Exmouth and The Big Prawn

There has been nothing much to blog about lately, and we don’t like to bore you with eating and drinking out all the time. We have however found a lovely Sushi place in Northbridge called Aisuru and to prove you can cook without making too much mess, Steve cooked a fantastic chili – we had plenty of leftovers too!

We have been watching the Olympics, although we are watching it from the Australian point of view. The Australian commentators get so excited, and the gold medal performances get repeated over and over again… I guess it’s because they have so few gold medals! Well done team GB!

We have just been up to Exmouth for several days; we flew out ridiculously early on Wednesday 8th August. We arrived at the Potshot Hotel, Steve was left with the bags until the room was ready while Rupan and Alison had clinic at the hospital. After checking in and unpacking, Steve headed for the Visitors Centre and then the bar at Potshot to research and plan the trips for days ahead. After Rupan and Alison finished clinic we all met for dinner at Whalers. This did not disappoint - great local seafood.

Thursday 9th August. While Steve prepared the dive and camera kit, Rupan and Alison had more clinic. That afternoon Alison flew back to Perth. Rupan saw a few more patients before meeting Steve at The Potshot for a few beers and then dinner.

We were picked around nine in the morning on Friday 10th August, and after completing the PADI waiver forms we headed out to the Navy Pier with Ningaloo Whale Shark ‘n’ Dive. We had dived the Navy Pier before back in April; this time we were going to dive it twice. After passing through the various military checkpoints we arrived at the pier. We kitting up and headed down to the gantry - at least a 3m drop to the water. Rupan was very brave and did not hesitate when making the high giant stride entry. The visibility was much better this time but the water was a lot colder. The walk back up the gantry was very tiring - Steve thought he was going to have a heart attack! He blamed this on a tight fitting wetsuit and not the fact that he is unfit and a bit large round the middle! He may spend a lot of time in the gym but he also spends a lot of time eating and drinking!

Steve in the fish soup

Both dives did not disappoint. The fish life was amazing. Big schools of Trevally, Snapper and Barracuda congregated around the pylons. There were lots of sharks including a wobbegong; sleepy white tipped reef sharks and a couple scary looking grey nurse sharks. Check out the video below and see if you can spot Rupan in her new hood!



On the return back to the dive centre we saw an Emu and her two chicks. So cute!

So Cute!

We left Ningaloo Whale Shark 'n' Dive and picked up our hire car. That evening we had a BBQ on our patio. A couple of tasty T-bones, mushrooms and a salad – yum yum. We washed this down with a few glasses of wine whilst watching the Olympics.

Steve had been into the visitor centre on Wednesday to ask about snorkeling in the Cape Range National Park. One of the sites can only be snorkeled at high tide - Oyster Stacks. The lady in the visitor centre had told Steve that we needed to get up early, as we had to get there at around 8:30am. So we set the alarm and were on the road just after sunrise only to be held up at the ranger’s station, as they don’t open until 8:30! So we then had to sit in a long queue of campervans waiting to pay our National Park entry fee. When we finally made it to the Oyster stacks, the tide was far too low and we had to abandon that idea.

So onward to Yardie Creek where we walked along the nature trail and then took the more demanding gorge trail. This took us high above the creek and we had great views over Ningaloo Reef. We spotted a number of Black-footed Rock Wallabies too!

Yardie Creek

After a snack at Yardie Creek we headed off to Turquoise Bay. This is famous for its drift snorkel. The strong currents are caused by large ocean waves crashing over the reef, the water builds up in the lagoon behind the reef.  This water can only escape through gaps in the reef, causing a drift. So you jump in at one end of the beach and a gently drift to the other end whilst snorkeling over the reef.

Turquoise Bay

Next we stopped off at Lakeside Bay where we finished what was left of our picnic. We then headed on to The Milyering Visitors Centre, then Mangrove Bay and its bird hide where Rupan had to be told to be quiet so that Steve could do some twitching in peace.

We had been recommended the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse as a great place to view the sunset. It is a popular spot and many others had the same idea. We had a glorious view of the ocean and much to our delight we spotted several Humpback Whales "pottering" along the outside of the reef. (Do whales potter?) Occasionally they would shoot up huge sprays of water as they came up to breathe- awesome. This has got to be the highlight of the weekend. Check out the video below.

Watching the Whales with a Beer at Sunset

Later that night we had reservations at Mantaray’s Bar and Grill (supposed to be the best place to stay and eat in Exmouth) but it was a very disappointing meal – you will have to read our review on urbanspoon! We came back to the Potshot for a night cap and much to Steve’s dismay – the place was almost closed for the night!

Next day we packed and left The Potshot Hotel. Our flight was not until two o'clock so we thought we would squeeze in a few more sights.

First stop was the 1907 cattle ship wreck of the SS Mildura, which was visible from the shore. Again we were fortunate to see Humpback Whales. Yay!

SS Mildura

Next and last stop before heading to the airport was a drive up Charles Knife Road. But before we got to the turn of we saw "The Big Prawn!" It was enormous.

Now that's going to need a lot of garlic!

We left the Big Prawn and turned off up Charles Knife Road. This winds up into the Cape Range along a gorge. We stopped at several look out points and took in the breathtaking views of the gorge and the Exmouth Gulf.

Charles Knife Road Canyon

A great trip!

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