their 32ft catamaran.  The kids had never sailed before and took to it like true salty ole sailors.  Of course, it wouldn’t be a complete Pentland trip on the water unless we threw a line over.  Laughs were plentiful as we all pulled in fish of different shapes and sizes.  The day ended with the adults chatting freely as we cruised back into the mooring listening to all three kids in the cabin snoring.

 



Waiting for the blowhole to erupt.



Day two saw us head up to Quobba (you may remember I wanted to go there in the last blog but got voted out).  Turns out Quobba is a great place for a day trip and picnic lunch.  The blowhole provided lots of laughs as we all waited to get sprayed by “the big one”.  We finally managed to get Taj back in the water for a snorkel by telling him that all the sharks are too big to get over the rocks into the lagoon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Sampling Quobba's finest.



Taj was quite happy to stay out of the water however to indulge his new obsession.

  As you can see from the photos he’s fascinated by sea salt.  He taste tested all the pools of salt and became Dave’s new best friend when he learnt that Dave works at Dampier Salt, he even plotted a way for Dave to sneak him into work by hiding on the floor of the 4wd.

Needless to say we had a brilliant weekend with Sharon, Dave and their extended family.  The kids all begged us to stay longer but we must press on.  Sadly our departure ended in tears, (another slap in the face), Ry just didn’t want to let go of his new adopted family and all the normality that they reminded him of.  Likewise the rest of us all took a different memory away from what turned out to be a lovely journey of times and loved ones passed.

Love and miss you all,

Kristy