Sarah’s Big Holiday

Heading south - Lyndon River rest area (Free camp) 14/9/15

The wind woke us up and we had an early start leaving the camp at the Range by the Reef. A quick stop at the lighthouse was way too windy and we couldn’t see any whales – too many white caps. In Exmouth we filled up, the caravan with water and supplies and us with coffee, babycino and scones.

We drove a total of 270km – our personal record. But there’s really nothing to see on the way out of the North West Cape and down to Carnarvon. After that long drive we set up camp on Lyndon River rest area, all by ourselves at 3 pm, played soccer, rode the bike and had another go with the kite. By 5 pm the camp was fairly full -  a lot of budget backpackers that drive in and out of Coral Bay, which is 70km north and expensive as. Martin met our friend Christin again, but by that time Sarah was already asleep…

Blow holes 15/9/15

Sarah had a great morning with Christin before we all headed off to drive to the Blow holes, located 70km north of Carnarvan. It was still very windy which was great to see the water being pushed through the holes in the rock right at the sea. The pressure from the waves is so high that the water in the biggest blow hole shoots out about 15 m high.  Great fun to watch!

But with the wind it wasn’t very pleasant to stay at this exposed site. We drove along the coast towards Quobba Point in search for a place to stay. The only opportunity is an official camp for $11 per adult that offers nothing but a sandy site behind the dunes… well, we’d driven enough so we stayed. Christin found us building sand castles in the shelter of the dunes and we all had a lovely evening together.

Carnarvon 16&17/9/15

Next morning Sarah went to wake up Christin who was sleeping in the car and ended up taking all her stuffed animals and some books over. We left late morning, driving into Carnarvon, having fruit ice cream (basically frozen fruit puree covered in chocolate) at one of the plantations – delicious. Some fresh vegetables and a sapote (chocolate pudding fruit) also found their way into our fridge. Carnarvon is the “fruit & vegetable bowl” of WA with 176 plantations producing over 30,000 tons per year and supplying 70% of WA’s winter vegetable requirements. There’s a lot of stone fruit grown here but unfortunately they start later in the year.

Sarah checked us in at the caravan place and after setting up we went for a stroll around the town. We were unsuccessful in getting a hairdresser appointment for Martin and a tiny screw for Regine’s sunglasses but we got coffee, some information about wildflowers and met Christin again at the ‘One Mile Jetty’ (one of the longest in WA). Sarah was happy and together we went up the old water tower to enjoy the 360C view and had a look at the Coffee Pot Train which drives out onto the jetty during the day (I’m not sure if I’d use it, the jetty looks pretty worn out – even though there’s a “entrance fee/donation” of $5 to walk onto the jetty which is used to restore it.). The shed also houses the “Shearing hall of Fame” (a free museum about the golden days of the Gascoyne shearing industry in the 1950s). Afterwards we walked along another little trail with historic information about a huge abattoir, which was built at the cost but never got used because there were not enough cattle in the region to sustain it. Eventually it was used by the whaling industry and during the recession is served as shelters for poor people.